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!
AIBU?
To be worried about the number of 6 year olds reading Harry Potter?
mydogeatsnutstoo · 01/12/2015 12:08
I have a very precocious reader. She read the whole of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by herself, when she was 5 - and understood it. She is now 7 (has a reading age of 13 apparently) and read the first four Harry Potter books over the summer holidays and has been badgering me to let her read the next ones. I'm not convinced that she will have actually understood all of book 4 as there are a lot more adult themes emerging at that point. She still enjoyed reading it though. She hasn't yet read The Hobbit 
My middle daughter (6) is also an excellent reader but is not addicted to it in the same way that my eldest is. She is perfectly capable of reading harder chapter books in terms of reading skill but I don't think her comprehension is at the same level so, whilst she could probably read the first Harry Potter book, she really wouldn't understand a lot of what's going on! She reads books like The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog and some of the shorter Jaqueline Wilson books (ie books with very little substance to them) but her favourite books to read are Charlie and Lola books or pregnancy and labour books from the library!! The latter lead to some interesting conversations!!!! 
My son (4) has just started showing an interest in reading - finally! - and so I've been starting him on simple phonics and sight words. By the time he starts school he ought to be reading some of the easier ORT books I expect. He has always loved books and being read to but was always very reluctant to learn his alphabet and sounds etc so I was going to leave him until he started school (didn't want to scare him off reading!) but he's now decided that he can do it.
Both my girls were also writing very well (relatively speaking) by age 4 but my son, whilst he loves to colour and scribble, is unlikely to be writing by the time he starts school as he just doesn't want to and I'm not going to force it on him!
I think there are a number of children who like the prestige of reading a book that's aimed at a higher age than they are but I suspect that a lot of the 6 year olds who have supposedly read Harry Potter, The Hobbit, etc., may have done so without actually understanding the story very much. I don't think Harry Potter appears on the recommended reading list until Year 5, IIRC, so I shouldn't worry if your 6, 7 or 8 year old isn't reading it until they reach that age!
OP, please don't worry.
My DD is 6 and in Year 2 and has a reading age 3 years above her age. Yet she doesn't actually read at all at home. She just seems to 'get it' when she reads at school.
We are reading HP to her and currently 'The Children of Green Knowe' (thanks to the 'Xmas Books' thread on here 
). We insist on reading to her every night. She asks lots of questions when we're reading to her to confirm her understanding of the book and her comprehension is excellent.
I do fear that we've put her off reading though because she started reading before she started school so we are definitely not pushing it now. I love reading so I totally get how you feel, but they will find it in their own time.
DOn't fret.
My oldest hated reading (also dyslexic) and was still on Horrid Henry in year 5/6
My youngest was reading all the Harry Potters by year 3.
The oldest now reads regularly, and has discovered books he likes.
The youngest has read so much, that he now feels there are no books left for him. He finds the teen books not nice, and "too old" for him, and he finds there is nothing left for him now, age 10, until he'll be older. He is losing his love of reading.
Just let them read at their own pace, there is nothing to be gained from reading HP at as-young-as-possible an age, other than one-upmanship over those who still read Horrid henry 
OP, I was an avid reader as a child and still am, and I share your disappointment. My DC (age 6, 8 and 10) are all bright and good readers, but nowhere near as keen as I would like them to be! Also my DD age 8 prefers Horrid Henry and Tom Gates to my old favourites!
I just have to face the fact that this is who they are. I encourage them to read, obviously, but I don't bang on about it as I don't want to put them off. My DH isn't much of a reader so I blame his genes
WhatToDoSue thanks for the Cello Wars link. It was amazing. DS is home sick from school and is now begging me to find more
As for the OP's question, I don't know many 6-yr-olds actually reading HP or challenging chapter books. DS is in the top group for reading. He may have told school he was reading HP but actually he means we are reading it at bedtime so I'm the one doing the reading he is doing the cuddling and listening
Unbidden and unaccompanied, he reads books about superheroes, Horrid Henry and whatever project topic they are currently studying at school.
Dc1 is G&T. Now at secondary he is still at the top of his English class. He reads much more complex oils than most of his friends, I cl adults books.
He was NOT reading HP at 6yo! Actually he wasn't really reading by himself at that age and didn't read for pleasure until he was about 8~9yo and he could read stuff he doing interesting (or there was a big gap between his ability in reading add his understanding/interests).
I really really wouldnt worry about it
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