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If you have a typical 6yo first grader


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I have bright kids but they didn't read really early. In mid first grade they were reading things like Frog and Toad and the level 3 Stepping Stone readers. We were finishing up OPGTR about then, and those are the books they could read without help. For "school" reading, we did some of theh CLP Nature Readers and McGuffey third.

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Well, my DD is not reading that much, but our "support teacher" keeps telling me she is ahead for reading in 1st grade, so take that for what it is worth.

 

DD can sound out words but she does not read books on her own. She will read the HOP level K books on her own for fun. She can do harder, but she doesn't ever choose to.

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When I had dd6 tested last year, she was grade level to slightly above grade level in reading for kindergarten. Given her reading progress this year, I think she is still within the same boundaries. Keep in mind though, that reading abilities can cover a wide range in K-2nd. DS10 was reading Level 4 beginning readers and easy chapter books at the same age.

 

DD is currently working through OPGTR Sections 23-25. She's covered most of the lessons, and we're working through them again to help with retention. She can sound out unfamiliar, multi-syllable words, but is not reading them fluently.

 

She's has read the following with little effort:

Little Bear books

Nora Gaydos Level 4 readers

Level 1 Step-Into-Reading or I-Can-Read books

 

She can read with effort:

Amelia Bedelia books

Arnold Lobel (Owl at Home, Mouse Tales, Uncle Elephant)

Level 2-3 Step-Into-Reading or I-Can-Read books

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I guess my 6 year old is pretty behind then. She can do BOB books and the first readers from AAR and things like the easy Dr Seuss books but she ca't do the level 1 books yet and she quite a ways off from stuff like Amelia Bedelia.

 

She isn't behind- there is a wide, wide range for "normal". Don't worry about it, just press on! :grouphug:

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I think that my DS6 first grader is average. The only books he'll read right now are Diary of a Wimpy Kid though, so he might be a little accelerated in reading. However, I gave him Charlie & The Chocolate Factory the other day and he wouldn't read it because "it had too many big words" (?!?) I get accused of treating him like a baby when I try to get him to read something like The Little House. I really don't know what is delayed, average, or accelerated, so I just try to meet them where they are. For me, the main thing is that they ENJOY reading - whatever it is that they read for right now. I want to foster that first and foremost, then I'll press on to the "hard" stuff - ie: try to stretch their comfort zone.

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My 6yo is pretty average, maybe just a little ahead in reading. She reads a wide variety of books. She still benefits from having very easy reads to gain confidence and reinforce basic skills. But she has also read "Henry and Mudge - the First Book" and "Little Raccoon and the Thing in the Pool" during the past couple of months. She can read independently but likes to ask for help with some words. Her average AR book level at school for the 2nd grading period (so far) is 2.0.

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I think that my DS6 first grader is average. The only books he'll read right now are Diary of a Wimpy Kid though, so he might be a little accelerated in reading. However, I gave him Charlie & The Chocolate Factory the other day and he wouldn't read it because "it had too many big words" (?!?) I get accused of treating him like a baby when I try to get him to read something like The Little House. I really don't know what is delayed, average, or accelerated, so I just try to meet them where they are. For me, the main thing is that they ENJOY reading - whatever it is that they read for right now. I want to foster that first and foremost, then I'll press on to the "hard" stuff - ie: try to stretch their comfort zone.

 

I wouldn't consider wimpy kid books at 1st grade level, more like 4th to 5th grade. Charlie is more like 5th to 6th grade. So, I'm glad that you are meeting your child where they are at but it is definitely not first grade level. I use lexile to determine grade levels.

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My son can easily read the old Dick and Jane readers and currently has been reading 10 Apples Up on Top. He will be 7 next month, and I consider this perfectly normal. He is a precise little boy and does not consider himself to be 'reading' unless he can easily read EVERYTHING in the book independently.

 

So, if you ask us what he READS, that's what he reads. But I think it can be misleading to think of literacy as JUST what books can a child read independently. He also spends some time most days looking at Pokemon comic books or harder or longer picture books (current faves are The Elves and the Shoemaker and Rattletrap Car), and although he is clearly reading some parts of those (because he'll ask me what a word means, or what this word says), if you ask him he will tell you he is not reading them, he is just looking at them. He also listens to Hank the Cowdog or Geronimo Stilton audiobooks while looking at the corresponding book every night at bedtime.

 

So it seems to me, that even tho he's not reading a lot of books independently, he's still working on literacy skills just as much as if he were reading more easy readers. He's clearly making progress in what he can read and things like his reading speed and fluency, he's just making a lot of that progress from activities other than reading easy readers or chapter books. That seems perfectly normal for a first grader to me.

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I guess my 6 year old is pretty behind then. She can do BOB books and the first readers from AAR and things like the easy Dr Seuss books but she ca't do the level 1 books yet and she quite a ways off from stuff like Amelia Bedelia.

 

Your dd isn't behind! DD was reading the Dr. Seuss books just a few months ago and made a leap into the Level 1 Books fairly quickly.

 

I was so worried my dd was behind. When I had her tested last year, the moderator let me know that there is a very wide range of abilities in reading up until 3rd grade or so. She reassured me that dd's reading abilities were normal and expected. There was a large disconnect between my dd's math and reading levels so the moderator said that I should consider LDs if the gap persists as dd gets older. I've seen great leaps in ability this year, and I've been really pleased with her progress. Often times when I think a book will be too hard for dd and she resists reading because she thinks it's too hard, with gentle persuasion she's able to muscle through.

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I guess my 6 year old is pretty behind then. She can do BOB books and the first readers from AAR and things like the easy Dr Seuss books but she ca't do the level 1 books yet and she quite a ways off from stuff like Amelia Bedelia.

 

My 6 yr old is bright, but slow to read. She's reading books with short vowel/CVC words.

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My daughter enjoys reading Nate the Great and Magic Tree House. They are a little on the easy side for her. She's also reading the Goddess Girls Series and the Grandma's Attic Series. She's 6, turning 7 tomorrow. I consider her 1st grade. Her reading level might be above first grade. I don't really know.........I just buy her whatever she'll read and she's loving being able to read. That makes me happy! :thumbup:

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This is encouraging, thanks! I was a little discouraged today because last night my niece who is doing Abeka and almost 7 seems to be reading at a 4-5th grade level while my son is still struggling with phonics comics and other level 1 readers. We are on lesson 165 in OPGTR, and I read to him a lot, but I don't push him to read aloud too much because he gets easily frustrated.

 

Last night I started second-guessing my decision to have a more relaxed homeschool method this year (last year was so stressful!). But this thread is exactly what I needed to read and reminds me that at this age there is a wide range.

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Just Bob type books here. We use Reading Pathways too so I guess those might count too since one pyramid is about the equivalent of a Bob book. I'm really not stressing about if he is behind...I know he will get there soon. We have a few speech issues that make reading hard for him so I'm just taking it slow and easy while we work on speech therapy. Honestly though, dd9 wasn't reading fluently until the end of 2nd grade and now in 4th grade she reads at about the middle 6th grade level. Each in their own time. :D

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My oldest (6.5) is reading more complex books and comprehending well. BUT, it's not all its cracked up to be. While she reads higher level books and enjoys them, you can very often find her curled on the couch perusing a favorite Dr. Seuss. There's nothing wrong with her or your child. There's just such a vast difference at this age.

 

When Abby was Emmett's age, she was reading fairly fluently and enjoying books around the 1st/2nd grade level. Emmett is still gaining fluency and confidence with his phonics. Both are equally smart, but they're different kids and have different development.

 

Also, I do believe there is something to be said about boys and girls are their different strengths. Girls are often ready for academics earlier than little boys. You might pick up The Way of Boys and give it a quick read-through.

 

Don't stress it!

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Ds6 is in 1st grade. He is on the young side (September b-day), but I am happy with where he is at. He has read several Phonics Museum books in the past few weeks, but most kids don't read those so it isn't much help comparison wise. He has just one more Phonics Museum book to read. Next week he'll start First Favorites. The first book is Curious George. I just had him read the first bit. I think he'll read it easily enough, but I wouldn't have him read it on his own. He still needs me to tell him to try again when something doesn't come out just right.

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Ds6 is in 1st grade. He is on the young side (September b-day), but I am happy with where he is at. He has read several Phonics Museum books in the past few weeks, but most kids don't read those so it isn't much help comparison wise. He has just one more Phonics Museum book to read. Next week he'll start First Favorites. The first book is Curious George. I just had him read the first bit. I think he'll read it easily enough, but I wouldn't have him read it on his own. He still needs me to tell him to try again when something doesn't come out just right.

 

 

This helps me as mine is currently working through First Favorites and I also have Phonics Museum although I haven't tried him on the readers yet. I am going to see if he can read the first one today and see how it goes. I think my little guy is doing okay for his age but I wasn't sure. I haven't tried him on chapter books yet and felt a bit guilty about that. My older kids were reading at a much higher level at this age so I don't have much to compare to.

 

Thank you everyone for your replies. I realize there can be a wide range of "normal" abilities at this age. I needed a check to see if where my LO stands and if I need to work harder to keep him where he should be. It sounds like he is doing fine.

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My young 1st grader (6yo, September birthday) is slowwwwly working her way though Lobel's Grasshopper on the Road right now. Her reading mechanics are slow-but-steady improvement, but her thing is that she loves complex stories so much that the basic stories of these early reader books bore her, so she'd much rather be read one of the Narnia books or something like that. I take it as reassuring that even though she's not where some her peers are for the actual skill of reading, that she'll get there someday because she loves stories so much. To me, that's more important at this stage. :)

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I don't know what typical is, but Pigby has been reading a ton of the Beverly Cleary books lately: Beezus and Ramona, Henry Huggins, Ribsy, etc. He's also read the LOF Apples and Butterflies and got out LOF Fractions. I don't know how much of that he understands, but he has been working through it (the story, not the math). He's always reading comic books, Calving and Hobbes, Garfield, and Peanuts.

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