Didn't read all of the posts, but in my child's K class in a Bethesda ES, the majority of kids including my DC could not read when they started K, but most could do so when they finished K. MoCo REALLY emphasizes learning to read in K. My DC went to a play based nursery school where they did not teach phonics or reading and almost none of the kids could read when they left pre-K - all on their way to JKLM, Bethesda or Chevy Chase ES's. Oh and now in 2nd grade DC is in the "top" reading group (for whatever that is worth) and much more importantly is a voracious reader.

Anonymous wrote:It is a mixed bag of readers and non-readers. There are some kids that are really advanced and they are bored. And there are kids just learning their letters.

FYI for those of you whose kids are in preschool and you think your kids are reading at 4th grade level... Most schools have a reading "cap" so in K you won't get past end of first grade level (they stop testing). The thinking is that reading and writing go together and to "read" at 4th grade level you have to write at that level - so probably a 3 page essay on a topic for example.

Good point!

My son entered Kindergarten on a level 4. My daughter entered knowing her letters/sounds and having some concept that you can put those together to make words. She is in K now and progressing nicely. They both were in reading groups based on abilities and had other kids on their level. DD gets pulled by a paraprofessional for some extra support.

Anonymous wrote:My son could fluently read before entering kindergarten and his teacher did not do reading groups for him. She only worked with the kids who couldn't yet read. He got ignored and did worksheets way below his level. I think a lot of schools don't give kids any accelerated work if they can read because it is so much easier to do nothing with the kids that can read until the other kids catch up at the end of first grade or second grade. He is in first grade and I am still waiting for him to get any work on his level. At the beginning of the year there weren't any chapter books available to read in his class because the teacher told me that wouldn't be fair for the kids who couldn't read them. She only had books at or below a first grade level.

That teacher should not be teaching -- because she isn't.

There are kids that come to public K barely knowing the alphabet. Mine was reading sight words and that was about it. She was reading at the end of 2nd grade level by the end of K. She was reading within 2 months of entering K.

Kindergarten teachers are amazing.

My 4.5 year old (entering K in the fall) reads pretty fluently. I'm not surprised; he started pointing out sight words at 2.5. I myself learned how to read somewhere between 3-4.

As much as I would love to believe that this is a sign of stupendous genius, though, it's pretty much just a sign of... early reading. That's all. It all evens out later on. He also was a super-early crawler and I don't think that's going to substantially impact his life later, either.

I think it varies greatly. Both my DSs were reading before KG. Many in their classes were not and that was normal, too. But it's inaccurate to say that no one can read at 3 or 4. I can tell you absolutely that one of my children was reading by age 4 for sure, probably a little earlier. He wasn't reading chapter books, of course, but he read basic early readers. We realized his ability one day when we were out and he read a rather lengthy sign in the store out loud and asked what it meant.
I don't think that early reading necessarily corresponds to later achievement, though. If your child is not reading by KG it's not a problem.

Anonymous wrote:I hope my son will be able to read by K - he is 4.5 now and I am working with him but strangely, although he can sound out the individual letters of a word, he can't decipher the word by doing that - for example, he can sound out the letters in the word "cart," but even after stating all the sounds in a row, doesn't associate them with the word cart. He can sight read short words like big, dog, cat, mom, dad, the, bus, etc. that come up often.

I was always terrible with phonics, even though I taught myself to ready at about 4 and was a high-enough level reader to be obsessed with the Boxcar Children and Babysitter's Club during kindergarten. Now my daughter does some sounding out at her pre-k program, and I'm amazed when she can turn some of those sounds into a word. The sounds just sound different when you say them as a word than when you sound them out individually.

My 3.5 yo can identify the sounds of many letters and has a couple words memorized. I don't know whether she'll be really reading by K or not.

Anonymous wrote:DD could read well when she entered Ki. She was in a reading group with three other kids who could also read well. There was also a reading group for kids who could read a little, but not comfortably. I would guess that half of her kindergarten class of 16 kids could read at least a little bit. This was at a Montgomery county focus school.

Also, wrt a previous post about only redshirted kids being able to read entering K, there was one redshirted boy, but he could not read. DD and one other boy in her reading group of comfortable readers were both August birthday kids, so the two youngest in the class.

DD could read well when she entered Ki. She was in a reading group with three other kids who could also read well. There was also a reading group for kids who could read a little, but not comfortably. I would guess that half of her kindergarten class of 16 kids could read at least a little bit. This was at a Montgomery county focus school.

DD was not reading when she began first grade. Then she flew to the top of the class and stayed there. Valedictorian, competitive college with honors, etc. I taught K and 1, there is a lot more to reading than deciphering words.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was reading before I was 3 and didn't understand why some of my classmates couldn't read at 5 or 6. Luckily it was a small enough class (8 students, IIRC), that the teacher had time to work with kids individually at their various levels. I have no idea how it works with bigger classes.

You were not reading at 3 and nobody has memories from age 3. Your mother remembers it this way, but it is doubtful.

This is why I filmed my son reading starting from when he was four. Otherwise, when he grew up people would say i was exaggerating my memories...why not believe the PP? There are certainly children who read at 3.

There are videos somewhere, but they are VHS and I am not inclined to have them transferred and uploaded to prove to a stranger that I read before three. I could not swim till I was in school, but I do not doubt the people who say their 18 month olds are great swimmers. It might not quite be the norm, but different people have different strengths that develop at different times. I tested at a 12th-grade reading level at the age of 8 and later got a perfect verbal score on the SAT. It's something that came naturally to me. My brother and sister couldn't read till kindergarten, but they were (and still are) better at sports and maintaining social relationships.

If it makes PP feel any better, my mother was 19 when I was born and I grew up in a chaotic environment. Reading was an invaluable escape for me as a small child. If I could go back in time and trade good parenting for the ability to read before three, I would do it in a heartbeat.

In my daughter's K class - they break them into reading groups by ability and the groups are pretty fluid. So if one kid suddenly has a break through - they are moved up. There are kids of all abilities in her class and they seem to be able to work with all of the different levels pretty well.