DS's reading book - not sure what to do

[StuffingGoldBrass]

OK my DS is 6 and reads very well. However, we've just had this home and, while it's not harmful or offensive (apart from being dated crap) I'm starting to fret about 'reading age' stuff. THe book's apparently aimed at 8-10 year olds, and it seems much too 'old' for DS ie it bores and confuses him because he isn't getting the concepts and the vocabulary's a bit fancy.
I mean, I'm not gagging to keep him to the Oxford Reading Tree (I am as sick as any Year 1 parent could be of Biff & Baff & Fucko and their no-internal-consistency stories), but now I'm wondering if I baby DS too much and should be trying to wean him off Thomas The Tank Engine.

There is a lot of good, fun literature out there to interest 6 year old boys. I think it's a shame to introduce them to books that they are capable of reading but not necessarily understanding too early.
School gave my DD Discworld novels at 8 and she didn't get the jokes or the subtleties and was put off the series for several years.
No primary child should read a book that bores them, there's enough of that later on.

The book is aimed at much older children certainly 10+ did he pick it or was he given it by the teacher?

I'm going to ask the teachers if they chose it or he did, and point out politely that it's a bit much expecting a 6 year old to have the faintest idea of (for instance) what the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is.

I would have a gentle word with the teacher - although he may need more challenging literature it should still be age appropriate. Materials are available and should be sourced for him.

Pixie: No, haven't seen those yet, will have a look. We have loads of books at home and he's starting to get into Roald Dahl, for instance, and various fairy tales as well as Thomas (we do have the originals).
I'll have a polite word with the school. I have already written in his Reading Record that he found it a bit too challenging.

Have had this problem too. And it was even suggested he didn't understand what he was reading when it was actually that he didn't understand the ins and outs of what toxic waste was just yet.

There are some ORT books which are designed for KS1 readers reading at KS2 levels aren't there? They are intended to be 'age appropriate stories with more challenging vocab' or something like that. I forget which ones - worth a look on the ORT site.

My y1 ds is an innocent little chap too and I don't like the idea of him reading things which are more than he is ready for emotionally even if he can read the words, so await other replies with interest.

When mine was a free reader in Y1 he chose books based on the cover and had no clue what was inside. A couple of times they were just too old and it simply wouldn't have been a good use of his reading time - it would have taken him weeks with me explaining all the concepts. I think sometimes they're just not quite ready to choose freely - they're ready to leave the reading scheme but need more help with what to choose next than they sometimes get. I just returned the books with a brief comment that he was struggling and could do with something a bit lighter or easier.

I can't believe schools consider 5 & 6 year old children to be free readers at this age even the most confident readers need guidance to pick appropriate books to extend vocabulary and comprehension

had same sort of issues here - I just had a chat with the teacher. I told her what sort of stuff he's reading at home - mainly Astrosaurs and all the Hiccup stories, way way more suitable for a child his age. He's also 6.

Glad it's not just me . Instead of persevering with the school book tonight we got the Big Book of Fairy Tales and he read Mr Squirrel Won't Sleep instead which was much more suitable (though with some challenging vocab).

I have more than once had well meaning idiots people say, 'Ooh, is he reading Harry Potter yet?'

Not bloody likely! Much as I love the HP books and admire JK Rowling, I don't think anyone under 8 or 9 could cope with the core concepts of even the first one, let alone the last three when everyone starts dying...

My son is also six and in year one. He reads stage 4 and 5 ORT books at home that we buy and also get from the library. At school he is being kept at level two as his teacher says that books should give a child confidence and not challenge. What to do - he is now complaining that his school books are boring!

DD read the ORT "all stars" books last year (year 1) - chapter booked aimed at KS1 children reading more at KS2 levels but all age appropriate for KS1.

They had to read every since book up to ORT9 of Biff and Chip first though .

The all star books are equivalent to ORT 9/10/11 and are suitable in content from reception.

Had this problem with my DS aged 6 RA 10.5. Initially they insisted on Biff and Chip until I stamped my feet, then they gave him inappropriate content at which point I informed them I would manage his books (I still sent them into school so he could read them there) School were very inflexible - didn't seem to see a distinction between reading age and appropriateness of the content. We struggled until we found Astrosaurs and Childrens encyclopedias such as the "I wonder why" books which he devoured. The situation did improve at school when he finally moved into a new class with a sensible teacher (age and experience also helped:o) he is now 8.5 and devouring everything in sight.

That could be because Reading Age is a notoriously inaccurate way of measuring a child's reading ability as one test will give a widely different result to another and tests available test different things rather than the complete process. So one may give a reading age based on word reading ability another on sentence reading ability and a third may test comprehension.