Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD8 has always been a fantastic reader. She was reading magic treehouse at age 4. She was assessed in kindergarten once to be at level N. That was near the beginning of the year. In first grade she was assessed once or twice again. The teacher told me she could just read anything at conference. She was giving her 6th grade level books at free reading. Near the end of first grade she was assessed by a local university to be at a 6th grade level all around. In second they said she was at a level S(4th?) even though on RAZ kids she was on level Z at the end of first. At the beginning of third grade her Lexile was tested, and it was 10th grade level. But the enrichment program the school uses gives her 8th grade comprehension assignments.

That is all to say I am always skeptical about reading levels. They are very subjective. I think the best indicator is that DD actually loves to read. She reads for hours a day. From preschool on I didn't worry about exact levels, and it seemed teachers didn't either! She's also been tested as gifted.

Since I have a child like yours, let me tell you something - watch for their socialization. Reading for hours on end, like I did, and DS does, is actually not THAT great. We have inattentive ADHD and our hyperfocus is reading. It's wonderful for general culture and knowledge and definitely makes it easier to go to grad school and go into academia/research later on, but... other skills have to be developed too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD8 has always been a fantastic reader. She was reading magic treehouse at age 4. She was assessed in kindergarten once to be at level N. That was near the beginning of the year. In first grade she was assessed once or twice again. The teacher told me she could just read anything at conference. She was giving her 6th grade level books at free reading. Near the end of first grade she was assessed by a local university to be at a 6th grade level all around. In second they said she was at a level S(4th?) even though on RAZ kids she was on level Z at the end of first. At the beginning of third grade her Lexile was tested, and it was 10th grade level. But the enrichment program the school uses gives her 8th grade comprehension assignments.

That is all to say I am always skeptical about reading levels. They are very subjective. I think the best indicator is that DD actually loves to read. She reads for hours a day. From preschool on I didn't worry about exact levels, and it seemed teachers didn't either! She's also been tested as gifted.

Since I have a child like yours, let me tell you something - watch for their socialization. Reading for hours on end, like I did, and DS does, is actually not THAT great. We have inattentive ADHD and our hyperfocus is reading. It's wonderful for general culture and knowledge and definitely makes it easier to go to grad school and go into academia/research later on, but... other skills have to be developed too.

Agree, my brother read for hours a day. He is in Mensa. Super smart yay! Also, boarderline aspergers and issues with socialization that have followed him all his life.

Perhaps the poster above was using hyperbole, if not - I'd watch for hours daily of reading at a young level.

That's very interesting. It doesn't seem like DD has social problems. She has lots of friends despite being introverted and shy around adults. No ADD diagnosis either. Reading is her hobby--like other kids with minecraft or soccer. she sets her alarm to wake up an hour earlier to read and reads for an hour at bedtime. And like the op's ds this is the only thing she's really good at in the sense she can particularly enjoy the activity because of her high ability. She struggles in sports and music and art. And she does not like competition.

Anonymous wrote:Op here- yes I do encourage my kid's interests and find him books to read I think he would enjoy, take him to the library often, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD8 has always been a fantastic reader. She was reading magic treehouse at age 4. She was assessed in kindergarten once to be at level N. That was near the beginning of the year. In first grade she was assessed once or twice again. The teacher told me she could just read anything at conference. She was giving her 6th grade level books at free reading. Near the end of first grade she was assessed by a local university to be at a 6th grade level all around. In second they said she was at a level S(4th?) even though on RAZ kids she was on level Z at the end of first. At the beginning of third grade her Lexile was tested, and it was 10th grade level. But the enrichment program the school uses gives her 8th grade comprehension assignments.

That is all to say I am always skeptical about reading levels. They are very subjective. I think the best indicator is that DD actually loves to read. She reads for hours a day. From preschool on I didn't worry about exact levels, and it seemed teachers didn't either! She's also been tested as gifted.

Since I have a child like yours, let me tell you something - watch for their socialization. Reading for hours on end, like I did, and DS does, is actually not THAT great. We have inattentive ADHD and our hyperfocus is reading. It's wonderful for general culture and knowledge and definitely makes it easier to go to grad school and go into academia/research later on, but... other skills have to be developed too.

Agree, my brother read for hours a day. He is in Mensa. Super smart yay! Also, boarderline aspergers and issues with socialization that have followed him all his life.

Perhaps the poster above was using hyperbole, if not - I'd watch for hours daily of reading at a young level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader is at level P, which google tells me is at the end of 3rd grade. He's not even in the top reading group in his class. He's smart, but at least as measured by reading skill, is not exceptional.

Also, I should add, he started 1st grade at level D, so he was not a particularly early reader. When he got it, he got it.[/quote]

This is what I loved about teaching first grade. Some kids would start off not knowing anything and then BINGO, they blossomed. Even though it probably had nothing to do with my teaching, it was a great ego boost for me. This was back before there was such a push for early reading. At the beginning of the year, I would think, "oh no, these kids are going to be a tough shell to crack, I am not going to teach another year of first grade". And, then, by the end of the year they would all be reading and I cannot tell you how satisfying that is to see. Of course, there were kids who struggled and weren't fluent by the end of the year, but they generally made great progress, as well.