Reading in Kindergarten? - Page 2

[StephandOwen]

Yup, they teach reading in ds's kindergarten class. Every week they have 3-6 sight words (he, dog, up, etc). Ds is reading at a much, much higher level so he is in a special reading group with one other child from his class and some children from higher classes. I think the current guess is he's about at a 2nd-3rd grade level. He is loving reading Magic Tree House books by himself

[hottmama]

We homeschooled for kindergarten, and my son is in 1st now and was put in reading intervention to catch up. The public-schooled kindergarteners were expected to read at a C level (guided reading) at the end of K/starting 1st. My son has caught up in the 2 mos. they've been in school, but he likes reading intervention and doesn't want to stop going to it!
His phonetic awareness was pretty good starting this year but he had almost no sight words, and it made it a lot harder for him to read than the kids who had those memorized. I honestly don't think he was ready to read at this time last year, though. He started reading in the spring of his K year.

[Ruthla]

I learned to read in first grade at age six. DD2 learned to read in first grade at age six. DD1 learned to read in kindergarten, but she was already six, and one of only two kids in the whole class who learned to read that year- the rest of her classmates learned in first grade. She learned to read when she was ready, and she just happened to have been enrolled in kindergarten at the time.

Then we had all 3 of them in private school when DS was in kindergarten. He was only 4 when kindergarten began, but they taught him to read anyway. I was pretty angry about it when I realized what they'd done- he was NOT ready, and it destroyed his love of reading for the next 3 years. Finally, around his 7th birthday, he became interested in books again. Without outside pressure, I suspect he would have been ready to read around age 7- but being taught when he was too young damaged him.

I know that one of the other private schools around here also teaches reading in kindergarten, but I'm not sure about the local public schools (a different district than we lived in when the girls were in school.) IMO, kindergarten is too young for reading. Sure, some kids are ready. Some kids are ready when they're 3- some might even be ready at age 2. But the vast majority of 5yos are simply not ready yet- and pushing this off for another year means that more kids approach reading with positive attitudes and fewer come out with the idea that "reading is hard" or "I'm not good at reading." Those individuals who are ready to read younger can read at home and read independently in class when there's time to.

[~Leonor~]

Yes, it is standard and there's no also no evidence that it advances children academically in the long run.

[TiredX2]

Moved to Learning at School

[TiredX2]

Reading was definately taught in my son's kindergarten. The expectation was that you would exit kinder being a beginning reader. In his 1st grade class there was one child who was still working on letters & sounds (he had just moved, though, and caught up very quickly) and a few others who were a bit behind the curve. The teachers 1st grade goal was having everyone at a 3rd grade reading level by the end of the year--- I think about 60-75% of the kids "made it", some before Christmas (it took that long to test them up to that level).

[jen in co]

Originally Posted by KCMichigan

I our area K is when they learn to read- then it continues into 1st grade. They have to have at least 50 sight words and basic phonetic skills in place when they are done with K- as well as numbers 0-50 and write a simple sentence (I like cats).

This is pretty typical here too...they had to learn 50 sight words, had to be at a certain level of reading by the end of K (DRA level 3 or 6 -- can't remember which), know their basic letters and sounds (including blends, diagraphs, short/long vowels, etc.), be able to write phonetically, recognize numbers to 50, etc.

But, they recognize that kids come in at all levels -- e.g. there are kids who come in reading at a solid 2nd grade level (DRA 20+), kids like my daughter who came in knowing their letters/sounds but not reading, and kids who come in with little to no book sense. It really seems to be evening out in 2nd grade and I've heard that happens even more in 3rd grade. At that point, the kids seem to be whereever they should be cognitively/IQ wise and the kids who were early readers are not always still at the top at that point.

K is crazy now....

[Linda on the move]

They teach reading in K here. It's pretty much the only subject the kids get homework in.

Originally Posted by LynnS6

Maybe you can find a way to make it more fun for her on the weekends when she's with you. For example, lay out cards with the words (start with pairs to keep it easy) and say one and have her pick the right one. Then reverse roles. Get a few wrong (on ones that you KNOW she knows) so she can correct you. Slowly move up to having her pick the right one among 3, then 4. Or make pairs of the words and play memory games with her where she has to match the words. Set the words to music. Have her spell the words using her body -- what you want to do is keep it playful and involve as many senses as possible. It doesn't have to be an incredible burden.

This is a GREAT post. The bottom line is that she is used to working on this a few minutes a day, so if you and dad work on it a few minutes with a postive attitude, it's a good thing *For Her*. Kids do best when their mommy and daddy are on the same page about what is important, and although I don't think kindergartens need to learn to read, I think that your DSD will do best if you and her dad are positive and supportive about what is going on in her life.

Unless pulling her from K or switching her to a Waldorf school are options, she's going to be working on reading this year. Might as well put on your for her sake.

[spottiew]

my son is in Montessori, where they go 3-6 and the last is the 'kindy year'... they do pretty much expect those last year kids to either be reading or working on skills towards doing it very soon. i think they are pressured a bit by 90% of their kids going on into public 1st, that they not be 'behind' from doing K out of the k-12 system. my kid read early; if he went to public K next year, i don't know what he would do while others learned what he knew.

[bjerme]

It seems pretty standard now. My DD in kindergarten is expected to be able to read 100 sight words by the end of the year.

[mar123]

The school all of my kids attend teaches reading in K. By the end of the 1st nine weeks in 1st grade, they have to be able to read all tests by themselves, so reading is huge in 1st grade. It is actually easier for most children to learn it in K- the young brain is like a sponge. It is the same reasoning for teaching foriegn language early- which this school does starting in Pre-K. Two out of three of my kid were reading by age 4- as were their dad and uncle. Reading is huge in our home, so I may have a different perspective since it came so easily to my kids.

[LionessMom]

my DSD already can read a bunch of words. she is K this year, i thought the homework was too much but she is just picking it up. DS didnt learn to read until 1st grade in 2001 though. he went to a different school then. the school they are in now is all about literacy first, math second.

[mags]

Yes, children are expected to learn how to read in K at our school. They have a, "fast track" program at my son's school. I feel lucky that DS1 already kind of knew how to read before K, so I haven't had to struggle with him to learn this stuff (I would say that right now K is very easy for my son academically). However, I can only imagine that children who are not ready to learn to read yet, it must be awful for them to be forced to do this. My son doesn't seem to mind, his reading skills have really bloomed. I had actually hoped that his preschool would have helped him along more with his reading skills, but they were still only teaching the alphabet, which he already knew. As for myself like 30 yrs ago. I believe that I learned to read by 1st grade, b/c I don't remember knowing how to read in K, but I knew I was already reading pretty well by 2nd grade, so I'm guessing that 1st grade is when it finally clicked for me.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by JSMa

I'm just curious... is it standard now to teach reading in kindergarten? Back when I was that age we were not taught to read until 1st grade, same with my younger sisters.

DSD is in kindergarten now and they are teaching reading. Mostly what they call "sight" words. Anything that can be sounded out with the just the phoenetics of the letters, for example "tip".

DSD learned the alphabet in Pre-K and was pretty advanced, so I thought for her age.

Well, only two months into school they are testing on reading ability and she scored very low and now they are having her meet with a reading consultant.

I think this is a bit extreme, in my opinion. I was just curious how normal this is?

All my kids learned to read in K. My oldest was in K in 98. Hell "I" learned to read in K for that matter. My 3rd daughter is in K now. I can't believe how much her reading has improved in just the last few weeks.