My daughter started to read at age of 15 months old simple words, familiar words, everyday words, I used YBCR(your baby can read) and Brillkids.by age 3 she was reading story books,. by age 4 she was reading everything!!Now she is 6 years old and her reading tests say she has a 4th grader reading level and 3rd grader reading comprehension. She is reading chapter books, her favorite for now are Jeronimo Stilton’s books .She reads while she brushes her theeth, she reads while she rides on the car, she reads while she eats (not allow to , i need to remind her to put the books away until we are done eating)she reads every free time she gets. she has told her teacher that she prefers reading books than going to recess at school.
Well long story short, she is a great reader!very fluent.She is on a public Montessori school , her teacher is nice but she doesn’t know what else to do with her, she is more advance than 3 rd grader from her classroom (they are mix 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders). I feel bad for her, looks like she is not being challenge and i cant afford homeschooling, besides she is very socialble, people person, confident and likes going to school.
I feel bad because I feel like she needs to be challengue and she is not getting what she needs, talked to the teacher,she says that she is working on it (i dont see it, she is lying to me)talked to the principal , SHE is helpless…will work on it…bla bla bla.
So I gave up! Any ideas how can I help her from home after school?
any suggestions will help,
thanks to all
Hi PY,
That sounds very much like my 6 years old. I am also kind of lost on what to teach her. I am a full time working mum and have only 2 hours each day for two kids. I paid more attention to my 7 months taking care of her and doing the Doman programme. The only time i have for my 6 years old is not more than 45 mins of Violin and Piano practise. And this is sometimes interrupted by the LO. I will leave the her reading by herself most of time. She has no issue with this and seems pretty fine with this arrangement, however, i feel bad not paying enough attention on her.
My DD7 is homeschooled which makes my life easier in some ways - at least to keep her challenged though it comes with its own issues.
I would go and talk to the school and find out what is expected each day - is it possible to send more challenging books with her for her to read. Does the school have a library and if so is it not possible for the teacher to pick a more advanced level book for her to read for homework (this is what my teacher did with me when I was in grade 2 and reading well ahead of the other children - I still had to read the boring readers with my group in class, but I didn’t have to read it at home.
You could decide what is most important to you and afterschool it - probably you would need then to include science or history and get her reading this - non fiction reading brings its own challenges and teaches vocabulary. Finally keep reading books to her to increase her vocabulary - the classics are best for increasing vocabulary, but you should still be reading a large variety of books.
What is happening about Math at the school? Is she also not challenged there or is that ok? What about writing and spelling? It is relatively easy to keep providing books of increasing levels, but it might help to expand to other subjects and interests too.
yes the key word here is “classics” this is what she needs to read next for extension and development. The older books which are usually free on project guttenburg are perfect for extending early readers.
There are so many to choose but try “Jolly Robin” “the little princess” “5 children and it” “the secret Garden” the original “alice in Wonderland” oh there are so many! These are pretty much in difficulty order. Look for the Yesterday’s Classics book list and begin reading through those then look into the Robinson Curriculum booklist and read through those. Or pick and choose your favourites form childhood. The older books have better quality sentances, a higher level of vocabulary and real morals in the stories. I sujjest starting easier to reduce the chance of resistance as they will be more work for your reader.
I got my girls to be excellent readers using Black Beauty. We read it and discussed everything in it. This did wonders for their reading comprehention and pronounciations. Your child might find it a bit dark though. We had a number of discussions about death and cruelty while reading. It was full on but well worth it in terms of development. Pick a hard book to read and discuss together as your nighttime routine.
These are some of the classics and more modern books my child has heard read to her this year (I read these to her so we can discuss them - I will get her others to read by herself, but for now independent reading is what she chooses though I offer a variety for her to choose from). She has heard numerous other more simple books too. Except for Little Lord Fauntleroy all these books went down well with her and she kept asking for them.
5 Children and It
The Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Peter Pan
Lassie Come Home
Jungle Doctor Pulls a Leg (not known as a classic, but it has good vocabulary)
Rudyard Kiplings Just So Stories
Pollyanna
The Story of Doctor Dolittle
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Incredible Journey