I had an interesting exchange with my son this afternoon. He's been doing the summer reading program at our local library, and, while he's slammed through some books, some of the books he picks (world atlas) don't read as fast as some of the others (magic tree house), so he's not flying through it as fast as he thinks he should (not to mention he keeps getting distracted from the library books by the myriad other books he likes to read from his own library). He's working on about 6 books at once right now, so i keep telling him he's fine!
Anyway, in an effort to keep him motivated and marking off little boxes, i'm constantly looking for faster read books to complement the atlases he has. Today they had added a series of lists for suggestions: K, 1st-2nd grade, 3-4, 5-6. I pulled the 3-4 guide and he said to me - but i'm going into 1st grade?!
I tried to explain that the books in the K and 1 list wouldn't really be of interest to him but the ones in 3-4 might be more fun. By way of example, i showed him the K list (cat in the hat, chicka-chicka-boom-boom) and the 1-2 list (stellaluna, fredinand the bull), and we talked about how he's read those (and we still read them to his little brother), but that they are not challenging to him like the chapter books that we can find in the 3-4 or above lists. (thankfully, this time the list seemed to have good age appropriate books for a 6 year old (rather than tween type subject matter).
I've found myself in this spot before and i debate how far i should go into the explanation. I know he knows he's different somehow, but i also think, to some degree, he's a bit clueless. How have you guys dealt with this topic with your own kids??
BTW, for someone who'd never posted before, i seem to be getting a bit carried away... I can see how this can become addictive!
