What is wrong with a child wanting to read a book that has been labeled higher than the child’s age or reading level?
The school library is a new concept for me. We didn’t have such a creature in our school system when I was growing up. I kept myself amused with my older brother and sisters’ books or books from the public library. I read many books that I didn’t understand completely the first time through. That didn’t mean I enjoyed it less; I probably enjoyed it more, actually. I was never told once in my whole life that I couldn’t or shouldn’t read a book because it was too hard. I’m trying to understand the motive.
Is there some damage done to a child that reads a book that is “too hard”? Help me, please.
As a former precocious reader and the parent of precocious readers, the only “danger” I ever encountered was in getting frustrated if I picked a book too far above my own (or my kids’) level. Of course, a child who becomes frustrated too many times won’t automatically drop back to the optimal level – more likely he/she will quit entirely. So it’s up to you to ensure that your child is getting the most appropriate book for his/her level.
In my early years in school, my teachers recognized that I could read better than most of the kids in my class, and encouraged me to pick out books a grade level or two higher.
It may be that those higher level books are reserved for older classes as part of their assigned reading – if your child is reading them, the one of the other students can’t. But if the school librarian thinks the books are just “too mature”, talk to your child’s classroom teacher and see if he/she will intervene.
The grade levels are just advisories for parents. If Junior wants to read “War and Peace”, so be it. But if Junior gets bored and frustrated, don’t come looking to me because I didn’t tell him to read it.
Personally, I think all elementary school kids should be required to read “Less Than Zero.” :o
I’m not a children’s librarian, but I’ve never heard of a children’s librarian discouraging a child from reading a book that is considered too “old” for him. Usually, you just advise the child that some parts of the book may be hard to understand, so Junior should ask Mom or Dad for help.
SoMoMom, I’m curious. Do you know of a library where a child was forbidden to read a book at too high a level? (At the public library in my youth, I would not have been allowed to look at James Jones or Henry Miller (if they even had Miller on the shelf), but a school library is unlikely to have any “inappropriate” literature to begin with.)
Yes. With my daughter the librarian told her that because the book she wanted was 4th grade and she’s in 2nd grade it would be too hard for her. She reads at a 4-5 grade reading level, but that isn’t really the point. We’ll get that worked out. The point is that the subject of the book is something that she is very interested in studying. So what if she didn’t understand every single thing in it?
I know of other children in other schools that have a certain grade level they are allowed to check out. They cannot try anything higher or lower.
I’m wondering the philosophy behind these rigid rules.
BOY, this smacks of A) The Library Policeman ( Nod to Stephen King), B) Facism, C) Fear of Big Brother. What Librarian would actually try to limit any child from reading something that would expand their minds? Oh god this just slays me. I always read above grade level. Didn’t mean I was brilliant, just meant I understood a bit more a bit earlier. Thank god Mom ( the schoolteacher ) and the teachers at school let me fly at my own pace.
If your librarian is actively limiting your child’s reading list, then get more involved, and do a list for him/her yourself. If it’s a school librarian, the a talk with the child’s teacher to find out how heavily the administration influences the book accessability might be in order.
My guess would be a too small library (where they have restricted the lists so that the fourth graders don’t lose the opportunity to check out a book because all the fourth grade books are being read by bright second graders)–
or a really stupid librarian.
(Even the first scenario speaks poorly of the library management. There has to be a better way to control traffic than restricting books by age/grade.)
I will withdraw the nasty comments if I find out that the offending “librarian” was a volunteer aide who did not understand the rules.
I have never heard of a school library limiting check-out priveleges to kids in the “appropriate” grades.
I’d say fight the practice/rule. It is not a good rule and it makes no sense (not just for your daughter and this book, but in general).
I’ve never heard of anything like this, SoHoMom. I’m with Tom – my WAG is that this is some sort of weak attempt by a smallish library to keep “4th grade books” available for 4th graders. Terrible idea, speaking as someone who always read above my grade level. If the school library collection is that small, they should be limiting the number of books checked out rather than policing the student’s grade level. My elementary school library was tiny – we were only allowed to check out one book at a time and couldn’t check out another until that book was returned. If I were you, I would take this up with the school and try to have the policy (if policy this is) changed. Let us know what happens - obviously we are all curious.
This happened to me in elementary school (about 25 years ago). The librarian said that I couldn’t check out some science book (really cool science boot too. If I knew what it was, I’d get it now.) because it was “above my grade level”. She was working on the “big words will just frustrate him” theory.
They also had a “you couldn’t check out a book again until someone else has checked it out” policy that they carried to ludicrous extremes. A book I checked out in third grade hadn’t been checked out again when I wanted to reread it a year later. The librarian forbade it.
My mom exploded! She went to the librarian, and after the librarian refused, to the principal that I be allowed to read any book in the library. When he hedged, my mom threatened to go to the school board, the newspapers, the local radio shows, etc. To shut her up, the principal gave in and I got really nasty looks from the librarian for the next few years.
Politely insist that the librarian allow your kid full library access. If necessary, get mad and get loud. It’s your kid, they have no right or authority to overstep your views on education and reading.
“Do you know of a library where a child was forbidden to read a book at too high a level?”
Yes. This happened to me.
I was in fourth grade, and I wanted to read One Fat Summer by Robert Lipsyte. I tried to check it out, and the librarian told me that only sixth-graders were allowed to read that book. Nothing I said could change her mind and my teacher wouldn’t help me either. (This was by no means a small library, btw.) I got the book from the public library and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Being the little shit that I was (and still am) I went back and told the librarian all about it.
This happened to me too. When I was in kindergarten (although I already knew how to read, this was before the official reading instruction began in school), I wanted to take out the “Little House” books and was not allowed, because: 1) they were supposedly too advanced for me and I wouldn’t be able to understand them; and 2) my taking out books that I couldn’t possibly understand would prevent the kids for whom they were intended from taking them out. My mom called the principal and demanded that I be allowed to take these books out. After much arguing, she (the principal) said I would have to pass a “test,” which consisted of my going into the library and reading aloud from a randomly chosen book and then explaining it. I zipped right through it; the librarian was so incredulous that she asked if I had somehow memorized the passage (how could I when she chose the book?) and had me do it again. After getting over her stunned disbelief, she told me I could take out anything, anytime.
I suppose if kids are taking out books that they can’t understand just so they can “be like the big kids,” which is what was happening at my elementary school, then the library might have a point in restricting access. But if the parent or child states that the child is capable of reading books at that particular level of difficulty, then the child should be allowed to take them out. And to say that kids shouldn’t take out books at a lower level than they are supposed to be at - that’s just ignorant. Hello? - maybe the kid didn’t get around to it before vacation last year.
Thank you, missbunny. My sentiments exactly. I believe the words I used in my discussion with some other parents about this was that they are going to SUCK the FUN right out of reading.
Anyway, I sent a note to the teacher because she assured me that there would be no restrictions on what the kids choose at the library and therefore no problems. (I thought we must have a really neat library at our school compared to those other kids’ I had heard of.) I haven’t heard anything back. They only have library once a week, so I’ll wait and see what happens again. I’ll let you know.
I don’t see me storming into the library waving lists of books she has already read and her standardized test scores just yet, although that was my first impulse.
It is definitely against the stated policies of the American Library Association for any public library to limit what type of materials children can borrow. The official stance is “Hey, we’re not parents. If you don’t like what your kid is reading, then you should tell him/her not to read it.”
The only limits libraries normally put on books is on the number of books that can be checked out at one time.
I’m glad to hear that they’re no longer going to interfere with your daughter’s selection of books.
Our school library was so pathetic that I never bothered with it (my Dad’s library at home was much better), but if some officious librarian had tried to stop me from choosing a book based on grade level, all hell would’ve broken loose.
Of course, I’m the one who remembers explaining a rape scene in Shield of Three Lions to my first-grade teacher. She was shocked–both at what I was reading and the fact that my comprehension of the text surpassed hers; I found that amusing. The book would have been utterly forgettable if it weren’t for that incident.
Good for you! I’ve always been of the belief that if you can get kids to read above their level you’re preparing them better for success later.
When the child runs across something hard to understand he/she can start to look at the word/phrase in the context of its use, ask a parent for help or consult a dictionary. These are good habits. And these are habits that carry through to other areas.
When I was five I was reading at a nine-year-old level, and the Teachers encouaged me to keep reading.
But my problem was, unlike some of you guys, I really didn’t comprehend what I was reading, I just knew how to pronounce the words. In my day, they didn’t teach you to read they taught you to pronounce. So I wasn’t interested in reading again until I was about 15.
SoMoMom, I enjoy keeping up with your stories of your daughter! With her advanced reading level and the problems she has been having, she reminds me of me at her age.
While I am glad to hear that you received good news about her library privileges, be warned that selective restriction is a way that libraries (esp. school libraries) will censor books they could not keep out.
This happened to me in elementary school. My school was opposed to Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughter-House Five but the board/library were not successful in banning it from the library. However, the rule was that you had to have a written note from your parents before they would allow you to check it out (no matter what grade level you were–school went from 1st grade to 12th.) When your parents sent the note, the librarian would then contact the parent and explain what vile, horrific things were in the book in hopes of getting the permission revoked. In my case, it didn’t happen.
Unfortunately for other kids in my school, I was one of only three different kids to check the book out for the nine years I attended the school.
Just a small warning–you might want to keep a look out!
And good luck with your daughter! Keep her reading! (BTW, helping her look up terms from books she doesn’t understand will help her be self-sufficient when it comes to research later on!)
