6 year old's reading skills

[inky leeuhhh]

most of the time i am pretty confident in my choice to homeschool dd, who turned 6 four months ago and is in k. however, i'm having one of "those days" today, where i worry if she is doing alright academically, blah blah.. you know what i mean. anyway, i am wondering if she is where a kid her age should be with her reading. i know it can vary. she is beginning to read simple sentences like " I saw the dog run away fast." we have been sort of winging it with her reading, and she has actually taught herself much of it. she has autism and can become frusterated easily, and i don't want her to get discouraged. anyway, does this sound about right? and thanks for listening to my blabber!

[Lillian J]

I think she's way ahead of the game. I wouldn't even give it another thought. If she made no more progress at all for another year, she still wouldn't be behind what would be going on in a school. Lillian

[MissRubyandKen]

Sounds like she is doing wonderful! I believe the most important thing is enjoying reading. Some kids start early, some later. If she is interested in reading and enjoying herself, way to go, yk? I've read stories of kids not reading at all until age 8 and then being pretty much fluent right away. I wouldn't worry at all. My only advice would be to follow her lead, don't push, and continue to read to her for as long as she enjoys it.

[Ravin]

With the phonics instruction we're using, we've been focusing on single words. DD was balking when a couple of sentences were on a page in front of her, so we're focusing on the decoding/sounding out with just lists of words. Once we run out of word lists in the program, we'll go back and work on readers with sentences in them. Your DD sounds like she's doing just fine to me. I've known kids who weren't reading at all, and others who were reading way above grade level at 6. It doesn't just vary, it varies A LOT. It sounds like what you're doing is working--keep at it!

[inky leeuhhh]

thanks everyone! most of her "curriculum" ( i use the term curriculum loosely ) is emergent, and its stuff i just make up myself. i basically just try and tune into what she's interested in, and create projects that she can do that are more tailored to the way she learns best. if she gets bored with something or frustrated, we just stop. no biggie. i felt like if i put her in public school, she would get discouraged and begin to hate learning like i did- only probably to a greater extent because of some of her social challenges. she is very smart and learns very well as long as she is into it, ya know? anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence. sometimes i just need a little reassurance. everyone we talk to asks when she is going to "start school" @@ .

[maplesugar]

Well just as an anecdote, ds and most of his same age friends were not anywhere near reading at that age. I think it is just fine although I remember feeling the same as you. I have come to think that it really doesn't matter in the long run if they start reading early. Ds didn't read untill eight, but is now (at 11) a champion reader! This is one nice thing about homeschool-we don't have to follow an arbitrary schedule.

[EviesMom]

From looking through some K testing materials we just got, I think it sounds fine for K year.