What do kindergarten teachers do with a child who can already read?

[Anonymous]

My 4.5-year-old is in her last year of pre-k and will start kindergarten in September 2009. She already reads quite well. I don't mean sight-identifies words; she was doing that, maybe 75-100 words-- well before her 4th birthday. She can sound out words like "advisory" in the Post, and voraciously reads anything she can get her hands on. Right now she can read me a preschool book like "Duck at the Door" without memorizing.

Looking at the DCPS website's very helpful materials, I see that the kindergarten curriculum actually does not include reading proficiency by the end of kindergarten. http://www.k12.dc.us/DCPS/Standards/General/Parent%20guide%20P-2.pdf It's logical to expect that by the time she starts kindergarten, she'll be reading even more advanced materials.

My question is, what will the teachers at DCPS (or other schools) do with her while the other kids are learning about the sounds that letters make, as described in the parents' guide?

[Anonymous]

My son was also an early reader...reading cover to cover by himself before kindergarten. I don't know about DCPS, but in Arlington PS, they put him and three others in an advanced reading group. These four children would go to another room with another teacher three times a week while the rest of the class had the regular curriculum. They do the same thing now that he's in 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

I don't think most DCPSs do that ....

[Anonymous]

OP, the teacher will ask your DC to help teach the others.

[Anonymous]

The answer isn't entirely satisfactory: officially, DCPS won't do anything, but some teachers will. My daughter was excused from some of the most basic work and offered a few extentions for some other classroom literacy routines. The teachers adjusted their reading incentive program so she wouldn't be penalized for taking extra time to read a novel rather than a picture book. The best DCPS teachers will work with you. Unfortunately, we've dealt with some who won't.

[Anonymous]

We were in a similar situation when we were looking at preK for our child; she already read quite well entering preK, and we couldn't imagine her sitting through the process of watching others learn the letters and phonemes throughout 2 years of preK and K. We weren't at all satisfied with the answer we received at our neighborhood school, but I have heard of other DCPS schools that are far more receptive to working with earlier readers, so don't despair. Instead, call and make appts to visit in person with the principal of any school you're considering.

[Anonymous]

Ideally, they will provide her with (or help her locate) books at her reading level (or slightly above) that interest her. They will provide extension activities to enhance her comprehension. Also, perhaps they will focus on pairing her reading with her writing development if it is not at the same level. A journal would be a great idea for her.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the responses. I'll contact the principals. Having my child help teach the others would not be an acceptable solution; she's somewhat shy and I think that she'd be troubled by that kind of public attention, and to the teacher emphasizing the difference between her and others. Also doesn't do anything for her educationally. So I hope we get some other kind of accommodatio, such as more advanced books.

[Anonymous]

Actually, sometimes you learn the most by teaching someone else. But I agree that this is not a good strategy in this situation.

[Anonymous]

It would be great for your child to have a reading group that is on her level, but just because she can decode the word advisory doesn't mean she gets the full meaning of the word in context. Make sure your child isn't placed in a higher group and then misses the basic reading concepts /skills/strategies that her classmates are getting. In my county they would place her wherever you wanted her to be, if she belongs there or not....there is a lot to say for parental pressure. My K child is also an early reader but I see some gaps with comprehension.
Just food for thought.
Oh, I would not accept the fact that she teaches other...she is not the classroom teacher!
Good luck, I hope it all works out.

[Anonymous]

We had a similar situation, and we live in Montgomery county. Our daughter was reading Nancy Drew chapter books the summer before kindergarten, a new one every few days. She was also writing plays and poetry. (She was doing other advanced stuff, too, but like you, I was most concerned about the huge gap in reading skill.) I met with the principal that summer and he assured me that she would be fine in kindergarten. To her credit, the kindergarten teacher gave my daughter work to challenge her, but my daughter only wanted to do exactly what the other kids were doing! She wanted to color in the letter A with the other kids. So they pulled her out during reading and had her read with the first graders instead. Then they decided that she really needed to be in first grade for all subjects and asked us to consider skipping her. We agreed that for her it was the right thing to do. It has worked out well, and my daughter is thriving, now in the highly gifted 4th/5th grade center. Montgomery county also has a magnet first and second grade at Takoma Park for gifted kids at those grades.

[Anonymous]

Another MoCo family here--and they also pulled out our reading kindergartner into a first grade reading group. One thing to keep in mind is that reading and writing instruction are generally intertwined. In our child's case, the first-grade reading group was still easy in terms of the reading, but was a good fit in terms of the writing.

I think the key thing is a responsive staff at the school. I'd definitely talk with principals and see how they respond. Having specifics to present might help (e.g. a list of books your child has read independently, along with their levels--we used the "accelerated reader" levels because they were easily available online, and at least that way we were being consistent).

Of course, as you say, your child will probably continue to get better at reading before next year and could even speed through a couple of levels if reading is really her gift and passion. I'm not sure there's any way to make that point to a teacher or principal without sounding like you're bragging. And I understand that school staffs are used to parents who think their children are exceptional--and they want to make sure everyone is being realistic. Nevertheless, you should be able to get a feel for the school's response to early reading and figure out whether it would be a good fit.

Once your child is in a school that you feel good about, you can see how the early testing/evaluations go to determine the best placement. And at that time, you can request that they do a more thorough evaluation, so that they're not just testing phoneme recognition but actually testing reading comprehension at higher elementary levels. We didn't ask about that before our child started school, but it might be good to ask principals about during your interviews, just to get a sense of their willingness to see your child as an individual and to think creatively about her education.