DS has started reading all by himself - Charlie & the Chocolate Factory?!?!

[MrsSpoon]

DS1 has started wanting to read by himself at night this week. He has been struggling with reading and I didn't think he was ever going to get round to it.

I have just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to him at night and we have moved onto Matilda and I think he has taken the first chapter or so to heart, where Matilda is talking about her love for books and makes the point that it's OK if you can't read or understand all of the words, you should just let them wash around you. DS1 has since asked if he can read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by himself, a chapter a night and he actually seems to be doing it.

I just wonder if this is likely to last. Any tips to keep him interested and stop him becoming discouraged? So far I have just been asking the next day if he managed OK but don't want to be too pushy, would hate to put him off.

Should add he is almost 7 and is one of the oldest in Primary 2 (we are in Scotland).

I think my top tip would be to leave him alone .. reading brings its own reward

just show him how pleased you are and keep some great books around for him to move on to next

I now let my dd read a couple of chapters in bed after we've done stories with her younger brothers.

Isn't it fantastic when they start to enjoy reading proper books on their own?

We have discussed him reading the Flat Stanley books again after Charlie. I know it's terrible but I can't help but think he isn't really reading the book, he's just wangled an extra 20 mins before he has to put his light off? Is that bad?

I suppose my query is how to find out if he is actually reading without putting him off?

Get him to share the story with you - tell you about what happened, what he would have done in the same circumstances, what he liked about the chapter he read last night - it might prove to you that he's reading it properly and may keep his interest alive too.

I wouldn't worry about whether he is really reading it - just encourage his enthusiasm. Certainly don't give him the impression that you are checking up on him and doubting his ability.

Providing some slightly less challenging books for him to tackle next sounds like a great idea. Another suggestion would be to go to your local library and borrow some audio tapes with the books as well for him to listen to the story whilst reading the words at the same time.

roisin, you've hit the nail on the head, I didn't want him to think I was "doubting his ability", as even if he is just 'playing' then it is a positive sign.

I gently asked him tonight about what he read yesterday and I was quite impressed that he remembered that Charlie had to eat cabbage soup, I hadn't remember this myself so asked him to show me it in the book and he did.

It's so exciting, I never thought we would ever get to this stage!

Try Horrid Henry books - come with tapes/CD's as well. These were the first books DS read alone and was laughing out loud too.

It is a fab stage isn't it? So exciting!

My dss are both very fluent and capable readers, but sometimes they choose to skim read a book, or a couple of dull chapters. That's OK with me.

I never skim read; I always read every word, but I often don't retain it: I forget it all almost instantaneously. I can read crime novels and thrillers for a 3rd and 4th time and not remember "who did it" until I turn the final page! LOL!

Meant to say in my last post, the tapes are a good idea, he has always just played with them (and broken a few) before but think he would probably appreciate them now. Thanks.

I will try not to get too hung up on him missing chunks.

It is very exciting but I hope he will keep up story time with me for a while longer as I will miss that when it goes.

Reading at that stage doesn't mean they can read each and every word -- but they can read enough to get the meaning, and gradually fill in the gaps by themselves. If your ds wasn't reading it at all, he wouldn't be able to sustain interest for that long.

My ds is at the same stage atm, although he started with Horrid Henry over the summer and has now moved on to Harry Potter. I suspect if I could 'listen in' to his silent reading, it would go something like, "Harry was in the potions xxxxxx. Professor Snape told him to put xxxxxx and xxxxxxxx in his cauldron. It fizzed xxxxxxxxx and turned xxxxxxx green, and gave off xxxxxxxxx sparks." Dd1 occasionally likes to test him (like you, she's convinced he can't understand it all), and he seems to have the general idea, although he's a bit confused about some of the details. But if he's having a good time, who cares? My main gripe with school reading is that they insist on only letting the children choose stuff comfortably within their ability -- but surely the fun bit is when you realise you can suddenly take off and enjoy things even without being able to sound out each word, Biff and Chip style.

I've sometimes used audio tapes in tandem with books that were a bit too difficult, if they looked like getting discouraged. Leaving other likely books lying around is also a good tactic -- Horrid Henry is the obvious candidate, but also some of the easier Roald Dahls, like George's Marvellous Medicine or The Twits.

But for your boy, it's the beginning of a long and happy relationship with books!

Frogs I love your description of your ds reading. Ds2 is just like that too, sometimes even when he reads aloud. His phonics are fab and he can accurately reproduce pretty much any word, but it's as though he thinks what's the point if he doesn't actually recognise the word and therefore the meaning behind it.

Thats wonderful - we let ds go to the library and choose whatever he wanted to read, this has developed a love of reading that now costs me a small fortune as he has read the library out!
Good luck and I hope he continues to enjoy it!

Francis Spufford has a great bit in his book, "The Child that Books Built" describing pretty much the same thing. And the lovely moment when they try out some new word that they've only seen in print but never heard, and pronounce it totally wrong. I remember as a child being convinced that 'anxiety' should be pronounced 'ankshety', by logical derivation from 'anxious'. I was very dubious when a teacher told me otherwise. But experience has proved her right.

I can see how that would work Frogs (in fact if I am honest I probably read that way at times myself ). Thinking about it the surprising bit is that he comes home from School with a very basic reading book, which he often struggles with and at the same time is tackling Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

He has some of the easier Roald Dhal's too that we have read in the past and I'll definately steer him towards something easier for his next book and keep the trickier stuff for me to read to him.

Having a big proud moment.

Thanks for all the advice.

That's so true Frogs. Ds1 seems to assimilate words into his active vocabulary incredibly quickly from first reading them. And when he makes initial mispronunciations these are then really hard to shift. He quite often puts the emphasis on the wrong part of the word for instance.

what a lovely thread!! sounds like your ds is doing great MrsSpoon, and you got some excellent advice here.
I remember wondering the same when dd started reading big chapter books by herself about 18 months ago (she's 6 and a half almost), but I tried to just ask a couple of questions about the book that didn't imply I didn't believe she could read the whole book properly herself. I was soooo annoyed last year when her teacher told her she didn't believe she had read a couple of chapters of a big book on her own (can't remeber which one now, something like 'the Giants and the Joneses') in the car in her way to school! grrrrrrrrr talk about encouraging reading....

Piffle, good idea about the library, I will need to make an effort to find the time to go, tend to buy books but it does get expensive.

Congrats and pride definitely in order! It's a fantastic moment, and as roisin says, I think a different stage from the mere ability to sound things out. My experience is that their reading ability moves like greased lightning once they start reading proper books independently, because the sheer quantity of print they process every day increases so dramatically.

I had my proud moment over the summer when ds discovered Horrid Henry -- for a large part of the holidays all we could see was a pair of little skinny legs in enormous shoes sticking over the edge of the sofa, and a little blond head bent over a big fat book. Fab.

Can someone tell me at what age you expect a child to be able to read fluently, i.e. just reading the words, not sounding the letters out.

That sounds wonderful Frogs, gorgeous description of your DS reading.

Any age from 4 upwards. My dd1 started reading 'proper books' around the time she turned 5, which is v. early. Ds turned 6 over the summer -- he'd been looking at books very intensively for ages, particularly books with lots of pictures, like Tintin, but it was only when he discovered Horrid Henry that he realised, "Mummy, when I look at the pictures I get parts of the story, but if I read the words I can get the whole story!" 'Twas very sweet.

Dd2 has slightly delayed language, so who knows? It might take her longer. But I think I would expect a child of normal ability (certainly for mine, growing up in a household where we all read, a lot) to be reading proper books independently by about 8 or so.

Yes, congratulations to your DS! It is a wonderful moment. "Charlie & TCF" is a brilliant book, and, if he knows the story, it will carry him along even if some of the text is tricky. I had a similar moment last March when DS1 was discovered sitting on the stairs reading "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" because the light was better.
Something he's just enjoyed very much, which is a bit easier than Roald Dahl, and short, is Jeremy Strong's "The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog" and its sequel (he's 7, btw).
DS2 (4y3m) is reading short books, like those Blue Bananas and lots of picture books, fluently now, but is still at the reading to someone stage. Still, his recent fluency has amazed me and given me several more "wow" moments.

Singersgirl, thanks I'll look out for the Jeremy Strong books.

It must have been lovely finding your DS reading on the stairs.

Well done to your DD too, she's an early starter.

Frogs, my DS1 had a speech and language delay too, and seems to lag behind his class with reading and writing despite being one of the oldest. Hence the reason I am so proud but also anxious. I was furious at DH last night because DS1 had been very naughty just before bedtime and DH said he wasn't allowed to read last night.