worried about the level of reading he's doing in school

[rubidoux]

Ds started at his Montessori school last fall in the 3 to 5 year old room and moved up to the 5 to 7 year old room this september. He's been working on "pink reading" (not sure if all M's use this system) for as long as I can remember. But he's been reading at home with us and has been really moving right along. I have been wondering for a while if what he's doing in school is too easy for him, but I thought maybe there was some reason for it.

Tonight, though, he brought home a "Max reader" from school and it is just so so far below the level he's reading at home. I don't know if anyone's familiar with Max reader's here, but he brought home 1a which is stuff like: "Max the cat sat. Max sat and sat." At home he's read all through the BOB books series and books like Little Bear and Where The Wild Things Are and Bring A Mouse To Scchool.

Should I be talking to his teacher? We give her a log of all the books he's read to us during the week, so I guess I figured she understood what he was reading at home.

[GuildJenn]

I'd talk to the teacher for sure.

With my son it's been interesting because I think naturally he would be more of a sight words kind of kid. For a little while there it was almost like the very phonics approach was slowing him down (I didn't care as long as he was happy; we're not in a rush). Lately he seems to be making more of a breakthrough although he's still not fluent.

But definitely talk to the teacher - I don't see any reason not to at all; communication is good!

[Rose-Roget]

Ah ha! Guild Jenn's advice seems reasonable; teachers like to have the communication. How would someone say that without sounding like we're overestimating our kids' abilities or discrediting the teachers with their expertise in the Montessori progression?

Sorry to jump in on your thread, but I find it interesting that you say that. I have been wondering something similar with my ds, who's in a new M at the kindy level. He's working with the moveable alphabet on short vowel words (mop, top...) - right now he's on the O's. Maybe it's a difference between reading and spelling, but this seems tediously slow and he keeps saying he wants to go to U's, but he just won't spend the time doing it, even though he can. He decodes quite well and he spells phonetically things that he is interested in. I'm wondering whether he is just not motivated. I try to explain that the teachers need to see what he can do before he moves on, but he's never been one to respond to that. Instead, he often gets into mischief.

Maybe we need to talk with the teachers too. I just had conferences a couple of weeks ago - too bad I didn't make the connection until now.

[rubidoux]

Ya know the more I think about it, the more I think this stuff he's doing is just plain too easy. I would think, though that the teacher would know that. She's very experienced as a M teacher. That makes me think, though, that there's some reason for it. I will talk to her tomorrow.

RR, sounds like the kind of stuff Milo has been doing in pink reading. I think he was doing it for like four months last year. I'm ready to move on! lol

[Rose-Roget]

Rubidoux, is our ds at a new school or just a new class? Perhaps if it's just a new class in the same school, his teachers could talk to last year's teachers and get some good information about his levels. We have, unfortunately, been in a situation of ds changing schools last year and this year, and even though the teachers are very experienced M teachers, I've found that they may tend to think about the progression most of all and not always read the child's cues. I wonder if your teachers are gearing you son's curriculum toward where many students enter the classroom at and figuring that if he knows it, he'll progress quickly through it.

That's what I heard last year and this year, and it may be my one dissatisfaction with M. I understand not wanting to start a child at a level that is frustrating, and I understand the idea of the process, but for some children boredom and frustration may look pretty similar if they don't know the child well yet. (And in my ds's case, that looks like inability to focus or behave sometimes. )

[rubidoux]

Originally Posted by Rose-Roget

That's what I heard last year and this year, and it may be my one dissatisfaction with M. I understand not wanting to start a child at a level that is frustrating, and I understand the idea of the process, but for some children boredom and frustration may look pretty similar if they don't know the child well yet. (And in my ds's case, that looks like inability to focus or behave sometimes. )

I think some of it is about the process and doing things in the proper order. And actually, one of his teachers came with him to this new class. I talked to her today and she said that it seemed like something really clicked for him a few weeks ago, which is true, and that he's really moving along with the curriculum now. She also said that the Max Readers, which he just started yesterday, get harder quickly as they move through them. So, I'm not sure that I'm totally satisfied, but it's nice that she seems to be paying attn to him. lol She also said, and I think it's true, that the end of last year he was very frustrated bc he just was not getting it and that he's really feeling proud of himself now. So, maybe it's not a bad thing to go be a little under what he can handle in school. He's doing lots of good reading at home. So, I think I'll just sit back and pay attn to it for a few weeks and see what happens.