About my (nearly) 8 year old voracious reader....

[tammyw]

My dd is a reader. She is almost 8 and has been reading like crazy for a long while now. She reads a lot. She can read stuff like Harry Potter and The Mysterious Benedict Society without problem.

The only question I really have is that I know she doesn't ALWAYS know how to pronounce every single word. Sometimes if she's reading something out loud to us, she might mess up a name or the occasional word (sometimes in hearing herself say the word out loud incorrectly she knows it's incorrect and will correct herself). I was just wondering if there's anything I specifically need to do to assist her at this point? Is there more LEARNING she needs to do at this level to help her with those things or will she just get it by reading and more reading (and in hearing me read aloud also).

She doesn't read aloud often, so I really wouldn't even be able to give a good assessment on this, but I just want to make sure that there isn't something I should be doing for her at this point.

I appreciate any advice or links.

[mom2ponygirl]

I still remember when my girl was very little and reading 'easy' readers.  She was reading a book aloud to me and came to the word, photographer.  She said, I can't read this word so I'm just going to say picture taker instead. LOL  We then learned the difference between being able to pronounce a word and reading it. :-)  

Reading aloud together and listening to audio books work well to increase vocabulary with correct pronunciation.  My daughter began reading quite a bit of classic literature around age 9 or 10 which necessitated reading aloud a lot more.  She wanted to read these books together and found it easiest to read them aloud to me.  This way she could stop when she needed explanation (usually historical or cultural context) or help with a word.  We also listened to lots of audio books - many free available to lit2go or libriovox.  She started with stuff like The Secret Garden, The Little White Horse, The Prince and the Pauper, Treasure Island, Pride and Prejudice, etc.  

We also used vocabulary books by Michael Clay Thompson from www.rfwp.com.  It introduces tons of word roots and that helped my daughter learn to handle new words more easily.  

I certainly don't think you have anything to be concerned about.  However, I think it is important to continue encouraging read alouds for this very reason and of course, because it is fun and a great way to share ideas and discussions with your kid. 

[tammyw]

We definitely do a lot of audio books, and we've started on the Island Level of MCT - are the vocabulary books different from those? We've not gone that far in the Island Level books - mostly just Grammar and Poetry.

So you don't think there's anything extra I need to be doing, other than what we're doing?

My goal for this year is to read aloud at least one new classic book a month (or so).  I just ordered The Hobbit yesterday.

[moominmamma]

Totally normal for voracious readers. They end up with immense vocabularies because they're exposed to so much vocabulary in the books they read. A few of those new words will be mispronounced at first. It all sorts itself out with time.* Nothing to be worried about.

* It almost always sorts itself out in time. A friend of mine was in medical school before he discovered that the word "awry" had the accent on the last syllable. He still laughs about his mistaken mispronunciation. 

Miranda

[Momsteader]

She'll sort it out :)  My 14 yo (also a voracious reader) still will run into things he doesn't know how to pronounce. Just be happy she loves to read! :)

[tammyw]

Thank you for the feedback everyone! Makes me feel better. We definitely appreciate how much she loves reading. In fact, we often have to say "time to stop reading" because it's time for a bath or brushing teeth. I just didn't want to miss something I *should* be doing with her. Glad to hear we're doing fine.

[mom2ponygirl]

Originally Posted by tammyw 

We definitely do a lot of audio books, and we've started on the Island Level of MCT - are the vocabulary books different from those? We've not gone that far in the Island Level books - mostly just Grammar and Poetry.

The MCT books we used were Caesar's English I and II, and Word Within the Word.  I think there is a level before Caesar's English I but we didn't ever use it. :-)