To be worried about the number of 6 year olds reading Harry Potter?

[mydogeatsnutstoo]

My dd is 6, nearly 7. I think she is quite a bright child, she is creative and outgoing and quite athletic. Her school reports always suggest she is doing well.

However, I have been worried that she has not taken to reading as I thought she would - I was one of these precocious and avid readers as a child and she is just not! ( and not for want of opportunity, loads of books in house, taken to library a lit etc). She is on level 2b reading book which I think is about right for year 2 but definitely not Harry Potter level! Getting her to read in itself can be a trial, although she has spurts of interest and improvement though would not sit down and read a book herself very often.

I am trying not to push her but will be v disappointed if she doesn't like reading! Please tell me that there are other bright 6 year olds at this stage not reading The Hobbit (as my friend's daughter apparently has!) and that they can suddenly just 'get it' a bit later!

[Toffeelatteplease]

We have had some success with comics and graphic novels (Calvin and hobbs, and some classic children's fiction in gothic novel form) horrid henry (which is bad) and David Walliams (which is worse). Mostly in the last year.

At six I don't think she had finished a book but was very skillful at swapping them half way through under her teachers nose. There were discussions about the running battle that was persuading her to read, teachers mostly took the attitude that it will happen in time.... I'm still waiting....

[Toffeelatteplease]

Graphic not gothic

[hefzi]

I really wouldn't worry: my DB (now university lecturer) didn't get into reading until he was about 9 - and then it was only non-fiction for years (and not avid at all until his teens); DF (a prolific reader) couldn't read at all until he was 10; I grew up in a home full of books, read to from birth etc etc - and I didn't really get the hang of reading until I was 6 or so. I read a couple of books a day now (no television and fast reader) and work in an area where I read constantly too.

In short - no reason to suppose your DD won't be an avid reader (though she might not be): I remember going home crying from school because a girl in my class used to read us "Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf" and I was still stuck on the first reading book (I was 4) - I was one of the last to get my hymn book (you had to finish the 6 reading books from the level to be allowed one) but I made up for it later on.

Ignore competitive mummies: I swear half of them make it up anyway!

[MrsFrisbyMouse]

Really don't get hung up on what are 'good' and 'bad' books. Just let them read what they enjoy.

A lot of 'classics' are actually written in a way that is quite impenetrable to a modern child. They need better literacy skills to decode them - and to get those skills they need reading practise!

A lot of modern children's books make fantastic use of advances in printing technologies. These advances have allowed authors to be much more creative in how the text is set (think mixed fonts and use of space on page) - and to integrate cartoons and pictures - expanding the reading and decoding experiences for the child.

Also using films to support understanding of books is a useful tool. Reading a book and then watching the film (or vice versa) helps children to understand how stories can be adapted. How the two mediums are different and how you have to use different 'tools' to engage your reader/viewer. I think teaching children how to analyse visual media is (in our modern world) as important a skill as literacy. Otherwise how do they become attuned to way they respond to messages in films/adverts/tv etc.

[momb]

I really wouldn't worry too much at age 6 about the quality of the literature: better three small age-appropriate books in a week than the first chapter of a worthy tome and then giving up.

I opened the thread because I thought there was someone else other than me who doesn't think that HP is appropriate reading for a 6 year old. Even The Philosopher's Stone film was PG and was significantly sweetened compared to the book.

Let them read anything age appropriate: magazines, Captain Underpants, whatever engages and makes them want to continue.

[Yokohamajojo]

Mine were very much the same and I just let them read what they want, the oldest one now in Y4 was stuck on fact books and guiness world record and match attack magazines for a looong time! He read his first Harry Potter this summer when he was 8 and enjoyed it but hasn't bothered at all with the second one.

It really annoys me with parents who have to compare reading levels all the time! I have one mum in my youngest class and he is 6 who keeps asking me what level books my son is in! mind your own bloody business, I just don't get it (and no she is not worried about her DDs reading, she just wants a chance to let me know what a very high level she is on)

[ForCh1na]

My son read HP at age 6 and absolutely loved it, but only the first one as I think the content of the rest of them is too mature for him and will not let him read them for another year or two. He loved it. I do not think his sister will be reading HP at 6 and she is just as bright as him. Her brain is just wired in a different way (to his I mean). Reading or not reading is not the only indicator of intelligence.

[MrsFrisbyMouse]

oh and comics. Comics are amazing - especially for children who are more visual. There are many more ways to tell a story than a load of words on a page - and comics encapsulate that perfectly.

[nagsandovalballs]

I was reading enid blyton at 4.5yrs but I have a PhD now in Eng Lit, so I'm definitely an exception. However, it took me until year 8 (12 yrs old) and many hours of learning, reciting, chanting and many more tears for me to learn my bloody timetables. I remember all through primary being absolutely tortured by and terrified of our weekly arithmetic tests. To be honest, I'm still terrible with 6 and 7 times tables and have to use every trick I know to calculate them.

Horses for courses and all that!

[WhirlwindHugs]

My DD1 reads well but couldn't manage harry potter (I LOVED potter so occasionally get her to read a paragraph to check!)

She's starting to be able to read chapter books but needs someone with her because otherwise she skips words she can't decode and loses the meaning.

She really likes the shorter roald dahls - the twits, magic finger etc and also animal ark books. Dick King Smith books are going down very well too.

[WhirlwindHugs]

She's 6 btw.

I seem to recall that statistically early reading means sod all long term.

[manicinsomniac]

Personally, I think it would spoil a child's enjoyment of the later Harry Potter books to read them at 6. Being able to decode the words and even understand their meaning doesn't mean the child will be able to enjoy the book in the same way that an older child (or adult - I love them!) would. Then, if they re-read them a few years later, they aren't getting the same experience as they've already read and half understood it.

My 12 year old has read and enjoyed them all. My 8 year old has only read the first 3. I don't think she would appreciate the others properly yet. Too much would go over her head. I think about age 10 is the ideal age to properly 'get' the last couple of books.

If you have a truly gifted reader then yes, why not. But not many children fall into that category. Most are just bright children who read well and there's no rush for them to be reading great big long chapter books with complicated themes.

[ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight]

My DS is 7 and an advanced reader (compared to his classmates, ie within normal for year 2, not reading Kafka!) and hasn't got into reading HP yet. He did try but the pages are too dense. He reads the simpler Roald Dahl stories to himself and books like wimpy kid and horrid Henry.
The 6/7 year olds reading HP are exceptional, not usual! My DS has the illustrated philosophers stone for Xmas and will probably make. Good go of that as the pages are less dense and the illustrations keep the attention.

[GreenPotato]

I'm several years down the line with this now OP, I know what you're saying. I was a very early reader and we are the most bookish household you can imagine. My DC just haven't gone the same way! So far at least. It is hard because I suppose I just imagined we'd all be bookworms and I'd share that joy (and all my many books!) with them. But kids surprise you. One of mine is dyslexic and very reluctant to read for pleasure, the other is about average at reading. I've learned to just let it go. Reading levels, who's reading Harry Potter, all that is just not my concern. I now just try to help my DC do their own best and encourage whatever their own passions are, and try not to push reading onto them.

But I do know how you feel. FWIW I know some do suddenly get into it at a later age (still secretly hoping mine will!)

[harryhausen]

My dd is in Y6 now but was exactly the same in y1. To be fair, she progressed fairly well through the reading scheme at school but wouldn't read a thing at home for pleasure.

It really worried me. I too was an avid reader and it was a huge pleasure to me. My career is now in Children's publishing and from babies I read up them and had hundreds of books on the house. It just disappointed me that she wasn't interested.

Fast forward to now, she's just read the second book of the Hunger Games. She reads a wide variety of stuff. Her writing abilities are astounding, especially creative writing - however, hand on heart she still doesn't love to read, by that I mean read a book over anything else. She loves film, animation, poetry and music.
She still hadn't read Harry Potter. She's into sci-Fi and YA stuff now. I have no worries about her.

My ds is in y4 and reads well but favours comics and Diary of a Wimpy Kid at home.

I've never heard of a child reading Harry Potter in Y1. Lots have it read to them, but not reading independently (that I knew).

[Zuzia666]

In my family, I read since I was 3, my sister learned reading when she was 8 and started to like reading when she was around 9 or even later, my brother, somewhat in between. We all grew up to be exceptionally bookish adults and I think my sister it the smartest of us. Just keep reading and providing books, maybe she'll warm up to them later.

[Gatehouse77]

I wouldn't even give a 6 year old HP to read as they don't have the maturity or experience to understand it. There are many other good books that will stretch an able reader. My eldest was enjoying Aesop's Fables, simplified Greek myths and the like alongside Horrid Henry, Flat Stanley, etc.

What they're reading is far less important than if they're reading.

Oh, and we also subscribed to First News (actually it was a birthday gift from grandparents!) which is fab for stimulating conversation about language, culture, history, current affairs, etc.

[vladthedisorganised]

Not just you. I was a really prolific reader from an early age - even now I usually have 3 on the go at one time - and DD just isn't keen on it. She's quite happy with books being read to her, but won't read them herself. I wish she shared my addiction enthusiasm, and it does grate a bit when you hear about so-and-so having read the Hobbit halfway through Reception and is yours still struggling?

Anyway, on the flip side, just because the 6 year olds enjoy Harry Potter it doesn't necessarily mean that they're reading it themselves. DD really loves Ancient Greece and talks about The Odyssey being her favourite story ever - she can tell you in minute detail exactly what happens throughout. Doesn't mean that she pulls out a volume of Homer every night though - just that I'm reading the less gory children's version to her whenever she asks (which is a lot.) I noticed other parents panicking when DD mentioned her 'favourite book'...

[MrsFrisbyMouse]

Books my daughter really enjoyed when she first started reading.

Charlottes Web (sad but a beautiful story)
Charlie and the chocolate factory
Danny Champion of the World
Madame Pamplemousse series
Meerkat Madness
Michael Morpurgu - Mudpuddle farm series - and then Kasper/Butterfly Lion etc

[WhattodoSue]

So, my DD 6 is reading Harry Potter. She loves books and reading. My DS 5 is so different. My DD liked simple chapter books for bedtime stories (read to her) from very early. My DS likes the same Ninja turtle book. He likes a bedtime story, but for a period was asking to listen to Cello Wars instead (totally unrelated to reading, but totally fab so I'm linking it anyway... . He struggles to concentrate on full chapter books, which I'm not worried about because it was totally normal. I also don't think that my DD is necessarily more bright than my DS. She isn't super bright, she just has developed a passion for books and reading earlier than most. I do think that once they are doing GCSE's/A-levels, you won't know who were the early passionate readers.

My Mum read Jane Eyre at 8 (she was abroad and it was a gift from her teacher). She says she loved it, but she skimmed some bits that weren't so meaningful, and evidently she got much less depth than an 18 year old would.

I was reading picture books and nothing else until I think I was at least 8 or 9. I didn't like long books, and found chapter books intimidating. But then, I discovered them. I think it helped my Mum read bedtime stories to me until I was 10 or so. And I discovered a love of reading myself, eventually. I was told not to do English A-level (I am dyslexic), but went on to do an English BA, which I LOVED.

My point is, we are all so different, and our experiences with books are different. There are periods of my life I have read more and periods I have read less. I imagine it will be the same with my DD. I hope it will be the same with my DS.

[babybythesea]

I think you may be me OP.
Dd is also 6, nearly 7. She's well above that in reading age according to the bits of paper I get given at school but I can barely get her to read a word at home. She spends hours developing complicated imaginary games with various play sets, and when I ask her if she wants to read she tells me it's boring to read someone else's ideas, she prefers to make up her own.
She does have a massively overactive imagination, and has been spooked by several reading books that have come home from school (one about vampires stands out - was supposed to be funny but she didn't get the humour and freaked out). So she won't be reading HP yet because I know it will spook her. She could probably read the words but that's not the same as reading and understanding it.
Also I remember reading various books as a kid (I was a voracious reader). I read Jane Austen's Persuasion and Mansfield Park at 11, and an Agatha Christie when I was about 8. The Agatha Christie freaked me out completely. Terrified. (I took it from my parents bookshelf without them knowing). Persuasion and Masfield Park I read. Just about followed the plot but thought they were a bit boring. Missed any humour or any deeper stuff. And then refused to read them again for years because I'd already read them. I think my main concern with reading things too young is that you miss loads of the best stuff but don't go back because you've been there done that, which might mean you miss some amazing stuff. I kind of think why waste time reading stuff you don't really get, when you could be reading other things and fully understanding them. The older books won't go anywhere, and when you do read them it'll be a much fuller experience. But that's just my take on it, precisely because it's not what I did myself.

We are reading the Narnia Chronicles together though and she's loving it, although it's interesting how much she doesn't 'get' when I ask her what just happened. Reading together though I can at least stop and explain.

If you want ideas, Roald Dahl has been mentioned. She might also like My Naughty Little Sister. Dodie Smith is worth a look - 101 Dalmations is a stonking book and far better than the Disney tripe. As is the sequel, Starlight Barking. The Midnight Kittens is good too. Dick King Smith. Brilliant author although not much like Horrid Henry! And I know people look down on her but DD loves Enid Blyton. Faraway Tree, a Wishing chair etc when she was younger, and we've just finished a stand alone one which she was hooked on called The Boy Next Door. No longer in print so you have to track it down second hand but it's worth it. We tried the Secret Seven but they are too scary!!

[Radiatorvalves]

DS1 is a prolific reader, always has been. He is now 11, and loves all sorts - sports biographies, anything about doping, the Sunday Times, the Cherub books, Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird (probably a bit ambitious that one) and the Hobbit....

But refuses to read Harry Potter. Not sure what his problem is!

[Lindy2]

My DD loves Harry Potter. We read several of the books to her at age 5-6. She is 7 now and still loves the story but would not be able to easily read it herself. She would be put off by the number of words on each page.
She likes straight forward easy reads for reading herself. She does however like longer more detailed stories, so we'll read those to her until she's ready to do it herself. I think the most important thing is to nurture the love of books and reading regardless of what it is and who's doing the actual reading.

[FellOffMyUnicorn]

some kids love reading, some don't

some adults love reading some don't

either way, its not wrong

I love reading and take my kobo with me EVERYWHERE (i mean everywhere, including going to the supermarket) My children read all the time, OH reads all the time, we just love reading

i think if you have books that you think are ok for your children to read and have them accessible and show them that reading is something to enjoy, then they'll read them

(was a bit about censoring HP at first, as both my boys read it, one at 7, and one at 8 - but thats your family choice)

[MarlenaGru]

My DD is 7 and I do believe one of her friends has read HP. She is 8 and seems to be very bright. Her parents spend a lot of time ensuring she is doing intellectual things rather than watching tv etc.

My DD loved the first HP when I read it to her earlier this year. I think she could read it but is more interested in reading other books to be honest. She is not the best reader in her class but I believe is pretty good for her age. She does, however, struggle with maths a lot which is what I was always good at so I find that difficult to comprehend!