All About Grooming & Encouraging Good Reading Habits

[Busymom]

Busymom:

chrismei:

Does ur gal has problem understanding the story? There are many new words and i have to explain the story to let her understand better.

Not really. They have to be ready to read these books. Heard before that if there are more than a certain number of words that they can't understand in a page (sorry, can't remember what it is but have an impression that it is 13 or so...), then the book is too difficult for them.

Try The Enormous Crocodile. It is a very thin book and therefore less intimidating, plus there are nice coloured illustrations on the pages.

Apart from choosing the right level of difficulty where vocab is concerned, you should also read through the story to gauge if the storyline is too complicated or not. Sometimes, language may be simple but the plot could be too complicated.

[Imami]

Busymom:

Imami:

I have a strange feeling that my child is reading far better than I know... There are two types of books at home - those simple one's that he reads on his own and those chapter books more appropriate for primary school kids. Because his proficiency is not there yet (I thought so) and yet he prefers more sophisticated story lines, I read those chapter books to him. The magic tree house and the geronimo Stilton series are some of those I am reading to him.


Recently, I found him \"reading\" some chapter books quietly. He can't be looking at just the ten or so pictures for one hour. And he is flipping page by page. But when I asked him, he said he could not read those books as they were to difficult for him.

Maybe your boy is cheeky and wants you to read to him

Good that you are reading the chapter books to him. We are struggling to finish all our pictures books (and we have too many...) before attempting any of the chapter books with my son.

Thanks busymom. So you think it is ok that I \"let him be\"?

Both my child and me love to read. He reads whenever he has pockets of time. E,g in the morning while waiting for us to get ready, he would read one or two picture books or nonfic readers. In the evening after shower, he would pick up another two or three thin books again. The thicker and more cheem one's are reserved for me to read to him at bedtime. I am only too happy that he is reading those books I hv bought.

[Imami]

Hello all! Seeking your opinion - what do you think of the following series:

- horrid Henry
- magic tree house
- magic tree house fact tracker
- Geronimo Stilton
- the magic school bus

[mummy of 2]

DS likes magic tree house and research guides, as well as magic school bus. Not sure about the rest as he hasn’t read them.

[Imami]

I am not very sure, since I have not read every book in these series but I feel like this -

Magic tree house - like oldies - they are the evergreens, any generation will enjoy them. Even years down the road, they are not dated.
Magic tree house fact tracker - these are like classical music - always got people like. Nice to know About and appreciate.
Geronimo Stilton - these are like pop music. Dunno how long they can last.

[hquek]

For my elder one, he will read anything that comes his way. I’m happy to feed junk food with the quality food. i want him to read, a lot. I won’t buy any of the titles because he will only touch once.


So far he has only rejected magic schoolbus books. Not sure why.

[fable]

When my son was little, he (and I) loved the boynton books. Our habit was to read together every night, and often through the day as well. Even now that he’s in p1, he still loves to be read to, and a do a mix of old favorites (even old simple board books we read when he was a tot) to longer books that we complete over weeks. He inhales books, so I ban him from reading the books I want to read to him to retain some suspense. Our current book is ‘A tale dark and Grimm’, which is a reworking of the Grimm fairy tales in a dark but not too scary way.


Other books he’s liked are Neil gaiman’s odd and the frost giants and coraline, the Percy Jackson series, books by Alexander macall smith (yes he writes children’s books!), horrid histories and horrid science books (the gorier the better), roald Dahl, George’s secret key to the universe by Steven Hawking…

He borrows alot from various libraries, but I also buy books that I’d like him to read - I’m drawn to books with lovely writing and language and lively illustrations.

He also does alot of non-fiction. He likes math, universe, science and how to type books. I stock his shelves with art and architecture books too. He doesn’t seem as keen in these yet, but you never know when he’ll pick them and be fascinated.

He likes Geronimo Stilton too but I will only let him borrow not buy coz he finishes them in under 20 min.

[24hr-mum]

my p1 boy only reads comics eg young scientist and bks of movie characters (fightg type). how to interest

him to read a proper novel? he doesnt evn read beast quest, geronimo stilton or roald dahl. is it i must read WITH him?
wat r some interestg bks to start wf? he like monkey king, ninjago, star war, lightning mcqueen

[Dino mummy]

24hr-mum:

my p1 boy only reads comics eg young scientist and bks of movie characters (fightg type). how to interest

him to read a proper novel? he doesnt evn read beast quest, geronimo stilton or roald dahl. is it i must read WITH him?
wat r some interestg bks to start wf? he like monkey king, ninjago, star war, lightning mcqueen

Just to share..
My K2 boy is slower partly cos we were v tied up with work and put a lot of emphasis on his elder pri sch going brother.

Last year, I realised he was very weak in reading. I sent him to ICR. He knows the single sound but cant blend and I m not good at blending too..somehow, i cant get the tactics right. ICR does help him in 1 way or another n he enjoys the class.

I started to read books together with him. Initially, he just flipped the pages..then I thot of some ideas like we played scissors paper stone, whoever win/lose, have to read a page etc....then, I borrowed or bought him books that he liked eg..when he was very interested in Dino, I read books on Dino with him. When he liked Transformers, I did the same thing with him. On top of that, when he watched certain cartoon like Paddington Bears on TV, I will borrow PB books for him to read. When his school is bringg him to watch \"the cat in the hat\", I oso borrow books on that. Also let him tried Magic Tree House, he cant read that yet..too many words, I have to read to him.
He shows improvement in his reading altho' not very good. But I felt it is alri a big acheivement.
I am working on his preparation for Pri 1 now...hopefully, he can watch up..

[jeanieg]

Hi I have 2 girls aged 6 and 7. When they were very young I will read to them before bed. Now both of them are able to read simple books on their own, though DD1 is better in it. I rarely read to them before bed now as I am too tired (now that I do not have a maid). I always tell them that I can read to them in the daytime but they would rather play.


My ‘problem’ is that they do not like to read on their own. We go to the library pretty often and they will select the books they want but in the end I will be the one reading to them. Throughout the day, they will play together but have never once, taken a book on their own and read it! I have bought books with subject matters that they like, eg. Princess stories, Barbie stories, etc but to no avail. DD1 likes Winx Club and wanted the comic version and so I bought them. She do read them but ever so slowly. She takes ages to finish one book (she only reads them during School’s reading time before assembly, not at home).

I know reading will help them in the English subject but I do not know how to ignite their interest in reading. Help!