Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its sad this is such an issue at the start of 1st grade

Early identification and remediation is key for those children who have LDs. Waiting a year or two can mean losing the possibility of every being a fluent reader. BTDT and unfortunately on the "give it time" side.

Agree. But OP didn't say her kid had an LD. She just was behind reading level. Lots of kids arent reading chapter books at 6, especially if they attended a school where reading isn't pushed, like Montessori. That doesnt mean they have a LD.

At the beginning of first grade, if a child is below grade level, they should be tested for LDs. "Grade level" does not mean at the 50th percentile. Grade level is where they want all children to be and it is set at the 16th or 25th percentile. If a child is below grade level for reading in 1st grade, it is significant as the "average" is quite wide. It should be investigated sooner rather than later.

Not in fcps. A few years back, 1st graders normally tested well below DRA 4. K teachers didn't even give DRA. Suddenly 4 is the new normal at the end of K, but lots of perfectly bright, normal kids can't reach that level because it just isn't cognitively appropriate for them. A large number of NORMAL, NON-LD kids are not ready to read at or above 4 at the beginning of first grade. That doesn't identify them as LD. It only creates a situation where more kids are labeled "behind" than ever before, and can end up being really harmful when they start to think they are stupid because they are being asked to do something their poor 6 year old brains aren't ready to do. And then next you know, they really are struggling readers and really do need help. It's one more way our public schools are harming our children, all in the name of testing.

Don't worry too much. Our DS could barely read at the start of 1st. He is now starting 2nd and is reading at a 3rd-4th grade level. The school set him up with extra reading lessons (not sure what method they used) and it made a huge difference. He loved the individualized lessons and I honestly think he would not have progressed so much without the additional lessons.

OP. I don't know about this program or why your school thinks there is a problem at that young age. From what I know about child development, this is too young to worry.

What I can say is that my high school honor student was a slow starter in reading. First grade was very tough since his school worked hard to fix this in an age-appropriate way. He made a lot of progress and I am grateful for the attention.

That said, your job at home is to read read read with your kid, and focus on making reading a joy, not a chore. School will be chore enough.

On the other hand, maybe she did have a bad day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its sad this is such an issue at the start of 1st grade

Early identification and remediation is key for those children who have LDs. Waiting a year or two can mean losing the possibility of every being a fluent reader. BTDT and unfortunately on the "give it time" side.

Agree. But OP didn't say her kid had an LD. She just was behind reading level. Lots of kids arent reading chapter books at 6, especially if they attended a school where reading isn't pushed, like Montessori. That doesnt mean they have a LD.

At the beginning of first grade, if a child is below grade level, they should be tested for LDs. "Grade level" does not mean at the 50th percentile. Grade level is where they want all children to be and it is set at the 16th or 25th percentile. If a child is below grade level for reading in 1st grade, it is significant as the "average" is quite wide. It should be investigated sooner rather than later.

I would also add that a DRA of a 2 or 4 as the cut off means that they do not expect an entering 1st grader to be reading chapter books. Chapter books come at much higher DRA levels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its sad this is such an issue at the start of 1st grade

Early identification and remediation is key for those children who have LDs. Waiting a year or two can mean losing the possibility of every being a fluent reader. BTDT and unfortunately on the "give it time" side.

Agree. But OP didn't say her kid had an LD. She just was behind reading level. Lots of kids arent reading chapter books at 6, especially if they attended a school where reading isn't pushed, like Montessori. That doesnt mean they have a LD.

At the beginning of first grade, if a child is below grade level, they should be tested for LDs. "Grade level" does not mean at the 50th percentile. Grade level is where they want all children to be and it is set at the 16th or 25th percentile. If a child is below grade level for reading in 1st grade, it is significant as the "average" is quite wide. It should be investigated sooner rather than later.

It may be where your child is on the bell curve of the class. This program exists and the school is going to go trolling for a certain number of kids to fill the spots. Call me cynical. It may not have anything to do with your child being behind true grade level.

Let me guess - they have a program and need to fill it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its sad this is such an issue at the start of 1st grade

Early identification and remediation is key for those children who have LDs. Waiting a year or two can mean losing the possibility of every being a fluent reader. BTDT and unfortunately on the "give it time" side.

Agree. But OP didn't say her kid had an LD. She just was behind reading level. Lots of kids arent reading chapter books at 6, especially if they attended a school where reading isn't pushed, like Montessori. That doesnt mean they have a LD.

Anonymous wrote:How can they identify these students so early in the year? Have they already taken an assessment?

Assessments were given 2nd week of school.

Anonymous wrote:Its sad this is such an issue at the start of 1st grade

Early identification and remediation is key for those children who have LDs. Waiting a year or two can mean losing the possibility of every being a fluent reader. BTDT and unfortunately on the "give it time" side.

Its sad this is such an issue at the start of 1st grade

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:reading resource teacher here... Reading recovery is a great program! consider yourself lucky that your school has it! First grade literacy skills are the foundation for reading success and the intense nature of reading recovery can make the difference for some children. reading recovery teachers are highly trained. You have to have intensive professional development and training Beyond being a reading specialist.

If you want to learn more about guided reading, Jan Richardson is considered an expert in the field.

The research on Reading Recovery is inconsistent but it does involve best practices for literacy instruction and can be very successful with some children who show signs of being at risk for reading difficulties.

The bolded is key here OP.

Depending on the need your child has in reading, Reading Recovery could be more harmful than helpful. It depends on the area of deficit. Reading Recovery is not best practice for all types of reading disorders or issues.

It is, however, the main program used in the schools so they will of course say it's the best and that it will be helpful to children with reading problems.

I would ask the teacher where the main deficits were in the DRA testing. Was it comprehension, decoding, a combination?

Also, I would get an outside evaluation for dyslexia. If it's dyslexia, Reading Recovery would be worse for your child.

If it's not then I say give Reading Recovery a shot. Your child might just need to be brought up to speed with the rest of the class and not have any reading disorders. If that's the case, Reading Recovery is a great option since they'll get more small group or one on one instruction.

I agree with this poster. My child was identified as having dyslexia between kindergarten and 1st grade. For her, a program like Reading Recovery would have made things worse. So it is really, really important to understand the nature of the difficulties your child is having.

It does seem like a good sign this sort of program is being offered, hopefully the school will be as supportive of a request for more detailed assessment for dyslexia. We did that privately because it was faster/ easier than fighting the school. And we felt that time was of the essence in intervening to remediate.

But it is equally true that many kids just aren't ready to learn to read at 5.

How can they identify these students so early in the year? Have they already taken an assessment?

I bet this is aps. We started aps this year from another school district. My son is similar. He was identified. And I think the area expects all K to read. Yes it's possible. No lots of kids learn in 1st grade. He got a letter Tuesday I think.

You can be in ap, gifted later on and begin to read late 1st. 2nd grade
There is a bunch of studies that expecting all kids to read at 5 is pushing and is not truly indicative of any long term ability. Phonics awareness is preferred over route sight word learning. Reading recovery has negative feedback. Simple google search brings it up.

In any case, I'll send my kid to the program. 1 on 1 is good for my current kid. My older kids are in Williamsburg ms now, both had a fantastic 1st grade teacher and really read in late 1st early 2nd. My late bday other child read a few months later. It seems upsetting for a child to be behind others but every kid is different. Plus my boy is reluctant to read. Wants to play sports, games, math anything but reading every day. Though we did read on summer. Level 1

I see it this way, If you want every kid to walk at 9versus 11mo. And want to make that the standard. Umm ok. Is every kid usually walking? No. Eventually yes. Are my kids better because they walked at 9 mo? Same with reading. It doesn't matter who starts first.

Anonymous wrote:I think there is some confusion about DRA levels and book levels you find at the library. For first grade, the benchmark for the beginning of the year is a Level 4 DRA. The level 1-4 that you see on the "I can Read" books is not the same.

Yes. DS was Level 4 DRA at the end of K and reading Level 2 of "I Can Read" books.