Reading before kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Don't forget that there is a big difference between a kindergartner who is already 6 and one who just turned 5. In early reading that year can be the difference between starting to sound out words and reading Magic Treehouse.

[Anonymous]

I have a K this year who can read extremely well. He can pick up anything and read it. Decode very hard words. His reading comprehension is about 4th to 5th grade right now - he does miss some of the subtle jokes in stories though. But he gets the details and main ideas. I taught him to read. He is homeschooled this year, otherwise I think he would be bored to death. I’m considering another year or two of homeschooling just because he can move at his own pace. It has helped him learn more than any of my older children. So for him it has been very helpful since he has a very solid reading foundation. My older kids were not reading well in K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course K teachers secretly expect your kids to be able to read.

They are still going to teach the basics like phonics, sight words, etc

[Anonymous]

Nope, it's not the norm. My kid was genuinely reading before kindergarten (could read early readers like Dr Seuss on her own) but there was maybe one or two other kids who could read at that level in her K (private). The teachers said the expectation is that most kids will be able to read CVC words (level A-C) by the end of the year. They do not expect kids to be able to read when they start kindergarten, and they spend a lot of time teaching reading.

[Anonymous]

My daughter just started virtual kindergarten. They spend soooo much time on the basics of phonics that I would imagine more advanced kids would be bored. As it turns out, I was worried that she’d start behind because she couldn’t read, but she’s really enjoying virtual school because she feels like she’s learning.

[Anonymous]

Kindergarten starts out so low. If your kid is advanced they would be bored to tears .


Kindergarten IA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of mine was reading by age 3, the other not until 2nd grade. Both ended up in magnets, one currently at a top tier college. When they read is not as important as encouraging reading. End of story.

I take major issue with these type of statements. I am going off topic here since this is not op issue, but in general, parents should be aware of their children progress (or lack of progress) in reading, specially phonics awareness.

There are TONS of kids that get to middle school and don't know how to read well... so, while reading before K is not expected and it is not something to aim for, you should absolutely work on phonics awareness as one pp mentioned. It will make things so much easier for your child later on.

Plus, if your child has trouble grasping it, you can be on the lookout for dyslexia and start working on it early on. These issues compound if not addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of mine was reading by age 3, the other not until 2nd grade. Both ended up in magnets, one currently at a top tier college. When they read is not as important as encouraging reading. End of story.

I take major issue with these type of statements. I am going off topic here since this is not op issue, but in general, parents should be aware of their children progress (or lack of progress) in reading, specially phonics awareness.

There are TONS of kids that get to middle school and don't know how to read well... so, while reading before K is not expected and it is not something to aim for, you should absolutely work on phonics awareness as one pp mentioned. It will make things so much easier for your child later on.

Plus, if your child has trouble grasping it, you can be on the lookout for dyslexia and start working on it early on. These issues compound if not addressed.

I mean I’m all for encouraging a love of reading but I worry some parents take it to the extreme. Let your 3 & 4 year olds play people. They will learn to read soon enough.

[Anonymous]

My kid misses cutoff, will be a k next year. He can understand the content of book, but his reading fluency is bad. He reads too fast, skips words to the point 50% unintelligible. If you ask him questions about what he reads, he can answer. Do you call this he has reading skills or not?

[Anonymous]

I always started teaching my kids ahead of time. The local school district doesn't teach reading well. They encourage guessing based off the picture, and so on. Better to prevent bad habits before they start.

[Anonymous]

We just worked with dd to make sure she could semi-read. That way she could understand what the teacher was saying but also not be bored. She knew all letters and numbers and could read BOB books. We focused a lot on phonics.

[Anonymous]

I teach kindergarten in a middle income suburb. Usually I have 1-2 kids who can read at a late kindergarten level. My own children could read long before kindergarten with strong decoding, fluency, a d comprehension.

[Anonymous]

My DD knew her letters, but no phonics. Learned in K in private school. By the time summer cane she was reading at a 2nd grade level (level M)

[Anonymous]

I had 2 that started K reading early chapter books. My 3rd didn’t read until 2nd and he is probably my brightest!

[Anonymous]

My child learned to read at 3, was reading chapter books at the beginning of K. They had a peer group of about 4 in K who could read, but the rest couldn’t. This is at a UMC public school.