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!

"I expect the 6 year olds reading Harry Potter are reading in a similar manner."

Why is it so hard for some people to understand that some children are perfectly capable of reading and comprehending a book earlier than others?

DD1 was (IMO) pretty bright but took ages getting reading established. (She's over 30 now so this is way before national curriculum & KS levels. Life was a lot less anxious for parents in those golden days )

She started school in January, turned 5 in April, but struggled with reading most of the way through Y1, until she suddenly got it; by the time she turned 7 she would be so engrossed in things like Narnia we often had to give her a nudge tiger her attention.

DD2, otoh, got it much sooner, but has never been much of a reader.
DS1 took off with Goosebumps books aged 8-9 & still reads a lot, but mostly big fat thrillers/Game of Thrones.
DS2 was a brilliant reader from quite an early age, but was not interested in fiction at all, & still isn't much.

The being lost in a book thing seems to depend more on personality than ability or intelligence. It can't be forced.

my dd1 (9) has just started reading Harry Potter, she would have been able to read the words, as she is very technically able, but her comprehension skills would have meant she didn't understand it all (in the way you describe, op), she also would have found some of it too scary.

Dd2 (8) on the other hand would have 'got it', comprehension wise - she has a really great understanding of books and concepts, but her technical ability to read is a little behind, because she is dyslexic.

Reading is about so much more than just reading the words.

Ds (5.6) wouldn't be able to read it at all, as he is unable to read, and would not understand the concepts at all.

He loves being read to though!!

mydogeatsnutstoo - oh yes I am certain sdd can read the individual words, when she reads her school books she's very good. But she does just focus on each word. Linking them to understand sentences and then paragraphs she struggles with. Never mind whole chapters and books. She can read, but not comprehend.

DD7 loves Roald Dahl, Daisy Meadows, David Walliams. We haven't attempted Harry Potter because she said she found the movies boring! And also I think her little arms couldn't handle the weight of the books!

We visit the library once a week and I let her choose whatever she likes. Last week she chose a science book about butterflies, The Wizard of Oz and Bella Donna (about a girl witch). They make her happy and as someone with an MA in Literature, an ex English teacher, that's more than anything I want from her - to have a love of reading.

I read regularly with children in DD2s class. They're now Y5 and I've been reading with them since Y1. Over that time I've worked with all abilities - ones that have only started reading last year right through to ones who are fantastic readers. The fantastic readers and the ones who love it most now are not all necessarily the ones who were the most able 4 years ago.

Also, several parents got a bit worked up in end Y2 to Y3 sort of time, that their child was a good reader and yet not reading harder books. I remember the teacher saying that it was so important not to put children off by asking them to read something too demanding, just because they can read the actual words, and that instilling a love of reading for pleasure is as important as stretching them over time. Most of us read a fair bit of our adult equivalents of Rainbow Magic and Horrid Henry, even if we do challenge ourselves with Joyce or Tolstoy as well, so children should be allowed to enjoy their own reading material (in whatever form that comes) just as much.

My dd has just turned 7 and read the hobbit, Roald Dahl and loads of others that she "shouldn't be able to read". She has always been a very good reader, speller and writer. After each chapter I get her to tell me what has happened and seems to have good comprehension.
I had parents evening a week ago and she is 2s for reading and English.
Maths on the other hand is a fight and really struggles. It took 3 weeks for her to get a simple number line working at home and school. I was pulling my hair out by the end. She struggles with times tables too.
I love that she is good at reading but I wish she would put her energy into other things as well.

My DD is about a year older than yours - 7 about to turn 8. She has always shown an interest in books but over the past year (so Y2 into Y3) has slowly become a thorough book worm.

She got a huge heap of books for her birthday (January) and has read them over the course of this year. We knew some were too "old" for her but do that because there's no mid point when your birthday comes just after Christmas...
So, some books she enjoyed were:

• Magic Tree House series. I expect your DD could read this easily now and it does tick the "chapter book" box. It seemed to give my DD real confidence to try longer books once she had crossed that magic line into reading chapter books.
• Atticus Claw, first 2 in series
• Wings & Co
• Wimpy Kid
• The Naughtiest Girl in the School series (Enid Blyton)
• some Jacqueline Wilson books, can't remember the titles but she does a number of books for this age group
• now (i.e. comming up 8) she is reading Famous Five and How to Train your Dragon but it was definitely beyond her before then

We also got a her subscription to a magazine (National Geographic kids) which she's really enjoyed. Plus getting something in the post with her name on it is SOOOO exciting!

Dd was a fantastic early reader, and ploughed her way through all the HPs at 7 years old. Ds read the first ones at that age, but the later, darker books didn't engage him. Dd also read pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights when she was 10. [preen]

She is now 12. This past year she has read Zoella, 101 facts about Nick Jonas and... I don't think she's read anything else at all

I would also recommend audio books. DD listened to all of David Walliams CDs and then read them all herself.

I was an avid reader and was self taught before I went to school, DH has read only a handful of novels in his entire life. He has a PhD from Cambridge I don't have a degree. My parents were abusive arseholes, DH has eccentric but encouraging parents. That counts more than any book band.

Renaissance Learning calculates an estimated "reading age" for the Harry Potter books, launched in 1997, as being between 11 and 12 years old, based on the complexity of words and language and sentence length

From google, but sounds pretty accurate to me.

A 6 year old with a reading age of 11-12 is rare. Not impossible, but not something you'll find in the majority of Year 2 classes. That's not just bright, that's extremely advanced. The odd exceptional child here and there, i'd have thought.

Who'd have thought that so many of these rare and advanced dc would have parents who frequent mn?

My DD read HP at 6, well some of them, she is now 7. My DS is 5 and only just learnt is first 'tricky' word. Am sure he'll get there! I think the reason DD was interested in them was because a few in her class had read them and had been playing HP games in the playground and wanted to see what is was all about.

I think the reason DD was interested in them was because a few in her class had read them

Very exceptional school there. Even my local £££££ prestigious indie doesn't have that many exceptional kids.

Hadeda Thank you for that tip about National Geographic Kids - just ordered DD an annual subscription for Christmas (a bargain at £30!). Better than the plastic CBBC tat magazines that we've sometimes being tempted to by the supermarkets.

SummerNights1986 maybe they should come to my DDs Lewisham state primary then, lots of the Y2/3 kids massively into HP.

Year 3 kids are often 8 or approaching 8 newlabel

There's a big difference between a 6 and 8 year old

When HP was first published, some one told me her child prodigy was reading it aged 4. I was less than impressed because I did not really know anything about Harry Potter at the time and my 6 year old was not interested .

He did go on to read it shortly afterwards, but his sisters did not bother reading for themselves until Y5. They were quite happy for me to read everything for them, then walk off when they got bored.

We bought audio books and listened to them in the car. We did all the childrens classics, fell in love with the Moomins, found a wonderful version of Peter Pan (and the ending is very ) they can quote most of Three Men in a Boat and know loads of Dickens. They went on to read perfectly normally, and did A level literature, so it can't be that bad. (They also love Joyce Grenfell - she was 99p at the cheap book shop)

Yes, I'm fed up with everyone dismissing the ability of advanced early readers too. Some 6 year olds can and do read and comprehend books you wouldn't expect.

My 7 year old DS has been able to read since he was 3 and spends little time doing anything else. He'd read the Roald Dahl books before he started school. He's read the first few HP but they didn't really grab him. He preferred the Percy Jackson series, Lemony Snicket and loves Terry Pratchet.

He has been repeatedly assessed by his school to check his comprehension and understands them just fine.

He has a gift for reading but also just loves it. I get endless snarky comments about it from other parents (particularly at school when people discovered he wasn't doing the reading scheme) and always play it down but in reality it is brilliant and gives him endless joy.

It doesn't mean he is a genius - it's really no different feom the boys who are fanatical about football. They spend lots of time doing it so become good at it.

Totally agree with everyone else who says let / encourage her to read anything she likes, doesn't matter if it's trashy. Also you may find she will return to picture books she liked when she was younger now she can read them herself, they may be less daunting than a chapter book.

Some picture books for slightly older kids that are very funny and my 6 year old loved them are the Clarice Bean series by Lauren Child (there are also some longer novels but the picture books are great).

Also I agree that one good way to read books slightly beyond them is to share reading, I still do that with my very good readers aged 7 and 9, especially if it's something I'm not sure they will understand if they read it on their own. We take it turns, so I read a few pages, then she reads a bit then I read a few more pages. That makes it less like a chore.

It isn't a race. Just provide with a library ticket and leave them to it. Read to them and let them see you and DH reading for fun.
It rubs off eventually. It took DS 1 until he was 7yrs and DS 3 reads a lot now but he didn't pick up a book for pleasure until he was about 17yrs.
There will be 6yr olds reading Harry Potter, there will be those who could but don't and those who can't- it doesn't matter. Don't compare.

I read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was 9 because I was a pretentious twat! Didn't get it at all but ploughed through to show off - DPs didn't do bragging rights as they knew how I was, just an eye roll and let me get on with struggling
I think it doesn't matter if 6 year olds are 'reading' HP, and def don't suggest you compare your DCs to this as it's just preening IMHO

Harry potter was aimed at 10 and 11 year olds. The later books were aimed at those same children as they grew older as the books were realeased. Therefore, the last book is written for older teenagers.

I have worked with 7 year olds who claim to have read the whole set.
I have worked with children who couldn't read Horrid Henry fluently who claim to have read Harry Potter. Take what parents and children say with a pinch of salt.

Your child will really enjoy Harry potter if she begins to read them when she is around 10 or 11. Why force things on children before they are old enough to fully appreciate them. And just because a child can read something doesn't mean they should.

In the same vein I know parents who have taken 7 year olds to see the latest James Bond. I know someone who took a 6 year old to see the The Hunger Games.

"Bragging rights" and "preening"? Really - why do people view early readers with such suspicion?

We have to hide DS's love for books because of this sort of thing. Would you say the same about a sporty child, a musical child or a child good at drama?