My son is 8 and this is our first year to homeschool. He can read, but not as well as I would like. In addition to reading lots and lots aloud to him, I also have him read aloud to me on a daily basis, because I have noticed that he tends to skip words (sometimes because they are difficult, but more often, from rushing and not paying attention), which affects his comprehension of what he has read. He prefers reading books that I feel are too easy. Picture books or chapter books with lots and lots of pictures. Right now he is reading a Junie B Jones book to me which is probably about his level but I don’t like it (mostly because he grammar is terrible…. maybe it is supposed to be cute, but I don’t think beginning readers need poor grammar as an example). I would love to have him read good quality literature that is level appropriate. Suggestions?
My son loves all the books by Clyde Bulla like Viking Adventure and A Lion to Guard Us. They are in the same section as the Junie B books at the library so I think maybe they are the same level?
My dd6 reads too fast and skips words too. When she reads aloud I tell her to read the story to me like I am not following along and need to hear every word. She is reading the words but reads so fast that she skips saying some of them. I told her I want to hear the whole story and if she skips words I won’t understand. She must speak slowly and be expressive to entertain me. This has helped a lot in her understanding of what I want and she is doing much better.
My 8 yo boy is a good but hurried reader. He likes to read a book that he can finish in on sitting, or at least one day. I would suggest short chapter books. My son loved the Cul de Sac kids series. Spend some time at a library or book store and let him do some browsing. You might be surprised at what interests him.
We love the Sonlight readers. You can find more suggestions on their website. Here are several to get him started. Over the years, we’ve found most of these at our library.
Haha! I guess it would have been helpful to actually post the thread link. Sorry about that. Can’t seem to find that particular thread again, but here are some others – if you go through them and write the lists down, you should have some great ideas for a while. =)
Thanks everyone! We go to the library often, but what he picks out for himself are not my first choices. He tends to go for Captain Underpants, which I classify as Twaddle… 😛
My ds enjoyed The Boxcar Children when he was six, so I’m sure they would be good for an 8yo. He also loves Indian in the Cupboard, The Borrowers, Cricket in Times Square, Stuart Little, My Father’s Dragon, Elmer and the Dragon, Little House series, and anything about sharks. We are currently reading the Chronicles of Narnia series, and I keep catching him reading past chapters, and he’s 8 1/2. If you haven’t read those, I highly recommend them!
I have an 8yo DD with similar problems, and I agree with just about every book Lindsey said! My daughter and I love the Boxcar Children, but only the first 17-18 orginial, not the ones written by ghost authors after those.
I have also found that using audiobooks, with the child reading along, can help a lot – as well as buddy reading. My son’s reading skills went up a lot by buddy reading Harry Potter – he read a paragraph, then I did, then he did, etc….