Decoding ability better than vocabulary and emotional maturity

[Mumoftwoyoungkids]

Dd is in reception and has just turned 5. She is very happy there and is doing really really well with reading and writing. I am very pleased with the school.

This is the stealth boast bit - sorry!

The problem we have is that she has now finished all the reception reading books. (She started able to read a bit and then came on leaps and bounds in the first few weeks so skipped quite a few boxes worth and then zoomed her way through what seemed to be the final box of books.)

On one level that doesn't matter as there was a pause of about 2 days whilst they went and got her some more books from elsewhere in the school so we just read her story books. And then she had new "proper" (her words) books.

On one level they are great. She was very bored with the old books as she could read them with no effort. These have words she actually needs to think about. On the whole she can decode about 90 - 95% of the words which I think is about what it should be?

But the language used is quite advanced. The books seem to be written in poetry form. They are great fun for me to listen to. But hard for her to comprehend. Also there are quite a lot of words outside her vocabulary. (Which I always thought was pretty good for her age but am now starting to doubt.) For example "behold" which she could decode but didn't know what it meant. So we keep having to stop so that we can discuss what is actually going on.

This would be fine as it is probably good for her to have to think about what she is reading. Except that emotionally she is quite immature in a way. She gets scared or upset very easily. The last book was "Jack and the Beanstalk" and it really scared her! First she was scared of the giant. Then she was upset about poor giant being dead. Then she started asking questions about death and getting really upset.

I don't want to start whining at her teacher unless I really have to as she's obviously gone to some effort to get dd the correct books and (much as she is adorable and very well behaved) I suspect that dd is quite hard work to teach at the best of times. Also presumably the other option is to put her back to the old level but that doesn't feel ideal as the books were far too easy.

I guess my big question is - is the vocab thing usual with learning to read? If so then I can deal with the upset - I can't shield her forever from getting upset - she got very upset about an early book about a chap called Sid who got his gran to sit on a pin "but didn't that hurt poor granny's bottom. I don't want granny to have a hurt bottom!" and again a funny little tale about a mix up with the shopping caused traumas "but what will they have for tea?!"

But if the vocab thing is wrong too then I might need to talk to the teacher about it. I've noted in her reading record that she struggled a bit with the vocab but if it is a real problem I can talk to the teacher at pick up.

Can I ask what level(s) you're talking about, approximately?
Would she be happier with some non-fiction books from the library?

I think this is generally always the problem with advanced readers - my friends DD had a chronological reading age of a 9 year old when she was 5.5yrs old, and it was really tricky getting her appropriate books. She settled on those Rainbow Magic fairy stories, which she ploughed on through and they seemed age appropriate and sated her reading desire for a while.

I would say that the fact she's understanding what is happening in the story and is thinking about it (and getting upset about some of it) is actually a good thing - she's not just reading words, she's processing those words and stories. Better than just reading and not really 'getting it'.

A trip to the library might be worth a go - and head for the non-fiction section too, she might really enjoy some fact books, which tend to be slightly trickier to read, and perhaps aren't so emotional?

I don't really know. The school have said that she is " above expectations" but not what that really means. I've googled the new books and they say that they are for 5 - 7 year olds. She likes to be in charge of bedtime stories and read 'The Gruffolo" to her brother pretty easily last night. (Confusingly that doesn't scare her. Probably because she's heard it so many times she is desensitised. It terrified her when it was on the telly at Xmas.)

Non fiction books are an idea. She has had some in the past and enjoyed them. Although it would mean that I lose my "it's only a story darling - all made up! Not real!" get out clause.

Also (and my ex-girly-swot ness is going to come out here) there is part of me that worries about "going rouge" with reading. School are obviously doing really well with her and I don't want to wreck it by thinking I know best!

My suggestion for what it's worth is to visit the library and find some more gentle books with sensible language.

What springs to my mind is Milly Molly Mandy though they may be too advanced at the moment, but there are no scenes of peril in them. Or the younger Animal Ark books, or the Battersea Dogs home ones. Or Mr Men books which are shorter but some good words.

Maybe her reading progress needs to plateau for a bit while her general vocab and her emotions catch up.

I am interested, and surprised, that the school did not have a better policy regarding reading books. In the infant school my DDs attended, the supply of reading books was for the whole school, not just Reception. Many children could read upon entering school and my elder was a very good reader before she was 5 - August birthday. The school had a "reading cottage" with a whole variety of reading books for all levels. My DD was also way above her chronological age but the school library contained lots of books and the reading cottage had non fiction too. This was before the phonics focus and the school had several reading schemes! They found some boys were more interested in reading about fire engines and rescue helicopters but my DD read all about these too.

Fairy Stories often have their nasty side and wicked people who die, or imprison children, wolves who eat grandmas etc. so there is no need to read these if they are a bit too emotional. However, you will have to answer difficult questions at some stage and bright children do ask the difficult questions quite early! Perhaps talking through a difficult question calmly in a "matter of fact" way might take the emotion out of it.

I definitely second going to the local library. We did this all the time and some books and authors became real favourites. We also did paired reading using more difficult books. Are you saying she has read all the reading scheme books in the school, or that the school has no books suitable for her stage of reading, but just in Reception? Vocabularly is part of reading, so some difficulty is to be expected with more difficult books. Also, do not expect her to be challenged all the time. It takes the pleasure out of reading. When adults read a book, we like to read it without constantly stuggling or not understanding the vocabulary; children are the same.

We had exactly the same issue. In the end, I found that here was one librarian in the local library who specialised in children's books, and I went in when it was quiet, had a long chat with her, took home about 20 books that she recommended and asked dd1 which she liked. Then I got more by those authors, and anything that looked similar, but very much as 'something to try and seeing if you like it'.

I could have written your post when my DD was the same age.

We started by revisiting her own story collection, the books which you have been reading to her since she was little. It sounds obvious but my DD was quite surprised to find that she could now read them for herself with the added bonus that she was familiar with the story so knew it wouldn't be scary. The Mr Men books in particular worked here, she spent hours reading them to our long-suffering dog!

From there we introduced some really gentle chapter books such as Milly Molly Mandy, Teddy Robinson and some Enid Blyton books for younger readers such as Naughty Amelia Jayne and The Faraway Tree. At school she discovered the dreaded Rainbow Fairies series and then the Animal Ark stories.

Once she had finished the reading scheme at school they were happy for her to read whatever she wanted as long as she was reading every day. They have made some good suggestions such as the Dick King Smith and Horrid Henry books and once she moved into Y1 they have to read scarier stories such as Roald Dahl books as a class so she has had to learn to cope with being scared.

I think we've a while to go before she's into thrillers about serial killers like her mother though!

MOTYK, we had similar issues with books for our DD, though it was at a later stage, probably Year 1. And it wasn't so much tricky words or emotions, but more that she was just completely bored of the books.

We started recording her library books in her reading record, and gradually dropped the school books. But I did talk to the teacher about it, and the school were supportive. I think this is a good approach - just make sure the teacher knows your concerns and give them the opportunity to voice any concerns that they might have.

Rainbow Fairy books may well be worth a try. I HATE Rainbow Fairy books, but my DD loved them at 5-6, and there is the advantage that there are millions of them, and usually well stocked at the library. There are 'baddies', but you can guarantee nothing really bad will happen, and there will always be a happy ending.

DD is 8 now, and still loves reading :-)

DS2 is 6 and reading books above his expected level. He fluently decodes new words with expression so it sounds like he is understanding exactly what he is reading. On probing though there are probably 2-3 words in a fiction book, maybe more in a fact book that he doesn't actually know what they mean. So if a word looks unusual I let him get to the end of the page and then go back and check he really understands what the word meant.

If she gets scared just stop the book and swap it.

I agree I'd expect it in plenty of able readers, and it is a reason that they can stick on a level for a while as their comprehension catches up. You need to find her less scary books. I'm struggling a bit with this with my boy, and it's even harder because he doesn't do fairy books or magic kittens, sensible child. We don't use school books much these days - my Y1 would consider a "proper" book to mean a chapter book, generally from home or library.

You've already had some good suggestions. I'd also add the Daisy chapter books (Kes Gray) and Claude books (we love Sir Bobblysock!). Does she like animals? If so there's the Owl who was afraid for the dark and others in the series (the others are tedious but DS liked them), Dick King Smith, an RSPCA series, Michael Morpurgo's Mudpuddle Farm books, Magic Farm.

Thanks ever so much for all the advice. I think we'll have a library trip after school today. It's conveniently on the way home (and next door to the park) so would almost be rude not to!

The "difficult question" thing is a hard one! She's a lovely little girl who tries hard at absolutely everything, is very well behaved and is really kind to her (often very annoying) little brother. So part of me does over coddle her on things that scare her. (Am regularly the only mummy in soft play) But I don't want to leave her scared of the world. They didn't tell me this in NCT!

Have fun at the library!

I'm sure you do this anyway, but reading to her and talking about the story also really helps with understanding, expression and vocab, and instilling the love of reading.

Ds is in reception too and he enjoys reading Mr Men, Wombles, Paddington. I have found that older books tend to be gentler in the stories (60s 70s not Brothers Grimm!), with few scary bits but have some challenging language (e.g. ominous, regards). Non fiction also go down well here. Don't worry about stopping to explain words - once they can decode most words they will be able to read words which they don't understand.

I'm afraid 90-95% deciding accuracy isn't good enough it's one of those myths that has been repeated so often people accept it as fact.

Until the age of five conversation is an effective way of developing/extending vocabulary but after that age it is effective and new vocabulary needs to be taught or gained from reading to/with your child.

Have the same exact situation with YR DD2. She now picks her reading books from the box for Y2. They are all chapter books, and many have no pictures.

When she was just moved to that level she brought home a chapter book with b/w pictures. We tried reading it and I realized that, while she can read the words and even understand the sentences, the book was clearly aimed at an older child. So, that night instead we read another chapter book from our home library and I wrote a note to her teacher.

I then had a brief conversation with her teacher - just to make sure they help her choose books that would suit her better, as that "chapter book box" has a range of books. The school didn't think I was being difficult, they were very helpful.

Still, in addition to the school books she reads a lot of other books -- I find Early Reader series of early chapter books to be great, age appropriate and not scary at all. She especially loves Horrid Henry ones.

Also, we love the Colour Puffin books - especially the ones about the Witch Dog.

Finally - to build vocabulary we read Roald Dahl books together on the weekends. Started with Fantastic Mr. Fox, which she loved.

Just to clarify when I said 'don't worry about stopping to explain words' I didn't mean that you shouldn't bother stopping to explain words, just not to worry about the need to explain words! I usually explain what the word means and then I might say the sentence with a synonym which ds would know 'Send my regards to Cousin Yellowstone' means 'send my best wishes or say hello to Cousin Yellowstone'