My child and reading......teachers feel free to chime in

[AquamarineSteph]

Possibly not relevant because your child is older, but I tested out at the 12th grade level of reading/comprehension when I was in the first grade. That didn't mean I wanted to read War and Peace in first grade. I wanted to read things that were interesting to me.

I did just that. And I managed just fine in high school, college, etc. The thing I hated the most, though, was being required to read x number of specific books. I'd read anything until I was told it was required. Just saying that for me as a child, I found my own way. I needed to enjoy being a kid first. And I still had great test scores and university admissions.

 

[Southernmiss]

I wouldn't force him to read 30 mins of a book he doesn't like or has no interest in. That sounds like torture to me.


I say as long as he can read....it really doesn't matter.

This. Once 2 of my boys got beyond AR tests and required 30 minutes of reading and book reports, I'm not sure they've read a book for fun.

Both finished high school very strong and are successful in college in a biology/science major. They are reading very complicated words and concepts.

Heck, after reading so much at work and trying to keep up with news, I a kid who read 2 books a week, have little interest in books now. Maybe I will again in the future, but not now.

I also get overwhelmed with the number of books in the library and feel like I can never read them all so why bother.

 

[jenben8426]

There is a series called Life of Fred--it is basically Math Textbooks in the form of novels. I can see your son loving them. At the end of each chapter there are some practice problems. It is all about using math in real life situations. They start with basic elementary math and work all the way through Calculus.

 

[EscalatorKid]

Those are all books and abdoabsolu worth reading. The idea is to have kids springboard from those to more mature (and wordy) books and novels.

The absolute worst thing a teacher (or anyone) could do is demean a kid's choices in reading. I'd argue that forcing a book choice on a kid will also cause that kid to resist it. The kid will get there in due time.

I am an ELA teacher and I encourage all kinds of reading.

A relative of mine had a learning disability and couldn't read well. He hated reading and struggles, but if you put an automotive magazine or repair manual in front of him, he'd read them cover-to-cover.

Keep on with what your kid is interested in reading. He will eventually come around and be more open to different possibilities.

 

[Kaleidodad]

I am a little confused by all the people who say let him read whatever he wants. If his teacher has given him an assignment to read and has set criteria and specifically said these certain books aren’t okay is everyone just saying ignore the yearlong assignment?

I guess everyone’s mileage is different but my son’s school has never been flexible with the we just don’t do the homework thing (and we’ve had parents that took the idea of not doing any homework, not doing any homework on screens, and having longer due dates to accommodate sports all the way to the school board who basically said ummm teachers are free to assign work within the guidelines and grade against those).

I also get that a lot of parents here homeschool, but if you’re enrolled in a school you don’t have the same option to set your own education criteria- or maybe some schools do?? Just wondering

I think many posters are taking issue with the teacher's notion that certain silly graphic novels "aren't books!" I know I would, as that is a ridiculous and closed-minded statement, and reflects very poorly on that particular teacher. And in the face of such inflexibility, it's up to us as parents to work around such "educators" for the sake of our children. My own oldest daughter learned to love reading thanks to Captain Underpants and Dog Man, which are definitely books. However, there are many many other graphic novel options, with higher word-per-page counts and more serious subject matter, that a youngster can transition to from those. The Wrinkle in Time graphic novel adaptation is a great example.

 

[sjrec]

My suggestion? Ask your school librarian or the children’s librarian at your public library!
They love putting the right books in a child’s hands-it’s what they do! There are so many wonderful books out there-no one should have to read a book they don’t like.

 

[mel2014]

I am a little confused by all the people who say let him read whatever he wants. If his teacher has given him an assignment to read and has set criteria and specifically said these certain books aren’t okay is everyone just saying ignore the yearlong assignment?

I guess everyone’s mileage is different but my son’s school has never been flexible with the we just don’t do the homework thing (and we’ve had parents that took the idea of not doing any homework, not doing any homework on screens, and having longer due dates to accommodate sports all the way to the school board who basically said ummm teachers are free to assign work within the guidelines and grade against those).

I also get that a lot of parents here homeschool, but if you’re enrolled in a school you don’t have the same option to set your own education criteria- or maybe some schools do?? Just wondering

We live in an under-performing large urban school district that is predominantly minority, low-income students who often don't have support at home (there are a few high-performing magnet and neighborhood schools in wealthier parts of the district, one of which our children attend). So our district's philosophy is that all grading should be based on demonstrated classroom work and that kids cannot be graded down on their report cards (either academically or behaviorally) for failing to complete the homework, because homework compliance, especially in the elementary grades, is largely a function of parental involvement and not individual effort.

That said, the general expectation at our high-performing school is that kids will do their homework and kids who consistently complete and turn in their homework can get prizes and kids that don't will often get a note home and potentially other consequences (staying in at recess to complete work, writing a consequence paragraph, etc.). However, this year our daughter's fourth grade teacher is very emphatic that we, as the parents, get to decide how much homework our child will do and so long as we, not our child, tell him the parameters, there won't be any negative consequences. He's very in favor of school-life balance.

 

[dotfurio]

Teacher here. Anything that gets kids reading is great. I don't care if it's a picture book, comic book, magazine, whatever. For really reluctant readers I've even suggested turning off the volume and turning on the closed caption for tv shows. Books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants are often great transition books for kids who are reluctant to move from picture books to chapter books. I'm guessing they do AR and he has to earn points? Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants are AR books so as long as they are at his reading level I'd go with it.

 

[MrsPete]

As a literature teacher, I fully support the concept of reading 30 minutes a day. Not to insult math, but reading is THE MOST IMPORTANT skill kids learn in school, and the only way to really become proficient in reading is -- you know the answer -- to read. Practice is necessary.

Understanding that he doesn't prefer reading /language, I'd make these suggestions:

- Talk to him about the importance of a balanced education /being a well-rounded person. In 4th grade, he should be able to grasp that we're all allowed our preferences, but we have to become proficient in all the basics.
- Alternate books. He loves the silly stuff like Captain Underpants. The teacher wants something more serious. Alternate. Read a book of his choice, then it's time for one of the teacher's choices. This'll give him some of what he wants and will let him feel he's in control ... and some of what's probably better practice for him. As a literature teacher, I do think that novels are better "training"; novels require that you become familiar with a number of characters and follow a plotline across multiple chapters (multiple plotlines as you leave the Emerging Readers stage).
- He likes comic book type stuff ... ask him to create his own comics (hand drawn or computer-based) based upon the reading he's doing. He may not love the reading, but he may really enjoy translating it into comic form.
- Read what he's reading so you can discuss it. He may not be a fan of reading, but I bet he is a fan of one-on-one time talking to Mom and Dad. I know Harry Potter has been mentioned already, but NO BOOK in my children's entire childhoods provided us more discussion. The biggest topic: Was Snape good or bad? But so many other topics: What if Harry had been adopted by the Weasleys instead of his aunt and uncle? Which of the classes Harry took would be most useful to us Muggles? So many discussions, and I could see my girls' reading-ability grow as we debated. My girls may've had it better in that the movies weren't out yet, and we had to wait for books to be published ... so we had to read and rely upon facts from the books to support our ideas -- but other series are available too!
- Emphasize that by trying a variety of books, he may find another favorite that he didn't expect; for example, I remember that my two reading-reluctant brothers fell in love with Hitchhiker's Guide the Galaxy. Later both fell hard for Lord of the Rings.
- I loved the idea presented by a previous poster: Introduce him to biographies of famous mathematicians. I remember LOVING a certain series of biographies when I was in elementary school.
- Is he also a tech-y kid? Would he enjoy reading more if he were reading on a Kindle instead of paper books?
- If your family enjoys playing games, look into some word-based games. Scrabble comes to mind first, but my family loves Bananagrams. Don't tell him it's good for him.

Books to consider -- these are things my kids enjoyed in late elementary school:
Series of Unfortunate Events -- my oldest was INSANE about these dry-humored books
Bunnicula -- this has the same weird sense of humor as Captain Underpants
The Warriors -- a group of cats lives in a feudal-like setting in the forest, defending their turf from rival cats
Graphic novels of all sorts, though you might want to read some reviews -- these aren't all child appropriate
The Narnia series
Anything by Kate DiCamillo, though her stuff is a little girl-y
Running Out of Time -- about a girl who thinks she lives in American pioneer days; she doesn't. Was a huge favorite of my youngest.
Holes -- this novel has a nice circular plotline, which would appeal to math-science kids
Ender's Game -- Si-Fi novel, draws on video games and tech
Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series
The City of Ember -- this is a distopian novel about humanity moving underground, and I could see the world-building concept appealing to a math-science kid
The Redwall series -- essentially this is King Arthur's story retold with forest animals; insanely popular among pre-teen boys
Vampirates -- yeah, vampires plus pirates -- what's not to love?
The Spook's Apprentice -- a little scary, but pre-teens love it

 

[Skippy918]

My son (5th grader) can be stubborn about reading books that I suggest. I came to the realization that as long as he’s reading, I am okay with that. He likes to read and does it for an hour before bed every night. Some of his favorites are Hardy Boys, Box Car Children, A to Z mysteries and I Survived. He’s currently reading the Wings of Fire series. He’s reading a few grade levels above his current grade. Ds loves math too and actually one of the things he doesn’t like is that they put so much reading in math. So many word problems these days.

DD (2nd grade) started Magic Treehouse last spring. She loves these books. She’ll go back to her picture books from time to time, which is fine with me. I am making sure she stays in the I like to read phase. She also reads before bed, but I don’t think she’s as a voracious reader like ds.

They both have me beat. I hated reading as a child cause the teachers sucked the fun out of it by making us do summer reading book reports as early as first grade. As we got older, we had to read specific literature books and I hated every minute of it. I did eventually find the babysitters club, but that was the only series I read as a kid.
So yes, let him read what he wants to read, and once he’s formed that habit, maybe he’ll be more open to suggestions or literature cause if he’s on the fence, forcing him to read a book that the teacher wants him to will likely back fire.

 

[spacemountainmom]

My son is not a fiction reader. Getting him to put in his daily minutes in grade school was torture. When he was 8 or 9, my dad bought him a book at WDW about the Disney coasters. He devoured that book and started searching out books that were more technical and informative. Getting him to put in his minutes was no longer a battle.

Do I wish he enjoyed fiction more? Sure, I do. He can read, understand and explain stuff that boggles my mind so I guess his reading skills are more than adequate.

I’m also in the camp that it really should not matter what you read as long as you’re reading.

 

[PollyannaMom]

- He likes comic book type stuff ... ask him to create his own comics (hand drawn or computer-based) based upon the reading he's doing. He may not love the reading, but he may really enjoy translating it into comic form.

I love this idea!

- Read what he's reading so you can discuss it. He may not be a fan of reading, but I bet he is a fan of one-on-one time talking to Mom and Dad. I know Harry Potter has been mentioned already, but NO BOOK in my children's entire childhoods provided us more discussion. The biggest topic: Was Snape good or bad? But so many other topics: What if Harry had been adopted by the Weasleys instead of his aunt and uncle? Which of the classes Harry took would be most useful to us Muggles? So many discussions, and I could see my girls' reading-ability grow as we debated.

So true! I've done this with many of the books DS has read during school, and I think it has been very beneficial.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Forgive me if these were already mentioned...I admit I skimmed the thread. As a school librarian for grades 4-6, I would suggest checking out some of the series below. They are all in the humorous vein, and I find that many kids who love Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Big Nate tend to really enjoy these as well, especially as they are just beginning to branch out of their comfort zone.

I, Funny series by James Patterson
Middle School series by James Patterson
The Loser List series by Holly Kowitt
Hank Zipzer series by Henry Winkler (yes, the Fonz is actually a very good middle-grade author!)
Joey Pigza series by Jack Gantos
Campfire Weenies and other Weenies books by David Lubar (who is a gamer and was also, at one time, a game developer)

Anyway, those are just what's at the top of my head. Hope that helps!

 

[Ephany]

What about Encylopedia Brown? If I'm remembering correctly, each chapter is a mystery and there's often math and logic puzzles involved. There's also the 'I survived' series or Choose Your Own Adventure books.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

let him read books on audible.com