Emerging Readers & ds6.75

[mom24boys]

ds6.75 is doing great with the emerging readers. Although he reads level 3s and 4s just fine, I decided to start him at the beginning because I really wanted to make sure his comprehension level matched his reading level. We have finished the Bible, Owl at home, and Frog & Toad. It is obvious this is too easy for him. It only takes us 5 to 10 minutes. Basically we are just working on our read-aloud skills...slowing down, not skipping little words, reading with expression, etc. I don't want to miss some of these fun emerging readers , but I don't think he's ready to start literary analysis (DITHOR) at such a young age (1st grade).

In retrospect, we should have skipped right to Wagon Wheels at the beginning (as he had already read that entire Bible on his own and Frog and Toad 6 to 9 months ago). So I should stick with it, right? We should start Wagon Wheels Monday which is a level 3. Just enjoy how easy it is for him? He doesn't complain, he just races through it.

This sounds silly, but if I wanted to skip ahead in the ERs, how would I decide where to skip ahead to? How can I tell what is the right level for him?

Thanks for your help!

[GinainMD]

I can surely relate! My dd newly 7, had already read some of the books that were scheduled in the ERs. We began the school year with Wagon Wheels and I felt like it was much too easy and wanted to move into Dithor. After some advice I decided to stick with the ERs and just enjoy this time with dd. The difficulty increased with Christian Liberty Nature Reader. Not just the words but also the amount of reading. Although she is doing fine with the increased difficulty I think it was best to complete the ERs before moving into Dithor. I have seen an improvement in her comprehension also. This reminded me that although she could read just about anything that I gave her she wasn't necessarily comprehending it. I guess "I" was just anxious to move ahead. Hope something here helps.

[Tansy]

The CM method of slowly reading books really helps the kids understand them. When you move into DITHOR he will not be racing through books If he really is a voracious reader you could have him read 3 books a genre. (Be on the lookout for burn out! Since he is so good so young.)

I would not let him "race" through the Emerging readers. I would do the recommended pace and questions in the appendix for the emerging readers. This will get him into the habit of "savoring" books (to coin a phrase). CM always recommends the child read below grade lvl. This promotes reading aptitude and of course a love of books which it looks like your ds has already

I would instead provide piles of free reading books all over the house, for him to enjoy and race though as much as he wants.

A General test to tell if a book is above or below a child's reading lvl is to have them read a random half page some where in the middle of the book. You listen for any errors such as mispronounced words, self corrections, missed periods. skipped words, substituted words. If they make 0-1 mistakes , it is below their reading level. If they make 2-3 errors it is on their reading level. If they make 4-5 mistakes its above their reading level.
Hope that helps.

[mom24boys]

Thanks for your help! I think I'm going to just jump ahead a little (skipping a few books rather than racing through the books). Thanks also for the heads up on where the ERs get a little more challenging.

[my3sons]

My ds was reading well above the Emerging Reader's Set when we went through it as well, but he was not comprehending well enough for DITHOR. I'd be apt to do 2 days worth of reading and comprehension questions a day for awhile with your little guy, and not skip any books. This way you'd be moving him along a little more quickly, but not be missing the steady building of comprehension. My ds could read just about anything you put in front of him when he began DITHOR at a little over 7 yo, but DITHOR was very much a challenge. We went to half-speed DITHOR, and really eased into it. The story elements, Godly character traits, genre study, and especially the writing skills needed to do DITHOR make it more difficult. As adults we often read books that are far below our best reading level, and we still enjoy them and learn something from them usually (the average newspaper is written at an eighth grade level ). I just wanted to share this idea as it's good to think what a child is rushing to - if it's DITHOR 2/3, and it's too much, then it would have really been nice just to enjoy the ERS. However, I think you will be able to tell what ds is ready for - and looking over DITHOR 2/3 to see what's coming next may help as you consider pacing for your sweetie.

In Christ,
Julie

[Mommamo]

I just wanted to add that my little girl (7) has suddenly made HUGE leaps in her reading skills. And her comprehension amazes me. But I'm still going to have her go through all the ERs. We are just in the Bible still, but in her own reading she reads things that are so much harder. Like Encyclopedia Brown and some other stuff that I can't think of right now. I think she was reading Apple and the Arrow tonight? (Daddy was reading it aloud and he didn't read far enough so she read ahead. ) So anyway, she's doing well and the comprehension is there, but I'm going to go through each book because I would still like her to have that time to really grow before we get her into DITHOR. She can keep reading the harder stuff on her own. Now, I know you said your ds had read some of the books already. I might be inclined to skip those, especially if you think he understood them. But the new stuff I think I'd just keep plugging through, maybe doubleing up like Julie suggested. In fact, we've been doing that a little bit with some of the Bible stories. She enjoys them so much and they are pretty simple for her, but we haven't been doing that every day though. You do know your ds best though, and if you feel like he really needs to jump ahead, then definitely give it a shot and see how he does. You can always slow back down if you find that's what he needs.

[mom24boys]

Thanks for the additional replies!

Well, we decided to jump ahead...by one book, LOL! We left out the second Frog and Toad because we had already read that one and they are really easy for him. Today we started with Wagon Wheels. I feel like this is a good fit (as he had to slow down a little and work at pronouncing some words like Nicodemus, Kansas). I guess he'll finish the ERs one week early.

In the end, I guess it was silly to skip the one book. Live and Learn, I suppose!
Thanks again for your help!

[GinainMD]

I just thought of something! In our Beyond guide there are alternate ERs mentioned. So that's another option. I plan to fill in with these as dd7 will finish the ERs pretty early since we started with Wagon Wheels. Just a thought.

[Mommamo]

Oh yeah! You could add to it by using those alternates. You could either read those along with the regular ERs or you could alternate weeks too. So one week the regular ERs, one week the extras. The only problem is that there aren't questions for the alternates.