10-yr old, gifted kid who reads at 10th grade level also keeps reading Big Nate

[Anonymous]

Totally normal. My 16 YO was a precocious reader and still re-reads some of his favorites from when he was little. DH still has whole sets of books he loved as a young reader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a Phd. My biggest read is DCUM. It makes me happy.

Me too girlfriend

[Anonymous]

I'm in my 50s and love to read YA and mid grade novels. I also have advanced degrees.

I personally would not discourage reading for pleasure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a Phd. My biggest read is DCUM. It makes me happy.

I read my People magazine while in the bathroom - can we please just let our kids read for pleasure?

[Anonymous]

My young DD and DS read at a high level academically but choose books that are their age range for pleasure. I just make sure they have a variety to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
He's 10. It is ok to read something mindless and fun. Even for the gifted. I mean, look at me reading the DCUM forums. When I was that age I read everything I could get my hands on. Just encourage reading.

This. Op, life isn’t always about challenging yourself.

[Anonymous]

He’s not that gifted, plenty of kids, including mine, are similarly situated in reading, and they all like to veg out with low-brow entertainment.

I assign some reading for my kids and let them entertain themselves how they want.

[Anonymous]

My son was tested in 3rd grade for ADHD testing. He was reading on a 9th grade level at that point. He is now 15 and is rereading that cat series of books called Warriors. Loves them and has read them a few times. Whatever.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's normal. He's reading for enjoyment-- a ten year old may have a high level reading ability but still mostly enjoy ten year old humor.

[Anonymous]

This thread is so weird. The only reason anyone would be concerned about their 10 year old reading grade level materials for fun is if the parents are overly invested in how "gifted" they think their child is.

Many 10 year olds read around the same level as your child. It's no big deal. Those same kids also enjoy reading silly books well beneath their level. Many adults enjoy Harry Potter, which is well beneath their reading level. It's still no big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did you decide that your child is reading on a 10th grade level? X and Y are 6th grade level. Z is 7th. It's honestly not that uncommon for bright 4th and 5th graders to read books in that range, especially for fun. I wouldn't assume that a child reading level XYZ in 4th/5th is even gifted. It's really much more common than you would imagine.

It's also not uncommon for them to slum it and read under their level for enjoyment.

OP here. I'm going off what his teacher reported. Z is DRA's 8th grade level. I have no idea how she knows that he'd reading at the 10th grade level. I'm assuming she has a way of assessing that.

As for being gifted, DS has been tested. He's is profoundly gifted with an SB score above 160. There are a lot of gifted kids in this area, but not a lot of PG kids.

Why are you hung up on how gifted DS is rather than responding to the question. Oh, you're one of those people who is convinced no child discussed on DCUM could possibly be gifted, and tearing down the poster.

[Anonymous]

OK, I get that a lot of people and kids read "below" their reading level.

The other half of the question was about my not particularly liking Big Nate. I like it about as much as I liked Captain Underpants.

I think there is a lot of enjoyable reading out there that might be fun for a 10 year old that is not Big Nate.

I said I was not going to censor his reading. I was merely puzzled at why he'd go back to reading something he read in 2nd grade and hadn't read since.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


He’s not that gifted, plenty of kids, including mine, are similarly situated in reading, and they all like to veg out with low-brow entertainment.

I assign some reading for my kids and let them entertain themselves how they want.

Actually he is that gifted.

Are you always such a jerk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
He's 10. It is ok to read something mindless and fun. Even for the gifted. I mean, look at me reading the DCUM forums. When I was that age I read everything I could get my hands on. Just encourage reading.

Point taken. Here I am, although in the past there used to a lot of teachers on this particular forum, and I found their feedback helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, my son reads in the XYZ levels of the DRA system.

His preferred downtime reading this summer is Big Nate, which is something like a 3rd grade level. He's rediscovered the series after not reading it for several years. He's also reading Ballad of the Songbird and Snakes, a few Marie Lu books, and some other books that are more at his reading level.

Should I worry about is love of Big Nate? He likes to adopt sayings and attitudes from the book, which I find disconcerting. Big Nate is not exactly a great role model. I'm not going to censor his reading, but I'm just trying to figure out why a kid who can read years ahead of his grade level is reading something that he first read in 2nd grade.

Is this somehow indicative of emotional immaturity? Asynchronous development?

No, it's totally normal. I read on a graduate school level, and I still read various newspapers on an 8th grade level.

Kids develop their skills by reading things on their grade level, but also from materials below. It's only things that are above that aren't really helpful. And kid's maturity and interests have nothing to do with DRA level.

Thank you. You have my (OP's) vote as the most helpful and kind response.