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!

My goodness, they must be GCSE standard, most 6 year olds I know are still on ORT or ladybird type books. Even if they could read Harry Potter, which I very much doubt, there is Noway they coukd fully understand the complicated content of it.

Dd is 11 and read the first two Harry Potters at 6. Dbro got her them for Christmas. She has always been advanced in reading.

She has had to be pushed in sport and other areas though.

She re-read them again recently and said she missed a lot the first time she read them. So she read them, understood the general story but didn't pick up on everything.

The 3rd book on were lost on her.

Ds is four and no way would he be reading them at 6. But he is very sporty.

Kids are people. They are all different.

I learned to read at age 3 was years ahead with reading. I rarely read at all now and certainly wasn't considered highly intelligent.

Dd didn't know her alphabet on starting school. She was one of the oldest in the year. She struggled through reception with reading then just seemed to get it through year 1, ending the year as a free reader and reading paperbacks. Her handwriting was very poor at the time however.

She's now 10 and not top of the class in anything. She hovers slightly above average mostly but her strength is literacy.

She is an avid reader, she loves books. I don't think that came from plodding through Biff and Chip, which she rarely remembered to change. It came from her dad sitting with her every night for at least 30 minutes reading anything and everything he thought might interest her. That could be joke books, encyclopaedias of dogs, some classics, some Tom Gates, Horrible Histories - absolutely anything.

There's no need to push her. Just find things she might like and read them with her.

You really should t worry about her reading ability - she's right where she should be for her age. I would be worried, though, that you'll be 'disappointed if she isn't an avid reader' as she very well may not be.

I second the above about "reading" ahead of their age but not comprehending it. Would imagine a lot of children older than six missed everything but the bare bones of the plot when having it read to them. I was reading Jacqueline Wilson at six, but there was nuance lost on me and I consider those more basic than Rowling in terms of reading age.

For a point of comparison for the average person, try listening to the audiobook of Joyce's Ulysses and see if you understand every single thing being said without referring to the text, let alone any study guides. Being able to muddle through it doesn't ensure proper comprehension, and it's hard to judge because proper comprehension doesn't guarantee enjoyment.

I've been reading Ulysses for the past 26 years...

sighs deeply

Really don't worry OP.

We bought so many different types of books for dS to read from books some people would think were too young for them, books specificity aimed at boys, traditional fairytales, or fairytales with a modern slant All sorts

I have to my shame been that very lax parent who after year 1, would forget nearly everyweek to do the reading book from school.

But what I did do was read to them every night, they had favorite storys which I encourage them to read again once I left the room(save me having too again) at around six I read the first Harry potter to ds1 . But only on the nights he wanted to hear it.

The best books I found for them, too want to read on their own were books like the faraway tree, they found it so enchanting and magical. I'd read a chapter but they would want more so I left them to read another chapter to themselves.

I think at the end of year 2 maybe y3 ds1 was not on a level and could choose any book in school. Ds2 is above average and was slower to take to independent reading.

Both are happy to sit and read for an hour or hours now.

Just read to her, she'll grow to love reading by enjoying books in the first place.

I stopped bedtime stories around 9 , but even now on the odd occasion or they are not feeling well they'll ask me to read to them.

I remember worrying about dc1 not really enjoying reading at that age. He just needed a bit more time. Best bit of advice I was given (by his teacher) about reading was to remember it is not a race.

Fast forward a couple of years and he really got the reading bug.
Dc2 mastered the decoding side of things very quickly and so enjoyed it sooner.
Dc3 has found it all more challenging but is starting to enjoy reading a bit more now at 8 1/2.

I would echo pps re supporting them in who they are. And also letting them follow their interests - a child who's excited about a book will be much more willing to read. Sharing books together is so important, as is not rushing too quickly away from picture books, I think.

DD is 7 and she has only just read the first 2 Harry Potter books. She loves reading Horrid Henry and now anything by David Walliams. When she was 5 she was put into readng recovery for a term, so it is amazing to see her reading so much now.

They all come to it in their own time and some will love reading and some won't. Each to their own.

A 6 year old competently reading, processing and enjoying Harry Potter isn't 'the norm' for that age by a long shot. And I would hazard a guess that it's a lot rarer than some mumsnetters would have you believe.

Ds1 is 7. He's very bright and is doing literacy and maths work from older classes. His vocabulary is years ahead. He's a free reader now and has passed all the levels, chooses his own books yada yada.

I could give him a Harry Potter book. And he could read it. And then I could post on mn 'My 7 year old is reading HP, he's blazing through it' bla bla bla.

He could read the actual words, but I doubt he would get too much enjoyment or understanding from it right now...not for another year or two i'd imagine. It's would be too long a chapter book, too detailed, too many side plots for him to follow.

Ds2 is 5.5. Top of his class for literacy and reading and light years ahead of many other dc in his class. He's so far away from being able to read the likes of HP it's laughable!

So in summary op, a lot of what you read on mn is likely to be pretentious, boasting, truth-stretched nonsense. So don't judge your own dc by these standards.

I took so long to write the post I x posted with blobbityblob

I totally agree, read anything and everything to them.

I also think it's important not to encourage your child into reading books like Harry Potter and the like just because you know they're bright and think they 'can' or 'should'.

Ds1 has little interest in stories or fiction at present. But he spends hours pouring over his minecraft cheat books and the Guiness Book of World Records because he loves facts and finds them interesting.

Me giving him a Roald Dahl book and encouraging him to read it would be so counter-productive right now for him because it wouldn't hold as much interest as his World Records book.

OP, I am willing to believe there are 6 year olds reading Harry Pottr, but it is hardly the norm.

If it makes you feel better both my DDs were plowing their way through Biff and Chip and Kipper books at 6 years old. And, to give you hope, my eldest is now at a highly selective girl's school in London. She is doing just fine.

To be fair, Summer, all children are different. I personally don't think there are many children who would force themselves to read through books without enjoying them.

So whilst you might have decided that parents who do ask questions about 7 year olds reading harry potter is "pretentious, boasting, truth-stretched nonsense" - perhaps it is more an expression of the fact that everyone is different, and really it shouldn't matter that there are children liking Harry Potter earlier than others. Children get to reading at different ages, and in different ways. It isn't a 'standard' to meet or not. It is just a difference.

It seems a little narrow to me to assume that just because it isn't within your own realm of experience, that it therefore doesn't happen (and the parents that say it does are lying - not that I'm feeling a bit defensive about that or anything )

I know that kind of early reading and comprehension is possible because that's what I was like! I was reading from 2, reading full-length chapter books at 5. I really was. So I wouldn't disbelieve someone who says their DC can do it - it's just that I've stopped comparing and worrying.

multivac, you are so kind to go through the trouble to write that list.

He has read some of those (his dark materials, alice and treasure island), I will look at the other ones mentioned.

He says that he is too young for Hunger Games, or Robert Muchamore and those kind of teen books (he tried them, but says he does not think he is emotionally ready). He really talks like that

Great to have some suggestions! I am not a native speaker, so did not grow up with English books, so am a bit lost at times!

I hope you don't show her you're disappointed that she's not a reader.
Nothing wrong with not liking to read.
My parents are lovely, but I always felt they were disappointed whenever I showed I wasn't like them in some way. I didn't feel accepted and felt very guilty for not being smarter in this or that area. I'm not kidding, it fucked me up for a bit, I was very insecure, didn't really grasp the idea that it's ok to have uneven strengths and weaknesses until much later than I should have. Felt like I could never be comfortable with expressing disinterest in something cultural so e.g. plodded through lots of books I found boring because I thought I had to. If I ever have kids, I really want to avoid that. Let her be who she is, if she doesn't sound like she has LD - it's fine for her to just be average or normal.
Sorry but it just struck a chord with me.

FWIW I read all sorts at six inc. Holocaust memoirs, Anne Frank was my thing, always read a lot etc but failed a verbal reasoning test for a grad scheme the other day. Twice! and the numerical reasoning test was even worse, a catastrophe! Yeah reading's nice, but not essential. Some of the most successful people I know just don't read ever. Your DD will be fine.

And I definitely agree with the point that a 6 year old enjoying Harry Potter is going to be pretty special, I dare say even gifted. I would imagine the average bright 6 year old to read it like you might read a foreign language you're ok at - getting the gist but having to concentrate to really get it properly and either skimming it or losing motivation after a page.

It seems a little narrow to me to assume that just because it isn't within your own realm of experience, that it therefore doesn't happen

I didn't say that.

I said that a 6 year old reading HP is not 'the norm'. I've no doubt that it does happen sometimes, with a few children who develop advanced reading and comprehension skills very early.

I just don't believe it's anywhere near as common as mn would have you believe and not a standard you should judge your own dc by.

Sorry I meant to mention earlier but although dc1&2 are both really strong readers, neither read HP at age 6.

Interestingly, Harry Potter is a year 7 English text at my dcs' school.

velour - I completely agree.

I suspect that this is what many people class as 'reading' tbh. I personally don't believe that there are that many parents on mn who have a gifted child (as this thread would have you believe).

I have a very good reading comprehension, now, but when I was six years old I considered books for eight year olds too complicated. (I still was better at reading than my classmates, though)

Don't stress yourself. If your child learnt reading at 5 or 6 years, it is completely normal she isn't reading Harry Potter.

They're all different. I think the main thing is finding something they enjoy reading. Some children prefer reading things like the Usborne 'see inside' books rather than stories. Maybe you could go to the library and try a few different styles of books to see what holds her attention best?

FWIW DS1 was reading (and understanding) HP at age 6. This is not me showing off he just started reading early and was at that level at that age. DS2 isn't interested and hasn't reached that level yet. As I said, they're all different :)

I do agree Summer. I'm not sure there is quite so much exaggeration, but I also don't think that mumsnetters are a representative sample.

I do also think that although my DD has probably exceptional reading interests for her age, I really don't think she is gifted. She does have very good comprehension and phonics skills to match, and loves stories. She has proved herself up for a challenge, but her spelling isn't great, her written work pretty good but nothing that would stand out, and her maths pretty good but nothing that would stand out. She is a very typical child, with an atypical interest in books and reading.

I am pleased she is enjoying reading so much. I worried she would be dyslexic. And perhaps, opposite to OP, because I was nothing like that as a child (more the other way), it is a fun surprise. But she has one skill/interest, which is great but nothing more

I was beginning to read from Reception- around 5 years old. I was always a good reader for my age and figured it out quite quickly.

However I don't remember starting on Harry Potter until around maybe 7/8 years old. I remember very clearly fighting with Mum over our brand new copy of The Order Of The Phoenix at 9!