We had an awesome first grade teacher who set the groundwork in place for Matilda to read anything she wanted. She called me in to the classroom for a conference the second month of first grade (my daughter would have been 6 years and one month old) and told me that Matilda had a 98% average on renaissance accelerated reader program! and was testing too frequently... So, to take her up. Way up. She said she only wanted her to test on fifth grade books from then on out. I think I panicked more than her, because not sure of you guys experiences, but when you get to fifth grade level books, some things are taken for granted: like there is no Santa Claus or tooth fairy! We still believed in that. So, I basically read every series she read, first. Then we moved. I had built up her personal library with books leveled at fifth to seventh grade, and she had already tested in a bunch of harry potter books and Roald Dahl, etc before first grade ended. When we went into the new school. They had her AR record to log in and could see her year end average and points. They told me she could read any book there, and she did not have a goal or a limit. She finished up the schools k-5 reading goal her first month there (which sucks cause now she has nothing to aim for and -almost 4 more years of school) and was the youngest student to get honor reader and finish the program, only her first month at the school!
What we are finding now is that the topics she can read sometimes bore her. She isn't interested in anything but sci if and fantasy right now. I got her turned in to Percy Jackson this month, and am hoping she reads that series since I have screened it. But, then what? When I was her age I had a similar issue and read Stephen King. E-gad.
I have often thought of starting a blog for advanced readers who are young, just so other parents would know what series are safe for them. For instance, just skip Fudge by Judy Blume if your k class kid still believes in Santa and the tooth fairy.
And FYI, if you are using accelerated reader, you should know its a crappy program. They determine book levels by a formula that looks at how many words had more than two syllables. So, a complex series like Wrinkle in Time by Madeline Le'Engle is a fourth grade book, and something fluffy and simple like Harry Potter is fifth and sixth grade AR. We actually pulled back Wrinkle in Time from her, because it is such a beautiful series that I wanted to save it for when she and I could discuss all the complex themes together. Also, it's totally closed task and not sure how comprehension plays in. It's not understanding the literature, it's the ability to parrot back what you read. Matilda has good recall, so she has never made below an 80 on a book and her average stays around 95. If a child has consistently low scores, they either skipped passages or day dreamed. It's very straight forward and multiple choice.
