Anyone with info please respond

[Anonymous]

Reading instruction is very important; it is the foundation to school success. I truly believe it is essential for children to become fluent readers who are able to comprehend text. My DC was recently admitted to Beauvoir for Kindergarten and I was told by another educator that knows teachers and some administrators from area independent schools that reading is NOT taught in Kindergarten at many DC independent schools. Can current or past independent school parents (especially Beauvoir parents) please respond to the validity of this statement?

Thank - you for your insightful responses!!

[Anonymous]

The following was taken from Beauvoir's website. How could they not teach reading????????


In Kindergarten, Language Arts is based on the belief that children become increasingly aware of language when experiences are made meaningful, functional and interesting. The objective is to help each child gain an appreciation of literature, become a developing independent writer, further refine oral expression, and enhance his or her critical thinking skills. As is the case in later grades as well, Kindergarten incorporates the needs and interests of each child with theme-based studies and the application of new skills.

Beauvoir Children Learn To:
*Appreciate various forms of children's literature
*Offer relevant comments about literature
*Develop phonetic and contextual skills in beginning reading
*Sequence events and predict outcomes in stories
*Recite, listen to, and respond to poetry
*Carry out purposeful writing - thank you notes and recipes
*Practice uppercase manuscript letters

Selected Activities and Approaches
*Interactive writing insipres individual journal and story writing.
*Sharing published work builds critical listening and questioning skills.
*Dramatic play stimulates creativity in language use and understanding.
*Big books help create shared reading experiences

[Anonymous]

OP reading is important, but you can start formal reading instruction in grade 1 with no difference in outcome. You just want to make sure that they are at grade level by age 9 (fourth grade).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP reading is important, but you can start formal reading instruction in grade 1 with no difference in outcome. You just want to make sure that they are at grade level by age 9 (fourth grade).

OP here I am not an educator so I thought all children received reading instruction before grade 1. I have never heard this research before. Please provide additional details. Based upon your comment I take it you are an educator or teacher.

Thank - you to the poster who provided the information from the website. I have read this information before and it is similiar to what was stated at the open house.

[Anonymous]

pp, The researcher that comes to mind is Lillian Katz from U. of Illinois, you might need to google it. There are numerous studies that look at Scandinavian students who are traditionally not taught to read until 6. The outcomes for those students is the same or better. It is unclear why. That said, I am teaching my 5 yr old to read, only for "diagnostic" reasons since I thought there was something wrong with her ability to read. It seems that there is nothing wrong.

[Anonymous]

OP Here Again - To the PP Thank - you for the information I will Google it for sure. What types of strategies are using to teach your five year old to read? Is your DC in school?

[Anonymous]

Also, make sure they are reading well by grade 4. It gets complicated, but it takes on a second language feel if they become proficient to late.

[Anonymous]

This is not true. I taught kindergarten at Beauvoir a few year ago and we DID teach reading. We even had reading groups.

[Anonymous]

What's a reading group?

[Anonymous]

A reading grouip is a small group of children that get together with a teacher to read books. In kindergarten that would usually mean books with simple text.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Here Again - To the PP Thank - you for the information I will Google it for sure. What types of strategies are using to teach your five year old to read? Is your DC in school?

My dc starts at Norwood in the fall. I am using two phonics programs that I got online, I heard about them through homeschool forums. One is called Scaredy Cat and the other is Funky Phonics.

[Anonymous]

There is no need to push reading in kindergarten. Most DC independent schools recognize developmentally appropriate curriculae for that age group and focus on experiential learning and emerging literacy. If a child is reading, or ready to read, most independent schools will meet that child where he or she is and encourage their reading skills. My DD didn't start reading until the end of the first grade. She is now in third grade and reading at an 8th grade level. There is plenty of literature on this subject - just google emergent literacy, or early reading.

[Anonymous]

I'm a former Beauvoir teacher who isn't a huge fan of Beauvoir, but I can tell you that they teach reading in kindergarten. Actually, all in all, Beauvoir has a wonderful K program. Things start to go downhill after that unless you're lucky enough to get one of the few truly wonderful teachers there, and there are some.

In Kindergarten they use Jolly Phonics and Phono-Graphix, they do a lot with shared reading, they do some reading workshop, and they actively teach comprehension. For kids who are already reading, they encourage them to gently stretch themselves and read as much as they can.

If you have questions about the kindergarten reading program, I suggest you contact Melanie Newton at [e-mail]. She's the kindergarten team leader and is truly one of those wonderful teachers I mentioned (even if she isn't necessarily the very best of public speakers when talking at open houses and the like!)

[Anonymous]

I'm a former Beauvoir teacher who isn't a huge fan of Beauvoir, but I can tell you that they teach reading in kindergarten. Actually, all in all, Beauvoir has a wonderful K program. Things start to go downhill after that unless you're lucky enough to get one of the few truly wonderful teachers there, and there are some.

Please elaborate on what you mean by things go down hill after Kindergarten. We are on the fence trying to finalize our decision any information would be helpful. As a former teacher why aren't you a big fan of the school?

[Anonymous]

It's probably not fair of me to say too much. I will point you in the direction of a post I just read on the Beauvoir thread, though. A former parent, actually who I suspect I know!, gave 10 reasons why they weren't real fond of Beauvoir. There's nothing there with which I disagree.

Here my biggest complaint... Beauvoir does everything it can to project a certain image, a facade really. I remember when the head of school told me in no uncertain terms that Beauvoir was in the top three primary schools *in the country*. Beauvoir's certainly a decent school, but its arrogance is dumbfounding sometimes. What this means is that the school isn't as reflective as it should be, isn't very willing to admit mistakes and fix them, and assumes a certain hostility toward what I'd call "innovators" (and what they'd probably call, to put it nicely, squeaky wheels).

I also think that in the first through third grade program that there is nowhere near enough differentiation. In case you're not familiar with that term, it means that Beauvoir does too much teaching to the middle and not enough of meeting the needs of higher and lower achieving students. This, of course, is a general trend and not an absolute in every first through third grade classroom.

Also, the third grade outplacement process. I would never put my child through that process at that age. It starts to affect the kids (and definitely the parents!) in second grade. Thankfully I didn't have to deal with it, but it would have hastened my departure.