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Dyslexic - "save" good books as enticement to read?


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I've seen different views on this subject. Some people recommend keeping aside really good books in anticipation for a dyslexic to encourage reading. (Like Harry Potter). Personally I just read aloud everything as our scope and sequence for most things means it may be a while before we are able to branch from our leveled readers even to child easy readers. But as the decoding gets more complex and I see us getting closer to easy readers I wonder if I should have something. Even just to use as our read aloud to branch a little from leveled readers after I prescreen them. Any experience one way or the other?

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Barton says to keep the reading 95% decodable to avoid guessing, the plague for dyslexics.  So yes, she gives reader lists keyed to each lesson where she has made sure the text will be 95% decodable with what the student has learned.  Maybe there are lists like that for what you're using?

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I would not keep anything aside.  The child might not be interested anymore.  If the child has a ton of interests, this might not matter.  If the child is focused on one series, or wants to have knowledge of one series that friends are talking about, then I would read it.  

 

Now, I say no sometimes, if it doesn't look like a book I want to read.  We quit books sometimes.

 

But my son was not someone where there were a lot of books he would like to hear.  It was always a struggle to find a series he would be interested in.  Right now -- I feel like I know of several series that he would like, and it is a good feeling.  I did not feel like that when he was younger.  He was picky and could easily have an attitude like, "fine, I don't care" and that "I don't care" associate with reading was not a good thing.  That is kind-of his personality.

 

Plus the series in question were series where it was going to be a few years until he could read them on his own.

 

Also -- I did that.  I didn't read him some classic early books, even though I read him some other classic early books and he loved them.  I was saving those for him -- the whole "pleasure of reading them on your own the first time."  And I believe that would have been a great pleasure.  But unfortunately by the time his reading level caught up, he was not at a stage to care about those books anymore.  He loved Arnold Lobel 2-3 years before he was reading that level, frex.  He loved Mouse Soup in pre-school and still in Kindergarten.  But in 2nd grade when he could have read it easily?  No.  I was reading him long chapter books by then.  He didn't want to go back and read all the Frog and Toad books.  

 

Now he will come and listen when I read to my little kids, sometimes, other times he chooses to read on his own.  

 

Also, for him, and I have read this is true of some/many kids, a lot of his early independent reading involved re-reading books I had already read him a few times.  So -- there is that, too.

 

But I think it could go the other way, too.  I think it just depends on the child.  My son was just picky and ready to go to his "I don't care" place.  

 

Also, I think there are so many early readers, and new ones coming out.  There are not a lot that are phonics-based, but there are a lot in general.  If you wanted (and I have done this) you can get one book from a series a week from the library (Fly Guy, Elephant and Piggie now with my daughter).  It stretches them out, and makes it more likely to re-read and get comfortable, if that is an issue (I think this is about confidence, too, but definitely my kids like repeat reads of their favorites).   

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There are so many wonderful books out there, and children's interests change so often, I would hesitate to hold a book or book series back that they had expressed interest in.  There are plenty of books they might want to read on their own later on.  If you or he is interested in a book series that is beyond his independent reading capacity I see no reason why it shouldn't be a read aloud or audio book right now.  By the time he can decode a book like the Harry Potter series he may no longer have any interest in it whatsoever.  There are literally thousands and thousands of books out there, many of them quality books, that he can read later on.

 

FWIW, DS loved Harry Potter in 2nd.  He could not read it in 2nd.  We started the series as a read aloud and continued through 3rd and 4th grade, slowly making our way through.  We were doing other read louds, too.  I only read the first few books to him and held off on the 4th, party because we were doing those other read alouds,  and party because he was coming along in remediation so I thought he might want to read one on his own later on.  

 

I was wrong.  For one thing, they are too long, and the text is too dense so even if he reached a point where he could easily decode, they are intimidating to him even as a 5th grader.  But mainly he honestly has lost interest in HP for the moment, even as a read aloud or audio book.  He was all things Percy Jackson with his Kindle audio books but has lost interest in that, too.  Interests change.  HP and PJ are old hat now.

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I did try to hold off on some books that others have said were 'gateway' books for their children -- like Harry Potter  or Lightning Thief.  But finally I realized that that was not going to happen for my DD.   It took me a while to get there though-- I actually read Lightning Thief to her last year after she had attempted it herself ... and failed. 

 

One thing is that just because these are gateway books for many kids doesn't mean they are for my child -- she was more interested in HP and LT because that is what others have read not for their own merits. They are not gateway books for her.

And like Lecka describes, at this point books my DD reads are more likely to be ones that someone has already read to her.  She is on the extended plan at each stage --  early reader level, early chapter books(Rainbow Fairy & Nancy Drew Clue Crew for my DD), Geronimo Stilton/graphic novels, re-reading books she already knows..... sometimes I have a hard time believing that she will be able to make the next jump eventually.   

 

Early reader level and early chapter book levels were by far the hardest here though -- for early readers, she thought the normal books most kids use for that level were 'too babyish' and had no interest in the High Noon/LoHi books.  Understandably -- they are about practicing reading in spite of their attempt to be 'high interest'.   It was all me forcing her to read during that stage.    I can definitely tell the difference since the move even to Thea Stilton -- there is still some push needed from me now and then -- but nothing like what was needed prior.   Thank goodness for the dude who came up with Geronimo & Thea Stilton (although don't tell DD I said that! :lol: )

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I read my son the whole Harry Potter series starting in late 2nd grade.  I love them, too.  It was when the movies were coming out, so they were cool for his age at the time.  I let him play the Lego Harry Potter video games, too.  I also love these games, I must admit. 

 

He went back and re-read all the Harry Potter books starting in the end of 3rd grade.  Right now it is late 4th grade and he is reading Book 7.  I am not crazy about him reading Book 7 as I skipped some things here and there, but I am not sure he will finish it -- he is also reading Wings of Fire and really into them. 

 

He was *extremely* into being "a kid reading Harry Potter" in late 3rd grade.  It was huge for his self-confidence and seeing himself as a reader, and even a good reader.

 

They were quite a stretch, and I doubt he could have read them if 1) I hadn't read them to him already 2) he didn't know the plots from the movies and video games. 

 

So it worked out that way here. 

 

It would have been difficult to withhold HP from him at the time, though, b/c it was about his favorite thing, and the movies were very big with kids his age, and it was popular with his peers, and there were toys coming out coinciding with the books.

 

To be honest -- I think that HP was huge when it was new and new books were coming out.  That was not my son's age.  Then there was a Round 2 when the movies were being released about 1 a year.  That is my son's age. 

 

I do not see HP being as popular with my younger kids' age group, as there are no popular video games, movies, aisles of HP toys and Lego sets, etc, around them, the way there were when my older son was their age. 

 

So I do not even count on HP staying a gateway book if it is gateway b/c of the peer group talking it up. 

 

If your son has older friends and knows about it -- yeah, sure.  If he knows about it b/c you are into it.

 

If he doesn't, really, I think HP might not be that book where he wants to read it b/c it is so cool among his age group. 

 

But ime ---- it is the same for The Hobbit.  I read my son The Hobbit.  He only ONLY knows about it b/c the movies and the Lego The Hobbit video games.  It is not just something he knows about otherwise.  He is too young to remember when the Lord of the Rings movies were coming out and there were LOTR toys around everywhere and LOTR Lego sets. 

 

So for the way my son is, thinking that the cool book of 5 years ago is going to be *his* cool gateway book, well, I do not count on it in the slightest.  The hype changes, the video games and movies change, the Lego sets change, the stuff that kids think is new and cool and is not "some book their older brothers and sisters read" are new  books.  Now -- if your son is all about the books his older brothers and sisters read, or the older kids at church, whatever, then that is great.  That is just not my son.

 

As far as a "gateway book."  I have read him Animorphs and he loved the first 10.  But they are not mega-popular like they used to be, they are not the books everybody is talking about, at all.  But he liked them very, very much anyway.  But there is not that feeling of "it is popular right now."  It is just not there. 

 

If Lightning Thief was a gateway book for a kid either as it was new, or b/c they wanted to read it b/c of the movie coming out ---- well, those conditions are no longer met. And on his own or with the influence of hearing about books not from me, that is the condition for my son.

 

But he still thinks Lightning Thief is cool and wants to read it.  He knows it is a cool series kids are reading.  He has seen the movie.  But it is not like what I think it would have been if he was a few years older.  It is one of several series he is interested in.  It is not the "it" series for him. 

 

I think this will depend so much on the child, though.  My son was very, very, very motivated to want to read what his friends were reading and what they considered a cool or "big kid" book.  This did happen to be Harry Potter for him. 

 

But I would not skip a book, thinking that will be that book for his age group or peer group.  Whatever book this will be, may not even have been written yet.  It may be a book parents have not heard of until the kids have heard of it.  The teachers know and the librarians know, but it may be a new series to me.  Or I find out about it from the Scholastic Book Order form, but my son already knows all about it from school. 

 

That is not going to be any book that my older nieces were really into 5 years ago.  BUT that is how my son is.  He doesn't want his cool books to be my older nieces' cool books.  He values that they are new. 

 

This is not, like, every book or series by any means.  But there is something cool to him about knowing about books from places that are not me, and reading books I haven't read.  He also likes it when we like the same books and enjoy them together, or he reads a book I read when I was young.  But he just glows right now when he asks me if I have read Wings of Fire and I say I have not.  He thinks it is so cool he is reading something and I don't know what happens and he does.   

 

But overall, what I see is the gateway books people talk about, were sometimes gateway books for them the same year that the movie came out (or equivalent).  Then it is the cool book everyone is reading.  Kids want to read the book before the movie comes out to be cool.  Divergent was that way.  There was a 6-month period at least of the movies being hyped up a lot, but not being released, and that was a prime time to read the series.  I read it at that time myself, I get into that kind of thing sometimes, when a book is popular and you know there is going to be a movie. 

 

 

 

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I haven't been. I may be wrong but I think it is going to take quite a while for my ds to be able to read the long books like Harry Potter and The Hobbit he is interested in plus I can see him rereading those anyway. There are so many books I think he will like but he is not going to be able to tackle for a while but he is fully capable of following and understanding. I figure he will tackle some of the easier chapter books eventually and there are lots of options with those. I can't really change that ds is way ahead of his reading level.

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Another thing -- frex Origami Yoda.  The last book (from my understanding and according to my son) came out last summer. My son read it by himself, I didn't read it. 

 

I read him the first few (actually I think we got them on audio book from the library, I think I read him one and he listened to two on his own).  Then he could read them and I helped some.

 

But it was an on-going series, with new books still coming out.  By the time the last book came out, he was waiting for it and very able to read it on his own.

 

So I think this is something that can be good, if there is a series with a few books out but not all.  Then even if you read the first few, who knows, maybe by the time the later books are coming out (with their hype and buzz from other kids) he will be reading them on his own.  I did not expect this with Origami Yoda, and maybe he could have lost interst in the series instead.  But that is what happened. 

 

But it was a hyped book for his age.  It is a book where, when it is a prize book for the summer reading program, the library orders 20 copies of it.  Or, they do that the year it is most cool.  They will not order 20 copies of it every year. 

 

But I do see they always have ordered some copies of HP and Lightning Thief and kids do pick those books. 

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I just wanted to add - that I think for my DD, having other kids reading it and talking it up does not make a book into a gateway book.  Outside pressure is not enough to get the DC over the hump of the hard parts - it is personal interest that does that (IMO).  Like Lecka's son being into HP enough to push through the book.  Even already knowing the story -- DD knows the story but she doesn't like it enough to give her the drive to push through.    Outside interest can definitely get a child to try a book they might otherwise though -- like I have tried to get my DD interested in Animorphs but she has rejected them on covers alone :crying:  and as Lecka said these are no longer 'in'.  So far my DD has not really found a gateway book - so interesting to her that she pushes through the hard parts.

 

Actually writing my posts in this thread I realized -- I have been feeling really frustrated with the ongoing Thea Stilton and Dork Diaries books-- but 2 years ago I was dreaming of the day she could read something like Thea Stilton and Dork Diaries.    So let me just take a moment here to feel gratitude that DD is able to read these comfortably.

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Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. It does confirm my initial thoughts to just go ahead with whatever read alouds we want. I would rather just expose him to everything the "literary" world has to offer instead of a wait and see approach. And it would be too confusing to keep track of anyway! :)

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I don't hold any books back. I want the boys to love reading any way they can access it. Reading fluently and quickly enough to want to pick up a 700 pg book like Harry Potter on their own without supports may be a struggle for *years* to come. My dyslexic dh won't read a book like that unless it is on an e-reader. My younger ds walks around everywhere with an earbud in and a hand on his Kindle Fire. He is constantly reading but he would just give up on reading completely if I told him he couldn't use the Kindle or Immersion Reading. His reading fluency level on his own is Nate the Great. His interest and comprehension level is Treasure Island. Big discrepancy there. I'm not going to make him wait until his decoding skills catch up to his interest level. He would hate books forever and see no value in pushing through his reading difficulties if I did.

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One of the interesting comments my younger son has made was, "I knew what that word was because I had heard the book before." Sometimes familiarity with a book gives one incentive to plow through hard words of enjoyable books. I don't hold back opportunities to create a love for books, especially in a kid who struggles with reading.

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I am going to comment again, I really identify with what Laughing Cat said about every part being slow.  It was all slow.  He did have a jump to good reading, but it seems that it was after much more time and remediation than for some kids.  I was hoping to see that jump a lot sooner.  

 

However -- it is hard with books and reading levels.  Some books he quits reading, and I suspect they were too hard.  B/c -- I think he would have kept listening if I were reading them to him.  He also asks sometimes for me to read books to him instead of reading them himself.  

 

So -- with him and HP.  He can read HP.  It does not mean he can read other books with a similar reading level.  For a while it was a little odd, the difference was so great, but he wanted to be reading HP so badly and he did it.  I think it is the same for him, he remembers words.  I think he does remember things like that, even though there are things that are such a struggle for him to remember.  He is a kid where I believe he has an excellent memory for anything the teacher says, but I am hoping he can remember even one or two states and their capitals by this Friday (this Friday he will be quizzed on 10).  

 

He is reading Wings of Fire great.  They are straight-forward in their plot, not a lot of descriptive language.  He did great with Spiderwick Chronicles earlier this year -- I know b/c he came to ask me some parts written in cursive or handwriting he couldn't read, he chose to read while my daughter had her story time.  

 

Then the Rise of the Guardians series -- I think got too hard for him, he quit reading it.  He liked it while I was reading it to him, but we just petered out on it (maybe another time).  But it is supposedly easier than HP.  

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I did hold a few books / series for ds to read himself. It worked for us. Specifically, Harry Potter whole series and Lightning Thief (individual book, but he eventually read everything by Riordan). And I think a few others also.   Ds was 9 when he started being able to read at all, and around 10-11 could read Harry Potter, which is a perfectly okay age for that.  OTOH, it would not have made sense to hold onto a book that is really too young for a 9 year old to read...something like Make Way for Ducklings, or the Little House or Narnia series both came at points when he was still unable to read.  The Prydain books were done semi-popcorn style sharing the reading.

 

It is completely acceptable to read everything aloud first, and have your child read it on his or her own eventually. Some children like doing this. It so happens that mine rarely does this, so that if a book was read aloud 95% of time he will not ever read it on his own.  He does not even like to read a book second all that much, so if he knows I have already read it, he will not.

 

I think what can be good transition or gateway books will differ from child to child, but I'll describe what was the case for my ds in case it helps any as you think about yours.

 

As he started into reading "real" books rather than readers from his reading program, his first series was Magic Tree House (luckily he just managed to fit into it before being too old for it) and he still will reread them when he is feeling sick and wants something easy. Then he read a bunch of "dog" books such as Buddy Files, Hank the Cowdog, etc.  (But I read a first book of each "dog" book series to him, and I read Lassie Come Home and a Lad story to him.)  An exception to the classics generally being read alouds or audio is that he recently read White Fang himself.  Magic Tree House, Buddy Books, Hank books, etc. were all done as official learning to read time, with him reading aloud to me or someone else. My ds's first read-by-himself book was the Red Pyramid, which he chose at a book fair, at the end of a year of intensive remediation work from age 9-10.

 

 

For my ds, Magic Tree House was a wonderful first series for past the leveled readers of his reading program. He also read a bunch of Fact Trackers.  He happens to love dogs, so our librarian suggested a bunch of books especially series that featured dogs.  If he had liked horses I'd have been looking for horse related series, and then maybe he'd have had Black Stallion books as his first read-to-himself, perhaps.  Series have been especially good for my ds, since once hooked on a series he just continues on with all its books, save for when he seemed to have grown out of the series before finishing it or before last books got published.

 

I know several kids for whom Magic Tree House was a good gateway, but that could have been that at that point, my ds was the lead reader in a group of late readers we knew and we might have influenced that.  One friend with a child with reading trouble had Wizard of Oz series as a gateway, and another a series about some elves or trolls or something, and for still another it was Henry and Mudge and yet another Frog and Toad, but my ds could not get into any of these others.  And the only one I felt enough of a classic that he "should" at least have an idea of what it was, was Wizard of Oz... so "we saw the movie" as they say.

 

 

At this point, I tend to read aloud, or use audio books for things I think ds "should" read, but is unlikely to on his own, at whatever stage he is.   I still will read (or get audio for) most classics. So, for example, so far all his Dickens, Twain, l'Engle, EB White, Shakepeare, Swift, and many more, have been read-aloud or audio (or in case of Shakepeare, performances).  

 

Whereas, he tends to read fantasy adventure, dystopias, or sci-fi on his own--so Rick Riordan books, Harry Potter, Ranger's Apprentice, etc, a while back, and more recently Divergent, Hunger Games etc..  

 

 

 

 

Recently, I've been trying to expand his genres and we have been fortunate to get to a bunch of recent excellent books that he is slightly on the old side for, but that are still very delightful.  Flora & Ulysses (a book that my ds easily could now read, but which is a bit out of his usual genre) is one I started aloud to him, and then when he wanted to know how it ended, he took it over, for example.  And Half a Chance he both listened to as audio and also read himself.  The One and Only Ivan is in progress right now with him reading it, while The Prince and the Pauper is being listened to as an audio book...not at  one and the same instant, but in the same general period of days or weeks.

 

 

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It never occurred to me to hold back on introducing a book, unless the content was questionable. We live in the woods and a fair distance from town, so we listen to audio books to fill the time. DS turned 7 yo and cannot read Tolkein yet, but I would not deprive her of the full audio version of LOTR while we draw or paint or eat breakfast or drive 16 hours. Yes, we have the full version.

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Thanks for the stories. I think if we come across any readers that are appropriate and at his level I'll just use them as reading out loud books. I told him we could start Harry potter or Percy over the summer if he wanted. He's super excited. I like classics and lit but if we're going to school all year round I may take a lit break for a month or two over the summer.

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My oldest had absolutely no desire to read anything to herself until this past Christmas (age 8.5). I held off reading some really cute books (like Frog & Toad) because I kept hoping she'd be able and willing to try them. ("Able" is a whole 'nother story...)

 

But I have not regretted any of the read-alouds we've done. I read my girls the My Father's Dragon trilogy a couple of yeas ago, and oldest just finished reading it to herself last week. She plans on reading some Little House and The Boxcar Children soon, and we've done those as read-alouds as well.

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Pen

"If he had liked horses I'd have been looking for horse related series, and then maybe he'd have had Black Stallion books as his first read-to-himself, perhaps. I know several kids for whom Magic Tree House was a good gateway, but that could have been that at that point, my ds was the lead reader in a group of late readers we knew and we might have"

------

 

Timberly

"I wish I could thank the gaggle of girls that flocked around DS10 when he was reading a Magic Tree House book in public. They all excitedly talked about their favorite MTH book. "

 

"WHAT?!?! I didn't know that one of both of my sons' favorite books, "The Black Stallion" is a series. I just told them and they screamed in joy. They made hubby buy the $5 DVD from Walmart only to complain it was nothing like the book. These are not boys who care anything about horses, they just liked the exciting story."

 

 

Black Stallion was a favorite of mine from childhood and my recollection is that I used to stay up late past bedtime reading it. I cannot recall details but do recall there being more than one book, possibly involving different horses.  I  vaguely recall a roan stallion in addition to the black one(s).  Ds's favorite genre choices are different than mine were, so I am learning a lot about his area, and forgetting a lot about my own.  

 

Actually, possibly my ds would like it too, since it overlaps the action-adventure idea.

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... he excitedly choose books about danger, battles, mythology...   He's now a happy book worm.

 

 

 

 

 

That is like my ds too, and I agree that the more important point isn't the particular genre but helping one's dc to find something to suit their own interests.

 

 

For us that has also been true for writing, where my ds may also want to write about danger, battles, etc., and not whatever I might prefer. And it also has been true for history.

 

I found it hard to accept that my ds was far more interested in Minnie (spelling?) Balls and other weaponry related to the Civil War than about Slavery issues. But when I let him run with his own interests the resulting work he does tends to be better.  I also ended up convinced in the importance of what he found of interest by the time he was done....  The social underpinnings may have been interesting and important (at least to me) but the war was won based a great deal on weaponry and inventions.  If I assign a paper about Frederick Douglass, say, I am likely to get back nothing much, but if I assign something about the telegraph, I will get something better.  If I let him choose, it is likely to be better still.

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I refused to read certain books to my average reader because I thought they were books she "ought" to read to herself and I also thought that having great books out there would encourage her to learn to read.

 

This was a mistake.

 

How would she know how great they were, if I didn't read them to her?

 

How would she know what wealth lay in books, if I did not give her a taste?

 

I regret this choice and would not make it again given a reader, regardless of special needs.

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How would she know how great they were, if I didn't read them to her?

 

How would she know what wealth lay in books, if I did not give her a taste?

 

 

 

 

I think there has to be enough being read to the child that this is not an issue.  

 

They do have to, in general, have the sense that books have wonderful things in them. Things making it worth the effort to read them.

 

In terms of specific books, the child might know they are going to like it because a friend did and recommended it, or they saw a movie version and liked that (though sometimes movies are too different for that to work), or the first part of a book was read aloud, or the first of a series was. At a certain point, a parent recommendation may also hold weight if the parent has been right about other books.  Or the child might guess by a cover look, or by the first part that they themselves can read, or a back cover blurb, or that they have liked other books by the same author.

 

I am interested in more specifics on what you did though that might shed some light on why holding on to some books for ds to read himself worked for us as compared to not working for you.  I am thinking in my mind that you withheld too much so that your child did not even have a taste, perhaps.

 

I would have to say that I do not consider the books that I saved for him to read to be "great" but rather "fun" books that I expected my ds to like based on what I knew about his likes and dislikes in books. If he had never read the Magic Tree House books, or  Lightning Thief or Harry Potter or Star Wars novels, didn't happen to like those, I do not think it would matter in his life in the long run at all...except as temporary entertainment and, most important, that he utilized them in learning to read fluently at his age/grade/interest level.  Harry Potter may become a "classic" but even then could be read or not read without ruining one's life. The others I very much doubt will be "classics." I managed to grow up fine without having read any of them.

 

My ds knew in general that books were wonderful because he enjoyed tremendous numbers of read alouds and audio books, just not a small group that were "saved."

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"The Black Stallion" is a series. I just told them and they screamed in joy. 

 

 

More recollections are coming back. The red horse was named Flame--I cannot recall much but do seem to think it was one of my favorites.  Also I think Return of Black Stallion and maybe Son of Black Stallion and or maybe Black Stallion's Filly (anyway another horse that was black but not the original Black Stallion).   There were a few I didn't like so much.

 

It could get expensive with 20 books!

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I refused to read certain books to my average reader because I thought they were books she "ought" to read to herself and I also thought that having great books out there would encourage her to learn to read.

 

This was a mistake.

 

How would she know how great they were, if I didn't read them to her?

 

How would she know what wealth lay in books, if I did not give her a taste?

 

I regret this choice and would not make it again given a reader, regardless of special needs.

 

 

Also to be clear, I never "refused" to read anything unless it was for reasons of personal illness, laryngitis etc., or because I thought a book inappropriate.

 

 

Only 2 or 4 series were "saved" which was a tiny percentage, less than 1% of total books. (Lightning Thief and Harry Potter were the only ones actually sitting on the shelf and waiting. Magic Tree House was in a sense "saved" since I did not read them to ds when he was first old enough to be able to enjoy them. Star Wars pulp fiction novels were in a sense "saved" since I left it to ds to read them or not if he chose--he found them himself after seeing the movie, which in turn came from a reference to Darth Vader in one of the Rick Riordan books--I did not see any reason to spend hours reading Star Wars books aloud or to seek them out on audio. IMO they would be in the same category as superhero comics, fine for ds if he wants to read them, not something I am going to push.

 

 

And the "saved" books were saved with a sense of a special and magical experience to look forward to, not a sense of "ought" or anything punitive. At the point presented, the saved books were ones that ds could read fluently and enjoy, not something that would be an unpleasant struggle. The tone of saving the books was similar to getting ready to get a puppy, something big and exciting to look forward to, that would take learning to prepare for it and also work, but would also bring much pleasure.  Or similar to now having as we hope a possibility of learning to sail--it is to be for fun and pleasure, "saved" until we can find suitable circumstances.

 

 

I think one difference that may exist for SN or LD parents is that we are likely to go too far in doing everything for a child with a difficulty in an area, with dyslexia, it might be reading everything we can for a couple of hours per day, for example, where a parent of an NT child might consider just half an hour good.

 

 And sometimes that can take away from a child's own progress, accomplishment and even joy.

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