I’m going to put this question out there for you to answer. Given all the chapter books for kids – and all the reading issues that exist for the kids reading these chapter books…what are the top 10 problems chapter book readers face?
On Monday, I’ll give you my top ten list. But I want to frame this up by talking about what we experienced with homeschooling our kids. With our oldest child, our daughter, you wouldn’t say that there were any problems. Except she’d could read so well that she sometimes books that exceeded her emotional grasp – or that frightened her or overstimulated her imagination. This is a tough call for parents – because kids are always pushing boundaries outward, no matter where you set them. At the time, she was reading Goosebumps books – which are harmless enough in their own way, or for the right kid at the right time. But if situations converge – sleepless nights can abound!
Our middle child – our oldest son – was not what you would call a fast-paced reader. He’s got a mild form of dyslexia and he processes slowly. Slowly but surely I might add. I’m not sure he ever really read any chapter books. But at some point or another he started reading the instruction manual for Sim City, the computer game. This manual was as thick as a non-abridged dictionary. It was at that point in time that I knew to leave well enough alone and not worry about chapter books for him at all.
Our youngest son loved the Redwall Series and the Lord of the Rings, and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe Series. In fact he loved anything we would read aloud to him – or that he could get as a book on tape. Still does in fact. I just finished rereading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, and the first thing he asked me was whether there was a book on tape in the library for it. When he did start to read, he would read the same book over and over again. In fact, when we read A Boy’s Life by Robert Mccammon I thought I might have to pry the book out of his fingers he reread it so many times. But he loved The Boxcar Kids, and Arnold Lobel’s chapter books – and The Wind and the Willows – and just about anything that we’d read to him. Harry Potter books were eventually his cup of tea, too. A bit later in the game than you would say was right if you had a schedule in your head for that sort of thing…but he devoured them just the same, even though we’d read them out loud.
I wonder if you see where I’m going here? Can you tell me the problems that your chapter book readers face? Your top 10?
