How is Amplify/CKLA for K and 1st?

[Anonymous]

Really curious to hear parents' (and teachers'/staff's) feedback on Amplify/CKLA for kindergarten and 1st grade, especially when it comes to more advanced kids/earlier readers (including kids who come into K reading or at least knowing a lot of the K-level reading skills.) How did you like it? How does it work for the kids? Is there support/challenge built in for kids who already know the skills being taught, or do they just follow along with the pace of the rest of the class (and if so do they get bored)?

(I like CKLA for my older elementary kid a lot more than Benchmark, but wondering what to expect for my rising kindergartener in K and 1st, which feels like a very different world ELA-wise than the later elementary grades...)

[Anonymous]

My kid is finishing 1st and loves it. He comes home excited to share what he is learning. There is a marked improvement with engagement this year over K with Benchmark. He is reading above grade level. It is lovely to see him become an avid reader and to be excited about learning at school.

[Anonymous]

I think they are also using CKLA at the preschool level (Headstart). From what it sounds like each unit builds on each other. My DD is in 3rd and did a unit on body parts and it sounds like Prek/Headstart did a similar unit but with different body parts.

[Anonymous]

My K kid has it now and I've liked it better than Benchmark that my now 3rd grader had when she was in K. A lot more emphasis on phonics and good thematic weeks. She knew barely 1/2 the alphabet when she went to school and can read simple texts now. Without much stress or any additional work with us.

[Anonymous]

First grader parent here and it’s been great for my strong reader.

[Anonymous]

Anyone know anything about how CKLA has gone for kindergarteners who came in already knowing letter sounds and doing at least some basic sounding out (or even full-blown reading)? The "knowledge" lessons seem interesting but it seems like the "skills" portion goes pretty slow, especially in the first part of the year, and at a glance I don't see anything built in for how to accommodate kids who already know those skills.

[Anonymous]

Good teachers know how to accommodate higher kids. Whether or not there is time for that depends on the schedule which is usually not up to teachers.

[Anonymous]

Is there time for fun "centers" for kindergarteners with the new CKLA curriculum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there time for fun "centers" for kindergarteners with the new CKLA curriculum?

I think it's mostly whole-group instruction.

[Anonymous]

My 1st grader has liked it, but also liked RGR in K.

Definitely more centers in K but I think they were more for math. The teacher and classroom setup were more conducive to it as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know anything about how CKLA has gone for kindergarteners who came in already knowing letter sounds and doing at least some basic sounding out (or even full-blown reading)? The "knowledge" lessons seem interesting but it seems like the "skills" portion goes pretty slow, especially in the first part of the year, and at a glance I don't see anything built in for how to accommodate kids who already know those skills.

My daughter entered K just knowing letter sounds. By end of first month she was reading words and over the course of the year has moved on to sentences/simple books as well as more “tricky” words. I think if they are ready, the exposure and practice will be enough.

[Anonymous]

My son finished K this year and was already hitting the end of the year benchmark on the DIBELS assessment in the Fall. At his prek he had pretty simple phonics instruction & we read every night so somehow he picked up reading pretty well from that. I asked about enrichment and the teacher said that since it's a new curriculum there wasn't any planned enrichment. She warned me that his progress on DIBELS may be low and his scores may plateau as I guess that's what happens when the curriculum catches up to what higher scoring kids know already.

To my surprise his winter score was higher and I do see his ability to read more tricky texts increasing so he's still getting something out of it. He also loves the knowledge sections... it seems very age appropriate and engaging. His writing has also improved, which was probably his biggest need. He brought a writing journal home the other day with multiple (short) sentences for each entry and was using capital letters, punctuation, etc for the most part. He was a kid who'd rush through just tracing his name in PreK so the growth there has been great.