Reading level poll - Page 5

[sublimeliving]

Thanks, I'd love to read your source for that information. "Well before that time"? What age was that?
 

Originally Posted by TiredX2 

I know this is both anal & off topic, but:

Originally Posted by sublimeliving

 Einstein didn't read until he was 7 or 9.
 

This is untrue (urban legend).  Einstein was reading well before that time (and also spoke in complete sentences from 2-3, not 4 like is commonly "reported").  Sorry, pet peeve and one that I feel does a LOT more harm than good.
 

[Mizelenius]

Oldest is almost 9.  She loves reading. Have no idea what her reading level is, but she just finished my book Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science.  I have heard that most popular books (and newspapers) are written at the 6th grade level, so maybe that's what that book is.  She also likes reading Smithsonian, is (thankfully) done with her Harry Potter craze that started last year, and will read the New Yorker (esp. the comics) when it's around.  I would say she likes reading books that are geared for her age level (well, the 9-12 range) but if I look interested in something she'll take it.  She is a speed reader, too.

My second is 5 (6 in April) and doesn't have the same passion for reading that her sister has.  She is reading Little House on the Prairie . . .but she doesn't speed through it.

My 3rd (almost 4) has not started to read.  My other two started by about 4.5, self-taught.  We didn't even read much to the 2nd one, sadly.

[straighthaircurly]

 It is hard to keep up with the changes in DS's reading level. He was not an early reader and was actually a reluctant reader until a year ago (6.5) when he ssuddenly took off and leaped up a couple grade levels. Testing at the start of 2nd grade put him at 540-590 lexile. This was the level where he had good endurance and good comprehension though he was enjoying certain books at much higher levels. But in the months since then he has leaped up to what I would guess is 800-900. He can read 800 lexile books for 3 hours on his own, read same book outloud to me (and only need help with about 1 word per page) and he can write responses to what he has read. I am curious what his winter testing will show. He already did the math testing and has leaped more than a grade level in the past 4 months (and that was with the school continueing to not offer any acceleration or differentiation...sigh...think what he could do if given better opportunities). Off topic but it is making me wish we could homeschool.

[StillWaters]

My DS (7) is in first grade and reading at a 4th grade level.   He was not a precocious early reader and didn't really read much until he was almost 6.   

My DD (5) is not reading and does not strike me as ready to read yet. 

My husband is dyslexic and I wonder if my children may have some of that.   DS categorically refused to sound out words, and learned to read by memorizing each word.

[accidental_hs'er]

Very late to this thread but loving it!  Just tested ds, 8 (grade 2) and he reads at a grade 10/11 level.  He is also a speed reader and will devour hundreds of books each month.  He reads everything.  For example, this week I saw him with a Level 4 early reader about Tractors and his father's copy of the Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  It truly blows me away. 

[Stephenie]

DS turned four in April and is reading at about a third grade level. 

[St. Margaret]

This is an interesting question. I feel like dd can read almost anything (she reads flower fairy poems on her own and comprehends the personification of summer and etc, and knows crazy words by sight I guess), but her stamina is more limited. So she can easily read half a chapter of a rainbow magic book that's listed at grade four or five, but she's never actually read through one on her own. I should try having her read a bit every day... But we just read to her

Anyway looking online I see a lot of books she has read through are averaging out to second grade, somewhere in there... She's newly four and her reading exploded in fluency the past six months.

[KaliShanti]

My just-turned-4 year old, who is bright but probably not gifted, is reading maybe it a 1st grade level. Not sure how to tell.

[Stephenie]

Originally Posted by St. Margaret 

This is an interesting question. I feel like dd can read almost anything (she reads flower fairy poems on her own and comprehends the personification of summer and etc, and knows crazy words by sight I guess), but her stamina is more limited. So she can easily read half a chapter of a rainbow magic book that's listed at grade four or five, but she's never actually read through one on her own. I should try having her read a bit every day... But we just read to her

Anyway looking online I see a lot of books she has read through are averaging out to second grade, somewhere in there... She's newly four and her reading exploded in fluency the past six months.

This sounds a lot like my DS. He can read so much, but only a little at a time if there are a lot of words on each page. He knows a ton of sight words, can sound out most words, comprehend a large majority of what he reads, but he gets tired after a few pages of word-dense text.  It looks like they are just about exactly the same age. I am guessing that it's just a lot for a newly four year old, no matter how bright they are :) 

[mamazee]

I just got a bunch of end-of-the-year paperwork from school, and they took a reading test to see what level they are at now at the end of the school year, and my 9-year-old is reading at an 11th grade reading level. Which I believe, as she is able to read and comprehend everything I've seen, but for some reason she hasn't had any real interest in reading this past year. I'm surprised that her reading level is so high when she doesn't actually read that often lately. It seems like she'd have to work at it to improve it.

[St. Margaret]

Exactly! And so the hunt for interesting reading continues. She is very happy with more elaborate picture books right now so that's great, but she keeps pushing at chapter books. What we do a lot of is read it to her, then she reads bits of it to herself afterwards , for weeks on and off. And bc she knows the story it's satisfying for her. Just trying to meet her at the point where interest and ability cross... Bc she loves to read on her own. (but we still read a ton too). We just had to create the no walking while reading rule lol

[expecting-joy]

Neither child has been formally tested. Both read everything. The 4yo chooses to read books Scholastic calls 2nd-3rd grade level. The 7th chooses to read books the same lists as 4th-9th. Both read incessantly, easily thousands of pages a week for the elder and nearing a thousand pages a week for the younger. The 7yo reads as fast as I do. The 4yo takes 2-3 times as long, depending on the difficulty of the book.

[Just1More]

Dd just turned six in March and is solidly at at 4/5th grade level.  She could read more, I'm certain, but we've had a hard time findign appropriate books for her.  She's very sensitive, and doesn't appreciate much fantasy.  Her whole reason for finally taking off and reading on her own was so that she could "read science books."  She's since decided that she likes history better. :)

[zebra15]

Originally Posted by accidental_hs'er 

Very late to this thread but loving it!  Just tested ds, 8 (grade 2) and he reads at a grade 10/11 level.  He is also a speed reader and will devour hundreds of books each month.  He reads everything.  For example, this week I saw him with a Level 4 early reader about Tractors and his father's copy of the Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  It truly blows me away. 

I think you have my DS twin, only a couple years too late.  For awhile he loved his library card, he called it the 'credit card' and burned it out. (wore out the mag strip).  

We still do 'readers' and 10lb books around here. Nothing wrong w. that.

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by moominmamma 

Originally Posted by heatherdeg

He still doesn't have great reading endurance and I don't know if it's a matter of interest or actual ability. Most of what he reads now is in the 950-1000 Lexile range.

How is his endurance in other areas? The reason I ask is that my youngest dd had great focus and endurance with other things, seemed to be able to read quite difficult stuff (up to the 800-1000 lexile range) but had very little reading stamina. While her decoding had improved a ton from age 3 to age 5, her endurance hadn't really picked up.

It turned out she had a pretty severe refractive error. Once we fixed that with glasses she went from tolerating a paragraph or two at a sitting to reading entire novels in a couple of days.

I felt a little silly going to the optometrist and explaining that my worry was that my 5-year-old didn't seem to have enough stamina for reading entire novels. But hey, when she couldn't make out the big "R" at the top of the eye chart the optometrist suddenly took us very seriously. She'd had no visual complaints whatsoever.

So if your ds hasn't had his vision tested, I'd encourage you do just make sure.

Miranda

His endurance for most things stinks.  He's flagged for ADHD and Asperger's (which are sometimes misdiagnosed for each other) but I had him see an optometrist this time last year to have a thorough exam AND rule out convergence insufficiency (which can present like ADHD and would've explained his woeful eye contact).  They even did pupil dilation--the whole 9... perfect vision.  :/

Originally Posted by Lakeeffectsnow 

We discovered our seven year old was gifted when he was being tested for learning disabilities. 

Mine started with profound delays as an infant (suspected cerebral palsy) and this is how we found out he was gifted: the last round of significant testing by the district for IEP services when he was 5yo and would've been entering K (we homeschool, but that was the timing of the testing--he turned 5yo in Jan. and they testing in May & June assuming he'd go into K in the fall).  We haven't had any testing since; and he was declassified with that round of tests.

[jtkkmom]

My daughter who just turned 4 last week has Down syndrome.  She is reading at a grade 1 level.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by sublimeliving 

Thanks, I'd love to read your source for that information. "Well before that time"? What age was that?
 

You can look up a lot of sources--- I've read it many places.  Most putting out information after the "Einstein Syndrome" became popularized.

http://www.albert-einstein.org/article_handicap.html

I wouldn't consider a 2.5 year old saying "But where are the wheels?" at the birth of a sibling to be late-talking by common definitions.  Additionally, other sources I have read suggest that while Einstein did not fit into his early educational system, he did well enough.  He was called things like lazy and sloppy more than stupid or dull, kwim.  Skipped class, was bored...

This is from wikipedia:

The Einsteins were non-observant Jews. Albert attended a Catholic elementary school from the age of five for three years. Later, at the age of eight, Einstein was transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium where he received advanced primary and secondary school education till he left Germany seven years later.^[8] Although it has been thought that Einstein had early speech difficulties, this is disputed by the Albert Einstein Archives, and he excelled at the first school that he attended

From what I understand, the Luitpold Gymnasium would be considered difficult and rather prestigious.  I cannot be certain from these exact articles, but I don't think that not reading until late would have been in line with his early academic placements.

[HeatherB]

Tired, thanks for the info on Einstein!

This is definitely an old thread, but an interesting one.

My newly-9-yo has most recently read the Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea series. Looks like their Lexile numbers are 900s-1000s. He's also been reading and rereading The Mysterious Benedict Society and its sequels. He's definitely one who CAN read pretty much anything, but I limit what he gets in regard to content. He started reading the Narnia series at 7, but we don't do things like Harry Potter or a lot of the other fantasy books that are out there.

My 6.5yo is more of a closet reader. I know he recently borrowed "The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport" from my mom's and read the whole thing. (Lexile lists other books in the series at 780-880.) That may be the longest full book he's read. He reads "Puppy Place" (~600s) and "Dinosaur Cove" (580-770) and "Magic Treehouse" (300s-700s) series with ease. He reads a lot of non-fiction, too, particularly about dinosaurs. He's a better speller than my 9yo, too, so I know he's reading a lot!

My 3.5yo is getting very interested in reading. My older boys read at 4 and I expect he'll do the same. He's asking what words are spelled with various letters on signs, complaining that he can't read words in (adult) books, etc., as well as knowing letters and sounds and such. Won't be long!

I like the Sonlight Quick Reading Assessment and intend to go over it with them again, soon. I've thought it was pretty accurate in the past, though, as others have said, there are a lot of factors that go into reading level - and they change, frequently!