Hellobee Boards

We love the Cam Jansen series since we were 4-ish. And one time DS discovered Captain Underpants at the library that was one of his favorite. It cracked me up to go into his room in the morning, and found him reading a chapter book quietly by himself lol (He was 5)

My 3 year old is obsessed with the Mercy Watson series. There are six main books (I think) and then some spin-offs with minor characters from the original books. They are pretty funny!

We read the first 20 or so Magic Treehouse before we burned out on them (well, DH and I burned out on them long before LO did).

For a few months now we've been reading the Boxcar Children books. They are somewhat similar to Magic Treehouse in that it's centered around adventures, but a few steps up in quality/storyline.

We also read several of the original 80's/90's Babysitter's Club books and my daughter LOVED those.

@catlady: my 5yo loves Zoey and Sassafrass!

@jape14: This! I was just going to suggest it and saw you beat me too it.

We also like Zelda and Ivy, and any of the Kevin Henkes books (Penny and her Marble, Penny and her Song, Penny and her Doll) - but I'd say those all have more specific girl appeal, and might not be appreciated quite as much by boys.

@yoursilverlining: I've been thinking I need to get some vintage Babysitter's Little Sister books for DD1

My son loved James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mister Fox, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when he was 4. We have a Roald Dahl set, and although some of the stories are kind of inappropriate for such a young age, those three are good (with minor editing).

@looch: Oh I have to check out "Goofballs" -- and ditto with Magic Treehouse too. I wonder why.

Our challenge at the moment is, while DS (turning 6 in 2 days) can read, the chapter books he is given (at school) has concepts that he doesn't understand at his age. We just finished the A-Z Mysteries "Lucky Lottery" (I read it with him and I loved it lol). While he can read the whole thing word for word, he couldn't understand some of the concepts when he read by himself. He didn't understand what a lottery ticket is, and the concept of winning lottery or cashing in the lottery ticket and why do people want to steal a lottery ticket (he kept thinking it was a ticket for a show regardless of the 10 times I tried to explain to him). And he repeatedly asked what is "proof" and "evidence". So in a way, when he reads on his own, he couldn't comprehend what he read 100% because the concepts were foreign to him. That happens a lot with the chapter books we came across with, I am not sure if it was him having comprehension problems or if he didn't yet have experience with things/concepts the books were talking about. I wish I could identify chapter books that have simpler concepts for younger brains!

@irene: Off topic, but I'd talk to his teacher about your concerns and try to address them now. It sounds like he does fine with decoding, but comprehension is what makes the exercise reading. I'm surprised that in an early reader they didn't explain/drop enough hints about what a lottery is for a child to figure it out, but I haven't read that book, so maybe that knowledge is assumed (I'm guessing that's unlikely... early readers tend to spell things out to the point of tediousness). Anyhow, if he's not comprehending the text, I'd intervene.

Maybe back up and read even easier books--and have a discussion about them where you make him tell you what they are about--and then I'd hit the parent reading aloud time hard and with complex books, not early readers (Magic Treehouse is an early reader/early chapter book, so pick something harder and more interesting).

@honeybear: I have told the teachers a hundred times about my concerns (comprehension), but then they sent us extra homework - on top of a chapter book a week they sent us a book report kinda thing that asks DS to describe the beginning/middle/end of a story...etc. We are in kindergarten and I am not crazy about having a ton of homework, but I feel bad to say something as it was me who brought that up. I think at some point they forgot (haha), and now the extra work sheet is much easier - which is now something about freestyle writing / illustrating. So now we are OK.

The A-Z mysteries is sent-home extra reading (every week is a different book, not just A-Z mysteries). So no they are not reading it at school. Yes I would ask him to read a chapter on his own, understand, and then tell me what the chapter is about. Usually I'd have to read the chapter also so I can lead him with questions. But that's only when I have time and when he is willing to read. There was a time they sent us a completely pictureless book and that was quite miserable as DS has no interest to read. One chapter book a week at this age is so much work I think.... I guess I will say something about it and maybe we need to fall back to something easier.

At school they do really easy stuff with the entire class. While I don't know exactly if they do anything special with DS, I highly doubt it (They are doing sight words like car, bar, jar...etc). So no they don't talk about what lottery ticket is on the sent-home reading.

At the same time, I didn't want to bug the teachers too much about this as I am sure they have real problems on hand. There are kids struggling with reading / possible dyslexia. I am not expecting DS to move on to read McBeth right now lol so I am OK at the moment. Just that I wish there were books that he can work on decoding at his level, and at the same time have simpler concepts that he can enjoy reading and understanding on his own.

@looch: I forgot what it is, I think it is somewhere around K or M? DS has a problem communicating what he understand / what he read. Sometimes I asked what was the chapter about? He can not quite articulate what he just read back to me in his own words. He could answer me if I were to ask very specific questions (after I read the chapter). And yes I agree with what you say.

@irene: I'm not a fan of homework, so I would skip extra worksheets, to be honest. Maybe ask that those be discontinued so whatever time you do have at night can be devoted to reading with your son.

My main thought after seeing your response is that you probably need to have him read aloud to you rather than read a chapter on his own. I don't really know how else you can check for things like fluency and correct phrasing (by which I mean the child is able to make the sentence sound right and pronounce the words correctly) unless you do that. It is time-consuming.

As for comprehension, my point was that in an early reader, the child generally doesn't need to know the concepts that are the topic of the book, because they're usually explained directly or indirectly in the text. If a child isn't picking up the main plot point, I'd worry about comprehension. Asking open-ended questions that require the child to use the information in the book to tell you about the ideas in the book like the ones @Mrs Green Grass: mentioned will help you figure out if he's picking up on those clues in the text. That said, if your child knows a lot about a subject already, like dinosaurs or trucks, then books about those topics will generally be easier for them to read. So maybe pick up some that align with your son's interests as a 'reset,' ask questions about them to ensure understanding, and then move on to new ideas/concepts.