My Child is an Advanced Kindergartner, What Should She Read?

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Affiliate Links 150 2Advanced Kindergartner Reader Question

Dear Melissa,

Hi there! I follow your blog and love it!

I have a question for my daughter. She’s a kindergartner. She can read just about anything put in front of her, but wants to read chapter books. But, she often gets overwhelmed by a lot of words on a page. Also, the comprehension skills need work. She’ll fly through the words, but misses a lot of details and punctuation. What can I give her to read?

Advanced Kindergartner Who Wants to Read Chapter Books

Melissa’s Reply

Dear Kindy Mom,

Thanks for reading! It’s great to hear that you’re so involved in your daughter’s learning.
The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure no matter what your daughter is reading, that the comprehension level is just right for her. Do you know about the 5 finger test? It’s really a helpful way to make sure she’s in a just-right book.

 

5 Finger Test (train kids to do this themselves eventually)

1. Open to any page in the book.
2. Child reads through the page.
3. Count how many words the child misses on your hand.
0 = easy book (great for fluency practice, but not all the time)
1-5 = just-right book (recommended!)
5+ = challenge book (not recommended)

 

I am a huge advocate for picture books for as long as possible for a few reasons — they are short enough that kids can read them in one sitting. Some children struggle with chapter books because they’re still building up their long term memory ability paired with reading comprehension. Also, picture books have such rich vocabulary – and fun stories. Some fun picture books that are also easy readers are the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems and  Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold. My daughter who is 8 still loves reading these.

 

Easiest Chapter Books

That being said, I totally understand your daughter’s desire to read chapter books. If she can comprehend the books (just-right books), here are some beginning chapter book series you might try:

 

 

Easy Chapter Books

When she’s ready for a bit longer and harder early chapter book series, I think she’ll like these:

 

But, if these are too hard, go back to early readers or picture books.

 

Does that help? Let me know how it goes!

 

Happy reading,

 

Melissa

 

*If you have an education-related question, email me at melissa@imaginationsoup.net. I’m always happy to help!

 

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8 Comments

  1. I love your lists of book suggestions and was so thrilled to see that you promote reading picture books for as long as possible and WHY you suggest that. I am so thankful that when my first grade parents ask me that I will be able to share this with them.

  2. I’m in the same situation as Kindy Mama, but my son is advanced. While he is reading at an almost 3rd grade level in kinder, his comprehension could use a bit of work. The problem is finding age appropriate, interesting “boy” early chapter books. Do you have any recommendations?

  3. Hi
    I agree with Melissa about kids reading picture books for as long as possible. I also thought children’s poetry might be fun for your daughter. I am a children’s author an would be happy to send you an e- book of poems or a little more advanced children’s picture book as a gift to see if these might be something she might enjoy. When I visit schools I always enjoy seeing which books children enjoy for their age group and sometimes I am very surprised at what they choose to read. That’s the fun of being a kid, sometimes they even surprise themselves. I also worked for pediatricians for years and loved the fact that children even at a young age have their own ideas about what entertains them.
    Marsha –