All About Grooming & Encouraging Good Reading Habits

[cafelatte]

EN:

... seeking advise from fellow parents what other books that I can introduce to ds (next year he will be 9). He's done with Geronimo, Roald Dahl & Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Any great fictional author that I should look out for?

My boy is similar in age. His current favourite :

(1) The Number Devil (read and re-read numerous times)
http://www.amazon.com/Number-Devil-Hans-Magnus-Enzensberger/dp/1862073910/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261131419&sr=1-3
(2) The Boxcar children series mentioned by tamarind
(3) The Mysterious Benedict Society, book 1 & 2
http://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Benedict-Society-Trenton-Stewart/dp/0316003956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261131481&sr=1-1

For non-fictions, his all time favourites are Murderous Maths, Horrible Science and National Georgraphic for Kids.

My son has kind-of outgrown MagicTreeHouse - the stories are too short but he still listens to the audio tapes sometimes.

I must check out 39 clues.

[Joy]

Hi tam


I agreed that peter and jane is the best series and I have used it for my older girl.Now, come to my four year old, he refused and he doesnt like it.He only likes ginger bread man, etc , in the lady bird series...what should I do.thanks

rgds

tamarind:

radiantmum:

I will go according to the kid's speed and readiness and remind myself that at this age, it is NOT IMPORTANT how fast the kid can read and understand but rather how to get him/her interested in reading ... Personally, I never read Peter n Jane to my DS 'cos I find the series so boring myself.

I heard a piece of advice from someone before, which I think makes sense ... if we find that we as a parent cannot control our temper or emotions in teaching our kid - - OUTSOURCE ... husband, enrichment centre, tuition centres etc ... :love:

I absolutely agree with you that it is most important to get a child interested in reading. The trick is to find interesting books for him, books that will make him want to turn the pages to find out what happens next.

BTW the Peter and Jane series is designed for kids to read out loud, it is not meant for parents to read to kids. If parents know how to use this series correctly, it is the best series for teaching kids to read, and it has worked wonders for both my kids. After completing the series, kids can read the newspaper and any English book fluently.

As for sending to enrichment classes, my girl has attended phonics class before. After every lesson, the teacher came out and showed the parents how to revise with the kids at home. Parents still have to teach the kids at home everyday, one hour a week at the enrichment class is definitely not enough.

Both my kids attend Berries class. I often hear the teachers telling some parents that their kids are weak, and they must make the kids practice reading the lessons everyday.

Sending kids to enrichment class does not mean that parents can relax at home.

[mrswongtuition]

My students love these books I've bought for them.


Boys:
Books by Jeremy Strong (http://www.jeremystrong.com)
The day my bum went psycho (alot of toilet humour)
Horrid Henry

Girls:
Junie B. Jones series (suitable for P1 - P3)
Ruby Rogers series (suitable for P2 - P4)

Unisex (books from movies):
Dog Hotel
Mr Magoo's Emporium

There are alot more titles but I'm lazy to walk over to my boy's room to take a look at the titles. I personally read all the books before purchasing them and the contents in the books are socially acceptable and are not anything that will scare the kids or teach wrong values.

[The Alternative Story]

Hi EN,


Yes, the 39 clues is exciting,:) I think they might have 39 books in all, right now, the 6th book is out. It is suitable for those aged 9 to 12. Each book comes with cards to explain the clues and information that is needed to solve the clues.

I really like books that can be used to discuss current affairs or history.

For example, ‘I am David’ is a book that talks about a Jewish boy, David, who escapes from the concentration camp to look for his mother. From this book, you could discuss about the Holocaust. A good movie to go with this book to discuss about the Holocaust and appropriate for children is "The boy with the striped pyjamas’. It talks about a German boy who lives next to a concentration camp and befriends a Jewish boy. He thinks the Jewish boy is in a holiday camp because of the striped uniform that he wears.

Many schools use extracts from ‘I am David’ for their open-ended comprehension for the Primary 5 and 6 level. The text can be used to teach children how to answer inferential questions.

[The Alternative Story]

Hi caffelatte,


Besides 39 clues, another good series is The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The first book is 'Among the hidden'. It talks about children living in an era where there are only 2 children allowed per family as the world is over-populated and how a third child has to remain hidden to avoid the population police.

On a lighter side, Chris Ryan has a series for children called Alpha Force where a group of 5 children work together to solve mysteries- a modern take on Famous Five.

[Blobbi]

Yah, I want to say Magic Treehouse very cannot for us. Lucky a friend lent him, so I didn't spend $$. Son says the sentences are too truncated and isn't enjoyable.


Haven't tried the rest cos he's not that into fiction these days except the occasional ones. And yes, - Number Devil is the ALL time favourite. He even asked for sequel. :lol: Right now, it's MM and HS.

In the past, in addition to the usual Geronimo Stiltons and Roald Dahl, he loved books from Beverly Cleary and Dick King Smith (he wrote Babe and a host of very wonderful books). These are very safe books. I don't have the time or inclination to pre-read books (I have so many books I'm reading for myself at the same time! :lol:), so I introduce children's books that are well-trodden by others and just cross my fingers that he takes to them. He didn't like the Boxcar Children for example - probably just a personal idiosyncracy.

Forgot to mention Astrosaurs, which I highlighted in an earlier post. He liked that a few months ago.

[sleepy]

cafelatte:

Roald Dahl also has picture books, shorter stories with colour illustrations. The Minipin is a wonderful book and highly recommended for read-alound :

http://www.amazon.com/Minpins-Roald-Dahl/dp/0140549706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261131086&sr=8-1

Also check out \"The Enormous Crocodile\".

My 5yo loves this book enormous crocodile. Another book is the Magic Finger, quite an easy read

[tamarind]

cafelatte:

I totally agree with tamarind's recommendation of \"My Father's Dragon\". The three books are excellent and my son's favourites. Roald Dahl also has picture books, shorter stories with colour illustrations. The Minipin is a wonderful book and highly recommended for read-alound :
http://www.amazon.com/Minpins-Roald-Dahl/dp/0140549706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261131086&sr=8-1

Also check out \"The Enormous Crocodile\".

Yes these are wonderful books ! All kids must read these

[tamarind]

[quote]
Hi tam

I agreed that peter and jane is the best series and I have used it for my older girl.Now, come to my four year old, he refused and he doesnt like it.He only likes ginger bread man, etc , in the lady bird series...what should I do.thanks [/quote]Hi Joy,
My boy also did not like the Peter and Jane series at first. I only let him read for 5 mins everyday. For levels 1 to 2, only about 3 pages a day, from book 3 onwards, only one page a day. After book 3, he knew that he had to read it, there is no choice, it is like brushing teeth. Since it takes him only 5 mins, he does not mind doing it and get over with it.
By level 6, he is so proud of himself that he can read books with so many words. He would remind me if I forgot to ask him to read the \"study book\", which is what he calls the Peter and Jane series.

My advise is to try to establish a routine. Make the reading time very short, only a few mins, but insist on reading everyday. Give the child lots of praise and encouragement. I used to clap and cheer everyday after my boy finished reading He is so pleased with himself. I also used rewards, like if he finished one book, he can get a small present, or an outing to eat ice cream, etc.

Before starting the Peter and Jane series, it is also important to make sure that the child already knows all the phonics sounds, and knows how to join 3 letters to make any words. It will make reading a lot easier for him.

[cafelatte]

Blobbi:

.... And yes, - Number Devil is the ALL time favourite. He even asked for sequel. :lol: Right now, it's MM and HS. .

LOL same same !!! but not sequel right ? I searched everywhere but the author's other books are not for children, it seems ?