quick show of hands...

[Anonymous]

How many of your kids entering kindergarten in the fall can already read? I'll go first: My kid can't --- and I think that's okay --- but I'm a little freaked out thanks to conversations I've had with teachers/administrators at MCPS.

[Anonymous]

neither can mine. She can spell familiar words and knows all of her letters, but can't read yet. Not freaking out. All in good time.

[Anonymous]

Mine can but it wasn't really b/c of me. He pretty much picked it up naturally. But I would think he would be in the minority. They usually do informal assessments to determine where to place your kindergartener anyway so I wouldn't be concerned.

[Anonymous]

DS just finished K in the spring and can now read site words (it, if, the, and, so, my, he, etc...). When he went in, he recognized his letters, could write them and knew his letter sounds -- but only because I worked on this with him over the summer. We made it a game, so he got into it. DD (now 8) was already sounding out words when she started K, but was not reading. She's a very advanced reader now. I think there are some bright kids who can read when they start K, but I think they are the exception to the rule, personally. The county will give you guidelines about where they expect your child to be at before they start school -- they are NOT expected to be reading.

[Anonymous]

My rising kindergartener can read fluently, but gets tired pretty quickly, and her comprehension lags behind the fluency. But at the end of pre-k the teachers said most of the kids in the class did not read at all.

[Anonymous]

My (older) rising kindergartner cannot really read with comprehension, but is in the early stages of decoding.

We haven't taught him anything; his preK class worked on most-basic phonics. All in good time, like a PP said.

(I firmly believe that, absent a learning disability, they all get to the same place at age 8 or so).

[Anonymous]

Mine, like some of the PPs knows her letters and sounds and knows a bunch of words that she recognizes.

We went to K orientation at our local MoCo Elementary school and got a packet of things to work on with our daughter over the summer. I was surprised by the emphasis on teaching them to read. While I think my kid is ready, it is my understanding that most kids in general are not really ready until 1st grade and that the whole push to get them to read in Kindergarten is misguided.

[Anonymous]

My rising K cannot read a damn thing and I am not worried at all!

[Anonymous]

My daughter can't read.

She can recognize some words by sight like her name, cat, dog, etc. but she can't read anything else.

She does know the letters and sounds and can write all the letters as well.

I'm not worried - I'm sure with proper instruction she'll pick it up quickly and when she's ready.

[Anonymous]

OP here: thanks for the responses.

FWIW, my kid knows all the uppercase and lowercase letters and can print most of them; he knows the sounds; he can print his name and recognizes a few words and can sound out short words if I walk him through it. He has zero interest in practicing letters but will gladly sit down with a math workbook and do basic addition and subtraction. I'm not pushing him -- I figured he would learn this stuff in kindergarten -- but I heard a woman tell me how someone she knows who works for MCPS thinks kids who come to kindergarten without already knowing how to read obviously have lazy parents. I was shocked by the comment.

[Anonymous]

From the Gazette (July 8, 2009)

County's middle school curriculum too accelerated, some parents say
School system wants 80 percent of pupils ready for college

http://www.gazette.net/stories/07082009/montsch182715_32521.shtml

[Anonymous]

The much-hyped MCPS Seven Keys to College Readiness:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/keys/

[Anonymous]

My oldest could not read before K and could barely read after K (really, just sounding out small words). Now, after 1st grade, she's reading at a 3rd grade level. Don't stress. They do it when they are ready -- which is not usually before K in my experience.

My younger DD will be 5 in December (so no K this year) can read a few (very few) sight words. I suppose it's possible that she will read before K, but I'm ok with it if she doesn't.

[Anonymous]

My son finished kindergarten in June. When he entered, he knew his letters with the exception of the typewriter version of g and a. But, he could not read. And, he couldn't even name the sounds of most of the letters on request - I think he knew them, but just froze when asked or when trying to sound out words. By the end of third quarter, he met all of the reading benchmarks, which are primarily site words. He could also read short stories with lots of repetitive words.

Don't worry about the fact that your child doesn't read yet. They are not expected to know before entering kindergarten. In fact, they aren't even expected to know all of their letters.

You will be amazed though at how fast they learn things once they get to school.

[Anonymous]

Rising Pre-K already reading - simple books, like Elephant and Piggie.