Reading 2 grade levels above in 1st grade

[Anonymous]

I don't think it matters in the long run. My DD always read above reading level, and now in high school is on par with academics and test taking is hard, she studies and tries but seems to lack memory skills. She was praised too much for being so smart so early, and it backfired with her thinking if something is too hard, it is impossible. It is getting much better, since we have been working for the last couple of years on developing open minded approach to learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if you kid is reading at third grade level at age four?

(And, yes, fully comprehending and tested at that level too)

What do you say, educational researcher?

(Not that it matters really, kid is no longer four)

How are their math skills, EQ, if they dictated a story- what would it look like?

[Anonymous]

I think the most important thing is the kid likes and enjoys reading. That will go far!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. The reason I asked is my son is unfortunately very very average. He doesn't have too many interests and not much perseverance. I am very disappointed but really try to work on it, never show it to him and am trying to find something he is good at. He is not into arts, not into sports, not into anything. His only interest and capability is reading. But even that seems to be not that unusual. Oh well. At least he is good at it.

He is in 1st grade. Things will change. Have him play an instrument. Band is a great activity in MS and HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. The reason I asked is my son is unfortunately very very average. He doesn't have too many interests and not much perseverance. I am very disappointed but really try to work on it, never show it to him and am trying to find something he is good at. He is not into arts, not into sports, not into anything. His only interest and capability is reading. But even that seems to be not that unusual. Oh well. At least he is good at it.

He's only in first grade!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it matters in the long run. My DD always read above reading level, and now in high school is on par with academics and test taking is hard, she studies and tries but seems to lack memory skills. She was praised too much for being so smart so early, and it backfired with her thinking if something is too hard, it is impossible. It is getting much better, since we have been working for the last couple of years on developing open minded approach to learning.

Hmm. Has she been tested for inattentive ADHD? Because telling a kid they're smart, instead of praising effort is mostly about forging character. If grades are affected and the child is making a effort, then it's not because they were told they were smart, but maybe because there are underlying learning disabilities or inattention (which causes disorganization, processing speed issues and working memory problems).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. The reason I asked is my son is unfortunately very very average. He doesn't have too many interests and not much perseverance. I am very disappointed but really try to work on it, never show it to him and am trying to find something he is good at. He is not into arts, not into sports, not into anything. His only interest and capability is reading. But even that seems to be not that unusual. Oh well. At least he is good at it.

He's only in first grade!!

A fair number of 1st graders 'test' a couple to a few grades above in reading, which is essentially showing they've mastered the skills of decoding ... and now they are in the category of comprehension. For many kids that doesn't fully click until end of second. Some are later. (Moving from 'learning to read' to 'reading to learn'). A first grader testing a couple grades above essentially means the kids has hit a 'fluent' reading threshold.

While earlier reading doesn't necessarily correlate to much necessarily - it gives the kid the ability to now soak things up and really get into stories and ideas and areas of interest. So it's something that you can cultivate and focus on. If he's showing interest, you can feed that! Reading about things is a great way to find passions and ideas.... General would recommend to cultivate/encourage/be enthusiastic for anything he shows interest in, without pushing too much.

First grade is really young still. And some of the kids who seem to excel at things in first will keep thriving in those, but for many others it will change, diminish relatively or move on to something new.

-- another child development researcher

[Anonymous]

We've had two different experiences. One child was really ahead in reading at the end of kindergarten (baseline DRA versus end-of-year were kind of insane) and is a strong reader headed into AAP. The other child was a very early reader and excels at decoding, but that child is also autistic and has had a terrible time getting the comprehension side of reading. This gets worse every year now that the "reading to learn" period has set in and they have difficulty parsing information from text.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader is at level P, which google tells me is at the end of 3rd grade. He's not even in the top reading group in his class. He's smart, but at least as measured by reading skill, is not exceptional.

Also, I should add, he started 1st grade at level D, so he was not a particularly early reader. When he got it, he got it.[/quote]

This is what I loved about teaching first grade. Some kids would start off not knowing anything and then BINGO, they blossomed. Even though it probably had nothing to do with my teaching, it was a great ego boost for me. This was back before there was such a push for early reading. At the beginning of the year, I would think, "oh no, these kids are going to be a tough shell to crack, I am not going to teach another year of first grade". And, then, by the end of the year they would all be reading and I cannot tell you how satisfying that is to see. Of course, there were kids who struggled and weren't fluent by the end of the year, but they generally made great progress, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD8 has always been a fantastic reader. She was reading magic treehouse at age 4. She was assessed in kindergarten once to be at level N. That was near the beginning of the year. In first grade she was assessed once or twice again. The teacher told me she could just read anything at conference. She was giving her 6th grade level books at free reading. Near the end of first grade she was assessed by a local university to be at a 6th grade level all around. In second they said she was at a level S(4th?) even though on RAZ kids she was on level Z at the end of first. At the beginning of third grade her Lexile was tested, and it was 10th grade level. But the enrichment program the school uses gives her 8th grade comprehension assignments.

That is all to say I am always skeptical about reading levels. They are very subjective. I think the best indicator is that DD actually loves to read. She reads for hours a day. From preschool on I didn't worry about exact levels, and it seemed teachers didn't either! She's also been tested as gifted.

Since I have a child like yours, let me tell you something - watch for their socialization. Reading for hours on end, like I did, and DS does, is actually not THAT great. We have inattentive ADHD and our hyperfocus is reading. It's wonderful for general culture and knowledge and definitely makes it easier to go to grad school and go into academia/research later on, but... other skills have to be developed too.

Agree, my brother read for hours a day. He is in Mensa. Super smart yay! Also, boarderline aspergers and issues with socialization that have followed him all his life.

Perhaps the poster above was using hyperbole, if not - I'd watch for hours daily of reading at a young level.

That's very interesting. It doesn't seem like DD has social problems. She has lots of friends despite being introverted and shy around adults. No ADD diagnosis either. Reading is her hobby--like other kids with minecraft or soccer. she sets her alarm to wake up an hour earlier to read and reads for an hour at bedtime. And like the op's ds this is the only thing she's really good at in the sense she can particularly enjoy the activity because of her high ability. She struggles in sports and music and art. And she does not like competition.

The point of my original post was that I find reading levels meaningless. One teacher may hold a kid back. Another may inflate the score. The most meaningful results were from the university project.

[Anonymous]

Op here- yes I do encourage my kid's interests and find him books to read I think he would enjoy, take him to the library often, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here- yes I do encourage my kid's interests and find him books to read I think he would enjoy, take him to the library often, etc.

Why not just try liking and accepting him? Your comments are consistently about being disappointed in how not amazing he is.

[Anonymous]

DD did not read with any fluency until Grade 2. Slowly improved through primary grades and became a voracious reader in junior high and high school. Very successful AP Literature class level now. I still have the ancient Dick and Jane book we resorted to for help!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD8 has always been a fantastic reader. She was reading magic treehouse at age 4. She was assessed in kindergarten once to be at level N. That was near the beginning of the year. In first grade she was assessed once or twice again. The teacher told me she could just read anything at conference. She was giving her 6th grade level books at free reading. Near the end of first grade she was assessed by a local university to be at a 6th grade level all around. In second they said she was at a level S(4th?) even though on RAZ kids she was on level Z at the end of first. At the beginning of third grade her Lexile was tested, and it was 10th grade level. But the enrichment program the school uses gives her 8th grade comprehension assignments.

That is all to say I am always skeptical about reading levels. They are very subjective. I think the best indicator is that DD actually loves to read. She reads for hours a day. From preschool on I didn't worry about exact levels, and it seemed teachers didn't either! She's also been tested as gifted.

Since I have a child like yours, let me tell you something - watch for their socialization. Reading for hours on end, like I did, and DS does, is actually not THAT great. We have inattentive ADHD and our hyperfocus is reading. It's wonderful for general culture and knowledge and definitely makes it easier to go to grad school and go into academia/research later on, but... other skills have to be developed too.

Agree, my brother read for hours a day. He is in Mensa. Super smart yay! Also, boarderline aspergers and issues with socialization that have followed him all his life.

Perhaps the poster above was using hyperbole, if not - I'd watch for hours daily of reading at a young level.

That's very interesting. It doesn't seem like DD has social problems. She has lots of friends despite being introverted and shy around adults. No ADD diagnosis either. Reading is her hobby--like other kids with minecraft or soccer. she sets her alarm to wake up an hour earlier to read and reads for an hour at bedtime. And like the op's ds this is the only thing she's really good at in the sense she can particularly enjoy the activity because of her high ability. She struggles in sports and music and art. And she does not like competition.

+1 Please. Every child is different. I have a sibling who was reading several hours a day at a young age. She was very popular in high school and went to HPY where she continued to have a ton of friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD8 has always been a fantastic reader. She was reading magic treehouse at age 4. She was assessed in kindergarten once to be at level N. That was near the beginning of the year. In first grade she was assessed once or twice again. The teacher told me she could just read anything at conference. She was giving her 6th grade level books at free reading. Near the end of first grade she was assessed by a local university to be at a 6th grade level all around. In second they said she was at a level S(4th?) even though on RAZ kids she was on level Z at the end of first. At the beginning of third grade her Lexile was tested, and it was 10th grade level. But the enrichment program the school uses gives her 8th grade comprehension assignments.

That is all to say I am always skeptical about reading levels. They are very subjective. I think the best indicator is that DD actually loves to read. She reads for hours a day. From preschool on I didn't worry about exact levels, and it seemed teachers didn't either! She's also been tested as gifted.

Since I have a child like yours, let me tell you something - watch for their socialization. Reading for hours on end, like I did, and DS does, is actually not THAT great. We have inattentive ADHD and our hyperfocus is reading. It's wonderful for general culture and knowledge and definitely makes it easier to go to grad school and go into academia/research later on, but... other skills have to be developed too.

+1