Smart kids in Kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my 3-year-old reads second grade level books

Wow! you are truly blessed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is unfortunate because I believe the teachers feel the same way. My DD was reading well (Junie B. Jones, Magic Treehouse, Ready Freddie, etc) the second half of pre-K. The teachers didn't seem to believe me when I mentioned she was fully reading with comprehension. It took them over a month and a half to realize she knew how to read. Then they acted surprised when they finally asked her to read something to them.

I am also not trying to brag, but I get frustrated when teachers don't believe me when I ask for more challenging work for DD. The preschool also didn't believe me when I told them she was reading when she first started there. I had to pull a random book off their shelf and have her read it to the director.

I will say that I don't think my DS is going to be reading anywhere as early as DD and we won't try to push for something he's clearly not ready for, but for those that are ready for more advanced work it would be nice to get the proper level of instruction sooner.

What was done about your DD reading in preschool? I ask because my 3-year-old reads second grade level books to me, but we have not mentioned anything to her teachers. Next year she will be in Pre-K, and I do worry a little about their letter of the week curriculum. Should I really point it out to them? I really do not expect any differentiation at this point. Should I?

She's not a shy or quiet kid, so after a few weeks of "this is the letter A" she was telling me she didn't like school. Not too long after that she told me they don't call on her any more even if she's the only one with her hand up to answer a question. Then I started getting reports that she was blurting out answers and she needed to LEARN how to follow the rules and raise her hand. When I told them she said she stopped raising her hand because they wouldn't call on her any more they responded with 'that's because she raises her hand every time and since we know she knows the answer we don't call on her". WHAT?!? I told I guessed it was because she was already reading and probably bored. At the same time I was getting reports every day that she was not napping and would not just lay still and quiet. I told them she had dropped her afternoon nap recently and suggested they let her read during nap time. The director told me that even though parents think their kid is reading they have only memorized books. I told her my DD never went through that stage of memorizing books and just somehow started reading. When I finally convinced her she could read they allowed her a little more freedom in the reading department but not much.

The teacher told me she was trying to provide a differentiated curriculum for her, but the director told me that the curriculum was not going to be changed for my DD and that we should supplement with Kumon lessons. We both work f/t and I wasn't going to spend my free time with her in Kumon lessons when she was in preschool/daycare for a good chunk of the day already. So, bottom line was the teacher tried to work a little differently with DD but not much changed.

In hindsight I should have done my homework on preschools to find a better fit for her. It's not the end of the world and I don't think it will make any difference in her academic success in the future but a school that would have had the resources to deal with her better would have made a better preschool experience for all of us. I've now been told that a Montessori program might have been a good fit for her.

Funny thing is that my second is no where near where my first was with reading, math, comprehending more complex concepts so I don't think it will be as much of a struggle in preK. He's also way more 'compliant' and quiet.

Good luck.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

My DD is quiet and shy and will be the youngest for her grade, which I guess is all a blessing really. She is the compliant one, like your DS. The teachers have told me she is the only one to actually listen and follow all the instructions no matter how trivial. It is just the reading that has me concerned. I just wonder how she will react during real reading instruction in kindergarten, and if there is any reason to give this school a heads-up.

I also understand how hard it is to convince adults about early reading.

It is a very academic-lite school, so that might work to our favor these early years. The school focuses on all of that other important early childhood mumbo jumbo. The letter of the week stuff in PreK is done in a fun way, no worksheets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is unfortunate because I believe the teachers feel the same way. My DD was reading well (Junie B. Jones, Magic Treehouse, Ready Freddie, etc) the second half of pre-K. The teachers didn't seem to believe me when I mentioned she was fully reading with comprehension. It took them over a month and a half to realize she knew how to read. Then they acted surprised when they finally asked her to read something to them.

I am also not trying to brag, but I get frustrated when teachers don't believe me when I ask for more challenging work for DD. The preschool also didn't believe me when I told them she was reading when she first started there. I had to pull a random book off their shelf and have her read it to the director.

I will say that I don't think my DS is going to be reading anywhere as early as DD and we won't try to push for something he's clearly not ready for, but for those that are ready for more advanced work it would be nice to get the proper level of instruction sooner.

What was done about your DD reading in preschool? I ask because my 3-year-old reads second grade level books to me, but we have not mentioned anything to her teachers. Next year she will be in Pre-K, and I do worry a little about their letter of the week curriculum. Should I really point it out to them? I really do not expect any differentiation at this point. Should I?

She's not a shy or quiet kid, so after a few weeks of "this is the letter A" she was telling me she didn't like school. Not too long after that she told me they don't call on her any more even if she's the only one with her hand up to answer a question. Then I started getting reports that she was blurting out answers and she needed to LEARN how to follow the rules and raise her hand. When I told them she said she stopped raising her hand because they wouldn't call on her any more they responded with 'that's because she raises her hand every time and since we know she knows the answer we don't call on her". WHAT?!? I told I guessed it was because she was already reading and probably bored. At the same time I was getting reports every day that she was not napping and would not just lay still and quiet. I told them she had dropped her afternoon nap recently and suggested they let her read during nap time. The director told me that even though parents think their kid is reading they have only memorized books. I told her my DD never went through that stage of memorizing books and just somehow started reading. When I finally convinced her she could read they allowed her a little more freedom in the reading department but not much.

The teacher told me she was trying to provide a differentiated curriculum for her, but the director told me that the curriculum was not going to be changed for my DD and that we should supplement with Kumon lessons. We both work f/t and I wasn't going to spend my free time with her in Kumon lessons when she was in preschool/daycare for a good chunk of the day already. So, bottom line was the teacher tried to work a little differently with DD but not much changed.

In hindsight I should have done my homework on preschools to find a better fit for her. It's not the end of the world and I don't think it will make any difference in her academic success in the future but a school that would have had the resources to deal with her better would have made a better preschool experience for all of us. I've now been told that a Montessori program might have been a good fit for her.

Funny thing is that my second is no where near where my first was with reading, math, comprehending more complex concepts so I don't think it will be as much of a struggle in preK. He's also way more 'compliant' and quiet.

Good luck.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

My DD is quiet and shy and will be the youngest for her grade, which I guess is all a blessing really. She is the compliant one, like your DS. The teachers have told me she is the only one to actually listen and follow all the instructions no matter how trivial. It is just the reading that has me concerned. I just wonder how she will react during real reading instruction in kindergarten, and if there is any reason to give this school a heads-up.

I also understand how hard it is to convince adults about early reading.

It is a very academic-lite school, so that might work to our favor these early years. The school focuses on all of that other important early childhood mumbo jumbo. The letter of the week stuff in PreK is done in a fun way, no worksheets.

Mine was an early reader too and I was very concerned about this, but my DC wasn't DC also was a rule follower, happy go to with the flow. I think DC considered the letter of the week stuff nothing more than "art", because it always involved painting, cutting, pasting, etc, which DC loved. We read at home, we went to the library and bookstore - preschool was for arts and crafts, play and socializing. With math, as well, we bought a couple of 'workbooks' - all of the "academics" were done at home when she felt like it. When she started K, she had surpassed the "end of year" benchmarks for reading, writing and math (the report cards did not reflect this immediately, because the teacher cannot say DC mastered something that has not yet been presented) and DC still had a fabulous year. There is so much more to learn in K than reading. If you have a good teacher, he/she will be able to take your DC from wherever they start and take them further.

[Anonymous]

Jumping in late to this discussion. My ds was also reading well at the beginning of kindergarten. Fortunately there's a lot more to "reading" than just the mechanics of knowing what the words say. In kindergarten simply reading the words becomes almost taken for granted, and comprehension is key. The kids learn about characters and setting, and they learn to state what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They draw and write about the story. They answer questions to show how well they understood what they read. They go far beyond only "reading" the story and explore what it means. So even those reading already should be able to find some challenge.