Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short novel?

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fantasyvn2008
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Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2010 11:35 pm

Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short novel?

Post by fantasyvn2008 »

May I ask for your advice on this topic?

A friend of mine told me that her 6-year-old daughter can now read a short novel, about 100 pages. I find it very admirable while my son is still reading picture books.

Is this fact a reliable indication of how good a child may be at the 11 Plus test in English? If your child is to do well at the test, should he/she move on from picture books at this early age?

My sincere thanks,
Stroller
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Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 9:39 am

Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by Stroller »

Good picture books with interesting illustrations will sharpen perceptive powers for NVR. :-)

No rush. Read good quality stories to your child though. Listening ("receptive") vocabulary is ahead of everything else, so keep that evolving nicely and the rest will follow in due course.
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mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by mystery »

As long as your son is learning to read and is reading a reasonable amount each day by the time he is in year 2 upwards I really wouldn't worry if he is reading the Beano and that girl is reading mills and boon.
vasu
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Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by vasu »

It depends more on the child's liking for reading than the ability. I have seen a few reading Harry Potter and Murpigo at that age.
Having one child makes you a parent; having two you are a referee.
scarlett
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Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 am

Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by scarlett »

I've had three pass the 11 plus and none of them read novels at the age of 6. Two of them actually took part in that reading recovery scheme ( not sure if they still do it ) . I did, however have plenty of friends who told me that their children were incredibly bright and incredibly advanced in their reading . After a not so brief panic that my dc must be dim in comparison , I found that these children seemed to peak early and then mine caught up. None of the children I was comparing mine to even took the 11 plus . Just keep plugging away and try not to compare , it just causes you stress :D
yoyo123
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Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by yoyo123 »

Just keep plugging away and try not to compare , it just causes you stress :D
very wise advice!
Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by Amber »

scarlett wrote:I did, however have plenty of friends who told me that their children were incredibly bright and incredibly advanced in their reading . After a not so brief panic that my dc must be dim in comparison , I found that these children seemed to peak early and then mine caught up. None of the children I was comparing mine to even took the 11 plus . Just keep plugging away and try not to compare , it just causes you stress :D
+1
Children mature at different rates, as well as varying in their desire to sit and read solid text when small. Most don't want to and I would suggest that almost all children who can do this are doing it to fulfil some vicarious desire on the part of the parent to demonstrate a superior child to the world. (Yes I know some want to, but most would rather be digging worms or fighting with their siblings). Best policy is to ignore or show extreme lack of being impressed. These children rarely turn into the kind of all round bright and good kid that we all want. Hang fire and yours will get there too. Meanwhile enjoy those picture book days - stories never get that good again. :D
southbucks3
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Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by southbucks3 »

Picture books are a wonderful resource to share, we still buy and read picture books together, think of the snowman!

Your child should be encouraged not rushed along, My youngest son loves reading and has always adored spending ages studying the pictures that accompany the stories, when he does so now he will comment that this or that is not quite how he thought the author was describing the scene. I used to get frustrated when the eldest boy spent so long analysing pictures, but have now learnt that this procedure is hugely important.

Enjoy your snuggles together, there are some truly lovely DVD story telling accompanied picture books too, great for Christmas presents.

All three of mine are in or heading to grammar and none read huge books at six years old, they could however understand advanced cosmology at the age of five. :wink:
Last edited by southbucks3 on Tue Nov 11, 2014 4:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
moved
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Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by moved »

Interestingly, research has shown that early reading is a good indicator of mathematical/linguistic ability rather than English ability.
fatbananas
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Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:03 pm

Re: Is it common for a 6-year-old child to read a short nove

Post by fatbananas »

Your friend obviously feels very competitive with you or else why mention it to you? What relevance does what her child does have for you, unless it's to try and make her feel good and you bad (which it seems to gave succeeded in doing)? There are always mums who love telling other people what genius kids they have. We all think our kids are the loveliest and the best but it's probably not objectively true :wink: (except in my case :lol: )

All the DC in my 6 year old's class are stronger at some things than others. If I feel DS is weaker at some things, or if insufficient attention was being paid to it in the classroom (because of a weak teacher or just not enough time to cover everything), then I would fill in gaps - with lots of praise- at home; little and often. But to be stronger at some things than others is very normal: no one can learn everything at exactly the same rate.
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