Reply to MAP-R Score 240

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kids, now in middle and high school, had similar scores at that age. I prefer my kids read classic literature, which teaches them delayed gratification (no first person non-stop action there!), and understanding of complex sentence structure and vocabulary. Your kid can start with The Lord of the Rings (Hobbit first if he hasn't read it already), or Watership Down, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, or something like the Redwall series, with lots of accents from the British Isles transcribed on paper (the audiobooks read by the late author are fun). I assume he's read the Harry Potter series, Chronicles of Narnia, etc. He can also start reading some Terry Pratchett, the later novels are better.

If your kid is into Greco-Roman myths, you'll have to tell them later on that all modern retellings are mostly wrong on multiple points, and that kids' versions walk a fine line to hide the incredibly misogynist and violent nature of that mythos, and that basically Zeus sexually assaults his way around the world. For some reason, parents tend to pay a lot more attention to inappropriate content in contemporary works than in classical works, and the earlier the work, the more passes it gets.

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Do you think watership down is appropriate for a 7-8yo?  I think the themes in there are a bit too "mature" for that age?

Also where the red Fern grows is at that reading level, but the topics is just too mature for that age, I think?[/quote]

PP you replied to. It depends on the kid. Mine were reading these and others in elementary school. I have a WWII-obsessed son, and he read The Longest Day and similar things at that age. DD is the animal lover and loved Watership Down, Animal Farm, etc, and did understand, with my help, the real-world references. Of course you need to accompany them in their reading. Tom Sawyer, for ex: you need to put discrimination (both class and race) into historical context. British novels like A Tale of Two Cities: you need to explain the history, which French and English kings, what Revolution Dickens is talking about, etc... For Dickens, you can start with A Christmas Carol, because it requires fewer explanations. Oliver Twist usually appeals to kids too.

But since we're all bookworms in the house, and these are all novels I read at their age, I found it very rewarding to discuss them with my children. I did the same thing for classics in my native language, although it's bit harder to get them to read in that language.

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