What is the highest reading level in your kindergarten class?

[Anonymous]

School in mcps includes comprehension in reading assessment. I don't think all school districts do this, however.

My ds was a very early reader, was reading magic treehouse in k. However, his comprehension wasn't quite there. We'd ask ds what the book was about, beginning, middle and end. He got some of it, but not all.

That said, he was still reading 2 grades above level since k. He was assessed by mcps in 2nd grade (was in a non mcps district prior to this). Now in 4th grade ds is still 2 to 3 grades above, including comprehension.

My k in the beginning of the school year was at a level 6. At the end of the school year, last report card shows reading level at beginning 2nd grade.

I do think it's hard to tell for most kids if they will continue to be above level readers or not. I wouldn't be surprised if DC2 leveled off by 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

I was post-high school when i took the assessment in 1st grade. read the newspaper everyday guys!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:8th grade, but I'm the teacher so I suppose that doesn't count.

Ha! This cracked me up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not freak out about this. My DD was a 4 at the end of kindergarten -- right where she was supposed to be for the benchmarks. In 1st grade she "made amazing progress" and was about a year ahead by the end -- why? B/c I started coaching her to read! I didn't know I was supposed to be doing that in K!

Now that she's in 4th, she's still a year ahead and in the top reading group.

Bottom line -- kindergarten reading level means almost nothing.

Couldn't disagree more! Early years for every child means more than a parent and/or teacher can wrap their heads around. The level of reading is a benchmark. This ensures children are building comprehension and gain their own self confidence, pride, and individual achievement. Personal growth and development in these years are building blocks for all children to become whomever they want to be.

Every grade, even preschool have a bearing on the direction each child will walk. This of course, is also prime time for parents to enjoy and watch your child grow. Nature vs. nurture. Nuff said. '

[Anonymous]

I'm not reading an 8pg thread but will answer OP's question. DD finished K at a DRA level 16 or 18. Started at around a 12, I think. Don't know if there were kids higher that that, but I know her score.

[Anonymous]

http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/guidedreading/leveling_chart.htm

[Anonymous]

This thread is from 2013. OP's kid is in 3rd grade now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love this story from my friend this weekend. She was asking her DC about the reading groups. Child responded "Mom, I'd really rather not tell you. we aren't suppose to talk about everybody's reading level. It can be form of bullying"

My friend and I laughed hard. Our kids are being taught to MYOB and if they don't it's bullying.

All of DCUM are bullies then!

I love your friend's story, too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is from 2013. OP's kid is in 3rd grade now.

I thought this was an interesting thread and just read all the way through it. I have one of those kids who started reading at 4, was reading short chapter books in K and is now reading long chapter books in 1st. I hear a lot about how early reading is detrimental for kids. I will say that my DS definitely could "read" and decode far beyond what he could comprehend, but that is catching up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is from 2013. OP's kid is in 3rd grade now.

I thought this was an interesting thread and just read all the way through it. I have one of those kids who started reading at 4, was reading short chapter books in K and is now reading long chapter books in 1st. I hear a lot about how early reading is detrimental for kids. I will say that my DS definitely could "read" and decode far beyond what he could comprehend, but that is catching up.

I don't think it's being said that early reading is detrimental, but rather that pushing early reading on a child that is not ready nor pursuing it on their own is detrimental and doesn't foster a natural love of reading. It becomes a chore. We didn't do any reading stuff with my kindergarten DD until she started asking for help to read words the summer before school started. We just read books to her, and she started pointing at some words. Since she was interested, we got Bob books and did those whenever SHE requested. She entered K at level 4 and her report card says she's at 13 now. She was ready to read, and wanted to. Many kids aren't ready at the same age, and that's totally ok for them. Pushing them when they aren't ready is detrimental, but allowing a kid, one who wants to learn, to proceed is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the point of reading early if they don't understand? It doesn't encourage reading for pleasure. Better to wait until they learn because they are motivated.

One good reason to teach decoding early (what some teacher here referred to as "deciphering letters" I believe?) is simply as a failsafe in case your student is going to encounter a teacher or reading program in the early grades that relies more upon the sight word method.

Kids who have good basic sound-symbol correspondences, and strong decoding skills, when they enter first grade, can still make excellent progress even if being taught to read using a sight word and repeated reading method, with some ancillary phonics thrown in. Although, if the don't eventually encounter a teacher who teaches them how to decode multisyllable words, they will start to lose the plot around 4th grade and spelling could become a real problem.

However, kids who do not have a good grasp of decoding in 1st grade who are taught using a sight word method, and never encounter a more phonics based method (for example if they are referred for Leveled Literacy Intervention) in grades 1 and 2... are ripe for being diagnosed with reading difficulties.

Since you don't know what kind of teacher and reading program your child is going to get, it can't hurt to be sure they end Kindergarten with strong decoding skills.

[Anonymous]

It has been almost 40 years so I do not recall the highest level of reading in my kindergarten class.

I can tell you that I was so excited to be a reader so I could go into Mrs.Small's class with the Raggedy Ann curtains for reading time, instead of Mrs. Higginbotham's class with the non readers or the other teacher where the kids who didn't know their letters went.

Mrs. Small was the only teacher with Raggedy Ann curtains, and I was so sad to have Mrs. Higginbotham for my main teacher because she had boring decorations in her room like Sesame Street which was for babies.

My most vivid and best memory of kindergarten was the day I was sent to Mrs. Small's Raggedy Ann room for reading time.

Well, that and the day is was my turn to turn the projector for the Curious George movie and the day Mrs. Higginbotham taught us to make a swan out of the number two and a lion out of the number five during math class.

They trump the one bad memory of my first day of school when Mrs. Higginbotham accidentally put me in the walker line when I was supposed to ride the bus home.

I tested as a highly gifted child from a very well regarded pediatric neurologist, and those are the only lasting memories I have from kindergarten.

Translation, Larla will be okay no matter how high the reading groups go in kindergarten.

Really and truly.

[Anonymous]

Oh...we also learned how to make a snowman out of the number eight. That was cool too but nothing topped the swan and roaring lion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has been almost 40 years so I do not recall the highest level of reading in my kindergarten class.

I can tell you that I was so excited to be a reader so I could go into Mrs.Small's class with the Raggedy Ann curtains for reading time, instead of Mrs. Higginbotham's class with the non readers or the other teacher where the kids who didn't know their letters went.

Mrs. Small was the only teacher with Raggedy Ann curtains, and I was so sad to have Mrs. Higginbotham for my main teacher because she had boring decorations in her room like Sesame Street which was for babies.

My most vivid and best memory of kindergarten was the day I was sent to Mrs. Small's Raggedy Ann room for reading time.

Well, that and the day is was my turn to turn the projector for the Curious George movie and the day Mrs. Higginbotham taught us to make a swan out of the number two and a lion out of the number five during math class.

They trump the one bad memory of my first day of school when Mrs. Higginbotham accidentally put me in the walker line when I was supposed to ride the bus home.

I tested as a highly gifted child from a very well regarded pediatric neurologist, and those are the only lasting memories I have from kindergarten.

Translation, Larla will be okay no matter how high the reading groups go in kindergarten.

Really and truly.

I love you. Let's be friends. Also, can you teach me to make a lion out of the number 5?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has been almost 40 years so I do not recall the highest level of reading in my kindergarten class.

I can tell you that I was so excited to be a reader so I could go into Mrs.Small's class with the Raggedy Ann curtains for reading time, instead of Mrs. Higginbotham's class with the non readers or the other teacher where the kids who didn't know their letters went.

Mrs. Small was the only teacher with Raggedy Ann curtains, and I was so sad to have Mrs. Higginbotham for my main teacher because she had boring decorations in her room like Sesame Street which was for babies.

My most vivid and best memory of kindergarten was the day I was sent to Mrs. Small's Raggedy Ann room for reading time.

Well, that and the day is was my turn to turn the projector for the Curious George movie and the day Mrs. Higginbotham taught us to make a swan out of the number two and a lion out of the number five during math class.

They trump the one bad memory of my first day of school when Mrs. Higginbotham accidentally put me in the walker line when I was supposed to ride the bus home.

I tested as a highly gifted child from a very well regarded pediatric neurologist, and those are the only lasting memories I have from kindergarten.

Translation, Larla will be okay no matter how high the reading groups go in kindergarten.

Really and truly.

This is epic.

I'm also feeling like a failure because "play center" is my child's favorite part of Kindergarten.

She's reading at only a C level with comprehension, so I guess it's safe to say we should get the idea of Harvard out of our minds.