it's okay to ignore mistakes in pleasure reading, right?

[Kuovonne]

It's okay to totally ignore any mistakes my DD makes in her pleasure reading, right? No matter how bad?

 

In general, I only correct reading mistakes when we do shared reading. When we do shared reading, I insist that she correctly reads every word in order. However, for fun reading I usually just let her go and will identify a word for her if she askes.

 

My problem is that she picked up the "Little House on the Prairie" to read on her own, which is *far* above her reading level. She saw it in a box of books that I got from the Scholastic book club and immediately picked it up.

 

She seems to enjoy reading it, and is several chapters into it. The only time she reads it is when she picks it up on her own. However, I noticed that she makes *many* mistakes. She'll skip whole lines, mispronounce words, subsitute words, add extra words, etc. She reads aloud, and often what she reads is so garbled that it makes no sense. Yet she reads on without stopping.

 

Is it okay to let her continue reading the book in this garbled fashion? I think that many of her problems are because the type is small and it is hard for her to track from line to line, and some of the vocabulary is advanced for her.

 

This is a book that I loved as a child, and I want her to like it too. I don't have the heart to take the book a way and tell her that it is too difficult for her, but I could probably make the book disappear when she isn't looking and she probably wouldn't miss it.

 

Thoughts?

[Wee Pip]

It's your 4yo, right? If so, I'm totally blown away that any 4yo on this planet could even attempt such a book, LOL. Of course, your talking to the mom that said, "my kids are going to be early readers", but then found out that - nope, they are NOT going to be early readers:) Anyhow, yes, I would just let that one go, let her have fun with it. Even if it was an 8 or 9yo, I'd still say let it go and have fun. I learned with my 7.5yo that if I corrected every mistake during our school reading time, I quickly squashed all joy in reading. Now I just pick a few things to correct, but I let other mistakes go. This seems to work well for her. She reads silently for her fun reading, so I have no idea what mistakes she is making...probably a good thing!

[PeterPan]

Not to sound mundane, but have you talked with her about it? I'd simply tell her that you've noticed she was skipping some words or lines, having troubles with a few things, and did she have any questions or want to talk about it? She may need more phonics, may need glasses, may be reading faster than you realize, who knows? It is true that kids who read like that (lots, ahead of their age, etc.) are encountering words they may not know. My dd will sometimes have the hootiest pronounciations of something because she's only seen it in a book, never heard it in real life. The counter to that is lots of oral input through books on tape. Even though she's reading now, I'd get her quality books on tape and play them a LOT, so she recognizes words as she tries to decode them. At least that's why I think my dd's reading took off so well when it did. We have the entire series of Little House books on audio that she used to listen to by the entire. She also read the series through a good many times. She listened to a lot of Narnia, Charlotte's Web, Uncle Remus, Old Mother West Wind, etc. too. I put all the cd's into sleeves so they're easy for a little to get in and out. A 4 yo can operate a tape player or cd player, no problem. Now they have fandangled things like ipods that you put into a stand for speakers. I wouldn't put earbuds on a little because they could get it too loud and damage their hearing. I'd love to have one of those docking speaker station things. Then I could play our memory work on it, etc.

[pmegan]

I used to tutor a student who had trouble reading, and he found that reading was much easier if he used a bookmark to underline each line of text. When he finished the line, he'd move the bookmark down to the next line. This slowed him down just enough that he could concentrate on each word.

 

This might be something to suggest, at least until her reading catches up with her enthusiasm!

 

As for advice, I'd let her read this book, and don't tell her there are sequels. Direct her back to slightly easier books. But who knows... maybe by the time she finishes this book, she'll be ready for the next one!

[Kuovonne]

Thank you all for your advice. I also am blown away that she is attempting this book.

 

I've casually mentioned to her that she's making mistakes and can ask if she's unsure of something, but she was totally uninterested in corrections, so I didn't push it.

I've never done audio books before. On my next library trip, I will have to try some out.

I'll suggest using a bookmark to underline the text and see how that goes.

 

When she reads books that are at her level, she doesn't make as many mistakes, and generally catches herself when she does, so I guess I'll let her do her own thing with this one book, cover my ears, and hide the sequels.

[Mesa]

Wow I cant believe she can read at 4. I wouldnt correct her mistakes in that book since it is way above her level anyways.

[Guest Shanna]

I would get the audio to go along. But, I wouldnt correct here just yet.

[TengoFive]

Another option is to get the Little House Chapter Books. They're about the size of a Magic Tree House. The print is much larger and they have a simpler story line, while still retaining the Little House aspect.

[Rosie_0801]

I wouldn't worry about it. She's enjoying her "reading" and that's what pleasure reading is for. She doesn't hesitate to ask you when she wants to know. As time goes on, she'll either correct herself or ask you more questions. If she's not asking, it's because it's not important to her yet.

What a cutie!

:)

Rosie