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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Gifted” + repetitive reading of Big Nate = autism (or the neurological difference previously known as Asperger’s. Early intervention is key.

oh give me a break

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely indicative of emotional immaturity.

the kid is 10.

I know. But he’s also seemingly profoundly gifted.

I wasn't award that being profoundly gifted mean profound emotional maturity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely indicative of emotional immaturity.

the kid is 10.

I know. But he’s also seemingly profoundly gifted.

I wasn't award that being profoundly gifted mean profound emotional maturity

meant

[Anonymous]

Are you drunk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Well, he probably likes it for exactly the reasons you don’t. Forbidden fruit is the sweetest. Like Captain underpants there’s probably something mildly transgressive about it that he’s enjoying. Let him enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Well, he probably likes it for exactly the reasons you don’t. Forbidden fruit is the sweetest. Like Captain underpants there’s probably something mildly transgressive about it that he’s enjoying. Let him enjoy it.

He probably reads how you classify him and he’s rebelling. He is not a performing monkey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely indicative of emotional immaturity.

the kid is 10.

I know. But he’s also seemingly profoundly gifted.

I wasn't award that being profoundly gifted mean profound emotional maturity

It's called asynchronous development.

[Anonymous]

Middle School Librarian here. We have a section in our library called "Quick Reads" with these types of books. I call them "elementary favorites." Many, many students enjoy checking out a Big Nate next to a hefty Neal Schusterman sci-fi novel. It's totally fine. I read a lot of heavy hitting classics, but at the beach, I love a good breezy crime mystery. Let him enjoy his "comfy books."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. I have no problem at all with my kids reading Calvin and Hobbes. It’s great stuff. We all live Asterix and Obelix, too, but most people aren’t familiar with those comics.

Have you read Fraz? A lesser known comic that my readers of Calvin and Hobbes also love!

[Anonymous]

We were all really advanced readers in my family and my mom was always trying to get us to read the Brontes, etc. The problem is that the subject matter (someone in an unfulfilling marriage, marrying for money, unrequited love, competition amongst people of various socioeconomic levels) often doesn't really resonate with someone young with no life experiences, even if technically you understand the plot, all the words, etc. I remember reading Madame Bovary in high school and then reading it again after I had been married for several years, and was like "Oh, now I get it."

I was a very serious painist and I remember my piano teacher talking about a similar phenomenon, where young musicians struggle to convey emotions in music that they haven't actually experienced in real life yet. (i.e. "What's the saddest thing you can think of?" as I'm learning a Chopin Nocturne. "Uh, my dog dying?" or a teacher suggesting to several of us that the music we were playing needed to convey more erotic emotion. I hadn't even been kissed yet! What?"
The disconnect between emotional maturity and life experience and "smarts" is real. Asynchronous development. It'll get you every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely indicative of emotional immaturity.

the kid is 10.

I know. But he’s also seemingly profoundly gifted.

I wasn't award that being profoundly gifted mean profound emotional maturity

It's called asynchronous development.

Yes I’m aware. I was being sarcastic as it appeared that PP was saying the kid was emotionally immature and shouldn’t be because he’s gifted. The kid is 10. Those books are completely appropriate for that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were all really advanced readers in my family and my mom was always trying to get us to read the Brontes, etc. The problem is that the subject matter (someone in an unfulfilling marriage, marrying for money, unrequited love, competition amongst people of various socioeconomic levels) often doesn't really resonate with someone young with no life experiences, even if technically you understand the plot, all the words, etc. I remember reading Madame Bovary in high school and then reading it again after I had been married for several years, and was like "Oh, now I get it."

I was a very serious painist and I remember my piano teacher talking about a similar phenomenon, where young musicians struggle to convey emotions in music that they haven't actually experienced in real life yet. (i.e. "What's the saddest thing you can think of?" as I'm learning a Chopin Nocturne. "Uh, my dog dying?" or a teacher suggesting to several of us that the music we were playing needed to convey more erotic emotion. I hadn't even been kissed yet! What?"
The disconnect between emotional maturity and life experience and "smarts" is real. Asynchronous development. It'll get you every time.

+1

I have a seven-year-old who can read middle-school-level books. But a lot of her reading is "below" her reading level, and she enjoys re-reading her favorites. While we do make sure that at least some of her reading is more challenging, we don't care if she wants to read "easy" stuff, too. I feel like the important thing is that she's developing a habit of reading and finding it to be a source of pleasure. That's how you get a lifelong reader. While she can decode and comprehend books written for older kids, they just aren't relevant, and she doesn't have the life experience to understand or appreciate the issues or the nuances, or the cultural references that are above her head, or even the sense of humor. Books written for younger kids are easy to read, but more emotionally and developmentally appropriate. We look for more advanced books that are still emotionally "on level," and it's not always easy. And, frankly, I read "easy" stuff, too. I am a voracious reader; I have an advanced degree in literature, specializing in the Victorian novel; and I like to read serious works of history, but certainly not every book I read is on par with Middlemarch or The Battle Cry of Freedom. I have "comfort reads" from my childhood and adolescence that I reread sometimes, or "beach reads" that are less demanding, mixed in with more challenging stuff.

I remember reading Hemingway stories as a fifth-grader. They were pretty easy to decode, but I missed about 90 percent of what was really going on because I was a child reading books intended for adults. I read "Hills Like White Elephants" and did not *at all* understand what was going on. I went back and re-read it as an adult and was like, "Oh, wow, this is clearly about an abortion that the man is pressuring the woman to have with the false promise that their relationship can then just return to normal!" It went totally over my head as a child.

[Anonymous]

I’m a 4th grade teacher. My students love big Nate, wimpy Kid, etc. he’s still 10. He doesn’t need to challenge himself all the time. Let him read for enjoyment!

[Anonymous]

I read comics once in a while and I have a masters degree! It's just mental candy and a break from reality.

[Anonymous]

My ten year old is reading Lord of the Rings at the moment and trying to memorize Elvish. Goes back to kid cartoons by the afternoon.