What can your first grader read independently?

[Anonymous]

Genuine response. 1st graders should be at DRA level J at the end of first grade. Get your child to at least that level. They will fly after that!

[Anonymous]

Mine is obsessed with David Foster Wallace’s ramblings

[Anonymous]

My kid is pretty behind; he only understands surface-level readings of Aristotle.

[Anonymous]

DC1 started 1st grade at dra4 ( behind) but after doing some phonics practice and read together daily for 30 minutes daily ( step into reading, I can read, DKreaders series etc, both fiction and non fiction, they have pictures and more words than picture books), DC1 reads to me and when she stuck I sound out the word, after like 2 months DC1 no longer need my help and reach dra16 end of 1st grade and in above grade reading level (maxed out in grade 2 Lexile test) since beginning of 2nd grade. A book worm and really enjoy reading. DC2 could read at age 2 and reads whatever (picture books/comic books like dog man /encyclopedias/recipes/the big read book of beginner books series/little critter/little bear/Pete the cat/mercy Watson, who would win, and Boris etc) except real chapter books, and when we tried to move him chapter books at prek he’s not interested but we were able to read magic tree house then he started to read like wimpy kids, I survived series, dragon master, Humphrey etc. I don’t like DC2 read comics all the time but I would ask him to read some chapter books first then he can read comics, and I don’t stop both of them read picture books since I think those are good for brain and imagination. And another thing is that some kids may seem bit behind at first ( like my DC1), but as long as they have no problem with phonics and read more and more, they will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has read most of the classics. He’s starting to translate them into Greek now for a hobby

Ancient Greek or Modern Greek? Mine did both and then discovered a passion for Cuneiform. The clay tablets take up so much space in the study. Ugh. #dcumproblems, amirite?

My first grader just embarked on Mahabharata, but only because she so enjoyed working through translating Bhagavad Gita first.

Had she not been asking me for more epics on and on after devouring all of the classics back in K, I never would've moved on to the translations. I want her to be self-motivated, of course.

Is this an Indian joke? It went over my head

NP but it's an educated person joke. Not Indian and I got it.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is at a similar level - she can read Elephant & Piggie (and all the extension series), Fly Guy, Pete the Cat, Frog & Toad, and just started the easier chapter books - Katie Woo for example. We read Princess in Black together and she sometimes needs help.

She also has been tagged as "advanced" in her school in both reading and math, so I would say your child is doing just fine, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has read most of the classics. He’s starting to translate them into Greek now for a hobby

Ancient Greek or Modern Greek? Mine did both and then discovered a passion for Cuneiform. The clay tablets take up so much space in the study. Ugh. #dcumproblems, amirite?

My first grader just embarked on Mahabharata, but only because she so enjoyed working through translating Bhagavad Gita first.

Had she not been asking me for more epics on and on after devouring all of the classics back in K, I never would've moved on to the translations. I want her to be self-motivated, of course.

Is this an Indian joke? It went over my head

NP but it's an educated person joke. Not Indian and I got it.

Ditto. I suspect many things go over PP’s head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Literally anything she wants. She has read the entire Percy Jackson series and series made for kids mythology chapter books.

BUT THIS IS NOT NORMAL.

How are her reading test scores/what level does it say on her report card?

Cool

OP, you are fine. I had one of these first graders like the Percy Jackson mom. Guess what? By 2nd or 3rd grade, most everyone knows how to read, and nobody cares that your kid used to be the first one reading chapter books.

Barring the true cases of 99th percentile IQ highly gifted children who go to special schools for the highly gifted, the 7 year olds supposedly reading Percy Jackson and Harry Potter aren't fully understanding it all. My DD could also "read" such books, as in open the page and say the words without stumbling. But the vocabulary and the situations and the subtle humor went over her head many times. I've only met two kids who really could read-read these books in 1st grade without needing someone to re-explain anything in simpler terms. Always take the anonymous stranger anecdotes with a grain of salt when it comes to these 'what is your child reading?' threads.

The 99th percentile isn’t that rare. To state the obvious, in an average elementary school that has 100 first graders, one will be in the 99th percentile. They don’t have to go to special schools for the highly gifted to understand Percy Jackson in the first grade.

+1 But also: it evens out by 2nd or 3rd when everyone can read, and then there may be a different set of kids who jump ahead because they are better at comprehension, prediction/inference and "reading to learn" as opposed to learning to read.

[Anonymous]

Mine can read flat Stanley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine is obsessed with David Foster Wallace’s ramblings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm just trying to get a sense of where my 1st grader is in terms of reading and her teacher is not very communicative. My kid can read Dear Dragon books and Elephant & Piggy pretty fluently. Anything harder than that requires bribes and she's very intimidated by long blocks of text--i.e. she refuses to read Frog & Toad, even though I think she could sound out all of the words because she says there are "too many words on each page." She can get through scholastic "F" and "G" level books, but struggles with those.

What books can your 1st grader read?

I would not force her to read stuff that is too hard. You want her to enjoy reading.

I think the above sounds normal.

[Anonymous]

Between whole language, balanced literature, picture books & graphic novels, and only reading those to herself, I’m sure all is fine. She did alright on the semester 2 minute reading test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has read most of the classics. He’s starting to translate them into Greek now for a hobby

Ancient Greek or Modern Greek? Mine did both and then discovered a passion for Cuneiform. The clay tablets take up so much space in the study. Ugh. #dcumproblems, amirite?

My first grader just embarked on Mahabharata, but only because she so enjoyed working through translating Bhagavad Gita first.

Had she not been asking me for more epics on and on after devouring all of the classics back in K, I never would've moved on to the translations. I want her to be self-motivated, of course.

Have you tried The Odyssey? My 1st grader couldn’t get enough. We are now onto our Shakespeare unit. We are currently reading Taming of the Shrew.

[Anonymous]

Mine was really struggling at the beginning of the year, and he is now reading the Frog and Toad series, Owl at Home, and the Fox and Chick series. I'm trying to get him into Nate the Great. I wouldn't say he's fluent, and he still shies away from longer texts, but I think he will be there before fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine has read most of the classics. He’s starting to translate them into Greek now for a hobby

Mine too - he does Latin also but, remember, THIS IS NOT NORMAL

Mine just finished Lord of the Rings.