Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

At what age did your child start reading for pleasure?

115 replies

Fuzzymum1 · 01/03/2013 11:16

I know it varies hugely and there isn't really a 'normal' here but I can't remember when my older boys started curling up with a book by choice.

All of my boys have learned to read quite easily and I remember there were times when both DS1 and DS2 were getting through books quicker than I could keep up with visiting the library! As a family we all love to read.

DS3 has just turned 6 and has been reading lime at school for a while and needs very little help with them, his teacher says his comprehension is good too - working at around 2A I think. He has lots of books with a variety of themes and styles but he's yet to make that move to wanting to read for pleasure. I'm not worried about him, he loves to be read to and loves audio books - he's having a chapter a night of harry potter at the moment and really enjoying it, but I am looking forward to the day he wants to curl up and read on a rainy day. instead of insisting we all play school assembly and sing

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Elibean · 03/03/2013 13:28

OP, you already know - there is no 'normal', and no one can tell you

My eldest dd (who is the 'best reader', whatever that means, in her Y4 class) has only really enjoyed reading for the past year - though she has always been an excellent reader, big vocab, great understanding, etc etc etc. Reading for pleasure is very recent, all the same.

My youngest (Y1) is about to start White level, and will sit in bed and read for pleasure about once every few weeks - no more than that! But I have no fear. She'll get there.

Elibean · 03/03/2013 13:30

Oh - but OTOH, dd2's best friend has been reading for pleasure since she was about 4. She has trouble finding books with appropriate content for a 6 year old, really - but has read loads and loads of full length novels.

That said, she probably doesn't understand a fifth of the vocab - because she reads fast and doesn't stop to ask adults what words mean.

Taffeta · 03/03/2013 15:38

DS (9) hates fiction. Really hates reading at home. Will read at school.

DD (6) shows a modicum of interest.

I started reading a lot in my teens, and go through phases now of reading a lot. DH started reading fiction for pleasure last year, in his 40s like mrz's OH.

Magrug · 03/03/2013 17:35

#1 was 2 or 3
#2 was about 5
#3 took much longer and was about 8, but now reads non-stop.

UniS · 03/03/2013 22:48

Books that were largely look at the pictures like "cross sections castle" - age 4 or 5

The Beano - age 6 rapidly followed by other non fiction books.

Stories ?? still waiting

Paddlinglikehell · 04/03/2013 00:05

DD read the odd easy readers at around 7, but has only very recently started reading books on her own for enjoyment and she is 8.5, in fact she read in the car today, almost the whole of the Worst Witch.

For the poster who asked about books for their 6 year old - try Muddle Puddle Farm books, DD would read these on her own. Also some of the Ladybird Early Readers.

seeker · 04/03/2013 06:06

"That said, she probably doesn't understand a fifth of the vocab - because she reads fast and doesn't stop to ask adults what words mean."

So she's not reading- she's turning the pages.

learnandsay · 04/03/2013 09:19

A child reading one fifth of a full length novel is still reading a lot more than one reading any of the Boff, Chopper and Flippy books that I've come across.

mistlethrush · 04/03/2013 09:24

DS got fed up of waiting for chapter 2 of HP when he was 6 - so finished the book. He's been more or less hooked on books since - I trawl the 2nd hand bookshop and get a heap that look about right and provide them to him and he will happily pick his way through them (although its sometimes difficult to get him to eat breakfast as the story is, apparently, too interesting to put down). We generally have the problem that he wakes up early and reads then rather than going back to sleep, but he will grab a book at almost any time of the day.

AWimbaWay · 04/03/2013 09:39

Dd1, just turned 7 enjoys reading picture books (gruffolo etc.) but isn't a confident enough reader yet for proper novels. We read Roald Dahl, Harry Potter etc. to her but she needs many of the words explaining so would struggle on her own.

Ds, 5, has only very basic reading skills, he sits and studies books for hours, especially if they contain pictures of bugs, but wouldn't be able to read them yet. I sometimes hear him spelling out words to himself which is very cute and encouraging.

teta · 04/03/2013 09:42

Why do you have to understand every word in a book seeker?.I think its one way of totally killing any enjoyment in a book.I read war and peace when i was 11,i didn't understand a lot and skipped over the historical bits but still enjoyed the book and got a lot out of it.I used to read half the night by the lamp post outside my bedroom window[from age 6].In contrast my dh has never read for pleasure and i don't think ever will.

learnandsay · 04/03/2013 09:44

I think there's a risk that if you teach children to read they'll do it.

seeker · 04/03/2013 09:46

You don't have to understand every word in a book, obviously. But not understanding a 5th of the words is a bit different.

seeker · 04/03/2013 10:38

Much better for a child to confidently read and understand and enjoy a Biff and Chip or a Beast Quest than to sit skimming Alice in Wonderland, reading the odd word now and again.

Doesn't looks so good to visitors,though!

learnandsay · 04/03/2013 10:51

I really don't see the problem. Surely if the child wants to skim let her skim; she likes it. I would no more prevent my child from skimming Alice in Wonderland than practising taking penalty kicks into a mini goal in the garden if that's what she wanted to do.

Given the right motivation she might even read it or try to. But I'd choose an easier book for that, probably not Chopper and Boff though.

seeker · 04/03/2013 10:53

And I don't know what this one's about either. I''m going to make coffee.

coppertop · 04/03/2013 11:10

Ds1 was an early reader but didn't really get interested in reading books for pleasure until he started secondary school. He now (age 12) gets through a lot of books but does most of his reading either in the school library or at bedtime.

Ds2 was in Yr3, so aged about 7 or 8. He reads anywhere and everywhere.

Dd is 6yrs old and has only just become interested in reading books for herself. These are mostly shorter stories (she loves Julia Donaldson's books).

mrz · 04/03/2013 16:57

learnandsay Mon 04-Mar-13 09:19:14

"A child reading one fifth of a full length novel is still reading a lot more than one reading any of the Boff, Chopper and Flippy books that I've come across."

A child reading a fifth of a full length novel inaccurately is learning bad habits.

learnandsay · 04/03/2013 20:48

Possibly, or maybe she's play-reading and imitating what adults do when they read such books. We don't really know what this child is doing because the mum hasn't been very precise.

simpson · 04/03/2013 20:57

Surely if a child is reading one fifth of a novel then they must be getting something out of it or they would not bother...

DD sneaked her older brothers school book out of his book bag the other day (How to train a Dragon) read it for about 5 seconds before sinking to the floor in a hissy fit because she could not understand it

Beamur · 04/03/2013 21:05

My DD is by no means the best reader in her year. But she enjoys books and as a family we all read a lot, so she has seen us reading too. She has started going off to spend time in her room and often spends this reading - she has recently cracked reading without speaking out loud too. I don't think I've commented or praised her for reading by herself either - it didn't seem that big a deal.

mrz · 04/03/2013 21:06

When I looked back to the original post
"That said, she probably doesn't understand a fifth of the vocab - because she reads fast and doesn't stop to ask adults what words mean."

it's clearly different to learnandsay's post so I apologise ...
If she is reading the whole book accurately but not understanding some of the words she needs a sympathetic adult around to help with meaning but nevertheless she is doing well.

Haberdashery · 04/03/2013 21:15

I don't think reading fast and not asking adults what words mean is necessarily the sign of a failing reader or one who is learning bad habits, actually. I was that child, at four and five and six (I had read all the Narnia books by the time I was five and a half and I loved it and raced through them and would have been furious if anyone had tried to stop me for a second while reading). Yes, there were lots of words I didn't know but context will give you plenty of info about what words mean if you're reading with reasonably close attention. And reading fast doesn't mean you aren't paying attention. I think, actually, that working out what words mean from how they are used is a good skill to have - it's often possible. Yes, sometimes you will get it wrong but if you are an enthusiastic and catholic reader you will soon come across the word again and have your potential half-formed inferred meaning refined.

learnandsay · 04/03/2013 21:18

At some point you also need to learn how to look things up, but I won't be pressing my five year old to be doing that. At seven, maybe.

Smooshy · 04/03/2013 21:24

DS1 started reading for pleasure as soon as he started reading at 4. He's had his head stuck in a book ever since.

DS2 has ASD so he's still at a very basic level, and doesn't have the comprehension levels for fiction books. He does like looking at maps and fact books about whatever his obsession is - currently the solar system and weather.

DS3 & 4 are 8 and have only really began to get into reading over the past year. They don't do a lot of it, certainly not as much as DS1 but they really love Roald Dahl atm, which has spurred them on to read more.

DS5 is nearly 6 and occasionally picks up a book and has a look but isn't at a level where he can read much by himself, he's happy to read his school books to me though.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5