Hi Misty,
We, too, did the Seton readers and we were in the third grade series when my son was around 8. Like you, I found he needed more practise before I could really hand him a chapter book and know that he wasn’t going to struggle. Like you, at this stage, I could not hand him Charlotte’s Web, Rascal or Stuart Little. I admit, it was a tricky little stage because I SO much wanted him to begin to love reading and knew that this would only happen if he DID IT more, and yet, if I pushed him too much he’d be turned off.
I ended up extended his guided reading lessons a bit further. Although we technically had completed a reading instruction program, I knew he still needed guided lessons to get him to the next level – otherwise he’d just keep on with half hearted attempts or lazy habits. I purchased #1 and 2 from the American Cardinal series (it’s more advanced than the Seton series) for extra practise, and we also used the Robinson Crusoe Reader at this stage. (my son LOVED the latter) I will also second the vote for the Clyde Robert Bulla books mentioned above, although I think I’ve only ever been able to find 4 or 5 of them and they are pretty short, so they aren’t going to get you through more than several months. I confess, not having researched enough about twaddle and good literature, we did have a lot of Magic Treehouse around at this stage…(don’t throw tomatoes at me!); it ended up being the series that “bridged the gap” and sealed the deal in making him loves books; it was the series that motivated him to TRY harder so that it would all click.
Another strategy that we did to get it to all click – at this stage we started putting some of the classics in front of him and had him follow in the printed book during an audio reading. We did this with Black Beauty and with Pollyanna. Charlotte’s Web would be perfect also. Many of the Thornton Burgess Adventures of series are on booksshouldbefree.com and so you could do it with these as well. Use of this strategy seemed to bring a turning point in his willingness to try harder. He started to realize that if he increased his attentiveness during an audio reading where he’s holding the book and following – he could then take that book into quiet time or bring it along during a car trip and actually REMEMBER more of the words. And again, these steps went on for about 6 months…then suddenly I had a READER. I should mention also that I would create his copywork from the audio/printed book read along text for that day.
Just remembering one last series that helped at this stage and you may have heard of it since you are Catholic: Devotional Stories for Little Folks, and More Devotional Stores for Little Folks. All published exclusively by CHC. I found them worth every penny (my kids still remember and talk about the Seth, Meg and Greg stories…). If you are interested CHC even has flat rate 3.95 shipping for three days at the end of June…
HTH a bit!
