The teacher is not aware of my DD's reading level

[Anonymous]

I was that kid who was reading Harry Potter at 4. I was a very early, very advanced reader. I read books that were far above my grade level. I was skipped ahead in reading by multiple grades and even then it was easy. My mom sounded a lot like some of the PPs here.

And you know what? I didn't comprehend it the way they thought I was. If anything, it caused me emotional problems because I read things that were far too advanced for my age, didn't have the emotional resources to truly understand them and put them in context, and yet at the same time was praised across the board for my early reading (from parents, teachers, grandparents -- just like PP described). Everybody celebrated my early reading. I remember very few people digging into what I got out of it.

Early reading is not a purely positive gift. It's an outlier skill that's real but isn't the end-all and be-all that the parents of these kids sometimes think. It lets lazy teachers stop looking at intellectual and emotional progress of a child that goes with the skill. I remember encountering one teacher in third grade who insisted I read grade-level work and discuss it with her. I was frustrated and my mom complained. Years later, it's funny, my mom still dislikes that teacher, but I remember her as my best elementary school teacher. She challenged me in ways no other teacher did. I don't talk about it with my mom because many years later she's still invested in idea that this one teacher suppressed my brightness. But I see it as the one teacher who saw what was really going on and really made me think.

I skipped through many of the famous classics of American literature early in life. It was eye-opening to me when I started re-reading those books as a young adult. I had missed so much and I didn't even know it.

I think PPs above will just ignore this or claim I'm a troll because PPs are invested in a narrative about their own children that's important to them. I understand; my mom was too. But if you get anything out of this, just try to remember that early reading is a particular skill that doesn't confer additional emotional or comprehension skills, that your child might very well be missing things, and maybe that you should look at your own emotional investment in their skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was that kid who was reading Harry Potter at 4. I was a very early, very advanced reader. I read books that were far above my grade level. I was skipped ahead in reading by multiple grades and even then it was easy. My mom sounded a lot like some of the PPs here.

And you know what? I didn't comprehend it the way they thought I was. If anything, it caused me emotional problems because I read things that were far too advanced for my age, didn't have the emotional resources to truly understand them and put them in context, and yet at the same time was praised across the board for my early reading (from parents, teachers, grandparents -- just like PP described). Everybody celebrated my early reading. I remember very few people digging into what I got out of it.

Early reading is not a purely positive gift. It's an outlier skill that's real but isn't the end-all and be-all that the parents of these kids sometimes think. It lets lazy teachers stop looking at intellectual and emotional progress of a child that goes with the skill. I remember encountering one teacher in third grade who insisted I read grade-level work and discuss it with her. I was frustrated and my mom complained. Years later, it's funny, my mom still dislikes that teacher, but I remember her as my best elementary school teacher. She challenged me in ways no other teacher did. I don't talk about it with my mom because many years later she's still invested in idea that this one teacher suppressed my brightness. But I see it as the one teacher who saw what was really going on and really made me think.

I skipped through many of the famous classics of American literature early in life. It was eye-opening to me when I started re-reading those books as a young adult. I had missed so much and I didn't even know it.

I think PPs above will just ignore this or claim I'm a troll because PPs are invested in a narrative about their own children that's important to them. I understand; my mom was too. But if you get anything out of this, just try to remember that early reading is a particular skill that doesn't confer additional emotional or comprehension skills, that your child might very well be missing things, and maybe that you should look at your own emotional investment in their skills.

I was also reading dense classics at a very early age, and I agree with you on all points. Some of those books focused on topics I didn't have the emotional maturity to understand. It would have been better if I'd waited to read them. Even some texts that are recognized as children's texts affected me in ways that, in hindsight, weren't terribly constructive.

Some parents, like mine, are enchanted with the idea of their children reading well above grade level. These parents may be bright and well educated, but unless you have a degree in the relevant educational fields, you don't have the expertise to understand how to foster your child's appropriate reading development. Just because you can read doesn't mean you can understand how to nurture your child's reading development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was that kid who was reading Harry Potter at 4. I was a very early, very advanced reader. I read books that were far above my grade level. I was skipped ahead in reading by multiple grades and even then it was easy. My mom sounded a lot like some of the PPs here.

And you know what? I didn't comprehend it the way they thought I was. If anything, it caused me emotional problems because I read things that were far too advanced for my age, didn't have the emotional resources to truly understand them and put them in context, and yet at the same time was praised across the board for my early reading (from parents, teachers, grandparents -- just like PP described). Everybody celebrated my early reading. I remember very few people digging into what I got out of it.

Early reading is not a purely positive gift. It's an outlier skill that's real but isn't the end-all and be-all that the parents of these kids sometimes think. It lets lazy teachers stop looking at intellectual and emotional progress of a child that goes with the skill. I remember encountering one teacher in third grade who insisted I read grade-level work and discuss it with her. I was frustrated and my mom complained. Years later, it's funny, my mom still dislikes that teacher, but I remember her as my best elementary school teacher. She challenged me in ways no other teacher did. I don't talk about it with my mom because many years later she's still invested in idea that this one teacher suppressed my brightness. But I see it as the one teacher who saw what was really going on and really made me think.

I skipped through many of the famous classics of American literature early in life. It was eye-opening to me when I started re-reading those books as a young adult. I had missed so much and I didn't even know it.

I think PPs above will just ignore this or claim I'm a troll because PPs are invested in a narrative about their own children that's important to them. I understand; my mom was too. But if you get anything out of this, just try to remember that early reading is a particular skill that doesn't confer additional emotional or comprehension skills, that your child might very well be missing things, and maybe that you should look at your own emotional investment in their skills.

The bolded part is the point we are making. Of course a 4 yr old "can" read a book like HPotter or any other book. The fact is that she won't have the live experiences to fully understand what is being read. It is the parents who insist their kids "fully" understand these books that are ridiculous. They just can't. The point is let them read them now if you really want, but please have them read them later when they are more age appropriate. This also ignores the fact that by giving these books instead of others, your kid may miss out on hundreds of other books that are far better than HPotter.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who was a very early reader. I realized I didn't respond to OP's point directly. For what it's worth, the teachers I remember as being the best teachers were those who didn't just let me snow them as far as being an early reader. They pushed me, they insisted I show understanding, they kept me reading "easy" books when I couldn't show understanding to their satisfaction. And yes, I was frustrated and I probably whined about being bored. But as an adult, those are the teachers that I think actually taught me as opposed to just passing me through.

[Anonymous]

I too was a precocious, voracious reader who read everything on my parents' bookshelf and the library, without guidance or censoring. It wasn't damaging. The parts of books beyond my level of emotional experience just went right past me. Sure, I read some questionable material, but mostly just ignored the parts that were too deep or too scary. Same with movies, actually. I saw the occasional inappropriate movie and the inappropriate parts just passed me by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I too was a precocious, voracious reader who read everything on my parents' bookshelf and the library, without guidance or censoring. It wasn't damaging. The parts of books beyond my level of emotional experience just went right past me. Sure, I read some questionable material, but mostly just ignored the parts that were too deep or too scary. Same with movies, actually. I saw the occasional inappropriate movie and the inappropriate parts just passed me by.

I still remember seeing an inappropriate movie as a young child, 38 years later. Still makes me feel uneasy.

[Anonymous]

I got nightmares I still vividly remember from some of the advanced books I read. But mostly I didn't absorb them with any emotional depth.

[Anonymous]

When you say "reading level 2" that makes me think of DRA level 2 which is mid-kindergarten level. Maybe that's what the teacher is thinking of too.

Is she decoding, comprehending, or both?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you say "reading level 2" that makes me think of DRA level 2 which is mid-kindergarten level. Maybe that's what the teacher is thinking of too.

Is she decoding, comprehending, or both?

Scroll through. OP's child is doing both. OP doesn't need tests to tell her where her daughter is reading.. she already knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say "reading level 2" that makes me think of DRA level 2 which is mid-kindergarten level. Maybe that's what the teacher is thinking of too.

Is she decoding, comprehending, or both?

Scroll through. OP's child is doing both. OP doesn't need tests to tell her where her daughter is reading.. she already knows.

I think she said she's at a DRA of a 16 now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say "reading level 2" that makes me think of DRA level 2 which is mid-kindergarten level. Maybe that's what the teacher is thinking of too.

Is she decoding, comprehending, or both?

Scroll through. OP's child is doing both. OP doesn't need tests to tell her where her daughter is reading.. she already knows.

No, she thinks she knows. There's a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say "reading level 2" that makes me think of DRA level 2 which is mid-kindergarten level. Maybe that's what the teacher is thinking of too.

Is she decoding, comprehending, or both?

Scroll through. OP's child is doing both. OP doesn't need tests to tell her where her daughter is reading.. she already knows.

I think she said she's at a DRA of a 16 now.

If kid is at a DRA 16 then the teacher knows her level, no...?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say "reading level 2" that makes me think of DRA level 2 which is mid-kindergarten level. Maybe that's what the teacher is thinking of too.

Is she decoding, comprehending, or both?

Scroll through. OP's child is doing both. OP doesn't need tests to tell her where her daughter is reading.. she already knows.

I think she said she's at a DRA of a 16 now.

If kid is at a DRA 16 then the teacher knows her level, no...?

Who knows. OP has never actually said she's talked to this teacher. I feel so bad for the teacher. Whether she got the reading level right or not, OP's presumptions about the teacher before talking to her say more about OP than about the teacher.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My presumptions about the teacher are correct. She said herself she doesn't listen to kids read because she doesn't have time. So, of course, she is at best only vaguely aware of their kevels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say "reading level 2" that makes me think of DRA level 2 which is mid-kindergarten level. Maybe that's what the teacher is thinking of too.

Is she decoding, comprehending, or both?

Scroll through. OP's child is doing both. OP doesn't need tests to tell her where her daughter is reading.. she already knows.

No, she thinks she knows. There's a difference.

Very true!