The more you challenge yourself the faster you learn (usually)

I'm a second language teacher, and explain to my (adult) students how to choose a book that is at the right (stretch) reading level for them, so they can make informed choices about their fun reading. It’s not at all uncommon for them to have to read academic or subject texts way before their language ability is there, though.

I had to as well and it absolutely takes the fun out of reading and absolutely improves your reading ability (as long as you get enough feedback to make sure you are in fact comprehending the material). Some students want that and some students don’t.

I never met a real teacher who didn't want kids to read.

Where do you think I learned all those sentence enhancers? 

Yes, but I also read things that are below my reading level so I can listen to the audiobook while I do other things.

Specific use case, Japanese light novels. They're translated to English, and narrated by the English voice actors who do the anime adaptations, most of the time. "Light novels" are what Japan calls, what the US calls "young adult fiction." Shorter books with occasional pictures to show you what's going on. Pictures aren't in the audiobook, of course.

I'll read something at or above "my level" (hard to define, as I'm educated and middle age), then I'll read a couple LNs (and by read I mean listen to). If the book's at a higher reading level, I follow along with an eReader and I can look up any words I don't know, or want to know better. It's almost never an issue with LNs.

Age ratings should be guidelines, not restrictions. Maybe the kid would enjoy some books that are outside their age bracket, but if they aren't even allowed to try, then they could never find out.

Except maybe if the books are exceptionally gruesome. I once read one random page in a book from De Sade and ... reading that is not recommended for any age imo.

Ok. let's look at this. My 8 year old state reading a book 2 weeks ago. He wasn't able to make it past page 35 before he kept stopping every 5th to 10th word to understand what it was and how to say it. Every day when he went back to reading it he would go back a half page or so to reread because he couldn't follow the story due to your much clarification he needed. I finally told him to get another book because he was so frustrated. He went and grabbed another book, closer to his age rating and in 2 days he's been able to read 50 pages and has loved it. Age ratings aren't restrictive. They are freeing. 

@NickEast_IndieWriter @reading @bookstodon @books @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop In elementary school, there was a librarian's assistant who gatekept stringently based on your age's expected reading level. I (and others) eventually learned to check out books when the assistant was off duty and the librarian herself was at the desk. She was always happy to talk a bit about what you were reading and suggest books, often well beyond our "age level". Mrs. Finkbeiner, the kids of Carpenter School owe you a lot.

Just let them kids read whatever. Give them a dictionary with the book if it has difficult vocabulary.

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(Glad I looked this up. I misremembered it as a Dilbert quote. I'm happy I was wrong about that)

@NickEast_IndieWriter @reading @bookstodon @books @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop when I was little, I was an avid reader and I loved the zany magical adventures of Xanth by Piers Anthony. The school librarians actually listened and bought a copy of a book.The cover inside art had a naked lady, and as an adult now I realize how misogynist those books were, but the librarians enabled it and I turned out alright.

@NickEast_IndieWriter @reading @bookstodon @books @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop Yes, that's how I learned an unusually large amount of knowledge about spacecraft and space exploration when I was a child. I ignored the fact that the books were "above my reading level". By osmosis I absorbed the data, and eventually the separate bits of data started linking together and cross-correlating.

@NickEast_IndieWriter @reading @bookstodon @books @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop "worth a shot" 😆

@NickEast_IndieWriter @reading @bookstodon @books @humor@fedigroups.social @humor@lemmy.world @aiop For some educators, teaching is beyond their abilities. Teaching should not be about indoctrinating "facts", but about exposing minds to infinite possibilities, while inculcating skepticism of anything that is not fact checked.