stapleton_barbara@hotmail. Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 Hi Guys Trying to get a handle on what my daughter reads: the books with the Animals with the Big Eyes make alot of appearances at my house. I know reading should be a bit hard so that you have to stretch and guess the meanings of words to expand your vocab, and I get that my daughter likes to relax with downtime, but there would have to be some really rollicking good fun books that are pitched just a bit harder than her comfort level?(so she would be drawn along by the story and improve her vocab along the way) The book,by Elizabeth Wilson, seems a bit dated and slanted to American? HIstory. I live a bit remote out here in rural Australia and could possibly order some from my local bookstore, but Im after maybe an easily accessible list of books, that have stood the test of time. For a ten year old girl. Any suggestions welcome, thanks so much barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) Just me, but for free time/down time reading, it was completely DSs' choice. That type of reading is about encouraging enjoyment of reading, and developing solid fluency, comprehension, and confidence in reading, so works at- and below comfortable reading level are perfect for that goal. To encourage "stretching", I assigned books at- and a bit above comfortable reading level that we would "buddy read" ("you read a page I read a page") during scheduled school time. (If not able/interested in together/aloud reading, those could be the books assigned for student's "school reading"). For "what to read?" -- I pulled titles from various "living book" curricula vendors and "good book lists", as well as asking for ideas on these boards. Below are a few ideas of booklists to get you started. Cheers! Warmly, Lori D. _______________________ Reading Lists of Good Books from Curriculum Vendors (by age range or grade level)Five in a RowHeart of DakotaSonlightBooksharkBuild Your LibraryAmbleside OnsideVeritas PressTapestry of GraceTruth QuestMy Father's WorldBiblioplanBeautiful FeetCenter for LitClassical Christian Homeschooling CatalogReading List Websites (by age range or grade level)The Great Books Academy - classics, by grade level1000 Good books - good books, by age rangeA Book in Time - historical fiction / non-fiction, by age rangeBook Girl (K-8) - historical fiction, by grade levelTanglewood Education (K-8) - good books, by grade level (K-8)Classical House of Learning (K-8) - WTM 4-year cycle, by grammar/logic stageHome's Cool - SL books in WTM 4-year cycle, by grammar/logic/rhetoric stageTop 100 Children's Novels (gr. 3-8) good books, spanning 1900-2010Teachers 100 Best Books - good books, by age rangeCharlotte Mason Home Education: Twaddle Free Literature - good books, by grade levelCharlotte Mason Help: Books and Schedules - good books, by grade levelAn Old Fashioned Education: Classic Literature - classics, by grade levelAdditional Reading List Websites (NOT by age or grade)Newberry Winner and Honor BooksRead Aloud America - annual best read aloud listListopia: Good Books: Children's Book Lists - good books by category; voted by web visitorsClassics for Children and YouthEager Reader - book lists by genrePenny Gardener's Readable Science - list by science topic1001 Books You Must Read Before You Grow UpWikipedia: Classic Children's Books - children's classics by centuryCollege Board: 101 Great Books Recommended for College Bound Readers - classics for high school students Book ResourcesHoney for a Child's HeartBooks Children LoveThe New York Times Parents' Guide to the Best Books for Children1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow UpGreat Books for Boys Edited March 5, 2019 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormaElle Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 I don't think reading is about its being hard and stretching to understand words. Quite the opposite. Reading (especially during down time/free reading) should be enjoyable! Most of what I read is comfortable and pleasurable. I do try to challenge myself, but not all the time. That would take all the joy out of reading, and most people probably wouldn't bother with it. I do some assigned reading once my kids are at a point when they can enjoy it without being frustrated. I do a lot of read-alpuds and expose them to more difficult works that they can understand better as a read-aloud than on their own. That also maintains the enjoyment without frustration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto4inSoCal Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 I don't monitor free reading and even our literatures studies are picked together. I've found if you can just create an atmosphere rich in books they end up reading so much they push themselves forward. What I've done is stock my home library with thrift store finds and we have a really good library of good books. Since my girls read so much even the books that they aren't super interested in get read when they run out of things to read. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 LoriD always gives great advice! There's also the mensa reading lists which I've found to be very good (not for geniuses!) https://www.mensaforkids.org/achieve/excellence-in-reading/ The lists are at the bottom of the page, organised by grades k-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-12. As for getting books, we are in rural Aus too and I order a lot of books online, many places have free shipping. Check the titles on booko.com.au for the best price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 14 hours ago, stapleton_barbara@hotmail. said: Trying to get a handle on what my daughter reads: the books with the Animals with the Big Eyes make alot of appearances at my house. I know reading should be a bit hard so that you have to stretch and guess the meanings of words to expand your vocab, and I get that my daughter likes to relax with downtime, but there would have to be some really rollicking good fun books that are pitched just a bit harder than her comfort level?(so she would be drawn along by the story and improve her vocab along the way) Do you have any test scores (standardized testing, SLP testing, whatever) to tell you where her weaknesses are? At this point a 10 yo should not have trouble with decoding, and even having trouble with basic vocab is concerning. What you're describing, if there's nothing larger going on, is called reading comprehension. So skills like inferencing, making predictions, etc. are reading comprehension. I would separate out your reading comprehension instruction from her PLEASURE READING. I would let her read all the potato chip reading she wants for pleasure reading, because reading at that lower level builds fluency and speed. I would try to make available to her a wide variety of levels of books. Since you live in a more remote area, can you get ebooks through a digital library? Or can you get ebooks through amazon? They have things like Kindle Unlimited, which gives you lots of access, but I don't know what you can get in Australia. Here our libraries have most common books available as ebook downloads that you can borrow for free for the loan period (usually two weeks). We can get picture books, chapter books, all kinds of books that way, as well as media. If she has comprehension issues while reading, another suggestion is to try to get her audiobooks to read along with the text. You can do this completely electronically (called immersion reading or assisted reading) or do it the old fashioned way with cds, etc. As far as finding a variety of fiction to read for pleasure, I used the VP (veritas press) literature lists with my dd. You can move them up/down the grade levels. For working on comprehension with assigned reading, maybe Mosdos would suit her? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 Here's a site that will help you find books by lexile. https://fab.lexile.com So for instance, I know that the last book my ds read comfortably was say a 490 Lexile index. So I put 490 into that search engine and it will crank out maybe 2k books that are within say 50 +/- of that lexile. Then I can limit it to only princess books or animal books or whatever suits him. Super useful. Kids can read higher or lower than a given lexile, sure. Like my dd was very into history, so when she was in 2nd grade she might S-T-R-E-T-C-H to read a history book about some topic she was really into. But as far as pleasure, usually that level is going to be 2-3 grades *below* their actual reading level. So say her reading level is 6th per your testing. Well then it would not be at all surprising if she's choosing books at a 3rd or 4th grade level for pleasure. Here's another link to get you going on that. I don't know that the lists are any good, but you'll see the idea. https://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/books-by-lexile.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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