Where are your kindergarteners, reading level wise?

[Anonymous]

I’m just curious where kids are at, given COVID and everything. DC has made a lot of progress this year. She went from knowing letter sounds, but not really sounding out at the beginning of the year to reading Guided Reading level C books with very little assistance. Her teacher sends home a bag of books to work on on our own schedule, so she picks one to read to us each day. We’re also working through the Hooked on Phonics app, since she enjoys it and it reinforces those sounding out skills.

[Anonymous]

My first grader was at the same level in January of last year. She quickly progressed after that and was level L, M, N this past summer. She is in first grade now and reading chapter books for 2nd-4th grade. I just kept reading with her most nights and still do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My first grader was at the same level in January of last year. She quickly progressed after that and was level L, M, N this past summer. She is in first grade now and reading chapter books for 2nd-4th grade. I just kept reading with her most nights and still do.

Out of curiosity, what did you do over the summer to keep her engaged? Just reading books and leveling them up as she masters books at the lower level? How did you choose books for her/help her choose books?

[Anonymous]

I have a boy who won't turn 6 until later in the spring. He's finally interested in learning to read and writing, knows some sight words and can recognize letters/sounds, but he still hasn't made the leap to "reading" yet. We read at home, but I don't want to be too pushy and turn him off. He's also learning two languages and two alphabets, which probably makes it a little more challenging for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a boy who won't turn 6 until later in the spring. He's finally interested in learning to read and writing, knows some sight words and can recognize letters/sounds, but he still hasn't made the leap to "reading" yet. We read at home, but I don't want to be too pushy and turn him off. He's also learning two languages and two alphabets, which probably makes it a little more challenging for him.

Definitely can backfire if you push too much. Bilingual kids generally learn each language a little slower at first, but ultimately are better off.

Have you tried games on a tablet? My kid loves Hooked on Phonics, and I know there are many others, like Khan Academy kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first grader was at the same level in January of last year. She quickly progressed after that and was level L, M, N this past summer. She is in first grade now and reading chapter books for 2nd-4th grade. I just kept reading with her most nights and still do.

Out of curiosity, what did you do over the summer to keep her engaged? Just reading books and leveling them up as she masters books at the lower level? How did you choose books for her/help her choose books?

In K we used the Kids A to Z app a lot. I love it because at the end of each books kids need ti answer questions about what they just read. I wasn’t too strict during the summer. I don’t think we read every day (maybe 4 days a week?). We did not read while on vacation for 2 weeks because we did not have internet. It worked out fine.

[Anonymous]

5 year old K knows his sight words and is working through sounding out words. We have him read out loud for 15 to 20 minutes and he's reading 1st grade level books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5 year old K knows his sight words and is working through sounding out words. We have him read out loud for 15 to 20 minutes and he's reading 1st grade level books.

Working through sounding our words does not seem 1st grade level. You mean that he reads and sounds out a few words that are complex

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5 year old K knows his sight words and is working through sounding out words. We have him read out loud for 15 to 20 minutes and he's reading 1st grade level books.

Working through sounding our words does not seem 1st grade level. You mean that he reads and sounds out a few words that are complex

Yeah, just learning to sound out words is level A and B, which is solidly K. Definitely not 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

My kid couldn't really read til summer after kindergarten and then he took off.

[Anonymous]

My kindergartner can read C level books but does not have the stamina/attention to read the whole book. Like 15-20 minutes of reading out loud would be torture to her. She'll read to us for 5 minutes or so but then wants to be read to. We've also switched to mostly reading chapter books to her because she finds the stories a lot more engaging.

However, after we read to her at night, she stays up in bed looking at her books and will practice reading parts to herself, and she prefers books like Princess in Black or Mia Mayhem to the early readers. She can't read these books all the way through (these are chapter books that I would estimate at a 2nd grade level, though there is a lot of repetition in them), but she will read a page or two to herself and then come out and show us a hard word she figured out, or occasionally to ask us to help. One thing I like about these books is that because they are longer, she can't memorize them word for word like she does the early readers, which forces her to actually read the book instead of just reciting the memorized lines.

I think once the novelty of being able to read wore off, she quickly got tired of early readers because the stories/subject matter can be really dull (especially upon re-read).

My plan for summer is to sign up for either Hooked on Phonics or Kahn Academy app to do phonics/reading practice most days, plus weekly library visits to keep her in new books. I think she has all the pieces but currently her reading fluency and reading comprehension don't match up, so we'd like to help build up her fluency so she can read what she wants to.

[Anonymous]

My 5y/o kindergartner can sound things out and knows his sight words. He does some reading at home but he’s not that interested in reading books on his own yet. While we do practice I don’t push that hard as I don’t want him to develop a negative association with reading

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 5y/o kindergartner can sound things out and knows his sight words. He does some reading at home but he’s not that interested in reading books on his own yet. While we do practice I don’t push that hard as I don’t want him to develop a negative association with reading

This is definitely a risk. You’re right to not push too hard. My daughter turned 6 in October and just started really wanting to read since winter break ended. Before that it was a struggle.

[Anonymous]

she's at an J level. she'll be 6 in march (in K). I think that's a little beyond what's expected but not really sure. Her teacher says she's doing well

[Anonymous]

The expectation at most but not all private schools for the end of K is Level F-G. Most public schools want you at level D. If your kid is currently at C and continuing to show progress, they will be fine.