Is your kindergartener reading well?
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Anonymous
| There is such variation. One of my kids was reading on a 2nd grade level going into K. The other is in K now and still very slowly trying to sound out words. Both normal. One kid was really interested in learning and patient to sit down and annoyed practicing; the other thinks it's torture if I ask her to read one word in a natural activity to ease her in to the importance of reading. |
Anonymous
| My September boy, who we held back and is in pre-k again is reading quite well. Granted I taught him myself and he will enter K on about a second grade reading level by the time he goes. He is capable and enjoys it. My older child did not learn how to read well at all in K and is now diagnosed with dyslexia. Older child was an OK reader in K and is a great reader now in 7th grade. I will also teach our youngest to read by myself as well because my method is far superior than what the school does. My 5.5 year old has learned in a way that my older two never did and I see the difference. |
Anonymous
My MCPS 1st grader was supposed to be at least at an 11 by the second marking period of 1st grade, so it sounds like your K kid is on track or a bit ahead. |
Anonymous
| My son reads voraciously now, but didn't read well until mid 1st grade. It's completely fine. |
Anonymous
Please share the differences you observed. My 1st grader is just on level but her actual reading/decoding lags far behind all of her skills— not just math and other subjects, but vocabulary and comprehension, which are excellent. Wondering about this. |
Anonymous
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Do all books online & in store/library use the same guidelines to grade reading levels?
My kindergartner is reading First Little Readers Parent Pack: Guided Reading Level C: 25 Irresistible Books. So, he is reading level C? However, I have seen some books at library reading level C are more simpler or more complex. |
Anonymous
No, they don’t at all. There are SEVERAL “official” reading level systems plus publishers create their own Level 1/2/3 or whatever for “easy reader” books. Here’s a conversion chart for the official levels: https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/library/libraries/firsttuesdays/readingchart.pdf The publishers’ levels are all over the place but you can always Google “[title of book] reading level” and find at least one of the official levels, which you can convert into however your kid’s school measures things. Like MCPS uses Reading Recovery levels for ~K-2 or so. So last night we read Henry & Mudge in the Green Time. The publisher calls it a Level 2 easy reader (out of basically 3 levels). Scholastic says it is a Guided Reading Level J. The conversion chart tells me that’s about a Level 18 in Reading Recovery. My kid is in 1st and supposed to be at least at an 11 in that system at this point in the year. She was actually just measured at a 15. She read this Level 18 book pretty well, struggling with maybe 4 words, which would be about what you would expect. HTH https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/henry-and-mudge-in-the-green-time-by-cynthia-rylant/ |
Anonymous
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Oh and it looks like the “First Little Readers” set you referenced IS on Guided Reading Level C (an official measure that lots of school systems use)— if you’re in MCPS then that’s about a Level 3-4.
Books with an OFFICIAL “Guided Reading Level” of C should be around the same... but it has to have that exact verbiage. A lot of easy readers use words like guided but don’t actually mean Guided Reading Level (TM). Confusing! |
Anonymous
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My DD was terrible at reading in kindergarten and officially behind grade level when she entered first grade. She was whip smart but had zero interest in reading. She wouldn’t even let us read to her without a fight.
Finally DH got her a book she loved (Matilda) and her reading level shot up. By the end of first grade she was at a fifth grade reading level. (She still refused to read with us) Not saying this is going to happen to your son, just saying that I worried a ton for no reason at all. You’re probably doing the same. |
Anonymous
| Do most of parents here buy the books or borrow books from library to read to your kids? My son is not interested in reading, but we have a small collection of books that I have purchased over time. He is not interested in going to library, and I have problem to keep track of returning the books (because I completely forget & most of time they leave untouched at the corners). |
Anonymous
Thank you for answering my questions! |
Anonymous
I buy used. Cheaper than all those damn late fees. |
Anonymous
We're frequent fliers at the library, but I don't think that you have to be. That said, at least FCPL has all the BOB books and a bunch of I Like to Read with various guided reading levels attached, which I find helpful. You can also search the FCPL catalogue by lexile level (which isn't super helpful at the early stage in my opinion because lexile levels don't correlate to how my kindergartener is learning to read nearly as well as guided reading levels, but whatever), or Advance Reader level, which I know next to nothing about. I like using the library where possible for this stage because the books have such a short useful life in our house. My kid might read and re-read Charlotte's Web or Matilda, but she's not going to want to re-read Paul Meisel's See Me Dig in another six months, let alone another few years. Here's a smattering (besides BOB books) of kindergarten level books we've gotten at the library: * See Me Run, Paul Meisel * See Me Dig, Paul Meisel * See Me Play, Paul Meisel * Big Cat, Ethan Long * Jump, David McPhail * The Otto series by David Milgrim * Up by Joe Cepeda * I See by Joe Cepeda * I Like My Car by Michael Robertson * Pig Has a Plan by Ethan Long * Mice on Ice by Rebecca Emberly * Pug by Ethan Long * Cat Got a Lot by Steve Henry A little harder books available at the library would be the Noodles series, the Puppy Mudge series, Nola Buck's Oh Cats! or Sid and Sam, the Biscuit books (only the originals are really all that easy, the rest are like Fancy Nancy books - lumped in with easy beginning readers because of the age appeal rather than the actual ease of reading) |
Anonymous
We are heavy library users and checked out dozens of books every week at the early ready stage. We only bought favorite books. Our library usage (by number of books) slowed down once my DD switched to chapter books in 1st grade. |
Anonymous
You’re welcome! It really couldn’t be more confusing! |