When do you supplement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do that already. The child still can’t read on his own. I don’t think he’s actually being taught to read at school (DCPS)

He isn't, I'm sorry to say. I did the "just read to them every day and they'll pick it up" thing advised by PPs and it was wrong. I taught my K kid to read in about three weeks over the summer after kindergarten -- every single day she had to read to *me* for 20 minutes. We still did plenty of reading from me to her, at bedtime or any other time she asked, but she had to be the one reading for a solid 20 minutes. It was torture at first because she hated feeling like she was doing something poorly (no practice at school! Only the kids who knew how to read at the beginning of the year were ever called on, so she thought she was uniquely dumb or something for not having any reading fluency), but it only took a few weeks of consistency for her to pick it up. But it was the extra time in the summer that made it possible.

Now I work hard on reading with her, we find new series that she's interested in and read together all the time. DH supplements with math and telling time on an analog clock because he's just more interested in that. I will probably teach her cursive, and I'm in charge of making her practice her instrument.

Nobody is saying just read to him. I'm saying that reading to him is helpful and PP shouldn't feel like she isn't doing anything. He's not outside the norm for halfway through K, and it's ok to do bedtime reading on the weekdays and save more targeted interventions for non-school days.

LITERALLY the first response is that all OP should do is read to him. Literally. "Just read" the thread to see that you are incorrect.

Can hit stfu

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do that already. The child still can’t read on his own. I don’t think he’s actually being taught to read at school (DCPS)

He isn't, I'm sorry to say. I did the "just read to them every day and they'll pick it up" thing advised by PPs and it was wrong. I taught my K kid to read in about three weeks over the summer after kindergarten -- every single day she had to read to *me* for 20 minutes. We still did plenty of reading from me to her, at bedtime or any other time she asked, but she had to be the one reading for a solid 20 minutes. It was torture at first because she hated feeling like she was doing something poorly (no practice at school! Only the kids who knew how to read at the beginning of the year were ever called on, so she thought she was uniquely dumb or something for not having any reading fluency), but it only took a few weeks of consistency for her to pick it up. But it was the extra time in the summer that made it possible.

Now I work hard on reading with her, we find new series that she's interested in and read together all the time. DH supplements with math and telling time on an analog clock because he's just more interested in that. I will probably teach her cursive, and I'm in charge of making her practice her instrument.

Nobody is saying just read to him. I'm saying that reading to him is helpful and PP shouldn't feel like she isn't doing anything. He's not outside the norm for halfway through K, and it's ok to do bedtime reading on the weekdays and save more targeted interventions for non-school days.

You taught the summer after kindergarten - OP Isn't there yet. Don't exhaust or confuse your kids about a skill they shouldn't even have yet.

What do you mean “shouldn’t” have yet? Its not at all developmentally unusual to read at five, and OP doesn’t mention her kid being young for K.

The summer before first grade is the last chance. Once a kid is in first, differentiation will begin. OP’s kid will either be spending their days with children who are either naturally talented/have involved parents who were invested in their literacy OR kids who cannot read for a whole host of reasons. Their school experience is probably better if they’re in the former group.

DP

DH and I did our best to play games, read BOB books, etc. during kindergarten, but DD (currently 1st grade) was resistant and our efforts felt counterproductive. You want kids to want to read and not make it a chore or a source of tension. DD has made really fast progress since we hired a OG reading tutor this year. Maybe if we had hired the tutor earlier she would have learned earlier, but some kids are not developmentally ready to read until ages 6 or 7. First grade is really the key year where if they don't have foundational reading skills things will get harder and harder. I do think the school curricula are so focused on getting kids to read early they do a disservice to the kids that aren't ready at 5. Our tutor is basically catching DD up to what her class is doing, which is easy now but would be harder later.

np. Agree, but that's not the same as saying reading at 5 is a skill kids "shouldn't even have yet."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do that already. The child still can’t read on his own. I don’t think he’s actually being taught to read at school (DCPS)

He isn't, I'm sorry to say. I did the "just read to them every day and they'll pick it up" thing advised by PPs and it was wrong. I taught my K kid to read in about three weeks over the summer after kindergarten -- every single day she had to read to *me* for 20 minutes. We still did plenty of reading from me to her, at bedtime or any other time she asked, but she had to be the one reading for a solid 20 minutes. It was torture at first because she hated feeling like she was doing something poorly (no practice at school! Only the kids who knew how to read at the beginning of the year were ever called on, so she thought she was uniquely dumb or something for not having any reading fluency), but it only took a few weeks of consistency for her to pick it up. But it was the extra time in the summer that made it possible.

Now I work hard on reading with her, we find new series that she's interested in and read together all the time. DH supplements with math and telling time on an analog clock because he's just more interested in that. I will probably teach her cursive, and I'm in charge of making her practice her instrument.

Nobody is saying just read to him. I'm saying that reading to him is helpful and PP shouldn't feel like she isn't doing anything. He's not outside the norm for halfway through K, and it's ok to do bedtime reading on the weekdays and save more targeted interventions for non-school days.

You taught the summer after kindergarten - OP Isn't there yet. Don't exhaust or confuse your kids about a skill they shouldn't even have yet.

What do you mean “shouldn’t” have yet? Its not at all developmentally unusual to read at five, and OP doesn’t mention her kid being young for K.

The summer before first grade is the last chance. Once a kid is in first, differentiation will begin. OP’s kid will either be spending their days with children who are either naturally talented/have involved parents who were invested in their literacy OR kids who cannot read for a whole host of reasons. Their school experience is probably better if they’re in the former group.

DP

DH and I did our best to play games, read BOB books, etc. during kindergarten, but DD (currently 1st grade) was resistant and our efforts felt counterproductive. You want kids to want to read and not make it a chore or a source of tension. DD has made really fast progress since we hired a OG reading tutor this year. Maybe if we had hired the tutor earlier she would have learned earlier, but some kids are not developmentally ready to read until ages 6 or 7. First grade is really the key year where if they don't have foundational reading skills things will get harder and harder. I do think the school curricula are so focused on getting kids to read early they do a disservice to the kids that aren't ready at 5. Our tutor is basically catching DD up to what her class is doing, which is easy now but would be harder later.

np. Agree, but that's not the same as saying reading at 5 is a skill kids "shouldn't even have yet."

It is inaccurate to say that 5 year olds should be able to read. This thread is about a child that isn't yet reading halfway through kindergarten. Some kids can read at this age and some kids are not yet ready, so I agree with the PP that it's not the right time to force this. I agree that the summer would be a better time from a developmental perspective and the kid may have more bandwidth*, though summer isn't necessarily easier for working parents.

* Depending on camps these may be more exhausting than school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do that already. The child still can’t read on his own. I don’t think he’s actually being taught to read at school (DCPS)

He isn't, I'm sorry to say. I did the "just read to them every day and they'll pick it up" thing advised by PPs and it was wrong. I taught my K kid to read in about three weeks over the summer after kindergarten -- every single day she had to read to *me* for 20 minutes. We still did plenty of reading from me to her, at bedtime or any other time she asked, but she had to be the one reading for a solid 20 minutes. It was torture at first because she hated feeling like she was doing something poorly (no practice at school! Only the kids who knew how to read at the beginning of the year were ever called on, so she thought she was uniquely dumb or something for not having any reading fluency), but it only took a few weeks of consistency for her to pick it up. But it was the extra time in the summer that made it possible.

Now I work hard on reading with her, we find new series that she's interested in and read together all the time. DH supplements with math and telling time on an analog clock because he's just more interested in that. I will probably teach her cursive, and I'm in charge of making her practice her instrument.

Nobody is saying just read to him. I'm saying that reading to him is helpful and PP shouldn't feel like she isn't doing anything. He's not outside the norm for halfway through K, and it's ok to do bedtime reading on the weekdays and save more targeted interventions for non-school days.

You taught the summer after kindergarten - OP Isn't there yet. Don't exhaust or confuse your kids about a skill they shouldn't even have yet.

What do you mean “shouldn’t” have yet? Its not at all developmentally unusual to read at five, and OP doesn’t mention her kid being young for K.

The summer before first grade is the last chance. Once a kid is in first, differentiation will begin. OP’s kid will either be spending their days with children who are either naturally talented/have involved parents who were invested in their literacy OR kids who cannot read for a whole host of reasons. Their school experience is probably better if they’re in the former group.

DP

DH and I did our best to play games, read BOB books, etc. during kindergarten, but DD (currently 1st grade) was resistant and our efforts felt counterproductive. You want kids to want to read and not make it a chore or a source of tension. DD has made really fast progress since we hired a OG reading tutor this year. Maybe if we had hired the tutor earlier she would have learned earlier, but some kids are not developmentally ready to read until ages 6 or 7. First grade is really the key year where if they don't have foundational reading skills things will get harder and harder. I do think the school curricula are so focused on getting kids to read early they do a disservice to the kids that aren't ready at 5. Our tutor is basically catching DD up to what her class is doing, which is easy now but would be harder later.

np. Agree, but that's not the same as saying reading at 5 is a skill kids "shouldn't even have yet."

It is inaccurate to say that 5 year olds should be able to read. This thread is about a child that isn't yet reading halfway through kindergarten. Some kids can read at this age and some kids are not yet ready, so I agree with the PP that it's not the right time to force this. I agree that the summer would be a better time from a developmental perspective and the kid may have more bandwidth*, though summer isn't necessarily easier for working parents.

* Depending on camps these may be more exhausting than school.

Agree, that is also inaccurate.

[Anonymous]

I think there are a range of developmentally normal ages to read but four and five are well within that range. Summer before first is a last resort for kids who were young for K, i would think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do that already. The child still can’t read on his own. I don’t think he’s actually being taught to read at school (DCPS)

He isn't, I'm sorry to say. I did the "just read to them every day and they'll pick it up" thing advised by PPs and it was wrong. I taught my K kid to read in about three weeks over the summer after kindergarten -- every single day she had to read to *me* for 20 minutes. We still did plenty of reading from me to her, at bedtime or any other time she asked, but she had to be the one reading for a solid 20 minutes. It was torture at first because she hated feeling like she was doing something poorly (no practice at school! Only the kids who knew how to read at the beginning of the year were ever called on, so she thought she was uniquely dumb or something for not having any reading fluency), but it only took a few weeks of consistency for her to pick it up. But it was the extra time in the summer that made it possible.

Now I work hard on reading with her, we find new series that she's interested in and read together all the time. DH supplements with math and telling time on an analog clock because he's just more interested in that. I will probably teach her cursive, and I'm in charge of making her practice her instrument.

Nobody is saying just read to him. I'm saying that reading to him is helpful and PP shouldn't feel like she isn't doing anything. He's not outside the norm for halfway through K, and it's ok to do bedtime reading on the weekdays and save more targeted interventions for non-school days.

You taught the summer after kindergarten - OP Isn't there yet. Don't exhaust or confuse your kids about a skill they shouldn't even have yet.

What do you mean “shouldn’t” have yet? Its not at all developmentally unusual to read at five, and OP doesn’t mention her kid being young for K.

The summer before first grade is the last chance. Once a kid is in first, differentiation will begin. OP’s kid will either be spending their days with children who are either naturally talented/have involved parents who were invested in their literacy OR kids who cannot read for a whole host of reasons. Their school experience is probably better if they’re in the former group.

DP

DH and I did our best to play games, read BOB books, etc. during kindergarten, but DD (currently 1st grade) was resistant and our efforts felt counterproductive. You want kids to want to read and not make it a chore or a source of tension. DD has made really fast progress since we hired a OG reading tutor this year. Maybe if we had hired the tutor earlier she would have learned earlier, but some kids are not developmentally ready to read until ages 6 or 7. First grade is really the key year where if they don't have foundational reading skills things will get harder and harder. I do think the school curricula are so focused on getting kids to read early they do a disservice to the kids that aren't ready at 5. Our tutor is basically catching DD up to what her class is doing, which is easy now but would be harder later.

np. Agree, but that's not the same as saying reading at 5 is a skill kids "shouldn't even have yet."

It is inaccurate to say that 5 year olds should be able to read. This thread is about a child that isn't yet reading halfway through kindergarten. Some kids can read at this age and some kids are not yet ready, so I agree with the PP that it's not the right time to force this. I agree that the summer would be a better time from a developmental perspective and the kid may have more bandwidth*, though summer isn't necessarily easier for working parents.

* Depending on camps these may be more exhausting than school.

Can you find some academic summer camps? DD's friend was behind in reading, so she got a referral to a remedial summer reading program, plus her mom became super involved once her teacher sounded an alarm, and she really blossomed over the summer, and is reading easy chapter books now that we're halfway through first grade. It's a bummer to give up more fun camps, but it's certainly worth considering if you are a working parent and your kid still isn't ready by the end of kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a range of developmentally normal ages to read but four and five are well within that range. Summer before first is a last resort for kids who were young for K, i would think.

No, it's not a "last resort" for a kid to be able to read before they turn 6, that's ridiculus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a range of developmentally normal ages to read but four and five are well within that range. Summer before first is a last resort for kids who were young for K, i would think.

No, it's not a "last resort" for a kid to be able to read before they turn 6, that's ridiculus

It is if you don’t want them bundled in the “low” reading class, to have as their peers all of the behavioral difficulty, language difficulty, learning difference, and other baggage that entails. Differentiation starts in first grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a range of developmentally normal ages to read but four and five are well within that range. Summer before first is a last resort for kids who were young for K, i would think.

No, it's not a "last resort" for a kid to be able to read before they turn 6, that's ridiculus

It is if you don’t want them bundled in the “low” reading class, to have as their peers all of the behavioral difficulty, language difficulty, learning difference, and other baggage that entails. Differentiation starts in first grade.

Our school does small reading groups in 1st grade 30 minutes two times a week. There is no separate "low" class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a range of developmentally normal ages to read but four and five are well within that range. Summer before first is a last resort for kids who were young for K, i would think.

No, it's not a "last resort" for a kid to be able to read before they turn 6, that's ridiculus

It is if you don’t want them bundled in the “low” reading class, to have as their peers all of the behavioral difficulty, language difficulty, learning difference, and other baggage that entails. Differentiation starts in first grade.

Our school does small reading groups in 1st grade 30 minutes two times a week. There is no separate "low" class.

Ok, so do you want your kid in the low reading group, probably getting 30 seconds of attention because they won’t be the biggest challenge in that group? Or in the more advanced group where the teacher won’t be spending time literally teaching the alphabet to the kid next to them?

Thats the difference between reading and not reading before first grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are a range of developmentally normal ages to read but four and five are well within that range. Summer before first is a last resort for kids who were young for K, i would think.

No, it's not a "last resort" for a kid to be able to read before they turn 6, that's ridiculus

It is if you don’t want them bundled in the “low” reading class, to have as their peers all of the behavioral difficulty, language difficulty, learning difference, and other baggage that entails. Differentiation starts in first grade.

Our school does small reading groups in 1st grade 30 minutes two times a week. There is no separate "low" class.

Ok, so do you want your kid in the low reading group, probably getting 30 seconds of attention because they won’t be the biggest challenge in that group? Or in the more advanced group where the teacher won’t be spending time literally teaching the alphabet to the kid next to them?

Thats the difference between reading and not reading before first grade.

It's twice a week for 30 minutes each time and they are working on decoding, not learning the alphabet. It's fine. It is what my kid needs right now (plus an hour of private tutoring on the weekend).

[Anonymous]

The purpose of K is to build the foundation for reading. Read to your kids at night before bed, or on weekends. Once they start sounding out words or learning sight words, take turns letting them read small sections or a page of the book. Also, your kids don’t need a bath every single night, esp in the winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The purpose of K is to build the foundation for reading. Read to your kids at night before bed, or on weekends. Once they start sounding out words or learning sight words, take turns letting them read small sections or a page of the book. Also, your kids don’t need a bath every single night, esp in the winter.

Maybe at your private school. At a public school they are expected to be reading simple stuff like "a cat hid in a rug" by the end of the year at the latest. And in first grade they are expected to read stuff like "Mom, can I go shop with you? I want to get a cake for Beth." Of course many kindergarteners can read the latter example because they were reading stuff like the former example when they were 4. But it's not the end of the world if a kid is slightly behind all throughout the school year. They have all summer to catch up and be at grade level the next year. OP already knows she needs to carve out time to supplement, whether it's weekends, the summer break, or simply finding a different after care provider.

The kids whose parents realize they need to supplement will turn out fine. It's the kids whose parents have their heads in the sand that are at risk of falling way behind.