Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take them to the bookstore or library and let them pick out what seems interesting. You don't need to control it by level.

+1

Just because a kid CAN read at a higher grade level doesn't mean they HAVE to read at a higher grade level. We had this issue -- my kid was reading several grades ahead, but the content of many books "at her level" was not appropriate for her, or she simply didn't have the experience to relate to it or the life understanding to really get it. So she read things that were not "challenging" but that were emotionally appropriate. We also read a lot of picture books, which are often written at a higher reading level (since often it's parents reading to kids, so the vocabulary is more advanced). She also liked collections of fairy tales and folk tales, as well as things like kid's encyclopedias or reference books for kids about space or the ocean or animals or whatever.

+2 Reading level is unrelated to subject matter and what the child should be reading. Reading level is just a school-based diagnostic. Leave that to teachers for in school purposes. Your child can already read well enough, so your goal is to keep the child interested in the subject of the books at home. Level is 100% irrelevant to your home book selection. I agree that picture books and other books meant for adults to read to kids are great for this age and particularly good for early readers.

Bear in mind that at school the teacher will be introducing and using books for different reasons, so don't get bent out of shape if they seem 'too easy' for your child. Read the harder books at home.

Anonymous wrote:Right...he can read well so I would not give a thought to the reading level. Let him pick what ever he wants at the bookstore or library. No reason not to enjoy the Cat in the Hat or A Snowy Day just because you learned to read early.

Anonymous wrote:Hatchet is too old for a preschooler -- even the tamer "My side of the Mountain" is about a boy running away from home and living on his own. Those are meant for older kids.

OP, the fabulous advice I got was this: there is a window of time for the magic of certain levels of children's books -- don't miss it because you were pushing the child to read books meant for older kids. Your child will read those when older, but will never want to go back and read the wonderful literature meant for little ones. Stay in the little kids section of the library for a while longer yet. You won't be getting back there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take them to the bookstore or library and let them pick out what seems interesting. You don't need to control it by level.

+1

Just because a kid CAN read at a higher grade level doesn't mean they HAVE to read at a higher grade level. We had this issue -- my kid was reading several grades ahead, but the content of many books "at her level" was not appropriate for her, or she simply didn't have the experience to relate to it or the life understanding to really get it. So she read things that were not "challenging" but that were emotionally appropriate. We also read a lot of picture books, which are often written at a higher reading level (since often it's parents reading to kids, so the vocabulary is more advanced). She also liked collections of fairy tales and folk tales, as well as things like kid's encyclopedias or reference books for kids about space or the ocean or animals or whatever.

Anonymous wrote:They don’t, and your kid will just have to get used to it. My kids were not as precocious as yours, but in early elementary, they liked books by Roald Dahl, CS Lewis, and Lloyd Alexander (Chronicles of Prydain). One loved Harry Potter and World War II books, particularly The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, the other was scared by HP but loved The Hobbit, the Flicka series, the Redwall books by Brian Jacques, and Watership Down. They both enjoyed Animal Farm and The Hounds pf the Morrigan. Later on their reading became more Isaac Asimov and Michael Crichton.