Tell me about your 1st grade reader

[Anonymous]

My 6yo first grader is a good reader. He can read a whole dog man book in a sitting. He also likes magic tree house. I don’t love dog man as a parent but he is so entertained by the books and I want to encourage the love for reading. There are a lot of difficult words in those books so I think it’s good for him. He was reading the early readers level 1-3 in kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Mine tested 99th percentile and can read simpler chapter books.

[Anonymous]

My young first grader is reading guided level books in the J-M range. So he is a bit past elephant and piggie and fly guy but not really doing chapter books. He won’t yet pick up a book and read independently but is starting more and more to read things on his environment. Each night he reads to me and I read to him. His DCPS does a lot of phonics and he is a bit above grade level. Some kids read early but being able to read full chapter books is not a grade level expectation for 1st grade!

[Anonymous]

Ability and range varies a lot at 1st grade. If your kid is soundings out words, able to read some small guide readers independently and move on from where they use to be, they are doing fine. Reading is not a race or a competition. Most kids are not reading the Harry Potter novels. Of those who do, many are glossing over some bigger words, nuance, and themes in the books. This is also fine. When they reread them later in life they’ll pick it up.

Again I emphasize this is not a race or a competition. Keep reading to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Age and birth order makes huge difference OP.

My current 1st grader is reading simple chapter books like Half Magic. He also reads a lot of Dog Man graphic novels and Who would Win. He’s above grade level - but he also turned 7 in November and has an older brother which adds to the availability of books at higher reading levels.

My older child is identified as gifted and was reading things like Step into Reading Level 1 and 2 books in 1st grade. He turned 7 in July after 1st grade. He also had remote school for all of 1st grade and I used “Teach your child to read in 100 lessons” when covid ended kindergarten for him in March and he was just starting to sound out CVC words.

I try to be careful with Dog man books because the English is broken. My kids love them but we sometimes go over it and explain when there are English errors

Thanks for the advice, but both my kids are identified as gifted and strong readers for their age. They understand the difference between humorous or colloquial dialogue and standard English. The older one complete the Mensa reading list for K-3rd in 2nd grade and the younger one is on pace to do the same, so they also get plenty of exposure to “classics”.

My mom was school librarian for 30 years and she feels strongly that the best books for kids to read are the books they WANT to read. Just because kids CAN read harder or more sophisticated books, as long as they are on grade level, it’s more important to develop a love of reading.

I agree that kids should read what they want with the caveat that adults should also help them to discover a range of books and genres.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine is reading chapter books like Ramona, Magic Treehouse, Julie B Jones, Ivy & Bean etc. I believe she’s on the advanced side in reading as compared to her classmates, but isn’t a total outlier or anything

Those are typically second grade books. They are also some of the most boring books ever published, especially Ivy & Bean. If she can get through those books without wanting to scream from the stupidity and dullness of these books, good for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kiddo is reading at a 3rd grade level and won't stop reading. I didn't know kids could read too much but we need him stop in order to come up for air and interact with people. What do we do? He's into Dogman and Dragon Master books.

This sounds similar to my kid. Like tonight he devoured an entire Merlin mission magic tree house book before bed.

Truthfully, there’s a pretty wide range in 1st and it’s clear to us that DS is doing more than fine so we don’t really care at this point, just that he continues to love reading. One thing I have found helpful is to google Lexile and guided reading level ranges that are expected for his grade. I then compare the books DS is reading to that range to have an idea whether we should be concerned. This was helpful in K when trying to understand if he was on target for 1st. Now I do it to figure out what books to suggest to DS that are just a little bit more challenging to where he is at now.

Talk about obsessive - cross checking what your kid is reading and whether it’s where he should be and then trying to figure a way to push him past his limits. You need to relax and enjoy having a healthy kid who likes to read.

Only reason I did it in the first place is DS is in a school system where we get very little to no information on his progress except during parent teacher conferences. He brings no work home ever, not even things he is doing in class (I currently have ZERO idea how well he can write).

I’m not pushing him past his limits, I am finding content that is adjacent or slightly above where he is at when we run out of magic tree house and dragon masters books to read and asking him if he’d be interested in X book (for example he loves the titanic and I asked him if he’d be interested in this book I survived the titanic and we got it from the library). If I was pushing him I’d be handing him the hobbit or diary of a wimpy kid and having him sit next to me, forcing him to read it aloud…it’s way beyond his level. And like others have said, he can similarly run out of stamina and get frustrated with a book that’s too high a level.

You might be better off reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid with him sitting beside you. He’ll be entertained and will pick up a lot of new words. Books too far ahead are just frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Graphic novels like Warrior Cats
Pippi Longstocking
Nonfiction stuff about nature, like the DK guides

[Anonymous]

I have 2 boys. My youngest is in 1st grade and is currently reading Fenway and Hattie independently. He stops to ask for help with comprehension and hard words, so he's advanced. However, he hates reading. We have to argue about it every day, we have to put a timer on. His older brother loves reading and we've never had to push him.

[Anonymous]

The "at level" standards for schools are generally pretty low.

DCPS follows Common Core: https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ELA_Standards1.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is reading chapter books like Ramona, Magic Treehouse, Julie B Jones, Ivy & Bean etc. I believe she’s on the advanced side in reading as compared to her classmates, but isn’t a total outlier or anything

Those are typically second grade books. They are also some of the most boring books ever published, especially Ivy & Bean. If she can get through those books without wanting to scream from the stupidity and dullness of these books, good for her.

June is such a brat too.

[Anonymous]

I have a current 2nd grader. He was on grade level in 1st grade and is on grade level in 2nd grade. His reading improved dramatically over the course of 1st grade, but I could still identify combinations he hadn’t learned yet. He’s still rather be read to than read on his own, but he can read a dragon masters book, for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is reading chapter books like Ramona, Magic Treehouse, Julie B Jones, Ivy & Bean etc. I believe she’s on the advanced side in reading as compared to her classmates, but isn’t a total outlier or anything

Those are typically second grade books. They are also some of the most boring books ever published, especially Ivy & Bean. If she can get through those books without wanting to scream from the stupidity and dullness of these books, good for her.

What books around the same level do you recommend? Would love some new ideas for my DD. She is finishing up the Judy Blume Fudge books and has Nancy Drew in queue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine is reading chapter books like Ramona, Magic Treehouse, Julie B Jones, Ivy & Bean etc. I believe she’s on the advanced side in reading as compared to her classmates, but isn’t a total outlier or anything

Those are typically second grade books. They are also some of the most boring books ever published, especially Ivy & Bean. If she can get through those books without wanting to scream from the stupidity and dullness of these books, good for her.

Agree except for Ramona-- those books are classics. The rest are so formulaic and dull. Though kids this age seem to respond to formula.

[Anonymous]

Means nothing. My dyslexic kid at grade 4/5 was a great 1st grade reader! My 6th grade DD loooooved reading until 5th. And hates it now. Strong reader but doesn't read a damn thing unless assigned and still hates it in general.

Age 6/7 is so young. Wait till they are 10+. It's not about reading it's about personality.