I was an assistant teacher this past year in a K class and will say that of the 13 kids maybe 3-4 were truly reading when the year ended (without needing to use their finger to follow along, without sounding out words, without getting distracted by the pictures). The rest were reading but with those caveats. I will say all of them finished reading at some level, but most were not reading with fluency.
Bob books are great. Any books with simple words are great. Read a lot, and often. Exposure is a huge part of it.
My husband is from a Scandinavian country and always reminds me he basically learned to read in third grade and went on to an Ivy League school. I’ve tried to be the same way with my kids and not force it which is hard because I was a voracious reader as a young kid. We have lots of books around the house, visit the the library often and read to our kids as much as we can. When my DS1 first started reading on his own he would only read graphic novels like dogman and captain underpants and I was not pleased. Another mom told me just think of it as a gateway drug to reading. And in third grade he basically only read Garfield comics. Sure enough he’s 11 now, loves to read and reads everything from the classics to sports illustrated. Just expose her to books and words. I think a summer reading boot camp from mom might just backfire.
My husband is from a Scandinavian country and always reminds me he basically learned to read in third grade and went on to an Ivy League school. I’ve tried to be the same way with my kids and not force it which is hard because I was a voracious reader as a young kid. We have lots of books around the house, visit the the library often and read to our kids as much as we can. When my DS1 first started reading on his own he would only read graphic novels like dogman and captain underpants and I was not pleased. Another mom told me just think of it as a gateway drug to reading. And in third grade he basically only read Garfield comics. Sure enough he’s 11 now, loves to read and reads everything from the classics to sports illustrated. Just expose her to books and words. I think a summer reading boot camp from mom might just backfire.
My DDs BFF’s grandma (she’s helping raise the BFF) makes disparaging remarks to her about not reading “real” books and won’t buy her graphic novels or anything like that. Forces her to read “real” books (like she decides what books BFF needs to read at any given time). Unsurprisingly BFF doesn’t enjoy reading.
I let my kids read whatever they want, if it’s all dog man, cool. If it is just Smile and Sisters and Drama, cool. If it’s a mix of chapter books and Calvin and Hobbes and Raina Telgemeier and Hilo and Dog Man, cool. Read what makes you happy. Reading for pleasure is supposed to be just that, pleasure. No need for everything someone reads to be to better their reading skills or learn something or whatever. And no one else can actually decide for another person what books are pleasurable to read and what aren’t.
Post by sillygoosegirl on Jun 21, 2022 11:55:51 GMT -5
That sounds consistent with what kindergarteners are supposed to be able to read at the end of the year. Shoot, my kid recently took a placement assessment for a well-regarded online phonics game, and it said she is reading at an early 2nd grade level. And that was after working hard for a while and then getting bored and hitting "skip" on each question until it ended the test. This surprised me a lot because she is still functionally illiterate. Kids who only meet the end of kindergarten reading standards, or even the end of first grade reading standards can't necessarily read, save for special chosen decodeable books, or with lots of assistance. Yes, reading comes naturally to some kids and they far exceed this, but kids don't need to in order to be on grade level.
We really like the Logic of English reading curriculum. But that would be a lot for a summer (it's a 2-3 academic year program for schools or homeschoolers). They have a short program designed for kids in public school that introduces key phonics concepts meant to be used alongside other reading instruction or over the summer. It's called "Sounding Out The Sight Words."
A couple good phonics tablet game supplements are Teach Your Monster to Read (short and cheap) and Nessy Reading and Spelling (long and expensive, subscription based though). The content in Nessy seems exceptional, although we have found it to be a little buggy.
Oops, ETA Nessy Hairy Reading rather than Reading and Spelling may be more appropriate for a 5-year-old.
Post by gretchenindisguise on Jun 21, 2022 12:01:01 GMT -5
A didn't know how to read well after K. In 1st grade something finally clicked and now he's above grade level. I credit him deciding he wanted to read Dog Man books after checking one out from the library. We didn't do anything other than continue to read to him and follow his lead on what book he wanted to read.
Post by plutosmoon on Jun 21, 2022 12:29:24 GMT -5
My DD is finishing 3rd grade she had classmates that still couldn't read at the start of the year. I think there are still kids struggling, a rising 1st grader who can't read doesn't seem problematic to me.
My kid was an early reader through zero effort on my part other than reading to her. Some kids pick it up early, some are late, they will all get there eventually. My sister couldn't read until the end of first and I read earlier, we had no difference in exposure to books, just had different paces. I agree with others to just keep reading to her, it'll click when she's ready. I wouldn't push anything beyond reading to your DD.
For DS, he learned to read at daycare Kindergarten. It was an early 5's Kindergarten because he missed the public school cut off for K by 5 weeks.
For DD, I did actually teach her how to read. I knew that she was ready. We used the First Little Readers Parent Pack: Guided Reading Level A: 25 Irresistible Books That Are Just the Right Level for Beginning Readers that pp linked. DS also used these and they are easier than Bob books. And we used the The Reading Lesson: Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy Lessons by Michael Levin that someone recommended to me.
I'm not going to wade into the reading debate. You know your child the best, so you know if they are ready or not. If they are not ready don't push them. If it becomes a punishing chore, you are doing it wrong. It needs to be positive and fun. If you can't do positive and fun, then let it be until 1st grade. If you can do positive and fun, then give it a try and supplement with lots of fun picture books, and prizes from your summer reading program at your library. FUN is the number one thing you should be going for.
My kid had the exact same experience with the Lucy Calkins curriculum that boiler717 described. All the curriculum did was teach her to be a really good guesser.
Her school is shifting away from it next year, but luckily she had a new to district first grade teacher that was willing to go a little off course and give additional phonics instruction. She’s above grade level at the end of 1st.
So while I think the posts that kids learn when they are developmentally ready, and to keep reading fun, and that reading to them is all really great advice - it wasn’t working for my kid at all.
If you are concerned than I would investigate a little further and see if it’s a curriculum issue or if your child just truly isn’t ready yet.
My DS(6) just finished K. He can sound out some easy words, rhyme really well and switch out beginning letters to make different words. I plan to continue using his iReady program from school because he loves it, use a handwriting without tears book and read to him. All following his lead.
My son was in kindergarten during the start of the pandemic and didn't truly learn to read until 2nd grade (this year). We read to the kids a lot, but didn't do anything to try to teach reading at home for him or his big sister. We did get him some graphic novels at his teacher's suggestion, and that really helped inspire him to start reading for fun. But that happened in second grade.
DS also had the same experience as boiler717 and moonpie with his school's reading curriculum. His school also has a lot of high achievers so many kids get a lot of outside help.
He was in virtual K so I could listen in to a lot of it, and it was maddening how little they taught. They basically went from teaching letter sounds, then look at the pictures to get clues for the words, and then in another lesson put words on the screen with no context, "who can tell me what this word says?" And of course many of the kids could read those words. I'm exaggerating a little bit, but barely. No phonics were taught in K. That's why we did Bob books, and I'm not saying it's the best tool out there, but it worked for us, and it was a positive experience. We only spent 5-10 minutes a day on it during bedtime reading, and after I would read to DS. This is still our pattern now going into 2nd grade, where he reads to me and then I read to him. It was definitely the best decision for us to give him some extra help at home with reading so he could keep up in 1st.
So, I have a dyslexic kid going into fourth grade, but still, at your child’s age, I absolutely echo the advice to just read to her a lot and make it interesting and make reading fun. Since she already knows some sight words, that’s a great sign! That said, reading to my kid for hours and hours every day would not teach her to read with her dyslexia. So if your child truly doesn’t start to pick up on reading on her own next year, then it would be time to look at some more intensive options. A phonics-based approach would definitely be best. Phonemic awareness is the key. Kids who struggle with reading di best when they are taught systematically, with the building blocks of sounds and words. But at your stage, I think it’s 100% normal for her to be where she is, and I would just have fun reading stories together all summer long.
DS also had the same experience as boiler717 and moonpie with his school's reading curriculum. His school also has a lot of high achievers so many kids get a lot of outside help.
He was in virtual K so I could listen in to a lot of it, and it was maddening how little they taught. They basically went from teaching letter sounds, then look at the pictures to get clues for the words, and then in another lesson put words on the screen with no context, "who can tell me what this word says?" And of course many of the kids could read those words. I'm exaggerating a little bit, but barely. No phonics were taught in K. That's why we did Bob books, and I'm not saying it's the best tool out there, but it worked for us, and it was a positive experience. We only spent 5-10 minutes a day on it during bedtime reading, and after I would read to DS. This is still our pattern now going into 2nd grade, where he reads to me and then I read to him. It was definitely the best decision for us to give him some extra help at home with reading so he could keep up in 1st.
Wow. My kid’s entire K experience was phonics. Letters, sounds, diagraph sounds, trick words, sneaky e, long vowels, short vowels, decoding, blending and creative spelling. The entire idea (as it was explained to me) is to build a strong phonics background before moving to 1st and putting it all together better as true reading.
I homeschooled my dd for kindergarten due to the pandemic and used All About Reading 1 & 2. (She never liked Bob books). We both enjoyed the program and did 20 mins a day at breakfast. With my son who is a preschooler we like to make up silly rhyming words, clap words, talk about the beginning sounds, bedtime reading. We also do a ton of audiobooks. He isn’t ready to read and I haven’t pushed it.
DS also had the same experience as boiler717 and moonpie with his school's reading curriculum. His school also has a lot of high achievers so many kids get a lot of outside help.
He was in virtual K so I could listen in to a lot of it, and it was maddening how little they taught. They basically went from teaching letter sounds, then look at the pictures to get clues for the words, and then in another lesson put words on the screen with no context, "who can tell me what this word says?" And of course many of the kids could read those words. I'm exaggerating a little bit, but barely. No phonics were taught in K. That's why we did Bob books, and I'm not saying it's the best tool out there, but it worked for us, and it was a positive experience. We only spent 5-10 minutes a day on it during bedtime reading, and after I would read to DS. This is still our pattern now going into 2nd grade, where he reads to me and then I read to him. It was definitely the best decision for us to give him some extra help at home with reading so he could keep up in 1st.
Wow. My kid’s entire K experience was phonics. Letters, sounds, diagraph sounds, trick words, sneaky e, long vowels, short vowels, decoding, blending and creative spelling. The entire idea (as it was explained to me) is to build a strong phonics background before moving to 1st and putting it all together better as true reading.
Same here. E1 started with some phonics and sight words in pk4, but K was all letters, basic phonics, sight words, a repeat of his pk4 program. He just finished 1st grade, and it has been more complex phonics (sound blends, tricky words, etc) and early reading.
Now, E1 is one of the better readers in his class, but I am also aware that it is developmental. He also just enjoys reading, it's not something that I strongly pushed on him (as much as I wanted to push).
At this age? Read to your kid. Full stop. That's how you can help them.
This. My 5 year old just finished pre-k so I guess some would say I shouldn't be in here, but whatever.
I'm 90% certain if I were to "coach" him I could have him "reading" this summer. He is obsessed with letters and reading. Always has been. But his pre-k teacher has told me time and time again to let school be school and home be home. So instead we plan to do exactly what we've done since he was 3 months old. We read to him EVERY night and answer his random "Mommy--what starts with G?" and "How do you spell Cow?" questions ad neauseum.
I think it’s also good to remember that reading is not an innate human skill. My daughter has some warning signs of dyslexia so I’ve clearly been doing a lot of research about language and reading. Reading is something that is entirely human invented.
I was actually really surprised to learn that a child who struggles with letters/sounds/decoding of one language may have zero issues with a language that is all picture-based (like Mandarin). And vice-versa. Brains can be wired a variety of ways and how quickly they catch on the language they were born into is not indicative of intelligence or lack of effort. It’s a learned skill like swimming strokes or playing basketball. Everyone will be able to shoot the ball with enough practice and body development, but there’s going to be a wide range of abilities across everyone in life.
Kids learn at different paces even when you expose the same way. DS was reading by the end of K. But DD was closer to 1st-2nd grade when she learned. It wasn't until 3rd grade that she would read longer graphic novel books while DS had read the entire Harry Potter series by the beginning of 3rd grade.
Every kid is different and goes at their own pace. It sounds like your child is well within the normal spectrum. Encourage reading but don't make it a chore.
I'll echo the same thing that everyone else said--read to your kid and keep it fun. If you are looking for more variety in easy readers, epic has a section of guided reading leveled books and you can start with the A's or B's and keep moving up from there a lot of kids find it fun to be able to master a book that's right at their level, so that might be a fun way to do it. Epic also has a lot of "read to me" book options that are great. Our public library also has a ton of wonderbooks, which are books with a little audiobook player built in, so kids can plug in some headphones and read along.
Bob books really got her started with reading. We read 4 books at bedtime each night, so we swapped 1 book for a bob book for awhile. Once she got the hang of those, we would read elephant and piggie books together where she would be piggie and I would be Gerald.
Once she could read a little bit, the thing that made her reading explode was playing Pokémon on the switch. That was really motivating for her and she had gotten SO much better!
My daughter just finished first. Her growth from beginning to end of year was insane!!! She started below grade level and ended up above grade level. It just clicked and I think each kid has a clicking moment. I’ll also dd a pp about all about reading. We did level 1 and 2 during kinder bc she was virtual and it helped a ton! It gave her a solid foundation. It was very easy (I’m not a teacher) and she enjoyed it.
Someone asked what the expectation is for entering first grade. In my area, kids are expected to be reading on a level D when they leave kindergarten. Obviously some are above that and some are below. Here’s the list of skills for a “D” reader: