Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion CRAZY good reader...never reads...???

Children need to read for the love of the story. Not because it's listed on the lexile chart in a certain range. It has been proven that "reassurance reading" that is reading something that is really simple is good for kids. So is reading the same book more than once.
My DS was told that he needed to read in his lexile range and he stopped reading all together. I had to sign his log every night so I did. Since he didn't want his mom to be a liar, he took over bedtime stories for his little brothers. Lexile scores, probably 100! But he enjoyed it and so did my littles.

As soon as he was accelerated out of elementary and away from the reading log, he went back to it. He's 9 now and reading Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku.

Turning a thing done for pleasure into a requirement is a great way to make the thing no longer pleasurable.

In your place, I would explain why the school has such a program... so students who are not interested in books will have a chance to become interested, and so students who are at or below grade level in language arts will have literature that helps them improve.

And then I'd say, since you're neither of those things, that's why you're not going to participate anymore.

Finally, I would ask the teacher if it was okay for us to waive the entire reading log idea for my DD. If not, I'd simply fake it all year, randomly changing titles whether DD had read them or not.

My DD has a 20-minute-a-night requirement, but does not have a log, so I don't have this issue. Her G/T class has been assigning reading projects, but at least she gets to choose her material, and she's been pretty happy with her choices so far.

I agree with Dude. We simply stopped doing the reading log, as it didn't make sense for us and was just a hassle. We occasionally mention the sorts of things DS has read recently, but we're not going to keep track of it. I doubt that the school in any district can condition a student's grades on the parent's performance of tracking activities anyway (i.e. parents can't be given homework).

There's certainly something to be said for not rocking the boat and being as pleasant as possible, but I think that the reading logs are a chance to remind the school/teacher that a child is far outside the norm, and a low-value way to get a teacher or admin to acknowledge that certain things are pointless for a child who's far ahead.

The only reason I'd do a reading log is to show the teacher how far ahead of the curve a student's reading really is, but in general I think that that's a weaker approach than relying on testing or other hard results, plus insistence on the ol' "evidence based practice". And DS brings a thick book to school often enough out of habit that his teacher has probably noticed. We haven't heard about the reading log in quite some time now.

I have two good readers -- one who loves to read and one who really does not. My oldest, fortunately, wasn't held to any reading stds once she got to about nine. The last time she took a lexile test, she was 10 and scored around a 1500. She did enjoy reading some books with high lexiles like that, but she also read all kinds of other stuff. The way her school encouraged reading to a high level was to assign some challenging books in the classroom like The Phantom of the Opera and other unabridged classics, but there were no reading logs.

My youngest, the one who does not like reading, also reads well above grade level, but probably not as high as her sister did at her age. For her, 2e does play into it. She reads very slowly and has other issues that impede her reading pleasure.

Your dd sounds somewhere btwn my two -- no LD (like my dd13), but little passion for reading at this point (like my dd11). Some of the stuff we've tried w/ dd11 might or might not work in your case in that your dd doesn't have a LD. The few things that have had some success with dd11 include:

* buying her a Nook and letting her read on that (she likes technology and can download samples of books and decide if she wants to continue reading them or not once she's had a chance to preview them)
* letting her read magazines and shorter things like collections of short stories (Edgar Allen Poe, for instance, is likely to be fairly high on a lexile range, but also has a lot of shorter stuff in case she loses interest quickly)
* like you, not following with an iron fist whether the reading log is a 100% accurate representation of what dd is reading -- putting it back in her court rather than making it a chore

Well, I HAVE asked the teacher for some suggested reading books and the teacher's response (twice) was "Well, she has just read SOOOO many books already!" I really don't know if she has ever even asked dd which books she has read...I know her BIG challenge book is Harry Potter. Only the really bright kids can make it through the first book of Harry Potter. She told me that many of her kids start the book and decide not to finish it. She knows DD has already read that...so ... I guess that leaves...no. books. So,I went to the vp with this and she said to lie on the book logs and that there were many many books at dd's level in the library. (Our 4th Grade is at the Middle School) She also asked the Librarian to keep a dialogue with dd about what she is reading. This just started. Maybe it will help.



LOL! I was kind of wondering if DD was making this up...that she couldn't find a book she liked at that level. Thank you for filling me in. I was never a good reader and don't read much fiction, (but I like non-fiction and forums!) It is hard to know if she is pulling one over on me!

When she is done with her current "Cat Who" book, I think I will suggest to her that it might be okay if she re-reads Harry Potter. She wanted to, but with all this Lexil stuff and required reading and not re-reading, I discouraged her. I think I will go ahead and let her. Maybe she will be willing to read it to DD6. She has tried to read it herself and just doesn't have enough phonics to sound out the harder words.

I will do all of these. It will take time to afford a Nook. I would be closer to buying one if DD6 hadn't read 40 BOOKS for a Read to Feed fund raiser at school...I said I would give her a buck a chapter book. She had two weeks to read. I would have NEVER imagined she could read 40 of those stupid Rainbow Magic Books in two weeks! I tested her on them too because I didn't believe her! No one has turned her off to reading yet! Obviously those books must be below her challenge level if she can read them so fast...right? I guess this is one case it is good to be under challenged. This is teaching me that being underchallenged is not always bad.

DD6 does not like to stumble on a word. It messes up the flow of the story. So, she only reads books she can read easily. I have learned through all this that is okay! However, I am $40 poorer.

Thank you for all your wonderful advice. She will be so happy to read Harry Potter again without being accused of being lazy or underachieve (I think I might even be to blame sometimes) and I will buy her a Nook for her 10th bday...her 6 year old sis will be sooooo jealous!

We got dds their Nook Simple Touchs for x-mas as their major gifts and when they were on sale for $79 each.

Re Harry Potter, heck, I've even read the series more than once. It is a great set of books!

My DS8 also is a crazy good reader, and has a requirement to read 30 minutes a day, but there is no restriction on what he reads. We do send books to school with him from our local library, since the school library, while prety well stocked, doesn't have exactly what he wants.

It takes us time to find things that DS will want to read, though we always feel lucky when we strike upon a series. Just my opinion, but I would ask the teacher if it's OK to ignore the lexile level business, since you all know your DD is an excellent reader, and just let her pick what she wants so she can get her love of reading back. I'm sure no teacher wants to be responsible for crushing a child's love of learning.

As for HP, that's great if your DD wants to read it again. DS read the first one, but wasn't overly excited about it and didn't want to read any of the others. I'm trying to think back to what I loved at that age... Did your DD read all the Anne of Green Gables books? How about the Chronicles of Prydain? If you get clearance for below lexile books, post again, and we can give a ton of suggestions.

...I think part of her NOT reading or being excited by reading is that...If she chooses a book, she is not allowed to switch books. Occasionally she is asked to write up a prediction or whatever on the book she is reading and logging. Her teacher noticed once that she was reading "Midwife's Apprentice" for too long (she kept losing it lol) and told her that she wanted it done in a couple of days. I have not spoken with her teacher extensively, but I can tell she is not going to understand my point of view. She is older and very rigid. She seems to be good with struggling readers, and might even resent my dd for being advanced. She encouraged me to tell her to play chess. That was her big words of advice at our last conferences. She said that chess is "good for her because you have to think ahead." While this is true, I thought we were way beyond that. She told me how wonderful it was to have someone in her class who could remind her how the rook moved. She tried to convince me that chess was "hard." This was her Language Arts teacher and this was all she could say at parent conferences and that DD was doing "fine" and that she has already read "so many books" and when I asked about her friendships she said, "well, I never see her by herself."

So, what I'm trying to say is that talking to this teacher is out.

Ideas for reading...I'll tell you what she has read and enjoyed

Shadow's On The Sea by Joan Hiatt Harlow. (I picked her up Joshua's Song by the same auther and she was happy.)

Behind the Bedroom Wall (don't know who)Read it last year.

American Girl's Book on Money (has been reading it and re-reading it since kindergarten and frequently makes business plans)

On Pointe Magazine

American Girl Magazine (writes to them, but never sends it.)

She wants to read that wearwolf moon seried...what is it called? (I won't let her)

She thinks she might enjoy Hunger Games...any thoughts?

She likes books on how to interpret dreams.

And books on how to decorate your room.

She has a book about how to tutor children to read on her nightstand.

She seems to be injoying the "Cat Who" Books and will sometimes refer to them...but she doen't love them so much that she brings them in the car

Oh! SHE LOVED Dance of Sisters

AND Dancing Shoes
AND Ballet Shoes (but these are sooo far under her Lexile!




Books she doesn't like...

Anything Tolken

Anything she can watch on TV...i.e. Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the prarie...

No HOBBIT! NO Chronicles Of Narnia (She heard me read most of them to her sister)

She really is a girl with a bit of an edge. She want to read about social problems about girls her age (or older) and most of those are written so badly or they are written for girls who are deciding when will be there first time ...ya know.

She really isn't into reading about the pioneers, although she has enjoyed historical fictions that have taken place during wartimes.

Oh, she like the Red Rock Series about a Christian Group of kids who got into some scary adventures...like being in a car accident in which the car ended up under water and they all had to save each other. I think they were about a 7th grade level. She actually devoured that series. A friend gave them to her.



I am going to officially blow off the Lexile restrictions and just let her read books she likes...IF they bring it up as an issue, I will then talk with the teacher and the principal about how she has obviously met their standards of fluency.

Any ideas for Books based on her interests would be very welcome! I may even lie a little to her about the books being at a good lexile...some books aren't even listed...so I could tell her that I couldn't find the Lexile...and that would be okay.

Your description of the teacher would certainly convince me to ignore some of her suggestions! You have given a great list for people to get an idea about what your kiddo enjoys. Shout out to parents of girls -- any ideas based on sydness's list?

I giggled a little at the requirement that she won't like anything she can see on TV. When I read Anne of Green Gables, there was no TV version of it. Yes, I am old. This is a little limiting though, in this day and age, when all the classics have been made into TV shows or movies, and all the "new classics" are quickly swept up into the world of TV and movies as well.

As for Hunger Games, maybe you will want to read it first. I have heard this is not for the more sensitive kids. Also, it will break your DD's no-film rule when the movie comes out.