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Help! My Early Reader Has Hit a Reading Wall

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Jonathan Reading ThePelsers.com

I have an early reader.  At just over three and a half years old, Jonathan showed an interest in learning to read.  Within one month of starting to sound out words, he was reading at an early first grade level.  Fast forward about a year to age four and a half.  Jonathan now reads at around a 3rd grade level.  He easily reads chapter books and sounds out new words independently.

But then it happened.

He hit a wall.

Suddenly, Jonathan only wanted to read books that were way too easy for him.  He fought and complained when asked to read a chapter book.  He wiggled and he messed around.  He’d easily waste an hour working on just a page or two.  And this attitude started to spill over into everything he did.

It took a while for me to figure out our new normal, but here are two things that helped us:

  1. Remember his age.
    Jonathan is only four and a half years old.  He’s a wiggly little boy; he’s not as wiggly as some but he’s still wiggly.  Just because he is able to read at a 3rd grade level doesn’t mean he has the attention span of a 3rd grader.  I backed off on the number of pages and clearly laid out the expectations.  He is currently working his way through The Boxcar Children #2.  On an average day, he reads around 4 pages rather than trying to read a whole chapter.  This is required quiet time reading.  He’s free to read anything else that he wants at other times of the day.
  2. Don’t neglect read-alouds.
    I had become so focused on Jonathan’s reading that I had backed off too much on reading to him.  He loves to be read to and has since he was a baby.  I was too concerned about fitting in his core subjects and his reading that on some days, I wasn’t reading any other books to him.  When I realized this, we went to the bookshelf and I let him choose the next read-aloud from our curriculum for this year.  He was so excited and chose The House at Pooh Corner.  We can easily devour a chapter or more a day in a read-aloud.

These two things have brought back the joy of reading.  He’s still wiggly, but he completes his reading with less fuss and in much less time – on most days!

If you have an advanced student who has suddenly hit a wall, ask yourself some of these questions:

  • Are you expecting too much now based on a previous pace your student had been on?
  • Are you considering your child’s age and maturity level?
  • Did you stop doing something that your child really loved that needs to be brought back?

Do you have additional suggestions for working with a child who has hit a wall in reading or another subject?

Amanda is navigating the world of Kindergarten with her academically advanced 4 year old.  She is a former church communications director with a MA in Old Testament Studies turned homeschooling mom.  She blogs about life, motherhood, homeschooling, technology, books, faith, and more at ThePelsers.com.

Help! My Early Reader Has Hit a Reading Wall is a post from: The Homeschool Classroom. This material is copyrighted and should only appear on The Homeschool Classroom. Thank you!
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