5 year old reading "Little House on the Prairie"

[Anonymous]

A "shame" is when people go to extremes to argue their point -- for example, my saying 'LHOP is over the head of a five year old' in terms of their life experience is just like saying a parent should never encourage a child to read, or that I'm saying parents should discourage their children from reading, or that I am critical of "allowing" a child to read at their own level but am in favor of FORCING them to read what i consider age appropriate -- and on and on. What nonsense. You may have gifted kids, but you are a bunch of dumb a$$es.

LOL! I think it is hilarious that (1) you say that I equate your point with not allowing a child to read. I didn't; I merely said parents not allowing their children to read is a shame and the situation described in the OP is not. Sorry you took that personally and (2) Dumb a$$es? Thanks for bleeping out the s's, I guess? Hee. Oh, and I never, ever said or insinuated that I have a gifted child or that I was a gifted child. I'm just a reader, who thinks that a person of any age reading a very good book is a very good thing. That's all.

Someone needs to go watch A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

.

Someone needs to go watch A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life!

I wonder who it could be....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was reading long, involved books like that (the anne of green gables series, wrinkle in time, etc) at that age.

my reading comprehension was always very good.

may not be the norm, but there are definitely some kids ready for more mature books.

Incidentally, I HATED kindergarten. I was so fed up with the little begin to read books that were forced on me at school.

Hah! Your post made me laugh because it reminded me that in preschool I couldn't understand why all the books rhymed. And that Dr. Seuss guy -- so stupid -- I hated reading him! (Please don't flame me, that was my preschool opinion of Seuss, because I knew then that adult books didn't rhyme. In my adult years, I matured and learned to appreciate Seuss and poetry.)

[Anonymous]

I would highly suggest having your child read nonfiction texts. You can find some very age appropriate texts that are in level developmentally and academically. The vocabulary development will serve her well as she progresses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think that's awesome! What more is there to say?

I think so too.

Me three! Rock on little girl!!

For fans of LHOP, here's an interesting article about the author and her daughter: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2009/08/10/090810crat_atlarge_thurman

[Anonymous]

In the bizarre and competitive atmosphere of DC, it's hard to believe this but some kids become voracious readers without their parents pressuring them, and some of those kids will read anything that they can get their hands on.

My five-year-old is one of those. I didn't teach her to read. She picked it up, starting with a hand-me-down Leap Frog refrigerator toy that sang the letter sounds and on through cereal boxes, her board books, street signs, my newspaper, anything with letters on it. Fast forward to age 5 and she will grab the first thing off of the shelf at the library and get into it, or a section of the newspaper, or just about anything else.

I disagree that it's pointless to let a kid read a book with a story that's beyond their comprehension. For me, as long as the book doesn't have sexual, violent, or discriminatory/bigoted content, she can look it over and get what she wants out of it, even if it's a new vocabulary word.

I'm not going to make her do it and when we're at the library I try to steer her to things she could actually understand. Non-fiction books are great that way. A five-year old can enjoy a nature book with one-page descriptions of animal species just fine.

The important thing to remember is that you can't micromanage your kid's learning too much. There are going to be kids who are fantastic at Legos and Zoob and those wonderful spacial hobbies (mine isn't), and those who draw well (not mine either), and those who enjoy and are quite adept with words (mine is one of those). All are self-teaching. All are enriching their little minds and expanding their abilities every day. You don't take the crayon away from your little artist and tell her that she's not advanced enough to draw that ornate butterfly yet. You let her draw a picture of the butterfly that's at the top of her game. I let my kid puzzle through National Geographic if she feels like trying.

Sometimes I wonder if questions like this are really about whether the poster should worry that her own kid isn't "performing" up to standard.

Your kid is fine. So is your friend's.

[Anonymous]

Your friend is probably telling the truth. Don't question it. I read very young and people totally thought my mom was lying about it. I'm sure some people do lie about such things, but it's plausible, so give your friend the benefit of the doubt.

As for whether the kid can fully appreciate LHOP, why should anyone STOP her from reading it if she likes it? I read Shakespeare and Poe in the 4th grade (yeah, seriously, huge dork) -- did I get them fully? No way. Did I get way more out of them when I reread them later? Definitely. Does that mean it was worthless for me to read them in the 4th grade? No -- I loved the words, I thought the story in "The Tempest" was so cool, I picked up the dark, creepy atmosphere in Poe and dug the rhymes in "The Raven"... why keep stuff from a kid if they're enjoying it? Let them stretch their brains if they want to.

[Anonymous]

My daughter started reading Laura Ingalls Wilder shortly after turning 6, and she loves the books. I've been rereading them, and we talk about the characters, what happens, where they go, etc. Obviously she doesn't understand everything, but she sees the stories as great adventures and loves all the details about how people lived.

[Anonymous]

why are we still talking about this old thread?