So, if there are no kids who are leaps and bounds above the others, what does that really tell you about children who decipher letters early other than they aren't rock stars? One teacher claimed these children were behind others in the long run. I'm just curious what research there is out there on this. Another claim was that comprehension was built with experience, so experience is really what children need in order to comprehend. What kind of experience though? What does the research say?

Different first grade teacher-no longer teaching. I agree with other first grade teacher. Sure there are always kids who read above level--but few are leap years ahead of the rest.

Anonymous wrote:My opinion: some parents and teachers spend far too much time with three year olds in drilling sounds and deciphering letters. That takes comprehension skills out of the wash.

You do know this is not an idiom, right?

Anonymous wrote:I'm a first grade teacher at a school that has an AAP program. The problem with the above poster is that they fail to see that reading words is not the only point of reading. They have difficulty understanding how a child like that can read "at x level" but in testing doesn't test the way the parent thinks the child should. Kids do not have the life experiences at a young age to be able to fully grasp certain concepts. A few years ago my highest reading group read a story about Africa. No one in the group had the life experience in order to understand the author's intent because no one in the group had seen Africa, seen poverty, etc. Could they all read the text? Yes. That was not sufficient though.

Parents come to me and explain that Sally is reading Harry Potter, as a reference as to where Sally should be placed. Sally, however, has difficulty retelling (in a testing setting: the setting of the story, the story in order, a lot of detail, using connecting words) a non-fiction story, or difficulty making inferences, or difficulty explaining the author's intent, or difficulty making connections, etc.

This isn't about jealousy. It is clearly about touting her own kid's horn. Now if the question was: what was the highest level your child was reading in kindergarten and explain all the details you can surrounding it, the answer was appropriate. (I will say that of all my years of teaching, there was one child in all my high groups who ever was truly, truly beyond her peers. That isn't to say that many weren't bright and beyond the first grade level. This one child, however, stuck out in language arts with an amazing ability, which was not just decoding words as nearly all of the top tier readers can do).

This is the point of reading a book about Africa, no? And, that was maybe the author's intent. This is first grade. I find it hard to believe that you teach first grade in fairfax public schools and "in all your years" you have only come across one child who could read beyond "just decoding words." Methinks you have an axe to grind.

I'm a first grade teacher at a school that has an AAP program. The problem with the above poster is that they fail to see that reading words is not the only point of reading. They have difficulty understanding how a child like that can read "at x level" but in testing doesn't test the way the parent thinks the child should. Kids do not have the life experiences at a young age to be able to fully grasp certain concepts. A few years ago my highest reading group read a story about Africa. No one in the group had the life experience in order to understand the author's intent because no one in the group had seen Africa, seen poverty, etc. Could they all read the text? Yes. That was not sufficient though.

Parents come to me and explain that Sally is reading Harry Potter, as a reference as to where Sally should be placed. Sally, however, has difficulty retelling (in a testing setting: the setting of the story, the story in order, a lot of detail, using connecting words) a non-fiction story, or difficulty making inferences, or difficulty explaining the author's intent, or difficulty making connections, etc.

This isn't about jealousy. It is clearly about touting her own kid's horn. Now if the question was: what was the highest level your child was reading in kindergarten and explain all the details you can surrounding it, the answer was appropriate. (I will say that of all my years of teaching, there was one child in all my high groups who ever was truly, truly beyond her peers. That isn't to say that many weren't bright and beyond the first grade level. This one child, however, stuck out in language arts with an amazing ability, which was not just decoding words as nearly all of the top tier readers can do).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can it be pleasurable if she doesn't understand? Does she read silently?

To the PP above: It is totally a brag. She is awesome. What she can do with a book is awesome.

She understands these books because they are not that hard. She loved all of the Roald Dahl books because they are hilarious and exciting. She loves the little world Beverly Cleary created. I remember she read Ramona first, then Socks, then Ribsy. When she started Ribsy, she realized that Beezus and Ramona were in it and got very excited. She started speculating where socks was in that world.

The short answer is that she understands them well and enjoys them. But, there is an entirely separate language arts curriculum she is being taught aside from just reading and enjoying. Thankfully, her kindergarten teachers spend a little time on it with her. I didn't expect it.

My kid is also pulled out 2x/week and receives fabulous enrichment. I don't feel the need to go on and on about it as you do. I'm glad it makes you feel better. We'll see how you like living through your kid when she's a teen.

NP here. I have been reading through this topic and am always entertained by the posters who are so quick to judge. As far as calling the person out on bragging, so what. If the poster wants to brag and share a different point of view about his DD, then awesome. It's nice to read about a parent who is so proud. You clearly sound jealous. I also laugh at the posters who are implying that early readers will most likely have a harder time with comprehension later. Wow. Will we continue to say things to make us feel better about doing nothing? Ok, sure...haha. This reminds me of people who justify keeping their 3, 4, and 5 year-olds in diapers. Ha...well, they'll tell me when they're ready. I don't want to traumatize them .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can it be pleasurable if she doesn't understand? Does she read silently?

To the PP above: It is totally a brag. She is awesome. What she can do with a book is awesome.

She understands these books because they are not that hard. She loved all of the Roald Dahl books because they are hilarious and exciting. She loves the little world Beverly Cleary created. I remember she read Ramona first, then Socks, then Ribsy. When she started Ribsy, she realized that Beezus and Ramona were in it and got very excited. She started speculating where socks was in that world.

The short answer is that she understands them well and enjoys them. But, there is an entirely separate language arts curriculum she is being taught aside from just reading and enjoying. Thankfully, her kindergarten teachers spend a little time on it with her. I didn't expect it.

My kid is also pulled out 2x/week and receives fabulous enrichment. I don't feel the need to go on and on about it as you do. I'm glad it makes you feel better. We'll see how you like living through your kid when she's a teen.

Anonymous wrote:In my son's class I've seen as high as level 4. But I can only see a small portion of the kids during the reading sessions.

I think it's the DRA scale?

In my son's class I've seen as high as level 4. But I can only see a small portion of the kids during the reading sessions.

Anonymous wrote:How can it be pleasurable if she doesn't understand? Does she read silently?

To the PP above: It is totally a brag. She is awesome. What she can do with a book is awesome.

She understands these books because they are not that hard. She loved all of the Roald Dahl books because they are hilarious and exciting. She loves the little world Beverly Cleary created. I remember she read Ramona first, then Socks, then Ribsy. When she started Ribsy, she realized that Beezus and Ramona were in it and got very excited. She started speculating where socks was in that world.

The short answer is that she understands them well and enjoys them. But, there is an entirely separate language arts curriculum she is being taught aside from just reading and enjoying. Thankfully, her kindergarten teachers spend a little time on it with her. I didn't expect it.

How can it be pleasurable if she doesn't understand? Does she read silently?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the point of reading early if they don't understand? It doesn't encourage reading for pleasure. Better to wait until they learn because they are motivated.

My DD started reading early because it brought her so much pleasure. She was reading for more than an hour a night when she was still 4-years-old at a 3-4th grade level. She is in kindergarten now and the teachers work with her on story elements with easier books, but she still reads at a much higher level at home because she wants to, she understands it, and she enjoys it. She still reads for about 1.5 hours a night on the days she reads before bed (about 4/7 nights.) She enjoys reading the more difficult books for pleasure. She comprehends them enough to enjoy them. And, her teachers work with her at school at about a second grade level in language arts. They are talking about main ideas, characters, settings, making predictions, etc. Her comprehension is great. Her teacher said she has a fabulous memory for details, but she needs to learn to analyze the text, and that will come with a little instruction.

DD is probably not the typical early reader. I agree that if the early reading stems from drilling of phonics, comprehension might lag, but that is definitely not the case in every situation.

Not even a humblebrag...just a brag, brag,brag.

If it came naturally and fluently, she'll probably do great. If she received "instruction" pushing her, not so much.

Anonymous wrote:What's the point of reading early if they don't understand? It doesn't encourage reading for pleasure. Better to wait until they learn because they are motivated.

My DD started reading early because it brought her so much pleasure. She was reading for more than an hour a night when she was still 4-years-old at a 3-4th grade level. She is in kindergarten now and the teachers work with her on story elements with easier books, but she still reads at a much higher level at home because she wants to, she understands it, and she enjoys it. She still reads for about 1.5 hours a night on the days she reads before bed (about 4/7 nights.) She enjoys reading the more difficult books for pleasure. She comprehends them enough to enjoy them. And, her teachers work with her at school at about a second grade level in language arts. They are talking about main ideas, characters, settings, making predictions, etc. Her comprehension is great. Her teacher said she has a fabulous memory for details, but she needs to learn to analyze the text, and that will come with a little instruction.

DD is probably not the typical early reader. I agree that if the early reading stems from drilling of phonics, comprehension might lag, but that is definitely not the case in every situation.

I'm talking about thinking and analyzing about reading, not just understanding what is read. Is that what you mean? Many people enjoy reading for pleasure, but not analyzing books. I'm just curious of the research on early readers and their ability to analyze.