I have edited my post because it was unclear. She gets 100 percent on almost every test, so it isn't a problem that she's failing them. I'm not asking for her to pick books above her level (the library only has half a shelf that would fit that description!). I'm just trying to figure out whether I should be trying to make it more educational by requesting something different. For example, I could ask them to make her level more narrow (apparently the levels are made very broad for higher levels because most recreational fiction is written at about a level 5 or 6, so it is harder to find good choices at higher levels, but reading at the lower end doesn't seem as though it is pushing a child to get more comfortable with more difficult work in the same way that a child with a lower range is being pushed). I could also ask for comprehension tests or for her to write about what she has read.
Alternatively, though, I can just let her enjoy picking out books without worrying about it. The tests don't bother her and she has special permission to get 2 books at one time instead of one, so she just feels like it's the same as getting books at the local library. I've asked them to let her get any level book (lower or higher) for her second book so she has more flexibility.
So I just don't feel she is learning anything from it at present, although she is enjoying the books, and am just torn about it. I'd like to feel she was learning at school! I'd like to feel like she was being pushed a little because she needs to be comfortable with doing things that are challenging.
Also, my daughter does run into the problem of learning mispronunciations through learning new words from books. I don't see it as a problem, though; I did the same thing. I just correct her if I hear a word like that and have installed the feature on her Kindle to check definitions and pronunciations.
Last edited by apm221; 01/26/14 07:26 AM.
