Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Reading below level

Do most kids read below there actual reading ability when they are reading for pleasure independently? DS 5 is reading at early-mid 3rd grade level but will only read mid 2nd grade books by himself. Anything more and he just balks at having to read it. He can't seem to make it through a chapter book on his own either. Just wondering if this was typical. Thanks.

I am no expert but could it be to do with size/density of text layout, ie physical eye maturity making it harder work?

That said I will confess to reading absolute mush for the most part. I want to read, so I do read, but given I am reading for pleasure/relaxation I read what is easy and convenient. I am so sleep deprived at the moment I just don't have the energy for the denser richer texts that I am well capable of. Maybe like me he just wants a fun relaxing ready and reading something easy and fun is his relaxation?

My older son last year was reading a lot of books lower than his reading level and I actually thought it was good for him. Most of them were humor chapter books. He needed to lighten up a bit and these fit the bill. He still read other challenging adventure stories at his level but he read these other books until he read all his school library had.

For DS 5 I would say it depends on how you look at it. I get his books for him (which he prefers) and I learned pretty early after his, for lack of a better term LOG explosion, that he can't read only at the level he is currently on. What i mean is that just because at 4 he could read and get science for 5th graders it didn't mean that was all he wanted to read. So once I realized that i was boxing him or boring him in I went wide as well as deep, so I started getting him picture books, science books and chapter books and increasing the levels of all as needed. So a year later, at 5 he is reading some much higher level chapter books than last year, are they as high as he could be reading, no because not all of him is on that skill level. But he is also reading picture books for 5 year olds, although not so much anymore. Typically I get the picture books that aren't in the picture book sections but are in the subject sections. What's interesting is he knows at some level how he wants to build knowledge, we are reading together, the title of this book is secret, "we" haven't finished it although he actually has, he couldn't wait for me and i cant read more than 2 or 3 chapters at a time. But it isn't just speed, he also wants to read it with me because he knows he didn't get all the words even though his comprehension is enough to know and get the story at a good level of comprehension, although he doesn't say that aloud and I cant get him to ask about the words he doesn't know while reading, he just won't. I also brought home the 39 steps, he took one look at it and said there were too many words. And it's not comfortable for him to not have any pictures - in fact he gets the most complicated things particularly when they have pictures. It's why he really liked the magic school bus picture books, which most 4 year old kids find hard. Plus, DS is not super interested in the social development stuff which comes when the books get harder, he has learned about bullying, divorce, liking girls, stuff which he has no experience of and really no interest in, but they are there. So for DS he sort of puts up with it in order to read the main stories which are more interesting and sophisticated, than the starter chapters. But part of him is at the level of one of his books right now that he is loving, mammoth academy, such a silly story but it's his humor level even though his vocab and comprehension are so much greater.

So short answer - for my DS he reads both down and up but it's very dependent, for fiction, it's got to be the right kind of book, good story, not so much social stuff, some pictures not too many words on the page, although that keeps changing. In fact all of this keeps changing. I brought home the harder ones in the last month or so because I was getting the feeling that he was searching for more, that he was stagnating, it's these weird uncertainties that make me think he needs to delve more deeply or get new science or harder books, I haven't entirely gotten the hang of it yet But when my DS isn't finishing something its because of the story sometimes or because its too hard or looks too scary. He has lots of reasons but its always specific to the book - not to reading over all.

Hope this helps!

DeHe

Hi Graceful Mum, given my current post on reading, perhaps we're not a good example, but dd5 doesn't read at her reading level. She can read pretty much anything these days - she really only stumbles on words she has never heard before and can't pickup from the spelling and context. She likes reading earlish chapter books. In part because she finds the text too small in more complicated books, in part because she's a worrier and if there is any chance of anything scary she's out of there and in part because a lot of more complex books just don't have stories she's interested in reading by herself yet for all the reasons DeHe gave (the story lines just aren't relevant to her yet).

I have no suggestions to offer because, as per my post, she wont even let US read anything beyond these books to her at the moment. But I don't worry so much about what she's choosing to read as long as she's enjoying reading.

I think it's pretty common and I certainly wouldn't worry about it. MY DD reads all over the place. She will perservere with something at the edge of her ability if highly interested, but she also enjoys plowing through a pile of Magic Treehouse books.

We had a problem with mismatch between DS's reading level and his humor/interest level. He was not getting elementary school humor as a 3 year old. He sped through all 41 of the Magic Treehouse books and my collection of old Ruth Chews, but couldn't read Horrible Harry or the School of the Black Lagoon or Stink etc. because they were boring since he didn't get the jokes. (I asked the children's librarian for help after explaining and she looked at me like I was nuts and recommended Mo Willems Pigeon books, I'm like yeah, we own those.) He also likes big print and occasional pictures. At 4.5, magic books and non-fiction work really well, humor and mysteries not so much.

Happily Junie B. Jones didn't make it past the second chapter. He's currently on a non-fiction jag. If you can get the big old hardbacks of the Oz books with the original illustrations from the library, those are nice.

So no, I don't think it's a problem. Seek books at the right reading level with big print that are also the right interest level. Scholastic books has a nifty feature that lets you choose both RL and IL ages separately to recommend books.

I wouldn't worry about it. I applaud any reading that is self-motivated -- one of my kids is dyslexic so I have heightened appreciation for any book that she picks up independently. A one year difference between what your child can read with you and what the child reads independently doesn't seem out-of-whack. Reading is a multi-level process. Decoding and comprehension don't always proceed at the same rate. Reading at a lower level is good practice and solidifies comprehension skills.

Reading below level for fun seems to be pretty common. DD10 generally chooses to read material meant for 6th-8th graders, although her reading level is higher. Books at this level usually match her interests.

For me, I read technical documents for work. At home, most of what I read is mush.

I also enjoy 8th grade level books. I pre-read most books before I suggest them for DD. They're usually quick reads, and I don't need to worry about them being too explicit.