reading ability

[tmkclscroggins]

I just did the reading level test from the K-8 board and got quite a surprise. My 9th grade dd, my voracious reader, didn't know a lot of the words past 6th grade reading level. She just finished Les' Miserables for literature and loved it! She speed reads naturally and has never seemed to have problems.

How can we improve her reading level at this age?

Thanks,
melissa

[Ailaena]

I would love to know which reading test you mean...?

Until then, Maybe it is an example of active vs passive vocabulary? I once noticed that my dd had no problem understanding most vocabulary when it was in context, but if I put a vocabulary test in front of her that was just words and definitions, she struggled because although she thinks she knows the word, she is just not sure. Even if I am certain that she should know the word, she was overwhelmed with uncertainty.

Honestly, it has been better recently since she began French and Word Within the Word because she can now pick out word parts.

Was it just the vocabulary that was your concern, or did it test comprehension, as well? Maybe she is OK reading for the gist of things, but when it comes to very minor details or inferring feelings, she misses them? We had a problem with that until I realized it was called "not reading every sentence, or sometimes even skipping multiple paragraphs, because I can still get the idea".

epsbooks.com has a series called Reading Comprehension in Varied Subject Matter that is aimed towards high school students, if you are interested in something like that.


HTH!

[tmkclscroggins]

it wasn't comprehension, it was simply reading the words and knowing pronunciation (sp?). In my mind, she's too old to struggle over words like this.

m

[Michelle in MO]

to this board? Sometimes if kids read a lot, but don't read out loud, the way words are pronounced may sound pretty "foreign" to them! Anyway, I'd be curious to see which reading test you're talking about.