Reply to What Books Can Your K'er/1st Grader Read by Him/Herself

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
The first and second Harry Potter in first grade, for DS.

DD can barely decode at the same age. Oh well. She'll get there.

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Please do not have your child read anything like Harry Potter at that age.  So many parents act like that is some badge of honor.  Putting aside the fact that a child would miss a tremendous amount of the text, the child also then doesn't read picture books, which is how some wonderful vocabulary is gained.  My second grader, who is an advanced reader (DRA of 28 at the end of first grade, which is as high as they test for that grade), just read a picture book last night that had "eye of the storm," "barometric pressure," etc. [/quote]

Forgive me, but that's a stupid statement. You are not alone in thinking this, sadly, even my child's principal made a similar announcement at Back-to-School Night - one of the few concepts where we do not see eye to eye.

Many children read a lot and can enjoy picture books AND other literature at that age. It has never been an either/or proposition.

I have never met a parent who forced their child to read something, by the way.

When my child wants to read something, I never say no. If it's not age-appropriate, I warn him about the content, but the final decision is his, unlike for more visual forms like movies, where I have the last word.
For example, my child read The Hobbit, written for children, but since he's in elementary school I have not let him watch the movie, which has "realistically" frightening depictions of orcs and a hair-raising close-up fight at the end, not described in such detail in the book. Now he's in 5th grade and enjoying the Lord of the Rings. I'm not going to stop him. He discusses it with him, which I love, and by that means I can also check his understanding of the book. He STILL loves picture books, cartoons, etc. I do too! That will never go away :-)

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