LaughingCat Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 For those of you whose DC singled out an interest early - what did you do to support that interest when the DC was not yet reading? FWIW, my younger late K'ish very bright DD has an obsession with cats of all types, from bengal tiger to house cat and a lessor but still strong interest in any animal. But although she is ahead of the curve reading, she is still in the early reader stage. She watches shows like David Attenbrough's, Planet Earth etc (and of course, Wild Kratts, her favorite show ever). I read to her books she picks out at the library of course... but lately it seems like she is at a point where she is trying to take the next step forward and I am holding her back (due to needing me to access the books she's interested in). And I feel like there must be something I'm missing on how to do/provide/strew to support her immense curiosity on this subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 My DD was an early reader, so I didn't have that asynchronity to deal with, but one thing that comes to mind is to study cat breeds and go to shows. I know Animal planet has had a show on breeds, and there's also the "My Cat from H$&@" show on cat behavior (which is usually fairly child-safe despite the name). Going to cat shows might also be good, especially if there are workshops there. If you have a zoo, go regularly to keeper talks on weekdays when there aren't school groups around, because often then your DC has the keeper to themselves. Get periodicals designed for hobbyists (Cat Fancy comes to mind) even if she can't read them yet. Same with nice photographic books. Zoo books are greatand have a lot of content. For my DD, this kind of stuff kept her going until about age 7. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Thanks dmmetler! the zoo especially is a good idea -- In case of any other specific ideas, I should have been more clear-- she loves all cats, big and little, from bengal tiger to house cat. We have read a million books on tigers, lions, cheetahs, panthers, jaguars, mountain lions, bobcats, house cats and all the more unusual cats, like lynx, caracal, ocelot etc. With side tracks for wolves, foxes, crocodiles, snakes, eagles, falcons, and many others. ETA: regarding the books, one thing I also wasn't clear on above is how she is picking out harder and harder books - and I find I prefer reading the easier ones because they don't take so long to get through. I suppose that is a 'suck it up buttercup' for me though :sigh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakpak Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Maybe you can use her interest in cats to further her reading? So have her read some of the easy reader cat books to you and you match it with a page or two of denser text. You might see if you can find some easy readers with cats as the main characters, even if they're fictional. They might be more appealing. Maybe you can channel some of that cat energy into crafts and art while you wait for the reading to catch up some? Or she can 'write' cat stories that you scribe? You could possibly record yourself reading the denser books, so you don't have to read them over and over :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 She is pushing herself to read -- she just hasn't quite got there - she can read basic readers and has picked up a bunch of common sight words on her own as well. She also reads the easier captions in the cat books (I can see her having a huge surge at some point soon ). I am not pushing her because I can see how much she uses context so I am trying to keep 'reading work' focused on sounding out. And she is my 'project based' kid lol -- she does all sorts of writing, crafts and art all on her own. She makes up books and other projects. I found the Ed Emberly Animal drawing book when going through some books on Sunday and I gave it to her saying 'I thought you might be interested in this book - it shows you how to draw some animals' and she has already worked her way half way through it on her own. Recording is a good idea too -- and just realized I should look on Audible and see what they have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 My ds is like this and I don't think he will be able to read the books he craves for a while so I just get books on his topics and read through them even if they are long slogs and then have him watch documentaries. Sometimes audiobooks fit the bill. We have gone to science talks on his topic or to planetarium shows. It is hard though because reading aloud is slower then reading in your head and he can't just pick up things whenever he wants. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 My son really enjoyed identification books. You know the Audubon or National Geo ones. The ones with the pictures and the tiny map showing standard season, mating season, migration patterns. They have short blurb descriptions in fairly dense text, but the text is not necessary. I do not remember having one for big cats, but I do think we had them for just about everything else from birds to butterflies to reptiles. Once Ds understood the map in relation to where we were and the colors, he would spend hours just looking and absorbing all the info. He knows more species of birds still to this day. I do not know how much Cat Fancy magazine is, but many libraries have it. The short articles and stacks of pictures might help with the early reading. There could be a Dover coloring book for cats. You might also check with the Humane Society about socialization visits where people volunteer to play with the pets. Once they knew her, she could increase her duties or learn more about the whole veterinary thing. Many vets also let kids volunteer. Ds was an early reader as well. He learned by going to the zoo (his first read word) and wanting so desperately to know what all the placards said. The maps there helped too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckittre Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Visual and video resources are great for kids like that. I have a kindergartener who's an insatiable learner and way ahead of the curve in math and science, but can't read yet. He's been obsessed with chemistry for around 6 months and knows more than most adults at this point, largely self-taught through websites and videos. Very project-based as well, always building molecules and writing chemical reactions. There's a lot of stuff that can be navigated with minimal reading once you know what you're looking for. I imagine she could read the stats on different cats (life span, size, etc...) similar to how my son can read the stats on chemicals if you bookmark the right sorts of sites for her. And he loves doing google image searches (with a bit of spelling help from me). She could probably get anatomy and all kinds of things that way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 http://www.i5publishing.com/our-titles/ She'd probably like some of these. We get Reptiles, and have for years. It's not written for kids, but they're short enough articles with a lot of pictures, so I think they'd be fun for your DD to read with you, and might help encourage her to read on her own. They have nice websites, too. It's also worth it to follow them on FB since they do frequent giveaways. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 I know you said she isn't reading much yet, but take a look at some easy-to-read sciencey books such as Rookie Read-About Science. They are photo-heavy and have a brief picture dictionary in the back. You could use these to encourage her next steps in reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckittre Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I only wish they had easy-reader science books that had a much higher level of science. I've found those sorts of things in the library now and then, but inevitably, if it's a topic he's actually interested in, my son already knows vastly more than the book. I think it's a common problem for kids whose concept understanding greatly exceeds their decoding. In fact, the enormous gap between what he could possibly read and what he might want to read is probably one of the reasons he hasn't learned yet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 You could find some posters or books with detailed anatomy of cats to memorize - all the muscles and bones (preferably with different types of cats for comparative purposes). You could add a cat haven visit 1x a week to pet the kitties and encourage a compassionate/advocacy side. You could help your child devise studies or experiments to do on your own cat(s?) - I see one in your avatar. :) A lot of being a good scientist is being observant. If you can get her interested in really LOOKING at your cats for ours on end - studying their behavior - she could take that information and contrast it with what she can see in videos of other cats and make inferences as to why the differences are there (what purpose they fulfill). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I only wish they had easy-reader science books that had a much higher level of science. I've found those sorts of things in the library now and then, but inevitably, if it's a topic he's actually interested in, my son already knows vastly more than the book. I think it's a common problem for kids whose concept understanding greatly exceeds their decoding. In fact, the enormous gap between what he could possibly read and what he might want to read is probably one of the reasons he hasn't learned yet. This is my son. My ds hates reading because he is nowhere near being able to read things that interest him. He can still not manage the easier books on topics he likes and they are so simple to him and he already knows the info. He did try some captions the other day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 I had similar thoughts about cat based early readers -- DD could read those books but it would be because she knows so much about cats that she would be guessing the words correctly. I'm lucky though -- she is interested in reading and enjoys the I See Sam books we are working through (although it helped to get to a point where it had a tiny bit more story) and she is above grade level (probably about early 1st grade level) and making steady progress. However, the cat books she's interested in are at least 4th grade and mostly higher than that -- so I don't think focusing in on advancing her reading level is a viable solution to the problem. The cat study/training idea is fab -- except that sadly we lost our cat very recently (genetic heart issue) :crying: Perhaps I will see if she's interested in doing that with the dog instead until I'm ready to start looking for a new buddy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 The cat study/training idea is fab -- except that sadly we lost our cat very recently (genetic heart issue) :crying: Perhaps I will see if she's interested in doing that with the dog instead until I'm ready to start looking for a new buddy. I'm sorry for your kitty loss. :( 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Maybe she could research the relative merits of each breed then locate and visit breeders etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epicurean Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 How about audiobooks? You can download a bunch of audiobooks from Audible or Overdrive and let her go through them at her own pace. She wouldn't have to wait between books, and her comprehension level for audiobooks will be higher than her reading level. :) Maybe some titles like: James Herriot's Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Animal Tales James Herriot's Cat Stories Catwings Beatrix Potter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 I was looking at audible the other day -- I found a few that looked very interesting, but it's hard to tell sometimes if something like that is too old. For example, when I tried reading James Herriott's Cat Stories, it was far too much about the people and not enough about the cats. I'll have to see if the library has any of them to give them a once over. David Attenborough's Life Stories and New Life Stories Mowat Never Cry Wolf Mattheisson's Snow Leopard and Tigers in the SnowHenrich's Winter World She does love cat related stories, like Catwings, Jenny and the Cat Club etc -- but for fiction she is happy to include plenty of picture books and books appropriate for her age group. It is only the non-fiction cat area that is the issue -- perhaps because each fiction story is different but each non-fiction wild cat book covers very similar material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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