what can do do to help my advanced KG girl in reading?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You implied your DS was in PreK and in a school with only 15 kids older than him. I was sharing my experiences from kindergarten and first grade in a much larger school. We have been lucky that her experiences have not been in schools that emphasized early academics in the way you describe. Paradoxically, they have had no problem meeting her needs. This is our experience at a well regarded private school. It is as much information for you as it is the OP or anyone else reading.

I do not recommend rainbow magic for boys necessarily. I'm not sure they would go for it. The Warrior series is great, as are the Sherlock Holmes books, but it is not something I am proud to expose to a 6yo. There is a lot of death--but she loves them. And she started reading them before we realized.

He's in K now, a very young K - I probably didn't make that clear. A different school, but a small one, and yeah, only a handful of kids older than him. Strangely, he wasn't the only kid reading in his PK class. Now that he's in K and at a different school there are no other readers in his class (some are just starting to read). His PK was awesome and not unduly academic at all -- he found it a lot of fun. The difference now is that in that year of PK he jumped so much (from barely reading to very fluent reading) that we do need to work with him outside school to make sure he remains challenged because it's not really happening at school.

I googled Rainbow Magic and agree with you that he likely wouldn't go for it. As you mentioned it with Magic Treehouse I was thinking it might be similar.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried non-fiction books?
After finishing most of the Magic Treehouse series, Nate the Great and Cam Jansen, our young 5 reader seems to be gravitating more towards non-fiction these days.

[Anonymous]

I miss those old biographies on famous people -- short easy reading chapter books. I am pretty sure I read all of those that my school had back when I was in 1st and 2nd grade.

Anyway - I like the idea of the magazines. Have the kid keep a couple in his/her desk to read when she has free time. It's a magazine so it's no big deal if it gets lost or thrown away. Keep the library books at home. I like the idea of a journal too. Writing is an under taught skill in elementary school. Lots of kids come into Kindergarten knowing how to read. There's good and bad to that. One of the downsides is that reading is mostly taught in 1st grade so there can be down time when reading skills are being taught. The other kids will catch up.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:ps. as a former K teacher, I would have said that your daughter scored at the top of the group--not "the" top. The reason is that some parents would go bragging to other parents and that creates problems.

NP here. My teacher doesn't have to tell me that my kid is the top of the class with reading. He's the only kid in his class -- actually the entire school -- who is reading fluently and reading complex chapter books. No one else in his class is reading anywhere close to where he is. those of us who have kids with exceptional abilities are quite aware of them.

how do you know every kid's reading ability in the whole school???

The school is small - there are less than 15 kids older than my child.

Still, why do you know every child's reading level? My child was reading chapter books in preschool, and I can guarantee you know other parent knew that.

I don't know every child's reading level, but I do know that no other child in my child's class is reading at all, and I have pushed for him to be teamed with a child or children from other classes or the grade above who is at a similar reading level and been told that there is no one.

I can't imagine how you can guarantee that no other parent knew that your child was reading chapter books in preschool. Did you make him or her keep it a secret? Did he or she not talk to other kids? Did the teacher not call on your child to read things to the class? Since preschool I've had other parents ask me about my child's reading abilities -- what we did to encourage it, etc. (the answer is nothing short of reading to him) - because they have seen him before school or during class in the reading nook with a chapter book he's bought in from home reading to himself or to a group of other children, or helping point out sight words to other kids. Most recently a couple of his friends' parents have told me that their kids told them that they want to learn to read "like [my child]". Particularly last year, I can't imagine that anyone who spent time in his PS classroom didn't notice that he was reading fluently - but I guess if a child is taught to be ashamed of their reading or to hide it it might not be so obvious.

Anyway, to get back to OPs question -- I tend to work with my child outside of school to increase comprehension. I ask him about what he's read -- who the main characters are, what is his favorite part, what has happened so far or what the book is about (if he's finished it), what he thinks might happen next, how this book compares to books in the same series etc etc. I try not to make it too taxing because at times it's clear that he just wants to read. Also, I let him pick his own books, so sometimes it's a picture book aimed at kids his age or younger, and sometimes it's a book at a 5th grade reading level with lots of text and complex story lines aimed at kids much older than him. He reads alone, but occasionally he'll sit with me and we'll alternate reading different pages. To be honest, I wish they'd do more at school but they seem content that his comprehension is on a par with his reading ability.

I'm impressed. What types of 5th grade books did your son read and how old is he?

He's 5 and he reads anything and everything at a variety of grade levels up to about 5th (not sure off the top of my head which are the highest levels here): Magic Treehouse, Roald Dahl (BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach etc), Charlotte's Web, Magic Schoolbus, Little Prince, Boxcar Children, Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Captain Underpants.... also Doctor Suess, Junie B. Jones, picture books, Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and lots of non-fiction (dinosaurs, animals, planets, human body, geography). No he doesn't understand them in the same depth as a 10 year old, but well enough to keep his attention, and for him to be able to discuss the storyline, characters etc.

Just so you know, he very well may not test at a level anywhere near the level of books he is reading for pleasure. Testing in a school setting is far more than being able to decode the words. Also, I hope you consider to have him reread some of those wonderful books when he is older. The BFG would be very difficult for a young child to understand for two reasons: 1) it is full of made up words so a child who doesn't know it is a made up word would think it was a real word and skip over it like we do as adults when we get to an unfamiliar word in our reading; and 2) it is full of mixed up idioms which would be nearly impossible for a young child to understand and get the joke. For example, the BFG might say that someone can't see the forest through the bushes. The child would have be familiar with what an idiom is, know that the true idiom is "the forest through the trees" and know what that means, and then know how the mixed up idiom is then funny. You can imagine that a 5 year old doesn't have the life experiences to understand the nuances of this book. There are also WONDERFUL picture books with incredible vocabulary which parents sometimes skip over trying to run towards chapter books.

[Anonymous]

Just so you know, I have no reason to have his reading level tested. He just reads what he wants to read, whether it's a picture book or a chapter book. He chooses.

I thought the BFG might be beyond his comprehension. It's clearly not. He shares the jokes with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just so you know, I have no reason to have his reading level tested. He just reads what he wants to read, whether it's a picture book or a chapter book. He chooses.

I thought the BFG might be beyond his comprehension. It's clearly not. He shares the jokes with me.

Impressive, then.

I would think he would struggle with words like gobblefunk, swizzfiggling, frobscottle, zozimus, flushbunking, glumptious

Let alone real words: oblong, translucent, writhe, anguish, laborious, sagacity, ingenuity, beseech, glint, desolate, girth, preambulator, nettle, lavatory, reverberated

This is just a sampling as I thumbed through our copy. Are you SURE this isn't above his level?!?!

[Anonymous]

The two PPs may be talking about different types of comprehension and both are probably right.

The parent of the child reading BFG is probably right that the child has great literal comprehension of the story and even gets some of the jokes.

But it's also possible (likely?) that at this age the child doesn't get some of the harder words and the word play in the story. That does NOT mean the story is "above his level" if he's enjoying it. Can he keep up with a middle school or high school class that compares this book to others? Maybe not but can he understand enough to be able to enjoy the plot and the characters? I'm betting yes!

[Anonymous]

There seems to be a strange misunderstanding on this board that either a child can comprehend a book or not.

In reality, it's more of a spectrum and if a child can read a certain level book for pleasure he or she does actually comprehend it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There seems to be a strange misunderstanding on this board that either a child can comprehend a book or not.

In reality, it's more of a spectrum and if a child can read a certain level book for pleasure he or she does actually comprehend it!

And he should retread them when older to appreciate more nuances that are missed now.

[Anonymous]

Yes, agree with PP, even for picture books. Our DS has been able to read chapter books for 2 years and is now going back and re-reading his old picture books. Each night he does this I hear him giggling at things he didn't notice before or asking questions about stuff he never realized he didn't understand before. It's great.
He actually reread the Polar Express the other day and said he didn't realize how sad it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, agree with PP, even for picture books. Our DS has been able to read chapter books for 2 years and is now going back and re-reading his old picture books. Each night he does this I hear him giggling at things he didn't notice before or asking questions about stuff he never realized he didn't understand before. It's great.
He actually reread the Polar Express the other day and said he didn't realize how sad it was.

We have so many books now, but I'm hanging on to the really good ones for awhile because I notice my DS goes back and re-reads them. It's kind of amazing what he understands initially, and how much more he understands if re-reads them a few years down the line.
I'm of the camp that believes that if a child reads a book and enjoys it, they are getting enough comprehension. Tangent I know, but something I've been enjoying lately is listening to audiobooks of the paper books that I really enjoyed. After actually reading the book, the audiobook (if it's a decent narrator) really makes the story come alive. Someone mentioned that this strategy might work with children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There seems to be a strange misunderstanding on this board that either a child can comprehend a book or not.

In reality, it's more of a spectrum and if a child can read a certain level book for pleasure he or she does actually comprehend it!

This is true. But there is also a strange phenomenon on this board where parents see their child one book at 5th grade level, or even one page here and there of that book, and claim their child to be reading 5th grade level books as if that is their reading level. Obviously, I can't read people's minds, but this has come out in subsequent replies time and time again.

I have had my DD assessed by professionals. She has had case studies written about her. Her reading level is all over the place during a given time. Decoding at one level, words in isolation, fluency, stamina, comprehension, literary elements, etc. All different levels. And her independent reading level at home is always higher than what she is assessed at. So, while it is true that she comprehends what she reads for pleasure, there is so much more going in reading at school. I could say she reads at a high school level on these boards, or I can say what professionals have actually assessed her at. Those who have kids not is school where assessments are taking place really have no idea. They come across as ridiculous on these forums, and people pounce on them. It is ugly, but it is also fair.

[Anonymous]

Nowhere did anyone say their child's reading level was fifth grade. Nowhere. If you made that assumption you extrapolated from a post that said something entirely different. Go back and read the posts again and then you might want to take back every single thing you just said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nowhere did anyone say their child's reading level was fifth grade. Nowhere. If you made that assumption you extrapolated from a post that said something entirely different. Go back and read the posts again and then you might want to take back every single thing you just said.

I think you need to realize you mentioned repeatedly that your DS was reading books up to a 5th grade level and you defended his comprehension of these books post after post. You made a point to compare him to a ten-year-old. Do not be so obtuse.

It is the Harry Potter effect. Once a kid can read a parent puts that book in front of them and claims a fifth grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nowhere did anyone say their child's reading level was fifth grade. Nowhere. If you made that assumption you extrapolated from a post that said something entirely different. Go back and read the posts again and then you might want to take back every single thing you just said.

I think you need to realize you mentioned repeatedly that your DS was reading books up to a 5th grade level and you defended his comprehension of these books post after post. You made a point to compare him to a ten-year-old. Do not be so obtuse.

It is the Harry Potter effect. Once a kid can read a parent puts that book in front of them and claims a fifth grade level.

+1,000,000 It is so annoying. Again, once you start having reading tests administered by someone trained at the school, you will see what we mean, OP. "Reading" at home a book that you deem to be at a "fifth grade book" is not "reading" a fifth grade book. It is decoding and getting SOMETHING out of the book, but missing a tremendous amount. People pounce on that because they have been there, done that and know what you're in for in a year or so. No one is taking away from the fact that your son sounds like a great reader. He is not, however, almost 100% for sure, "reading" a 5th grade book. He lacks the life experiences to do that.