Reply to S/O: what to do, given that so many schools use Lucy Calkins?

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "S/O: what to do, given that so many schools use Lucy Calkins?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m the poster from the Lucy Calkins thread with the 1st grader who is very smart but is struggling with reading and writing.

She is not behind in reading, per se, but given that she tested at 135 FSIQ on the WPPSI with no dips in abilities, I’m not thrilled that she’s currently only able to read level D/E books with some assistance from me.

Her writing is more concerning, though. Her school uses the Handwriting without Tears program, but she still forms letters in very non-conventional ways and often reverses them. I know that’s not out of the range of normal, but she’ll turn 7 in October. My understanding is it’s only normal through 7.

She is in speech therapy and receives Orton-Gillingham tutoring. We also have a neuropsych eval scheduled for October.

I know we will end up learning a lot from that eval, but if there aren’t underlying issues like dyslexia or dysgraphia, how do we make sure she reaches her potential for reading and writing? We can keep up with tutoring, but how effective will that be, if it’s being undermined by ineffective classroom instruction?

Her school seems to use a combination of LC and more phonics-based approaches. Moreover, it seems like switching schools might not help, since so many of them use LC to some extent.[/quote]

OMG you seriously need to chill.  It’s not a switch on and off at 7. There’s a lot of brain wiring that need to happen for reading to click, and some education experts think we push it too soon here in the US, traumatizing all the kids whose brains aren’t quite ready at 5 or 6, and turning them off reading. In Finland, they don’t START teaching reading until 7 and Finnish kids score among the highest in tests of reading proficiency.

Even children who start reading young may not master other important elements u til much later. My eldest started reading at 2. Taught himself after he figured out letter,phonics. But his ability to create pictures in his mind while he read didn’t totally click until late second grade. He has an IQ of 157.

You sound conscientious but also highly anxious. Level D/E at her age is fine. High IQ is not essentially correlated with precocious reading ability. All kids converge around age 8/9 and that’s when you can start seeing the giftedness emerge. My eldest now reads super fast and with unusual comprehension and understanding of emotional nuances.

Please get help for your anxiety now before you damage your child.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics