Advice needed...what next after Harry Potter AND is school too easy?

[WhattodoSue]

I have two questions/problems which I've been hesitating asking because I don't want to sound like a pushy/boastful parent. But, I'm hoping it will be okay to ask them here because whilst I know my DD is bright, I also know she doesn't have an extraordinary academic ability like many of your DCs.

She is 6 in Y2, she is an avid reader. I let her read Harry Potter last year, and she read them all and loved them. She then saw the first film on Christmas Eve, and was thrilled, and read them all again. Since she finished the re-read (early January), she has basically just been reading them over and over. She reads the bits she likes most, jumps around, but I'm really struggling to get her into anything else. We tried one series - Tamora Pierce (at the recommendation of her piano teacher), but I'm actually rather relieved to say she decided she didn't want to read all of the second one or third one (having given them to her, I did some research and realised they were probably not at all appropriate for a six year old). I want to help her find another series which she can get engrossed in, but it is really hard finding things that are interesting AND suitable.

My second question/issue is about her school, and whether she is being challenged enough, and if it matters if she isn't. On a reading front, things are fine. Her school use ORT up to level 15, and she is on level 14 (which in old SAT money is working towards/within Lv4). She reads much more complex texts outside school, but the school work on explicit explanation etc. so I'm sure that is all fine. It is more about Maths. The school use a Maths Mastery programme, which is about depth of understanding, and so their way of stretching her is to have her work with a child who is working on a slightly lower level, so that she has to explain how things work to the other child. I do see the logic in that, but she tells me that the Maths work is very easy. She isn't too bothered, but I wondered if I should ask them how they extend their more able children. At the same time, I'm worried that they will look at me like I'm some insane pushy mum. I don't really know what she can do because she doesn't really get Maths homework. We had Alfie online tests to do last year, and in Y1 she could quite happily do the y2 tests. Should I talk to them or should I just trust that they know what they are doing? Her teacher is a maths specialist and has previously commented that DD has a good memory/mental arithmetic ability. The short summary of my long question is - is it best to push the school a little, or to let her coast a little (given she is only in infants school)?

If you got this far - thank you for reading!!

I haven't read the whole thread BUT
as someone who read and loved Masha, and got my very bright DD to read it - don't give it to a 6 year old. They won't get it. It may start off being about a 6 year old, but by the end she is 18, and she is living in a very different world. (My then 12 year old loved it.)

Please stop giving her books which are too old for her (eg. later Harry Potter).
Go back to: Roald Dahl, thing she finds for herself in the library. Allow her to read stuff which you think is "too easy".
Put the books you loved as a child back on the shelf until she is older/finds them herself. I would say 9 or 10 is the minimum age for a lot of those books. Its not about reading the words but about understanding and enjoying the stories.

Actually if you really want to stretch her (and some of the first books I read), then I would suggest fairy stories - as in proper ones like the "Green book of Fairy tales". They are big chunky books to read, but don't have lots of emotional depth etc. which a 6 year old just doesn't have the emotional maturity for.

mummytime makes a very good point, if they move too quickly with the books then they miss out on so many.

I read very well very young but I remember at 11 still loving Dick King Smith books and school story books etc. Some of my friends had missed those and were desperate to get to teen and adult books but they missed out on so much.

If they read too grown up books too soon then they are often too young to really enjoy them or get as much out of them as they could do if they waited a bit but also they miss out on reading some at all.

I suspect she is actually too young for Noel Streatfield. They were written for 9-11 year olds if I remember right. Ballet Shoes is perhaps a bit more accessible in a way because of Posy being young in it but the danger is she will now think the books are boring and not try them again whereas had she waited until she was 8 or 9 to try them she would quite possibly have loved them.

Take her to the library, and let her choose. I didn't let DD read beyond the third Harry Potter book until she was 8. Authors she really enjoyed at that age were Kate Saunders (eg The Belfry Witches), Eva Ibbotson (try The Abominables), Liz Kerr (I think - the Emily Windsnap books).
She will probably enjoy well-written books for younger readers, too. I give her free reign in the library, and veto anything inappropriate, but am happy for her to choose a picture book or an early reader if she wants one. She prefers to have the children's classics read to her, as we can talk about words or concepts she doesn't understand.

how about the Narnia books? Does it have to be fantasy? My 6 year old is currently working her way through the famous five, secret seven and roald dahl box sets i bought for her older brother at xmas and loving them.

Thanks all for the additional ideas. Her birthday is coming up so she has the Harry Potter extra books (which she has asked for), the Chrestomanci series (all of them), and I will try the Percy Jackson ones too. I'm also going to try Anne of Green Gables. I've never read it, so I'm looking forward to starting on that . There are so many other great suggestions, I'm sure I'll be checking back for more ideas later .

We have the Narnia ones, so we may try those too, although for some reason I want to wait and read those to her brother. DD seems to get through everything before him, and I want to give him a chance to be able to enjoy those without her having told him she has read them all.

For all of you who are worried that she is loosing her childhood by reading books that are to hard for her, I was reading the Mr Majeika books to her brother, and she decided she wanted to read them and has burned through those. I must be honest, I do not understand why so many people have such a problem with Harry Potter, or rather with accepting that she could possibly not only have read them, but also have actually enjoyed them (and not only once, but twice over cover to cover, and then having cherry picked her favourite bits for the last few months). But, I'm not here to debate whether or not people think she understands them. She LOVES them (at least that is my interpretation of the fact that she has read them over and over for the last two months, sleeps with her Harry potter letter under her pillow (and the at one point, the books under her pillow), and wants an white owl for her birthday (luckily she is happy with a toy). And she doesn't care that she should be reading something else (or easier). Honestly, when she was younger, and was totally uninterested in picture books from an early age, and wanted me to read her chapter books (at 3 1/2 Anna Hibiscus was her absolute favourite), I had people telling me she was too young, and that their children (aged 5 and 6) still loved picture books. But essentially, all children are different, and what one child is into isn't going to be what all other children are into. So, no need for the 'give her books you think are 'too easy'. She picks up what she wants, when she wants, within reason (and that is based on my knowledge of my child). I start her off on some other stuff (which she then takes and blazes through). And some stuff, she doesn't blaze through, and possibly she will come back to it later. Or not.

For the Maths, we have parents evening in a few weeks. I'm going to ask them about it then. I don't think they will give me much info. She is quiet in school, and so I think it isn't always clear what she can do. I don't really get her to do homework beyond what she gets from school (which takes her five minutes). Although she does like your reading comprehension site Irving101 . There will be some more homework type stuff in prep for the SATS I think.

The Harry Potter objections aren't that the language of the books are too hard, but that the later books deal with issues such as death, racism and torture in ways that are not generally thought of as ok for a 6 year old to deal with.

Adults, with their wealth of knowledge about the world, and children (particularly young ones) deal with things very differently. Her understanding of these issues is not on a par with those of an adult. There are things she finds scary, or distressing. But actually, the way the later books deal with the issues of death, racism and torture are not things that she has found traumatic. I do think because her understanding of the reality of these things is essentially non-existent. If she had known death, of a relative for example, I think she would have found it much more worrying.

For centuries fiction has been used as a way to present tricky issues to children, in a way which is less threatening than in real life.

I should add, there are things she finds scary or distressing outside the Harry Potter books, but not within them.

Trying to remember what I read around that age! Definitely Anne of green gables, little women, what Katy did, chalet school, any of the Enid blyton ones, the saddle club series, the jill books (pony ones), flambards
I started on flowers in the attic age about 10 but I wouldn't recommend that!

DD is 9 and read all the Harry Potter books some time ago. She did not find them unduly distressing although she was very sad about some of the deaths (and yes, she understood death as she had a friend who died when she was in Year 1). With respect to the racism etc, I think it was really good for her. We talked through the issues together as she asked me about it and I think it was an eye opener for her. She is now v v cross about racism or sexism of any stripe (we are watching some old TV from the 60s and the 70s atm because she mostly doesn't like modern children's television and she has said some v interesting things about that). We had certainly discussed both racism and sexism in an age appropriate way well before she was six in answer to her own questions. Re the torture, I am not sure she perceived it v differently from her own experience of bullying and teachers being unfair. Perhaps as she gets older she will understand that aspect a little more. She has reread the books many many times over the past couple of years and she finds new things in them as she gets older. I don't think they were at all inappropriate for her to read. Some children are able to process these things a bit earlier than others.

As a side issue, has anyone read Sophie's World? I haven't and DD is asking for a book about philosophy. As philosophy is pretty much akin to removing my own eyelashes one by one with a blowtorch for me, I'd appreciate input on whether or not it is suitable for a 9 year old. I really really don't want to have to read it myself.

I read Flowers in the Attic at about 11, followed by all the others in the series. Definitely don't let her read that! See also Clan of the Cave Bear which features rape and abusive relationships fairly heavily.

Things my daughter (now 8) has read since Harry Potter and enjoyed are Jacqueline Wilson (especially the Hetty Feather series), the Malory Towers books, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, David Walliams etc.

The "extra" Harry Potter books were a big disappointment by the way.

Sophie's World was my nemesis! I tried and tried (and tried some more) but kept getting to the last chapter and giving up
It's worth a shot though

Not read all the messages but just wanted to recommend some more books. I really recommend Joan Aitken and she's written loads. Start with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and go on to Blackhearts in Battersea then the rest. She's a tiny bit old fashioned but my two adored them and they are definitely age appropriate.
Same with Narnia. My DC loved Narnia books at that age (read to them not by them) and we read the whole set. Some of Terry Pratchett's stuff for younger readers is great fun and suitable.
If she wants to get lost in some big books, I really recommend the Gideon Trilogy. Not as famous as HP in UK but very well known in USA although it's by a UK author. Beautifully written and great stories. Three big fat books to keep her going. I would have said too scary for a six year old but if she's coped with all of HP she'll be fine (it's about time travel.)

Sophies World starts quite well but then gets a bit obtuse.

I'd do a quick Amazon search on Philosophy for children, as there is a lot of good stuff out there. Does her school do some philosophy? Its supposed to be really good and fun.

OP - JK ROwling herself was "horrified" when she first wrote the books that people were letting their 9 year olds read the later ones.
On the other hand I read "Lord of the Flies" at 11; I then had to re-read it at 15 and got so much more out of it, and found it a lot more horrific.

I think children who are young enough don't really get "torture" etc. but then a few years later they learn to empathise and can be traumatised by something they read/saw etc. at a younger age.

How much does your DD understand of what she is reading?

I was a really early reader and still have a house full of books. I remember being annoyed by mum used to tell me off as I smuggled her 'two penneth across the Mersey' books upstairs at 7/8..completely unsuitable material but I just wanted to read everything..... I used to return a book a day to school and be accused of 'lieing' and yet I am an English teacher and read a book a day on holiday..
So I applaud you for letting her be. She can judge. Who is to say what she gets from them? I read lord of the rings and the hobbit at 8. I still reread them and love them.

I was a very advanced reader and loved the Hobbit at that age.

I much preferred the book to the films... it's funny certain books make me feel 'safe' and that's one.... and Jane Eyre, the secret garden, carbonnel, ring wall.
I had a really abusive childhood and have moved many times and yet I still have lots of my original books :)

How about Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

Also pay for Mathletics subscription.

Encourage her to become an active life-long learner & seek-out & learn about her own interests.

They get different things out of books at different ages. Mine read HP at that age and then again 5 or 6 years later and got way more out of it. Same with Percy Jackson, when the ADHD themes were of more interest than just the gods and mythology stuff that all the younger readers are obsessed with (I got really fecking bored of them quizzing each other about the damned gods, but it was just another obsession like Pokemon cards, just that this was book facts about PJ Gods).

I laughed a little bit at Lemony Snicket being boring. I would suggest the ds isn't at the point where he appreciates the vocab/ word-play yet. My youngest read them at face value and found them ok, but the older ones found the word play stuff v funny... They are a bit quirky though and if words aren't your thing, they could be boring.

Ultimately op, it doesn't matter. With dd1 I was a bit precious about themes and tried to wait for the more grown up topics, but by the time we had got through ds1 and dd2 I was way more relaxed. Dd2 read the Hunger Games trilogy at 9.

Ds1 was the same with the Percy Jackson series as your dd is with HP, except he read them all a lot more than twice. He would get to the end of the book and literally flip back to the beginning and start again. He went on to track down other RR series, whereas dd2 went from Percy Jackson to Michael Morpurgo, and collected those for a while.

Billions of books out there though. Just hit the library or the bookstore.

madwomanbackintheattic, thanks. I totally get it now why my ds said it was boring. You are right about that he isn't ready for sophisticated word play. He still takes a lot things literally, and although he loves books, he clearly admits literacy isn't his thing.

I second Joan Aitken.

Also E Nesbit, Michael Bond, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Astrid Lindgren and Tove Jansson.

Also, Helen Cresswell - lizzy dripping and the witch and many others; Gillian Cross - demon headmaster series and others.

Ooh yes, Joan Aiken is brilliant.

Thanks, mummytime. Maybe a bit soon for her then!

Just wanted to say thank you all for the recommendations, and particularly to Mistigri. Last night DD was reading Charmed Life (Chrestomanci series). She has had me read the first couple of chapters to her, whilst she was still doing her endless re-reads of HP, but last night she wanted to read Charmed Life for her bedtime (post me-reading) read. She was given the usual 40 odd pages to read. She is 'normally' very good about stopping where she was told to stop. She reads to the folded page and turns out her light. But last night she 'didn't see where the folded page was' and by the time we had realised she was still reading, had read way past her stop point (and too late). Given that she then picked it up at breakfast, read it in the car, and didn't stop reading until she went into school, I think I can safely say that she is quite enjoying it. So thank you for the recommendations all . I'll be coming back to this once she has worked her way through the ones we have, for more of your recommendations.