If your Kindergartner read before K, how do you keep him/her challenged?

[Anonymous]

Our DC has been able to read for about six months. We've started K, and the work seems SO simple. No behavior problems due to boredom, but I am just waiting for the call.

Should I talk to the teacher? Or wait for a bit and see what happens?

[Anonymous]

Defiitely call the teacher. Give her a list of the type of books your child can read and tell her to make sure child is getting more work along those lines. I think there are also websites online where you can direct the teacher to provide more advanced work for your child. Research those and provide her with links in a follow up email. She will appreciate the advice. I'm willing to bet she has not seen a child who could already read for 6 MONTHS already upon entering k!

[Anonymous]

My DS can read fluently and started K. They're doing art, math, Spanish, ELA (which I assume is both pre-writing and pre-reading), PE, music, etc. The "work" they do is only a small part of it.

At home, I supply him with interesting books to read, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as discuss books, reading, writing, spelling, numbers and math, etc.

[Anonymous]

I would not talk to the teacher. K are learning how to socialize and follow instructions at the moment. For our early reader, the teacher sent our DC to the reading corner during reading time and DC was allowed to pick any book and read quietly until the lesson was over. No boredom, no behavior problems and no need to point out to the teacher that our DC already knew how to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Defiitely call the teacher. Give her a list of the type of books your child can read and tell her to make sure child is getting more work along those lines. I think there are also websites online where you can direct the teacher to provide more advanced work for your child. Research those and provide her with links in a follow up email. She will appreciate the advice. I'm willing to bet she has not seen a child who could already read for 6 MONTHS already upon entering k!

DO NOT DO THIS. "She will appreciate the advice??" No, no she won't. Teachers are very good at recognizing kids ability levels. Unless she's a complete dolt, she'll be able to keep him challenged. Give her the benefit of the doubt - I wouldn't just assume that she's stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Defiitely call the teacher. Give her a list of the type of books your child can read and tell her to make sure child is getting more work along those lines. I think there are also websites online where you can direct the teacher to provide more advanced work for your child. Research those and provide her with links in a follow up email. She will appreciate the advice. I'm willing to bet she has not seen a child who could already read for 6 MONTHS already upon entering k!

DO NOT DO THIS. "She will appreciate the advice??" No, no she won't. Teachers are very good at recognizing kids ability levels. Unless she's a complete dolt, she'll be able to keep him challenged. Give her the benefit of the doubt - I wouldn't just assume that she's stupid.

Oh, wait. Is my sarcasm meter broken. I HAVE ONLY HAD ONE CUP OF COFFEE TODAY. My bad.

[Anonymous]

Supplement at home. She does not care and has to get the other kids reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Defiitely call the teacher. Give her a list of the type of books your child can read and tell her to make sure child is getting more work along those lines. I think there are also websites online where you can direct the teacher to provide more advanced work for your child. Research those and provide her with links in a follow up email. She will appreciate the advice. I'm willing to bet she has not seen a child who could already read for 6 MONTHS already upon entering k!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Defiitely call the teacher. Give her a list of the type of books your child can read and tell her to make sure child is getting more work along those lines. I think there are also websites online where you can direct the teacher to provide more advanced work for your child. Research those and provide her with links in a follow up email. She will appreciate the advice. I'm willing to bet she has not seen a child who could already read for 6 MONTHS already upon entering k!

Huh, some kids read at 3-4. Reading 6 months before K. is great, but many kids are reading before entering K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Defiitely call the teacher. Give her a list of the type of books your child can read and tell her to make sure child is getting more work along those lines. I think there are also websites online where you can direct the teacher to provide more advanced work for your child. Research those and provide her with links in a follow up email. She will appreciate the advice. I'm willing to bet she has not seen a child who could already read for 6 MONTHS already upon entering k!

Huh, some kids read at 3-4. Reading 6 months before K. is great, but many kids are reading before entering K.

OP here. I assume this is sarcasm as a PP pointed out. Not helpful, and really not my point, but it's not a DCUM post without at least on snarky comment.

I appreciate the PP re: quiet reading time. I just wasn't sure how they handle it and we haven't talked to the teacher except for an intro at parents' night. I thought it would be helpful to point out in attempt to make her life easier (heading off a behavioral problem), but we'll see if that arises. Glad to hear it isn't inevitable either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Defiitely call the teacher. Give her a list of the type of books your child can read and tell her to make sure child is getting more work along those lines. I think there are also websites online where you can direct the teacher to provide more advanced work for your child. Research those and provide her with links in a follow up email. She will appreciate the advice. I'm willing to bet she has not seen a child who could already read for 6 MONTHS already upon entering k!

Yes, this is the advice to follow OP.

Make sure to write on the home reading log that your child is already reading so that the teacher knows every single time she reviews your log. The teacher might forget.

It's too bad Back to School Night has passed. I also would have advised asking in front of all the other parents how the teacher plans to challenge your child who is already reading.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's still only September. Teachers are assessing kids right now, and she probably has a better handle than you think on your child's reading ability. Have you had P-T conferences yet? She'll probably talk to you about it as part of his broader classroom performance so far. In the meantime, give him lots of options to read at home, and also really challenge his comprehension. One thing my DC's teacher said at back to school night is that parents might be surprised at the initial reading level assessments she gives, since in her experience a lot of kids are more advanced in fluency than they are in comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Defiitely call the teacher. Give her a list of the type of books your child can read and tell her to make sure child is getting more work along those lines. I think there are also websites online where you can direct the teacher to provide more advanced work for your child. Research those and provide her with links in a follow up email. She will appreciate the advice. I'm willing to bet she has not seen a child who could already read for 6 MONTHS already upon entering k!

Huh, some kids read at 3-4. Reading 6 months before K. is great, but many kids are reading before entering K.

OP here. I assume this is sarcasm as a PP pointed out. Not helpful, and really not my point, but it's not a DCUM post without at least on snarky comment.

I appreciate the PP re: quiet reading time. I just wasn't sure how they handle it and we haven't talked to the teacher except for an intro at parents' night. I thought it would be helpful to point out in attempt to make her life easier (heading off a behavioral problem), but we'll see if that arises. Glad to hear it isn't inevitable either.

You're getting sarcasm because you assume that the teacher will be baffled and clueless in this situation and has never seen this situation before. She/he is a professional. This is a pretty standard issue for a K teacher.

They change up activities very regularly in K. No kids, readers or non-readers, should be bored for long. Point being, if you have a kid with behavioral problems, boredom shouldn't be the reason (assuming your kid has a decent teacher).

[Anonymous]

OP, MANY Kers are reading. Trust that your teacher has a plan to accommodate everyone - or just ask her about it. Something like, "how do you work with kids of varying reading ability?" etc. just to find out how.

[Anonymous]

Lots of kids in my DC's class were strong readers before K. Don't worry, teachers have BTDT.