Uncomfortable with my 2nd grade reading plan...

[Meadowlark]

My current 1st grader is reading at a 4th grade level. This year, we've done AAR 3 (because I bought it, was way too easy), HOD's ER's and currently he's reading through DITHOR's book pack 2.

 

I've gotten advice in the past to just keep him reading reading reading. The problem I have with that, is that I'd like some way to discuss the books with him and gage his comprehension. I'm not looking for anything written or anything that will suck the life out of the literature, just a way for me to be involved. While the HOD books are great, I kind of don't know what to say when he's done beyond the obvious comp. questions. Plus, with 4 littler ones at my feet, I want something ready for me, a no-brainer type thing. Comprehension questions, maybe a bit of vocab, simple literary elements would be fine too.

 

Grade level reading programs obviously won't work..

 

I've looked at memoria press lit guides, but we've already read the 2nd and some of the 3rd grade books.

 

What else is out there?

[pollo_la]

Hummmm, the only way you will really be able to do a good discussion would be to read the book yourself first. Otherwise, just ask him a few basic questions and see what he comes up with. Honestly, though, I wouldn't worry too much about comprehension. When he reads and gets "sucked into a story" he will comprehend it just fine. True, he may not understand everything, but as he reads more and gets exposed to the same words over and over, that will allow his comprehension to grow. Regurgitating some facts to answer a set form on a sheet of paper is really not what grows comprehension. My oldest (and now my third dd as well) was very similar. I just turned her lose on books and she really did do just fine. She would use words in sentences correctly (but sometimes pronounce them wrong) so I knew she was comprehending just fine... and then I would correct her pronunciation. :-) Oh, and doing read a louds and discussing the story will help with comprehension too because then he will be exposed to more vocabulary and such where you can explain some of it to him.

[texasmama]

With my current 2nd grader, I do a lot of read alouds.  In fact, she listens to her older brothers' read alouds in history and literature.  She does free reading before bed and has read books like Misty of Chincoteague and Pinky Pye.  She loves to read and will easily give information about what she is currently reading if I ask a simple open-ended question such as "Where are you in your book right now?" or "What is going on in Pinky Pye?"

 

When she listens to the boys' read alouds, she is as likely to ask questions as they are.  She wants to understand what is going on in the plot.  She listened to Great Expectations last summer. 

 

In short, I don't worry about comprehension.  I can tell from her relating of the stories that she has this down pat.  I give her good literature to read independently and trust that she is learning the vocabulary because I hear it every day in her speech.  I read aloud more good literature to all of the kids.  I truly believe that this is the best approach with kids this age.  No lit analysis except what happens naturally.  (She knows what alliteration is because I am always pointing it out.)  We read good poetry aloud, too.  We are reading through My Book House, Grimm's Fairy Tales and Aesop's Fables as we have time, more in the summer than during the school year.

[sweetpea3829]

Like yours, my son was reading at a much higher reading level in 1st grade and I worried about the same thing.  Ultimately, I realized that he was not really interested in reading higher level stuff.  In fact, he was interested in being a typical 6 yr old boy...climbing trees and playing with Legos and all of that kind of stuff.  So I backed off and put Magic Treehouse and Geronimo Stilton, and other similar reading material within his reach.  

 

Slowly, he has started to pick up the harder books on his own and is now reading, for pleasure, each night in his bed.  I ask him about what he's reading and that's the extent of it.  

 

Next year, he will be 7 turning 8 and we'll be starting unit studies (I think, anyways...haven't nailed it down yet).  We're considering TLP and Progeny Press, along with LLATL.  In the meantime, for formal reading instruction, we've just followed along with LLATL and with SOTW and I ask him questions about what he's read.  

 

I have also been giving him exercises from Spectrum Reading.  Usually 2 or so a week.  They are good for encouraging comprehension, and it gives him good practice for the standardized testing he will have to take here in NY.  

 

Honestly, I think 1st and 2nd grade are a bit young for super indepth literary analysis.  Remember, they are still learning to love reading.  If you make it too much of a chore, it may turn them off.  Not saying to be completely passive, but be wary of pushing to hard.   

[Kalmia]

Comprehension is improved by life experience and breadth of knowledge. The more content you expose your children to from daily life, field trips, travel, documentaries, and nonfiction books the more situations they can comprehend what they encounter them in fiction. 

 

I still remember an elementary school teacher we ran into while taking the kids on a field trip to observe the wood frog mating season. She was blown away by this and all the other experiences we mentioned our children had. When we told her about a 30 foot tall "secret" waterfall nearby that she might enjoy, she exclaimed that a good number of her students wouldn't know what a waterfall was if they encountered it in a book. And how it would help them as readers if all parents made the effort to expose their kids to as much of the world as possible.

[mom31257]

Teaching the Classics (TTC) is a great course for you, the teacher. It will teach you how to discuss books with your children. They have some guides for specific books which are called Ready Readers. TTC helped me be confident enough to lead a book club for the last 3 years. www.centerforlit.com

[Kathryn]

I don't want to read along, so my second grader has been using Sonlight readers. He's using the grade 4/5 this year, which is the last year they sell the reader questions separately. Next year, we'll be using Kolbe Elementary Literature.

[SorrelZG]

In addition to what others have said, they really don't even need to comprehend everything in a story to enjoy it. Especially so young. Expecting them to can limit their reading, though. Unless I am using a book to discuss and impart some specific lesson (in which case I will be a lot more involved anyway) I am happy with my 8yo simply enjoying what he is reading.

I involve myself in his reading by asking him about it and really, his summary or retelling is sufficient to demonstrate if he comprehended the story or not. If I don't know it myself then asking questions according to my own curiosity or confusion will reveal anything he must have missed and if either of us care that much, we can go back into the pertinent part of the book together - or I will by myself to satisfy my own curiosity and then mention what I learned later (he may or may not care). If he is excited about it he will talk endlessly and is happy to read the whole book again (by himself or with an adult) if it means getting even more out of it.

 

I talk to him about what I'm reading also (in varying degrees of detail depending upon the content and his level of interest). He is the one that got me interested in reading Treasure Island and I inspired his interest in The War of the Worlds. No doubt he didn't comprehend them to the degree I did when I read them but he LOVED them. He'll come back to these books as he grows and will think about them more deeply when it's fitting. Right now all that is relevant in his young mind is adventure. While I contemplate humanity, and maybe even literary devices, he is sailing the high seas, battling alien invaders and directing his imagination towards the night sky in either case - and that's more fun to be involved in than discussing literary elements (for mom and younger siblings). :leaving:

[Murrayshire]

My 2nd grader is really growing in his "wanting to read!" He is reading through the Magic Treehouse books this year along with science readers. He narrates orally what he has read and then draws pictures of characters, settings, etc. this is the extent of our reading this year. It took my ds a bit to want to read so literature guides are out of the questions for us this year! Our goal with reading this year was for it to be automatic and not forced.

 

Next year for 3rd grade, we are going to work through Mosdos Press for our "reading lesson" and then have a book basket full of books to enjoy. I am planning on getting TTC to use with all my kids to discuss their history/personal readers.

 

Have you looked at Homeschool Share? They have great discussions and activities for lots of books!

http://www.homeschoolshare.com

[MomatHWTK]

You might try doing a search for comprehension questions for each title.  TeachersPayTeachers and Scholastic both offer comprehension "go-alongs" for various books.  I've seen the same offered at Christian Book Distributors for particular titles.