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hmbress
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| Posted: Feb 01 2012 at 7:48am | IP Logged
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HOW do you find time to pre-read every book your child will be reading independently? Or do you trust that if a book is recommended here, it will be suitable for your child? Do you rely on Amazon reviews, trusting that if there were any issues, another parent would have pointed them out? What specifically are you looking for when pre-reading - anti-religion bias? Historical inaccuracies? Bad language? Adult situations? What else?
And a related question: what do you do with/for a child who is a VERY advanced reader, who reads EVERYTHING he can get his hands on, flies through chapter books in one or two sittings, and whose ability to understand and emotionally process more mature themes far lags his reading level?
I do think it is very hard for me to know what to let my ds8 read. There are many children's historical fiction novels that he enjoys, but I don't always have time to pre-read them. It recently occurred to me that perhaps his near-constant insomnia could possibly be anxiety-related. With his pediatrician's support, we give him melatonin every night to help him get to sleep, otherwise, more often than not, he lies awake for up to 2 hours. I had thought it was just something physiological with him, but now I wonder.
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Heather Rose (ds13, ds10)
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Feb 01 2012 at 9:40am | IP Logged
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Heather, your DS sounds like mine. Mine is almost 8. We just weaned him OFF melatonin because we were worried about long term affects, but it really helped get his body used to laying down and going to sleep.
Mine reads WAY ahead of grade level, too. He's been reading the Chronicles of Narnia for over a year now. Tom Sawyer. Tin Tin comics. He loves listening to RL Stevenson and Jules Verne books on his mp3 player. I am not saying I know for sure that all these books are okay for him, but I tend to find that the classics are at least better and less offensive. He also tends to read and reread. Most of the books recommended here seem to be less offensive, or if I am concerned I will ask on the thread if it's ok for a 7 year old advanced reader.
I tend not to read everything ahead of time. I rely a lot on Amazon reviews and this forum, along with book lists from curriculum providers and other trusted sources. There are really an inexhaustible amount of books that are more advanced and appropriate, but the problem is that many of them are out of print or hard to come by. My library tends to stock things like "The Day my Butt Went Psycho" and not the Boxcar Children series. I have had to purchase a lot more books than I thought I would just to keep up with my kids' reading levels because our local resources are so limited.
As for your son not being able to sleep, we have found many things that help our son:
- no video games OR, at the very least, no video games after dinner. He does occasionally get to play video games (maybe once every few weeks?) but it has to be early in the day.
- if we allow him to watch TV before bed it has to be a very calm show. We occasionally watch the old Little House on the Prairie tv show and that doesn't seem to bother him, but anything with action, music, or a lot of movement keeps him up.
I have a few others but I have to run!
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Feb 01 2012 at 10:55pm | IP Logged
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You two are describing my son too :)
We have stopped reading most books before bedtime - playing a quiet game (nothing competitive before bedtime) or will read something quiet, loving, soothing. He wants the action and adventure, but he flips and flops for hours before falling asleep.
So the entire hour before bedtime is a quiet peaceful time - trying to aim for more snuggling during this time and quiet prayer. Not a perfect system, but we're seeing good results 
ETA: I do trust reviews from other relatively like-minded parents (like those on here ;) ). And I try to pre-read, but you can't pre-read everything.... I did NOT let my son read any of the Redwall books until I'd read at least 2 of them.
I use the pre-reading rule as a way of encouraging conversation about the book too - I'm interested in stories too and I like to discuss them; SO I get to read the book both to make certain it is ok, and so we can talk about it later.
Still not a perfect system - I don't have as much time to read! But it's something.
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Garden of Francis
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Feb 01 2012 at 11:09pm | IP Logged
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I have people that I trust their reviews. I don't tend to trust those that I don't know. And I will use some reviews to help weed out what I don't want to waste my time on. In other words seeing a review that says there's a problem helps me decide but not if there isn't any problem mentioned.
There's some books that are mild enough that I've let the kids read even if I haven't read that particular book.. like the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
And I get them books I remember from my childhood so that I have read it in the past.  And since I read fairly extensively that helps.
And then I read fast and have found that I tend to enjoy reading the children's books not to mention that then I can chat with the kids about the books. But I can read most reasonable length books in 1-3 nights.
Then there's always the entirely healthy part of delayed gratification in having to wait on your books and sending them outside to play instead of sitting with a book.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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JennGM
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| Posted: Feb 02 2012 at 7:49am | IP Logged
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My son is almost exactly the same. Since he was an infant he can't turn off the stimulation very well. Many a night if days' events were exciting, anticipation of upcoming events, an exciting movie, an upsetting event, he will not be able to sleep well. I can't tell you how many times we've had a nocturnal visitor in tears in the middle of the night because he can't get back to sleep.
He's a voracious reader. I do try to preread everything, but some of the prereading was years and years ago -- when I was a voracious reader. I'm hesitant for any new series, so I definitely read those first.
And he does repeat read. I find right now I have to gently nudge or suggest titles, but then he's off running.
Because he loves to read and is so inquisitive, I try to get extra books outside of our school reading that are related to the subjects we're studying. He's been reading anything on Ancient Egypt and early America. I don't preread all the Landmark books, but do check them beforehand. But those a series that he can read at any time, saint books, mystery series. And we do graphic books like TinTin and Asterix.
I agree about no TV and such. Right now he's not using the computer nor do we do video games, as we see how easily it excites him.
But we find he has problems going to sleep IF he DOESN'T get the reading time in. It relaxes him. We have our nightly routine, bath, prayers, I read aloud with both boys, and then bed.
We use on the wall Uncle Milton Moon In My Room as his guide. When the moon goes out, reading is over. It has worked really well, especially as the phases change, he can see time is running out.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Feb 02 2012 at 8:06am | IP Logged
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I don't pre-read everything. Like Jodie, there are many books I get for ds to read that I have read and trust. Little House, Narnia, Beverly Clearly, etc...
I didn't pre-read TinTin, and I'm fine with it. I don't trust just anything recommended here, but I've read enough here over the years to have a good feel for whose comfort levels are similar to my own. If they recommend something, I feel pretty safe.
Similarly, there are certain booklists I trust that way as well.
Also, I'm inclined to trust classics even if I haven't read them. I'm not inclined to pre-read Edith Nesbit or Astrid Lindgren.
I also trust most things by Yesterday's Classics without pre-reading. I feel like any potential issues are those I would be comfortable addressing as encountered. An exception here might be if it were a history around the time of the Reformation.
You might also look for some non-fiction. At this age, in addition to action and adventure, my ds also likes books about nature. He took the stack of One Small Square books I got from the library and put them in his bunk the first night. I had planned to have him read them during "school" time, but he pours over them in his "free" time. He likes technical books as well, things like the Boy Scouts Handbook (even though he's not a scout). He likes to read about things he can apply to his own exploits in the back yard
Also, there are a number of children's authors who wrote short stories rather than novels, and there are anthologies available. St. Nicholas magazine is in the public domain, and while you might need an e-reader to access some of it easily, National Review/ISI also published a couple of anthologies with many of the stories. Thornton Burgess and Howard Pyle come to mind. My boys also like The Brownies. Yesterday's Classics also publishes many books of short stories like these.
These are stories that I think appeal to the younger read and are mostly "fun." I would personally not feel compelled to pre-read them, and I would not question a little boy's ability to grasp them, though the language is high quality.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Feb 02 2012 at 8:08am | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| We use on the wall Uncle Milton Moon In My Room as his guide. When the moon goes out, reading is over. It has worked really well, especially as the phases change, he can see time is running out. |
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That is fascinating. Will definitely look into that as ds will stay up way too late reading!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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JennGM
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| Posted: Feb 02 2012 at 8:12am | IP Logged
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I digressed so much in my post. What Lindsay said about prereading and lists and whose recommendations I take.
I don't take all suggestions, but know which people I find have similar parameters. It's not all on the moral level. If I know a family has more boys, I tend to look for recommendations from that type of family.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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ekbell
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| Posted: Feb 02 2012 at 11:01am | IP Logged
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My favorite recourse for children who's reading ability outstrips maturity level has been children's classics. A book written a century or more ago can provide challenge by the use of slightly different language and background instead of the use of mature subjects.
Having experienced problems going to sleep because of reading choices at that age (reading a book of folklore that contained urban legends at age eight was a BIG mistake), I'd say the topic matter to be most wary of is the scary stuff that isn't entirely impossible however improbable.
I have found that the rosary has been my greatest recourse against such thoughts, even as a child, classical music which is complex but not dramatic being a close second. Basically I need to redirect my attention to something (or Someone) involving enough to redirect my thoughts, worthy of attention so that I'm not obsessing about wasting time being awake, and calming enough to allow my body's need for sleep to take over. And NO reading of a NEW (to me) book just before bed if I want to be sure of falling asleep promptly, rereading an old loved book is just fine but interesting new books have too much potential for being thought provoking, exciting thoughts are better then scared thoughts but sleep is still lost.
BTW I have found glow in the dark rosaries and asking my Guardian Angel to finish the rosary should I fall asleep very helpful.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Pre-reading?
