Thanks ladies. You make total sense. I think when I was using AO it set a standard in my head of the type of books she should be reading. I love their booklist, but need to make sure it’s appropriate for her. Teach the child, not the curriculum, right? Need to keep reminding myself of that! I just orderd All Creatures Great and Small by Herriot for her, since she’s an animal lover and may want to be a vet. Thanks for stressing the love of reading more than my concerns over voc. development and all she ‘should’ be doing. She’s not lazy….does her schoolwork well and diligently. I think I’ll have a talk w/her and tell her I’m sorry for not being more in tune and tell her I have a fun book ordered:) Thanks again! And sorry crazy4boys….I hope others chime in if they have any more ideas for you!!!! Blessings, Gina
Gina – One other thing that may help you relax about the “levels” – I have the ability to check books for their AR levels (I know that it is a PS thing, but the levels are based on the vocabulary and ability to be understood at each grade level.) So I knew where one of my dd was when she came home from PS and while I wanted to move her abilities up, I also didn’t want to overwhelm her.
I was shocked at what I learned – many classics are written at 5 – 7 grade levels. Not many are more than that. So really I just need to make sure that she has a wide variety for her to experience. A huge vocabulary is not helpful if you have no feelings for what you read – you have nothing to say except “I hate it” or “I hate reading”.
James Herriot might be perfect. He also wrote a book about cat stories. They look fun. I was thinking last night I should read them since they are on my shelf. lol
Thanks, Sheraz! That’s good to hear (classics levels). I hadn’t thought of Herriot because we’d read some long ago so I associate as young kids books. But I just saw Lightening Lit. had this one for grades 7th/8th, hope that’s correct! Oh, there I go being concerned about levels again:) Yeah, I don’t want her to hate reading. I wouldn’t say she hates it, but she doesn’t find great joy either. Hopefully a new perspective will help. Thanks gain:) Blessings, Gina