Falling behind at K level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I forgot to mention that he also has speech delay. My older child is a special need child and he can read chapter books and does multiplication at age 5. Not for comparison, I would never expect that my younger child would struggle with reading/writing and he is not good with math. He has IEP or child find program since 1 year old, so I have been keeping track of his development. Preschool teacher has tried extra effort to do 1:1 on him, and it took him a long long time to learn phonics. His IQ seems fine, but I wonder if he is dyslexia. He is going to 1st grade, and we are not holding him back.

Don't compare kids. MCPS ES curriculum is not very good. I would get a reading tutor and ask his private SLP to work on it. My speech disordered kid was reading very early, other kids I know were but many were not. Our SLP did a lot of visual work and we read a lot at home. We used apps and workbooks as well. Handwriting/writing was delayed and we did about 10-20 minutes a day of Kumon workbooks and it really helped (not the class, just the workbooks). And, if he's not in private speech get him in private speech. Phonics never worked for my kid. It was sight reading. We also used the CC for videos and did a lot of reading vidoes.

Do you have a kid using the new curriculum in K? I have heard good things about it. Not to say this parent/child may not need more, just wondering if your assessment that the curriculum is not good is based on the current curriculum or a previous one.

No but even if it’s better it’s not working for op child.

It might be working fine but the expectaions for a kindergartener are too high and unrealistic.

Expectations are not high. He's 5. You learn to read, write and do very basic math. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get your child caught up.

They are high. There was no expectation to be able to read anything when I was in kindergarten. It was a half day and we learned one letter a week. Now our pre-k students do that.

In Finland, kids don’t even start academic school until 7 and they have the highest scores in the world. I know that there are other factors contributing to those scores, but it shows that you can wait to teach a kid to read at 7 and they’ll be just fine, not behind.

https://www.eurotopics.net/en/295130/drop-in-finnish-education-levels-what-should-be-done

“ Once the Pisa frontrunner, Finland's education scores are now declining. A new report published by the Finnish Ministry of Education paints a gloomy picture of educational standards in the country. It shows that in the last two decades the scores in reading and maths tests have dropped by one or two school years, and that those born in 1978 are the best educated section of the population.”

Perhaps you should rethink your Finnish infatuation.

[Anonymous]

Op here. His IEP had speech, math and reading/phonics goals before he attended kindergarten. I know it is rare that they list academic goals on kindergarten IEP but they believe that he may need it based on the observations from PEP programs for 2 years. He attended both private preschool and PEP programs at age 4/5. Now they drop the math goals, but they have increased to pull him out for 1:1 intervention time for phonics/reading every week. His homeroom teacher is concerned about his reading level at last parent teacher conference. She mentioned once that some non English speaking kids with no preschool background have caught up and have made bigger progresses than my child on speech and reading. My son is not making much progress than the school has hoped for.

I hope that as some PP say that he will catch up and can read one day. That is my wish. Thank you for all suggestions, and I will look into them. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I forgot to mention that he also has speech delay. My older child is a special need child and he can read chapter books and does multiplication at age 5. Not for comparison, I would never expect that my younger child would struggle with reading/writing and he is not good with math. He has IEP or child find program since 1 year old, so I have been keeping track of his development. Preschool teacher has tried extra effort to do 1:1 on him, and it took him a long long time to learn phonics. His IQ seems fine, but I wonder if he is dyslexia. He is going to 1st grade, and we are not holding him back.

Don't compare kids. MCPS ES curriculum is not very good. I would get a reading tutor and ask his private SLP to work on it. My speech disordered kid was reading very early, other kids I know were but many were not. Our SLP did a lot of visual work and we read a lot at home. We used apps and workbooks as well. Handwriting/writing was delayed and we did about 10-20 minutes a day of Kumon workbooks and it really helped (not the class, just the workbooks). And, if he's not in private speech get him in private speech. Phonics never worked for my kid. It was sight reading. We also used the CC for videos and did a lot of reading vidoes.

Do you have a kid using the new curriculum in K? I have heard good things about it. Not to say this parent/child may not need more, just wondering if your assessment that the curriculum is not good is based on the current curriculum or a previous one.

No but even if it’s better it’s not working for op child.

It might be working fine but the expectaions for a kindergartener are too high and unrealistic.

For some. There is also plenty of K students who are doing just fine. And the problem isn’t the expectations of kindergarteners, it’s the expectation of Teachers given the constraints.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. His IEP had speech, math and reading/phonics goals before he attended kindergarten. I know it is rare that they list academic goals on kindergarten IEP but they believe that he may need it based on the observations from PEP programs for 2 years. He attended both private preschool and PEP programs at age 4/5. Now they drop the math goals, but they have increased to pull him out for 1:1 intervention time for phonics/reading every week. His homeroom teacher is concerned about his reading level at last parent teacher conference. She mentioned once that some non English speaking kids with no preschool background have caught up and have made bigger progresses than my child on speech and reading. My son is not making much progress than the school has hoped for.

I hope that as some PP say that he will catch up and can read one day. That is my wish. Thank you for all suggestions, and I will look into them. Thank you.

Are you doing private speech? If not you need to do it 2-3 times a week and get a reading tutor. Do not rely on MCPS to catch him up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I forgot to mention that he also has speech delay. My older child is a special need child and he can read chapter books and does multiplication at age 5. Not for comparison, I would never expect that my younger child would struggle with reading/writing and he is not good with math. He has IEP or child find program since 1 year old, so I have been keeping track of his development. Preschool teacher has tried extra effort to do 1:1 on him, and it took him a long long time to learn phonics. His IQ seems fine, but I wonder if he is dyslexia. He is going to 1st grade, and we are not holding him back.

Don't compare kids. MCPS ES curriculum is not very good. I would get a reading tutor and ask his private SLP to work on it. My speech disordered kid was reading very early, other kids I know were but many were not. Our SLP did a lot of visual work and we read a lot at home. We used apps and workbooks as well. Handwriting/writing was delayed and we did about 10-20 minutes a day of Kumon workbooks and it really helped (not the class, just the workbooks). And, if he's not in private speech get him in private speech. Phonics never worked for my kid. It was sight reading. We also used the CC for videos and did a lot of reading vidoes.

Do you have a kid using the new curriculum in K? I have heard good things about it. Not to say this parent/child may not need more, just wondering if your assessment that the curriculum is not good is based on the current curriculum or a previous one.

No but even if it’s better it’s not working for op child.

It might be working fine but the expectaions for a kindergartener are too high and unrealistic.

For some. There is also plenty of K students who are doing just fine. And the problem isn’t the expectations of kindergarteners, it’s the expectation of Teachers given the constraints.

The expectations aren't a problem, its parents like you talking about them but doing nothing to support their kids at home. They are developed for 5 year olds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I forgot to mention that he also has speech delay. My older child is a special need child and he can read chapter books and does multiplication at age 5. Not for comparison, I would never expect that my younger child would struggle with reading/writing and he is not good with math. He has IEP or child find program since 1 year old, so I have been keeping track of his development. Preschool teacher has tried extra effort to do 1:1 on him, and it took him a long long time to learn phonics. His IQ seems fine, but I wonder if he is dyslexia. He is going to 1st grade, and we are not holding him back.

Don't compare kids. MCPS ES curriculum is not very good. I would get a reading tutor and ask his private SLP to work on it. My speech disordered kid was reading very early, other kids I know were but many were not. Our SLP did a lot of visual work and we read a lot at home. We used apps and workbooks as well. Handwriting/writing was delayed and we did about 10-20 minutes a day of Kumon workbooks and it really helped (not the class, just the workbooks). And, if he's not in private speech get him in private speech. Phonics never worked for my kid. It was sight reading. We also used the CC for videos and did a lot of reading vidoes.

Do you have a kid using the new curriculum in K? I have heard good things about it. Not to say this parent/child may not need more, just wondering if your assessment that the curriculum is not good is based on the current curriculum or a previous one.

No but even if it’s better it’s not working for op child.

It might be working fine but the expectaions for a kindergartener are too high and unrealistic.

For some. There is also plenty of K students who are doing just fine. And the problem isn’t the expectations of kindergarteners, it’s the expectation of Teachers given the constraints.

The expectations aren't a problem, its parents like you talking about them but doing nothing to support their kids at home. They are developed for 5 year olds.

With the new curicullum, are teachers sending home anything to reinforce what they're learning at school, or at least provde a weekly/monthly list of the sounds they're going over? RGR was a vast improvement over Benchmark alone but I still had no idea what they were doing unless I asked, and I hated pestering the teacher every week. And they were still sending home Benchmark "books" which did not align at all with the reading level. I bought decodable books on my own but I know I wasn't the only parent who felt a bit lost as to *how* to support my child.

My sister's kids are in a british school where phonics instruction is started in reception (equivalent of pre-K here) but it just seems much more structured and thought out. They get weekly updates on what the children have been learning, example videos of how sounds and blending are taught, and little decodable readers sent home at the end of the week. Much easier for parents to support their kid with a little guidance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I forgot to mention that he also has speech delay. My older child is a special need child and he can read chapter books and does multiplication at age 5. Not for comparison, I would never expect that my younger child would struggle with reading/writing and he is not good with math. He has IEP or child find program since 1 year old, so I have been keeping track of his development. Preschool teacher has tried extra effort to do 1:1 on him, and it took him a long long time to learn phonics. His IQ seems fine, but I wonder if he is dyslexia. He is going to 1st grade, and we are not holding him back.

Don't compare kids. MCPS ES curriculum is not very good. I would get a reading tutor and ask his private SLP to work on it. My speech disordered kid was reading very early, other kids I know were but many were not. Our SLP did a lot of visual work and we read a lot at home. We used apps and workbooks as well. Handwriting/writing was delayed and we did about 10-20 minutes a day of Kumon workbooks and it really helped (not the class, just the workbooks). And, if he's not in private speech get him in private speech. Phonics never worked for my kid. It was sight reading. We also used the CC for videos and did a lot of reading vidoes.

Do you have a kid using the new curriculum in K? I have heard good things about it. Not to say this parent/child may not need more, just wondering if your assessment that the curriculum is not good is based on the current curriculum or a previous one.

No but even if it’s better it’s not working for op child.

It might be working fine but the expectaions for a kindergartener are too high and unrealistic.

For some. There is also plenty of K students who are doing just fine. And the problem isn’t the expectations of kindergarteners, it’s the expectation of Teachers given the constraints.

The expectations aren't a problem, its parents like you talking about them but doing nothing to support their kids at home. They are developed for 5 year olds.

With the new curicullum, are teachers sending home anything to reinforce what they're learning at school, or at least provde a weekly/monthly list of the sounds they're going over? RGR was a vast improvement over Benchmark alone but I still had no idea what they were doing unless I asked, and I hated pestering the teacher every week. And they were still sending home Benchmark "books" which did not align at all with the reading level. I bought decodable books on my own but I know I wasn't the only parent who felt a bit lost as to *how* to support my child.

My sister's kids are in a british school where phonics instruction is started in reception (equivalent of pre-K here) but it just seems much more structured and thought out. They get weekly updates on what the children have been learning, example videos of how sounds and blending are taught, and little decodable readers sent home at the end of the week. Much easier for parents to support their kid with a little guidance.

If you google, you should be able to find information on RGR or Benchmark. However, most teachers in MCPS don't communicate with parents or let them know what's going on so plan to be on your own like you were and find ways to support them outside of it. Its ok to pester the teacher every week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. His IEP had speech, math and reading/phonics goals before he attended kindergarten. I know it is rare that they list academic goals on kindergarten IEP but they believe that he may need it based on the observations from PEP programs for 2 years. He attended both private preschool and PEP programs at age 4/5. Now they drop the math goals, but they have increased to pull him out for 1:1 intervention time for phonics/reading every week. His homeroom teacher is concerned about his reading level at last parent teacher conference. She mentioned once that some non English speaking kids with no preschool background have caught up and have made bigger progresses than my child on speech and reading. My son is not making much progress than the school has hoped for.

I hope that as some PP say that he will catch up and can read one day. That is my wish. Thank you for all suggestions, and I will look into them. Thank you.

What exactly are his phonics/reading goals? What curriculum is being used? What assessments show he is below grade level in reading?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I forgot to mention that he also has speech delay. My older child is a special need child and he can read chapter books and does multiplication at age 5. Not for comparison, I would never expect that my younger child would struggle with reading/writing and he is not good with math. He has IEP or child find program since 1 year old, so I have been keeping track of his development. Preschool teacher has tried extra effort to do 1:1 on him, and it took him a long long time to learn phonics. His IQ seems fine, but I wonder if he is dyslexia. He is going to 1st grade, and we are not holding him back.

Don't compare kids. MCPS ES curriculum is not very good. I would get a reading tutor and ask his private SLP to work on it. My speech disordered kid was reading very early, other kids I know were but many were not. Our SLP did a lot of visual work and we read a lot at home. We used apps and workbooks as well. Handwriting/writing was delayed and we did about 10-20 minutes a day of Kumon workbooks and it really helped (not the class, just the workbooks). And, if he's not in private speech get him in private speech. Phonics never worked for my kid. It was sight reading. We also used the CC for videos and did a lot of reading vidoes.

Do you have a kid using the new curriculum in K? I have heard good things about it. Not to say this parent/child may not need more, just wondering if your assessment that the curriculum is not good is based on the current curriculum or a previous one.

No but even if it’s better it’s not working for op child.

It might be working fine but the expectaions for a kindergartener are too high and unrealistic.

For some. There is also plenty of K students who are doing just fine. And the problem isn’t the expectations of kindergarteners, it’s the expectation of Teachers given the constraints.

The expectations aren't a problem, its parents like you talking about them but doing nothing to support their kids at home. They are developed for 5 year olds.

With the new curicullum, are teachers sending home anything to reinforce what they're learning at school, or at least provde a weekly/monthly list of the sounds they're going over? RGR was a vast improvement over Benchmark alone but I still had no idea what they were doing unless I asked, and I hated pestering the teacher every week. And they were still sending home Benchmark "books" which did not align at all with the reading level. I bought decodable books on my own but I know I wasn't the only parent who felt a bit lost as to *how* to support my child.

My sister's kids are in a british school where phonics instruction is started in reception (equivalent of pre-K here) but it just seems much more structured and thought out. They get weekly updates on what the children have been learning, example videos of how sounds and blending are taught, and little decodable readers sent home at the end of the week. Much easier for parents to support their kid with a little guidance.

If you google, you should be able to find information on RGR or Benchmark. However, most teachers in MCPS don't communicate with parents or let them know what's going on so plan to be on your own like you were and find ways to support them outside of it. Its ok to pester the teacher every week.

Benchmark is terrible, there was no need to do anything extra with it at home, lol. And sure, parents can Google, but that's an extra step and considering how many non-native English speakers there are in MCPS who didn't grow up in an American system, slightly improved communication can go a long way. I guess teachers would rather field potentially 20 emails rather than send out one to the class? Shrug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. His IEP had speech, math and reading/phonics goals before he attended kindergarten. I know it is rare that they list academic goals on kindergarten IEP but they believe that he may need it based on the observations from PEP programs for 2 years. He attended both private preschool and PEP programs at age 4/5. Now they drop the math goals, but they have increased to pull him out for 1:1 intervention time for phonics/reading every week. His homeroom teacher is concerned about his reading level at last parent teacher conference. She mentioned once that some non English speaking kids with no preschool background have caught up and have made bigger progresses than my child on speech and reading. My son is not making much progress than the school has hoped for.

I hope that as some PP say that he will catch up and can read one day. That is my wish. Thank you for all suggestions, and I will look into them. Thank you.

What exactly are his phonics/reading goals? What curriculum is being used? What assessments show he is below grade level in reading?

This is what I was going to ask- what is the concern based on? Dibels assessments? It sounds like the teacher is concerned so I would meet with her and the reading specialist to ask what the next steps are. I know people are throwing around different at-home curiculla to try, but I would see first what reources exist within the current cucricullum rather than introducing something new (I personally used All About Reading but this was before MCPS was teaching phonics). It may be that it's worth investing in a private tutor for a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kindergartener struggles with reading and writing. He has IEP, and homeroom teacher and special educator admit that he is falling behind. He attended daycare and then preschool since 6 months old, and there's no other language spoken at home/school except English.

Other than worrying, what could I do to help my son? Any advice? I don't believe he will catch up because I had the same concern since he was 3 years old. Everyone tells me he will be okay, omg. We have paid a few thousands for evaluation(s) for the last few years, other than ADHD diagnosis, we have no clue why he can't read with phonics and why he can't spell. He knows abc, almost all letter sounds, and he recognizes a few words. He can only write his name, mom, dad, his pet name and I love you.

App? Tutoring? Free resources? Any free volunteering help?

First off, I think you are right to stay on top of this, because confidence and frustration will only get worse next year. Admittedly it has been a few years since my kids were in kindergarten, but what are the expecations for reading and spelling at this point, 6 months into the school year? CVC words? You say he's been struggling since he was 3, was he in a structured phonics program before kindergarten or is this is first year? You say he knows all of his letter sounds, is he struggling to blend the sounds and are they working on that with him? I agree with the PP that you should set up a meeting with his teacher and the school reading specialist to see if you can figure out more where the breakdown is occuring, and potentially get recommendations for outside tutoring. For some kids it DOES take longer for decoding to click, but that doesn't mean there aren't things you can do to help him practice.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't get too worked up about the spelling because MCPS is terrible at teaching that, so I wouldn't expect a kindergartener especially to be able to spell much of anything. Focus on reading first. Keep reading to them, make sure they read to you for 20 minutes, and go over the flashcards every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't get too worked up about the spelling because MCPS is terrible at teaching that, so I wouldn't expect a kindergartener especially to be able to spell much of anything. Focus on reading first. Keep reading to them, make sure they read to you for 20 minutes, and go over the flashcards every day.

At this point in kindergarten, students should be fairly solid in spelling CVC words. In addition, knowing how to spell common sight words is important too so that they can write simple sentences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't get too worked up about the spelling because MCPS is terrible at teaching that, so I wouldn't expect a kindergartener especially to be able to spell much of anything. Focus on reading first. Keep reading to them, make sure they read to you for 20 minutes, and go over the flashcards every day.

At this point in kindergarten, students should be fairly solid in spelling CVC words. In addition, knowing how to spell common sight words is important too so that they can write simple sentences.

So they teach spelling now? That's actually good to hear. When my DC was in kinder and 1st they would have the kids "write" things but never corrected the spelling mistakes. First spelling test they have ever had is this year in 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't get too worked up about the spelling because MCPS is terrible at teaching that, so I wouldn't expect a kindergartener especially to be able to spell much of anything. Focus on reading first. Keep reading to them, make sure they read to you for 20 minutes, and go over the flashcards every day.

At this point in kindergarten, students should be fairly solid in spelling CVC words. In addition, knowing how to spell common sight words is important too so that they can write simple sentences.

So they teach spelling now? That's actually good to hear. When my DC was in kinder and 1st they would have the kids "write" things but never corrected the spelling mistakes. First spelling test they have ever had is this year in 4th grade.

Inventive spelling is expected until students learn that particular spelling pattern. Let’s say a kindergarten student writes, “I lik cande.” That’s perfect because they’ve written what they hear. They haven’t learned silent e yet or that y can make a vowel sound at the end of a word. After they learn that, yes, their spelling should be corrected. You don’t want them to avoid writing anything because they are hung up on spelling everything correctly.