How Can I Tell If a Book Is “Too Hard” For My Child?By Erika Adam

Every CHA parent has undoubtedly heard the words “It’s too hard!” from our sons and daughters- perhaps more often than we might like! But when it comes to reading, how can we tell if our kids might actually be right?

Thankfully, there’s a simple test that can help parents find books their children will be able to read without help or instruction from an adult. It’s called the “Five Finger Rule,” and it’s so easy that anyone can use it (even your child).

Just pick up any book, open to any page, and hold up a finger for every word on that page your child doesn’t know or can’t pronounce. Books with 0-1 fingers will likely be too easy, and books with 4-5 fingers up will likely be too hard for your child to read without some help. But books with 2-3 fingers up are usually just right! These are books that your child will probably be able to read, understand, and enjoy without any assistance.

However, quite a few books your child encounters might fall into the “too hard” category. These might be books they pick from the library on subjects that interest them, or even reading assigned by CHA. The good news is- these books are often the best learning experiences. It is not a matter of whether your child “should” be enjoying these types of books, but rather a question of how. Books which are “too hard” to be enjoyed alone can easily be enjoyed together. While it’s important for kids to be working on their independent reading as well, the learning which takes place together is the learning that has the most impact.

It doesn’t take a trained specialist to help most kids engage with a demanding text. Timothy Shanahan, Founding Director of the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Literacy describes the results of recent studies, noting the following:

• Kids who engage with texts that would be classified as “above their head” learn significantly more than kids who limit their reading to only the “just right” level, where they can read independently.
• In these studies, the only “help” that was provided for second graders to read at what is called their “frustration level” was paired reading with other second graders. Yes, there was some guidance provided to each pair by trained teachers, but it seems that just the act of reading what one can out of the text and discussing with someone else is enough to produce real learning. 

How much more can we as homeschooling parents accomplish with our kids if we read, support, and discuss with them? Here are some concrete suggestions that parents can put in practice to help their kids reap the many benefits of a text which is “too hard”:

• Scan the reading in advance for words that your child might not know, and talk about the meaning of those words before your child starts to read the passage.
• Take turns reading, modeling reading aloud and then having your child try a section. You can even discuss the meaning of the passage together in between sections to help them understand!
• Read a section, or even listen to an audiobook, then have your child narrate back what they remember. Wait until they are finished, then ask questions! Encourage them to go back to the text more than once in order to find more detail- or even go back to the text together after your child has tried to narrate independently.
• No matter what, the key is to establish a dialogue between parent and child in which neither the parent nor child does all the work. Help them a little by asking a leading question or talking through how you yourself figured out how the parts of the text connect. Then step back for a moment and see what they can do on their own!

Every child engages with reading differently- but it is key that every child comes to love the written word. As homeschoolers, we have the invaluable opportunity to build strong relationships with our kids- and reach them on an individual level in ways that no group program could. Through a strong family culture that values reading together, kids can learn to love books and reading in ways that will enrich their lives far into the future!

This is part of the CHA Bits: Tips, Tricks, and Hacks series. Is there a question about CHA or homeschool that you would like answered? Submit inquiries to [email protected].