What is a reader?

[Winkie]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I'm new to this homeschooling-thing. ;) I read posts about "pathway readers" or "nature readers" a lot. But what makes a reader a reader?

[Piper2]

That's a good question. :) I guess the way I think of it is, when it's a book with stories written at a specific level for the sole purpose of having the words read, then it's the reader. A "good" one (to me) has stories with the same theme or is a continuing story.

[Singingmom]

It's a book meant for the child to read aloud to you or to read to himself. :) Although I used to read the Nature Readers to my dc before they could read well. And there's no such thing as a dumb question around here! ;)

[Winkie]

thank you for explaining!

on a hs'ing board one mom was saying that her child was scared of chapter books, so she was going to get some readers. so are they made up of multiple short stories?

[Singingmom]

Early readers for kids who are beginning to read are usually one story, with a sentence on each page. They get progressively more challenging and usually have a grade level range or something similar on the cover to use as a guide. By the time a child is reading at a 3rd grade level, there can be chapters, but it will still be a relatively short book. A lot are stilted and repetetive because the vocabulary is controlled, but you can find some that are actually worth the time it takes to read them. Like Balto, which says grades 1-3 on the cover. It's doesn't have chapters, but it's about 40 pp. I haven't seen any readers that go above 4th grade. :)