Reading Level @ start of AAP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think the above poster gets it. First, no one will change her mind. She can’t tell us what test was give or why. She won’t explain why graduate students were testing her very young child. (what parent wouldn’t remember this information or want to disclose it if all true)?

To be at a 6th grade level, a tester would need her to test and pass the reading tests for both fiction and nonfiction AND beyond second grade, the reading comprehension testing has a big writing component to it. My guess is that this mom believes her kid is at x level and comprehending books at that level. She will always believe that. No one else will unless she can give concrete information as to the questions asked. As for LOTR, dad probably either stooped and summarized as he read or someone gave the kid the gist or she also saw the movie. I have no doubt the kid enjoyed it though & that’s great.

I go by what multiple teachers and reading specialists tell me. Not what random internet strangers think. She’s just always been a really good reader with high comprehension skills. I know parents overestimate their kids reading ability, but I’ve only given you the concrete information I have been given by teachers and testing. You seem oddly hung up on a specific test. I told you she participated in a program where she was evaluated by graduate students over multiple weeks using multiple instruments. This was a lab setting. I’m not going to go into specifics because it’s obvious you won’t be happy until I link the write ups. You’re unhinged. You’re also stuck on this specific book, LOTR. Which I never even said she read. In kindergarten she was given a 6th grade reading level. In 3rd grade she was 10th. In 5th she was college level. She will likely take college classes as a 12yo or maybe more like 13-14, but they will be in math and science! And still, currently a rural public school where apparently PG kids don’t exist. but, yeah, let’s continue to disbelieve every parent who says their 8yo read Harry Potter because it’s impossible! Literally impossible!

So I was right. In order to assess a student’s true comprehension level, she would have had to read it herself. Read alouds (someone else reads the text) are typically a couple of levels higher than a student’s actual comprehension level. It is possible to understand the story when someone else reads the text. But that is a far different thing from saying my kid could read and comprehend LOTR at age 4. Your daughter could not do that at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t believe you because of the facts you’ve provided and don’t provide. It isn’t that I don’t believe a kid could exist list this. It’s that I don’t believe it’s your kid. You refuse to say what the testing was or what it was for. You refuse to say why graduate students were the ones administering the test.

I personally brought up lotr one time. Guess what? Looks like lots of people don’t believe you.

You don’t believe it’s anyone’s kid—you’re the poster rolling your eyes at parents claiming their 8yo read and comprehended Harry Potter. It’s very odd. It’s one thing to question a parent, “oh, was he actually tested at that level by a teacher?” I get it. So many parents aggrandize their kids’ achievements. But to then disbelieve the testing? All the teachers? You are are being willfully ignorant. I don’t know why? You’re a bitter teacher? Or a threatened parent?

I certainly believe some parents. If a parent said, “my child was tested at the kki at the age of 4 because of .... using the ... [widely accepted test] and the results were ..., it’s more believable. Why would the four year old be tested? What test can show she is reading at that level that requires no writing or writing she could do? What person wouldn’t disclose all this information (but disclose that the testing was done and what the kid’s level purportedly is?)

To write what you wrote above (bolded) is insane. Disbelieve the “testing?” Disbelieve that a stranger on a website who refuses to give any specifics but claims “all her teachers” say she’s years ahead? I’m asking for details. When they aren’t forthcoming, then the disbelief grows.

[Anonymous]

PP, if we all were to believe that your child is profoundly gifted, was reading at a 6th grade level at age 4, and is still fine in regular public school, that means your regular public school is super flexible and filled with teachers who are going out of their way to try to challenge your kid. Or it at least is filled with teachers who are willing to let your child independently learn, and your child is more or less self-schooling every day.

FCPS is super rigid with teachers who will not let anyone deviate from the main lesson, even if the kid is way beyond it. If your child is a bright child left behind in gen ed, the teacher is going to shrug her shoulders, assign some crappy worksheets, and then say that she needs to focus on the kids below grade level. In AAP, it's still largely uniform teaching to the lowest end of AAP, so only one year above grade level. The teacher is not going to bother finding extra challenges or materials for kids who are beyond that. I've had trouble getting the teacher even to agree to let my kid to Khan academy or alcumus rather than Dreambox.

So, at the very least, you have nothing whatsoever to contribute on an FCPS forum, since your public school is nothing at all like FCPS. FCPS is huge with layers of bureaucracy and almost no flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are kids who can comprehend lord of the rings at age 4 so reading Harry Potter at age 8 seems reasonable for gifted kids.

Here’s your original post where you imply your daughter read LOTR on her own and comprehended it. You actually meant to say, at 4, her Dad read her LOTR outloud and she seemed to understand it. That’s completely different from kids who read Harry Potter on their own at 8, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are kids who can comprehend lord of the rings at age 4 so reading Harry Potter at age 8 seems reasonable for gifted kids.

There are kids who can read the words at 4, very few kids, but comprehend? Doubtful. There are kids who can complete calculus problems at 4 but do they understand the concepts? Huge difference between sounding out the words and comprehension.

Yes. Comprehend. They exist. However there are only a few. Just like there are a few kids who will understand the concepts behind the Pythagorean theorem and completing the square at age 4.

Most people, when a story is read to them, like in your daughter’s case, would also be able to understand the story. That is not considered comprehension in an educational setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
She understood enough of LOTR to enjoy it.

That doesn't mean she necessarily understood much of it at all. She could enjoy the cadence of your DH's voice and having snuggle time with her dad without understanding much of the book. Lots of kids love sitting on a parent's lap and having books read to them, even if they don't understand anything. If your DD's reading level was "only" 6 years ahead in K, then she flat out wasn't comprehending Lord of the Rings in pre-K. Unless the kid passed some sort of reading comprehension test for LotR at age 4, then I call BS on any 4 year olds comprehending LotR.

No. She understood the story at age 4. She followed along day to day. This I am sure.

As far as school, we’ve been quite lucky. We have had a few bumps but that happens with a lot of kids.

Reading evaluations were 1:1 by graduate students and overseen by the head of the program. They used the letter system and were focusing on comprehension.

I don't think you've read lord of the rings, which is why you don't seem to understand other people's skepticism. Lord of the Rings is an adult novel with a lot of advanced diction and content. It's nothing at all like reading Harry Potter at an early age, since Harry Potter is still a children's book. You said earlier in the thread that your DD was independently reading Charlotte's Web around the same time. There's such an absurdly huge gap between Charlotte's Web and Lord of the Rings that there's no way that a child with an independent reading level of Charlotte's Web is comprehending Lord of the Rings. Your claim really is absurd.

I think if you cannot fathom a 4yo comprehending LOTR that’s probably a a result of your past experience. I guess the whole point of my first post was this. Having watched my dd comprehend the text easily when listening to it at age 4 I’m sure there must be a child out there who can read and comprehend it. I’m absolutely sure of it. I just checked and DD read the hobbit on her own shortly after turning 5 and that’s oddly a Lexile of 1000 (while the first LOTR is 800 similar to Harry Potter BTW) Reading levels are a funny thing. I’ve never put too much stock in them.

I think the tests were primarily guided reading but there were maybe other tests.

I doubt there are any questions after this that will compel me to come back and respond. Sorry this thread got derailed.

Hon, I’m sorry. You don’t have a teaching background so you are actually confusing the educational term “comprehension” with your own parental view of “understanding the story”. This is frequently what happens when parents insist their child is reading on a higher level than the teacher says they are. They are two different things. On a DRA, for example, kids have to independently read a text at a certain level and answer comprehension questions about the text. That is what we are talking about in regards to comprehension. There is no way your daughter did this at age 4 and would have passed a DRA using LOTR. She did not comprehend the text in the strict sense we are talking about.

Quick question, are you Asian?

She’s never done the DRA. Your comprehension skills are lacking. I said she was given reading levels by teachers. Not me. I never said she would pass a reading test on LOTR. She never took one. Nor did we ever make her read it by herself. I do know she comprehended it to some extent seeing as she was tested at a 6th grade level shortly after—and that’s her reading comprehension not listening comprehension—tested by a teacher. And it was capped at 6th grade. LOTR is not much higher than 6th if you look it up. She’s very good with comprehension and abstract reasoning. I don’t know how to make you believe me and I’ve lost interest.

This says it all right here. You’re already backing down. Now it’s, she comprehended it to “some extent”, because her Reading level was tested shortly after. You have no idea what comprehension actually is. You think it’s simply listening to her Dad and following along. Then you falsely assumed she could comprehend some of it Bc she tested at a 6th grade level, which isn’t too far from LOTR in your mind.

[Anonymous]

And then you go around and tell people my daughter could read and comprehend LOTR at 4, which is just not true. It’s more of an exaggeration of her abilities. That’s why I asked, are you Asian?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are kids who can comprehend lord of the rings at age 4 so reading Harry Potter at age 8 seems reasonable for gifted kids.

Here’s your original post where you imply your daughter read LOTR on her own and comprehended it. You actually meant to say, at 4, her Dad read her LOTR outloud and she seemed to understand it. That’s completely different from kids who read Harry Potter on their own at 8, too.

Nope. I never implied my dd read and comprehended LOTR independently. I claimed she comprehended the books being read aloud to her at 4 (maybe still 3. DH isn’t sure). —which to me, means comprehending Harry Potter at age 8 isn’t such ridiculous a claim. That’s my opinion. When was this? Back on par 2? 6 pages of derailment later...

The idea that a 4yo could read and comprehend LOTR isn’t do outlandish to me. But I’ll concede my ideas of what’s normal, advanced, really advanced etc are skewed from watching dd read so early. I’m not going to give out any more details of her life. Because it will never be enough. I’ve got the results and actual tests used. I felt I hinted to them well enough. But next you’ll want IQ subtexts and SAT scores and the actual school she goes to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And then you go around and tell people my daughter could read and comprehend LOTR at 4, which is just not true. It’s more of an exaggeration of her abilities. That’s why I asked, are you Asian?

There's no way she's Asian. No Asian parent with a kid testing at profoundly gifted levels would state that the kid is just fine in regular public school and that everyone here needs to chill out about whether or not their kids are admitted into AAP.

[Anonymous]

I have no doubts that some kids can comprehend Lord of the Rings at age 4, because profoundly gifted kids exist. I don't buy that a profoundly gifted kid is fine in a regular public school classroom and has a peer group at that rural public school. Do you really expect us to believe that some rural public school just happens to have multiple profoundly gifted kids in the same classroom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are kids who can comprehend lord of the rings at age 4 so reading Harry Potter at age 8 seems reasonable for gifted kids.

Here’s your original post where you imply your daughter read LOTR on her own and comprehended it. You actually meant to say, at 4, her Dad read her LOTR outloud and she seemed to understand it. That’s completely different from kids who read Harry Potter on their own at 8, too.

Nope. I never implied my dd read and comprehended LOTR independently. I claimed she comprehended the books being read aloud to her at 4 (maybe still 3. DH isn’t sure). —which to me, means comprehending Harry Potter at age 8 isn’t such ridiculous a claim. That’s my opinion. When was this? Back on par 2? 6 pages of derailment later...

The idea that a 4yo could read and comprehend LOTR isn’t do outlandish to me. But I’ll concede my ideas of what’s normal, advanced, really advanced etc are skewed from watching dd read so early. I’m not going to give out any more details of her life. Because it will never be enough. I’ve got the results and actual tests used. I felt I hinted to them well enough. But next you’ll want IQ subtexts and SAT scores and the actual school she goes to.

I thought nothing was going to bring you back to this thread?! Pass the popcorn please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And then you go around and tell people my daughter could read and comprehend LOTR at 4, which is just not true. It’s more of an exaggeration of her abilities. That’s why I asked, are you Asian?

There's no way she's Asian. No Asian parent with a kid testing at profoundly gifted levels would state that the kid is just fine in regular public school and that everyone here needs to chill out about whether or not their kids are admitted into AAP.

I thought maybe there was some language barrier, bc she doesn’t truly understand the term comprehension in the educational sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I thought maybe there was some language barrier, bc she doesn’t truly understand the term comprehension in the educational sense.

I think that's a common misconception for most people. I feel sorry for first and second grade teachers who have to deal with parents insisting that their kids are reading at a 7th grade level because they finished reading the entire Harry Potter series. I bet the parents get mad at the teacher when the teacher measures the kid as on-grade level or only slightly beyond.

Heck, my kid read Harry Potter in first grade. I'm sure that he understood to some degree the characters and the broader plot. I'm also sure that he did not truly comprehend the books in the educational sense. I'm also sure that there's no way DS could have passed a DRA 70 (or 60, 50, or even 40) in the 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are kids who can comprehend lord of the rings at age 4 so reading Harry Potter at age 8 seems reasonable for gifted kids.

Here’s your original post where you imply your daughter read LOTR on her own and comprehended it. You actually meant to say, at 4, her Dad read her LOTR outloud and she seemed to understand it. That’s completely different from kids who read Harry Potter on their own at 8, too.

Nope. I never implied my dd read and comprehended LOTR independently. I claimed she comprehended the books being read aloud to her at 4 (maybe still 3. DH isn’t sure). —which to me, means comprehending Harry Potter at age 8 isn’t such ridiculous a claim. That’s my opinion. When was this? Back on par 2? 6 pages of derailment later...

The idea that a 4yo could read and comprehend LOTR isn’t do outlandish to me. But I’ll concede my ideas of what’s normal, advanced, really advanced etc are skewed from watching dd read so early. I’m not going to give out any more details of her life. Because it will never be enough. I’ve got the results and actual tests used. I felt I hinted to them well enough. But next you’ll want IQ subtexts and SAT scores and the actual school she goes to.

Oh, now it’s 3?! Did DH feel that was an appropriate choice for a 3 year old, emotionally?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I thought maybe there was some language barrier, bc she doesn’t truly understand the term comprehension in the educational sense.

I think that's a common misconception for most people. I feel sorry for first and second grade teachers who have to deal with parents insisting that their kids are reading at a 7th grade level because they finished reading the entire Harry Potter series. I bet the parents get mad at the teacher when the teacher measures the kid as on-grade level or only slightly beyond.

Heck, my kid read Harry Potter in first grade. I'm sure that he understood to some degree the characters and the broader plot. I'm also sure that he did not truly comprehend the books in the educational sense. I'm also sure that there's no way DS could have passed a DRA 70 (or 60, 50, or even 40) in the 1st grade.

Yes. This is one of the reasons why teachers can’t stand certain parents.