It's dubbed the "Decline by Nine": Many children experience a reading decline around ages 8 or 9 — typically when a child is in third grade — which could have an impact on their academic success and lifelong love of reading. According to the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report, the number of kids who read for fun five to seven days per week drops from 57 percent to 35 percent between ages 8 and 9.
“When you first learn to read, you’re learning sight words, phonics, how to put different sounds together, and how to read directly off of the page,” says Deimosa Webber-Bey, senior library manager at Scholastic. “But when you reach age 8, around third grade, you’re starting to move into making inferences and drawing conclusions, and reading comprehension skills are more sophisticated.”
For Webber-Bey, third grade isn’t just a time when children transition from learning how to read to reading to learn. It’s also a weathervane that could indicate future struggles in middle and high school if a certain mastery of reading skills isn’t achieved.
How to Determine if Your Third Grader Is Struggling
If your third grader is having difficulty understanding text, Webber-Bey says they may show a sudden disinterest in reading.
“If a kid rejects reading and says, 'I don't like to read,' then you might begin to question where that's coming from,” says Webber-Bey. “But if they still like to read the comics or newspaper stories, it could be that they're fine-tuning their reading interests.”
Webber-Bey adds that for struggling readers in 3rd grade, difficulties will likely extend to homework and other subjects like math, science, and social studies in which understanding complex vocabulary and deriving meaning from text is important.
Steps You Can Take
The above indicators aren’t a cause for alarm, but you should speak with your child — and then reach out to their teacher to share your concerns. This way, you can partner up to develop strategies to support your child, says Webber-Bey. In the meantime, she suggests trying out different types of reading tied to your child’s interests.
“If somebody tells me they don't like to read, I try to remind them that reading doesn't always involve a novel that has an introduction, rising action, climax, and falling action,” says Webber-Bey. “There are short stories, poetry, and much more. If you can find reading material your third grader is interested in, they'll be drawn to reading over and over again.”
What's more, when your child has developed background information on a particular topic, it'll boost their reading comprehension as they continue to read books on that topic.
One of Webber-Bey’s strategies is to pull together a few different books on one subject in different formats — reference books, poetry, comic books, and so forth — and let a child pick which one they want to read.
“I may try to put five or six different books instead of just one in front of a kid who’s expressed that they don’t like to read,” she says. Often, the child will pick one, which gives you a better understanding of the type of reading they want to engage in. Sometimes, they'll pick them all.
For Webber-Bey graphic, graphic novels are among the best books for third graders. The visuals not only engage young readers, but they also help them draw conclusions and make inferences. Graphic novels like those from author Raina Telgemeir’s collection of bestsellers or Dav Pilkey's Dog Man series are kid favorites.
Shop the best books for 3rd graders below to get your child hooked on reading! You can find all books and activities at The Scholastic Store.
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