My dd (the one who struggles with reading) selected "Usborne Stories of Unicorns" to read to me. It is listed as a series 1, emerging readers book made to build confidence. She read 3/4 of the book to me, struggling through, and finally decided it was too hard. Example sentence: "A hunter appeared carrying a sack full of animals." Sure, sound-out-able. But crazy big words. She has me reread the sentences to her so she can actually hear the story. The same story uses the word "knife" (prompting dd to doubt my own reading ability, since no way does that look right!) Am I expecting too much from something made for this reading level? I don't mind a few big words in there, and like an occasional word we haven't learned the rules for. But it's a bit much. I really need a site like the Scholastic Book Wizard, but set for phonics kids (or maybe one of their choices IS for phonics? I can't tell).
Sounds like it's probably a grade 2+ book. The reason I say that is that we (Barefoot Books) have a new series of chapter books, and they were purposely called "early," "confident", and "advanced" so that children wouldn't attach a grade level to them. The first series, the "early" readers, are actually a 2nd-3rd grade reading level and have some tough vocabulary in them. They're assuming the child already has a grasp of most of the phonics rules from K-1st before beginning a series like that in 2nd-3rd. Calling it "early" will allow the youngest readers to try a challenging book while not discouraging those who may be 8-10 years old and still struggling to read. "Early" to whom, ya' know? (The "advanced" readers are appx 7th grade, give or take, if you're curious.) I don't know much about Usborne's levels, but I bet they're using the same system. "Series 1" doesn't mean the same thing as "grade 1" or those "step into reading" level 1's.
You have to watch the "levelled" readers because most of them are NOT based in phonics. It sounds like you ended up with one of those books. The "levels" are based on high-frequency words, and whole language... NOT on phonics, and a kid learning to read with phonics will have a hard time with them. We are super picky about our readers until the kiddos can read pretty much anything they want anyway! There probably exists somewhere a mom-made list of which reader sets ARE based on phonics and which are not, but I don't have a link.... I always just double check each individual book to see if it's appropriate for my emerging reader before I actually hand it to him. Sometimes we can get away with one anyway, and I'll just warn him that this one has some "hard words" in it and if he can't figure them out that I will help him. Often though, we just skip those until about halfway through the second grade where they can read almost anything they put their minds to, and then the "easy" or "level 1" readers are simple fare that they can read by themselves during quiet time.
My DS is in 1st grade and an "emerging reader". I've had the same trouble finding readers for him. However, one series of readers we like is Now I'm Reading! for Beginning Readers by Nora Gaydos. (I bought ours from Amazon.com.) These books begin at the pre-reader level and go through level 5/independent readers so you can choose the appropriate level for your child. For example, level 2 books have long and short vowel sounds and beginning sight word reinforcement while level 4 books include silent letters, multi-syllable words and contractions. However, just so you know, these are not typical-size books, more like booklets. Each level is actually a set of 10 booklets. But my son likes the humorous little stories. Also a friend uses Hooked on Phonics with her 5 and 8 year olds, and loves the program which she says includes readings and computer games that her boys enjoy. I haven't had a chance to check them out myself, I've been on the waiting list at the library for months! Good luck!
One series I used was Real Kid Readers. They rhyme, use photo-type pictures, and often emphasize a specific vowel sound. One was "I Like Mess!" That was a fun one, lol!
I agree. The leveled readers are not set to phonics levels and that's discouraging. My 7 year old (just turned 7) is struggling somewhat, too. She's stuck on long vowels. Anyways, that's another story. Yes, you have to check out the strory first. My dd's favorite story right now is The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman (Suess I Can Read It All By Myself Beginner Book). She reads it outloud a couple of times a day. Another series is by Mo Willems called Elephant & Piggie. It's very popular with my young one.
HI I am with you too big of words. I have found that you really have to read the level readers. I have a fancy nancy level one which has words in it that a grade three student would have trouble with. I am currently using readinga-z.com's levelled readers. I believe you can get a free trial with them which I did and why I thought it was so excellent I bought it for this year. There are alot of great websites too that offer phonics lessons. I know it can be difficult to find readers so hang in there. You aren't alone in your struggle with emerging readers.
TALK TO YOUR LIBRARIAN!!! (That is, if you're lucky enough to have a library with a children's librarian!) She's heard this time and time again, and will be able to point you in the right direction. The ladies in our chldren's department are the most awesome group around!!!
In the back of the teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons book is a list that shows some books to read based on phonics. It tells you which order to read them, and any new words to teach before you read it. (like it would say the word light is here so teach ight sound) It also says that the leveled readers are anything but leveled. I can't find my book right now, so I can't look for it, but there is a set of books one of which is about a dragon and for some reason I think the authors name is Margret. Those books are good for leveled readers. That group of books have all the words in the book listed on the back page.
