How to help 10-year-old boy advance in reading

[tdeveson]

Ds was late starting to read. He's great at math, science, grammar, history, logic, Latin, but he was delayed reading and writing. This year he has finally made a breakthrough and is reading for pleasure. He reads at fifth grade level (he's reading the Meet the Presidents series by Mike Venezia which is leveled 5.0-5.9. and has no trouble reading them). His comprehension is excellent.

 

When he reads for pleasure, he chooses chapter books with illustrations at the 3.1-3.5 level. He's churned right through all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and is now churning through the Cam Jansen series. I'm delighted.

 

However, when I try to introduce books at his reading level, he says they're "too hard." Recently I offered Half Magic (fourth grade level which is still below his grade level) and he scanned the first page and said it was, "a little bit too hard," I understand he's catching up and is doing a good job. My question is, how can I help him advance in his reading as much as possible. Without applying undue pressure, how can I speed up the process so he can start reading the classics on his own? Right now he's listening to them on the iPod, which works great for us.

 

Thanks in advance for any advise and comments.

[southmetromom]

I think you're doing just fine! If he is reading that well, then I would just cheer him on. I have a similar situation -- I know my ds could read at a more advanced level, but unless it's "his topic" (right now that is Redwall), he chooses easy reads. I'm still thrilled.

 

If there's something more challenging that you think he needs to read, then read it with him. I'm reading a book with my (11 y.o.) ds right now -- he reads one paragraph per page, and I read the rest. Sometimes he forgets to give me a turn -- perfect!

 

HTH,

 

Sandy

[AngieW in Texas]

Try the Alex Rider series by Horowitz. It's written for teens, but the reading level is 4th grade. It's kind of like a junior James Bond, but it's clean.

[yvonne]

My just-turned-nine year olds are on a big Indiana Jones kick right now. They've flown through the books by Rob Macgregor and Max McCoy, but I haven't pre-read them. It's definitely fun reading, not "literature."

 

There's also the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz that's been mentioned. It's even in the Veritas Press catalog, though I don't understand why. We read the first one and it didn't strike me as on a par with the other literature they recommend.

 

There's also the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. A lot of boys seem to like that one.

[ElizabethB]

The 1879 McGuffey Readers or the Parker Readers. The McGuffey readers are free at Gutenberg, you want the pdf versions. The McGuffey readers show pronunciation of difficult words, the Parker Readers show pronunciation and give definitions. They are linked near the bottom of my Webster page. You can start at just below a challenging level and work your way up incrementally.

[tdeveson]

Thank you, everyone, for the great suggestions. I'm off to investigate them all.

[dragons in the flower bed]

Find something he's very interested in, and get books that are just above his reading level. My six-year-old loved the Narnia movies so much that he read the original books right around the time he was finding Magic Tree House books easy enough to be pleasure reads. When John Holt looked at reading, he found that when kids skills advance quickly, it's because they were motivated to struggle through the harder forms to get to the content they craved.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Has he had a strong, rigorous phonics program? You may want to consider checking out ElizabethB's page on phonics and reading. She has a phonics review for free. From what I read, it is better to over do phonics:)

 

Also, since he is still a little young, you may want to consider reading to him with an audio book, but have him read along. If you cover a little bit every day. it adds up. I find the large print editions to be easier on the eyes:)

[tdeveson]

Has he had a strong, rigorous phonics program? You may want to consider checking out ElizabethB's page on phonics and reading. She has a phonics review for free. From what I read, it is better to over do phonics:)

 

 

We've been using a phonics workbook every year. Frankly, this may be part of the problem. I hate phonics. I never learned them myself properly -- I just picked up a book when I was four or five and started reading, so it's hard for me to teach them. The whole thing makes absolutely no sense. Consider that my first language is Spanish and if you read a word, even if you have never seen it before, you know how to pronounce it because there is only one possible way of doing so. This whole phonics thing in English seems incredibly complicated -- I guess it's the price we pay for using a mongrel language. :tongue_smilie: (Ds always reminds me that the we can thank the dang Vikings for the silent and unnecessary k at the start of knife, knee and knock.)

 

And yes to the audiobooks and reading aloud to him. We love that and often cuddle up with hot chocolate and a blankie on the couch to share a good book. I don't think I ever want to stop doing that, even after his reading skills are perfect.