Is it on parents to teach kids to read?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We worked on it, but could not do it on our own.

Luckily, DD goes to a private school with a phonics-based program and goes to tutoring 3 times a week. She has dyslexia.

For the 10-20% of kids with dyslexia, parents can’t just teach them.

This isn’t true. My child has dyslexia, and I’m so thankful I researched the science of reading and found ways to truly help her. In K & 1st, our school system was using the Lucy Calkins cueing crap. It was a disaster for a kid with dyslexia, especially combined with virtual school due to Covid. So a lot of my child’s foundational reading skills came from us, her parents (& thankfully school was helpful once they changed methods & she got an IEP).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former teacher and MCPS parent. I had to teach my third grader to read myself and bought a bunch of phonics books and drilled it into her in kindergarten, first and second because their old curriculum (Benchmark) was total crap. It taught the kids to guess words based on the picture and other garbage strategies to learn to read that are not grounded in evidence. My kid entered K knowing all letters and their sounds and some sight words and learned nothing from the Benchmark curriculum. It was a joke - instead of simple Bob type books to learn to sound out words she would come home with complex stories and paragraphs they expected the kindergarteners to guess read.

Half way through the kindergarten year I took control and got her additional support in school through the reading specialist who uses RGR and did nightly sessions with her that she cried through sometimes, but she is reading very well now. It’s absolutely ridiculous that MCPS ever used the Benchmark literacy curriculum and they screwed a generation of kids whose parents did not have the resources I did to teach their child.

I’m somewhat pleased about CKLA but the texts in 3rd are super dry, old fashioned, and boring. And they don’t read long form texts or books as a group from what I can gather which is also problematic, but at least they are using phonics now.

YEs! This is exactly what my kid was doing. Guessing based on the picture, or context, or figuring out the first letter and guessing based on that. He is pretty bright, so was able to guess correctly most of the time, which really hurt him in the long run. It was complete BS, teacher was never concerned and always said he was above grade level in reading, and moved him along to the next letter level on a regular basis. I also have to say the books that were leveled seed so random. These were picture books, graded readers, and non-fiction books just sharpied with the reading level on them, not part of a comprehensive literacy/phonics curriculum. And this is a top public in a wealthy district where each classroom has an aide. I can't imagine what reading instruction is like in a lesser public without resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our MCPS 3rd grader got phonics in kindergarten, but they never sent anything home about it; they just covered it at school. We never did any formal reading instruction at home, and our kid learned to read just fine and is a very good (and avid) reader now. I wouldn't assume you need to do more than read to your kid and model reading as a pastime.

That’s my experience too. Three kids, three different districts. They learned to read on time.

If your child is still going to school you have to assume that they are doing some of the teaching too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a "top public" and I consider myself basically at 30-50% homeschool. I taught him to read in K, supplemented with math over 1st grade summer, and now have had to add some spelling book work into the mix. He goes to outside math now, since his 2nd grade teacher shared a curriculum link that explained that they are only expected to add within 20 by the end of the year, and "recognize" three digit numbers. At some point we will have to add writing. I assume most other parents have not read the curriculum details, because many are not doing additional math. I am horrified, and I went to a crappy public.

We were in a similar situation, and after years of saving our kids are now at private. It's not even a top private, and the difference is night and day. My kids were in advanced math and the math in public is the only thing that is close to the regular track our private offers (and our private also offers some math acceleration, though probably not enough for the most advanced kids).

At one point my H said, "If we just send them to private, will you stop supplementing so much?" and I was like "YES!" and it has been true.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but most people do it before K. So then in K they can pick up whatever the school does teach.

My oldest was a covid K kid, and we homeschooled and then went to private for 1st and 2nd. He could read at age 4. Started my second in public K, but had learned to teach her before then. So, I can say that private schools are generally much better at teaching reading than public, but in both cases you should do it at home before starting K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a "top public" and I consider myself basically at 30-50% homeschool. I taught him to read in K, supplemented with math over 1st grade summer, and now have had to add some spelling book work into the mix. He goes to outside math now, since his 2nd grade teacher shared a curriculum link that explained that they are only expected to add within 20 by the end of the year, and "recognize" three digit numbers. At some point we will have to add writing. I assume most other parents have not read the curriculum details, because many are not doing additional math. I am horrified, and I went to a crappy public.

We were in a similar situation, and after years of saving our kids are now at private. It's not even a top private, and the difference is night and day. My kids were in advanced math and the math in public is the only thing that is close to the regular track our private offers (and our private also offers some math acceleration, though probably not enough for the most advanced kids).

At one point my H said, "If we just send them to private, will you stop supplementing so much?" and I was like "YES!" and it has been true.

My husband and I have the same conversation. I've kept him in public because 98% of our neighborhood goes public, and I don't want him to be a social outcast. I also don't know the privates around me well enough to be confident that paying $30k a year (I refuse to sent him to Catholic or boys only, due to how DH turned out) would solve the problems I have with public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a "top public" and I consider myself basically at 30-50% homeschool. I taught him to read in K, supplemented with math over 1st grade summer, and now have had to add some spelling book work into the mix. He goes to outside math now, since his 2nd grade teacher shared a curriculum link that explained that they are only expected to add within 20 by the end of the year, and "recognize" three digit numbers. At some point we will have to add writing. I assume most other parents have not read the curriculum details, because many are not doing additional math. I am horrified, and I went to a crappy public.

We were in a similar situation, and after years of saving our kids are now at private. It's not even a top private, and the difference is night and day. My kids were in advanced math and the math in public is the only thing that is close to the regular track our private offers (and our private also offers some math acceleration, though probably not enough for the most advanced kids).

At one point my H said, "If we just send them to private, will you stop supplementing so much?" and I was like "YES!" and it has been true.

I would love to know what workbooks or resources they use in private. Do they use Chromebooks/iPads in elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but most people do it before K. So then in K they can pick up whatever the school does teach.

My oldest was a covid K kid, and we homeschooled and then went to private for 1st and 2nd. He could read at age 4. Started my second in public K, but had learned to teach her before then. So, I can say that private schools are generally much better at teaching reading than public, but in both cases you should do it at home before starting K.

MOST people do NOT do this before K. You must live in some crazy DCUM bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a "top public" and I consider myself basically at 30-50% homeschool. I taught him to read in K, supplemented with math over 1st grade summer, and now have had to add some spelling book work into the mix. He goes to outside math now, since his 2nd grade teacher shared a curriculum link that explained that they are only expected to add within 20 by the end of the year, and "recognize" three digit numbers. At some point we will have to add writing. I assume most other parents have not read the curriculum details, because many are not doing additional math. I am horrified, and I went to a crappy public.

We were in a similar situation, and after years of saving our kids are now at private. It's not even a top private, and the difference is night and day. My kids were in advanced math and the math in public is the only thing that is close to the regular track our private offers (and our private also offers some math acceleration, though probably not enough for the most advanced kids).

At one point my H said, "If we just send them to private, will you stop supplementing so much?" and I was like "YES!" and it has been true.

I would love to know what workbooks or resources they use in private. Do they use Chromebooks/iPads in elementary school?

My daughter is in 2nd grade at a private school.

They don’t use Chromebooks or iPads at all.

They use an Orton Gillingham based phonics curriculum, which is the gold standard for teaching kids to read. It’s all paper and pencil.

They also systematically teach handwriting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a "top public" and I consider myself basically at 30-50% homeschool. I taught him to read in K, supplemented with math over 1st grade summer, and now have had to add some spelling book work into the mix. He goes to outside math now, since his 2nd grade teacher shared a curriculum link that explained that they are only expected to add within 20 by the end of the year, and "recognize" three digit numbers. At some point we will have to add writing. I assume most other parents have not read the curriculum details, because many are not doing additional math. I am horrified, and I went to a crappy public.

We were in a similar situation, and after years of saving our kids are now at private. It's not even a top private, and the difference is night and day. My kids were in advanced math and the math in public is the only thing that is close to the regular track our private offers (and our private also offers some math acceleration, though probably not enough for the most advanced kids).

At one point my H said, "If we just send them to private, will you stop supplementing so much?" and I was like "YES!" and it has been true.

I would love to know what workbooks or resources they use in private. Do they use Chromebooks/iPads in elementary school?

No regular Chromebook or iPad useage. Typing during library (sometimes, many weeks they do a readaloud) and there is a computer cart that comes around sometimes for a special occasion, but that's not really different than when I was in elementary in the 90s and trips to the library to play Oregon Trail were a big deal. There is some computer use they suggest you do at home. The recommended computer usage is for typing practice. They also somewhat encourage websites for math fact practice (either Xtramath or Math Fact Lab) at home, but for math facts they also say you can do flashcards or a non-computer review option instead.

Spelling comes from Houghton Mifflin, as does vocabulary. Grammar is Easy Grammar (and the joke is that Easy Grammar is far from easy) and the related Daily Grams. Since my kids are too old for learn-to-read type curricula I don't know what they use for that. Upper elementary reading is a whole class novel study with pretty impressive comprehension and analysis done afterwards. Writing is different units, but there's much more formal instruction on how to do different types of writing than we're used to from public and also a lot more five paragraph essay type work. I don't know if there's a base curriculum - I don't see one if there is. Math is Singapore. Science has possibly been the biggest positive surprise - they do a ton of hands on labs! No idea where the science teacher gets them from, unfortunately. They aren't different than the kinds of things you can find on Pinterest, it's just that now my kids do them during the school day instead of over the summer.

[Anonymous]

No, always read aloud a lot though. Both kids learned by November in Kindergarten (private school)
During the first few months of the pandemic we used iPads to read ebooks, since schools were closed and so were libraries. Otherwise, they use iPads in "technology" classes, 30 mins a week, not as a resource for reading in any way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a "top public" and I consider myself basically at 30-50% homeschool. I taught him to read in K, supplemented with math over 1st grade summer, and now have had to add some spelling book work into the mix. He goes to outside math now, since his 2nd grade teacher shared a curriculum link that explained that they are only expected to add within 20 by the end of the year, and "recognize" three digit numbers. At some point we will have to add writing. I assume most other parents have not read the curriculum details, because many are not doing additional math. I am horrified, and I went to a crappy public.

We were in a similar situation, and after years of saving our kids are now at private. It's not even a top private, and the difference is night and day. My kids were in advanced math and the math in public is the only thing that is close to the regular track our private offers (and our private also offers some math acceleration, though probably not enough for the most advanced kids).

At one point my H said, "If we just send them to private, will you stop supplementing so much?" and I was like "YES!" and it has been true.

I would love to know what workbooks or resources they use in private. Do they use Chromebooks/iPads in elementary school?

No regular Chromebook or iPad useage. Typing during library (sometimes, many weeks they do a readaloud) and there is a computer cart that comes around sometimes for a special occasion, but that's not really different than when I was in elementary in the 90s and trips to the library to play Oregon Trail were a big deal. There is some computer use they suggest you do at home. The recommended computer usage is for typing practice. They also somewhat encourage websites for math fact practice (either Xtramath or Math Fact Lab) at home, but for math facts they also say you can do flashcards or a non-computer review option instead.

Spelling comes from Houghton Mifflin, as does vocabulary. Grammar is Easy Grammar (and the joke is that Easy Grammar is far from easy) and the related Daily Grams. Since my kids are too old for learn-to-read type curricula I don't know what they use for that. Upper elementary reading is a whole class novel study with pretty impressive comprehension and analysis done afterwards. Writing is different units, but there's much more formal instruction on how to do different types of writing than we're used to from public and also a lot more five paragraph essay type work. I don't know if there's a base curriculum - I don't see one if there is. Math is Singapore. Science has possibly been the biggest positive surprise - they do a ton of hands on labs! No idea where the science teacher gets them from, unfortunately. They aren't different than the kinds of things you can find on Pinterest, it's just that now my kids do them during the school day instead of over the summer.

I’m the poster who posted above about my 2nd grader.

We’ve been thrilled with the science curriculum. This year they’ve gone to the Chesapeake Bay as part of a unit on ecosystems and later in the year they’ll dissect a cow’s eye.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but most people do it before K. So then in K they can pick up whatever the school does teach.

My oldest was a covid K kid, and we homeschooled and then went to private for 1st and 2nd. He could read at age 4. Started my second in public K, but had learned to teach her before then. So, I can say that private schools are generally much better at teaching reading than public, but in both cases you should do it at home before starting K.

MOST people do NOT do this before K. You must live in some crazy DCUM bubble.

I mean maybe, but this is DCUM. Everyone I know taught their kids to read before K. Not everyone was fluent by K, but they had all gone through the bob books or whatever method they chose. If you live in the DC area and are not doing this you will be in the minority.

[Anonymous]

All my kids learned to read without very much help on my part, other than reading books to them at night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think supporting your kids in learning to read, and developing a love of reading, is a parent's job. I don't think that means you have to use a formal curriculum before or during K. Reading with your kids and practicing sounding words out will get most kids there eventually. It's important to make reading enjoyable.

This. My aunt was a K teacher and I asked her what my kids needed to be ready for K. She said social skills, waiting turns, ABCs and motor skills.

None of my kids were seriously reading before K - they knew some words from their books, their names, but I certainly didn't have a curriculum or program. I also believe there is more to brain development in a young child than what an adult necessarily understands or values. I wanted my kids to be kids. They've all learned to read at school in time and are bright and healthy and happy.