Kindergarten: But My Child Can Already Read (3)

Parents, we’ve been talking about what to do if your child can read before he enters kindergarten (applies to first grade also). Here’s the final installment on this question.

The proverbial rubber meets the road. The first thing that needs to be said is that teachers have lots of children coming in with all levels of skills and abilities in reading and math. This is nothing new for kindergarten, or for first grade teachers, especially since the advent of academic preschools. So, it won’t be a surprise when your little wizard is presented at the schoolhouse door knowing how to read and/or add and subtract. Here are some questions a parent might ask. I’m not sure that asking these questions will endear you to the teacher or the school. But it will make the system aware that you are interested in your child’s education. It’s important to maintain good relations, so be thoughtful about how you pose the questions. You might want to think about how to rephrase them. Another piece of advice is to wait a couple of weeks so that the teacher can get to know your child a little, giving the teacher an opportunity to assess and get into the classroom routine. These are the things that I would want to know in order to make informed decisions:

(1)  How well is my child reading in relation to the rest of the class? I would want to know what skills my child has in phonics as well as what level my child is reading. Some schools require beginning of the year assessments. For example, one assessment that is commonly used for reading is the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2). It is not the only assessment that is used. There are many others that can give very good information.  It’s  important to have this information because it will give you a  gauge for determining the amount of support that your child needs for success.

(2)  Ask what reading program is used in kindergarten (or first grade) and what it looks like. What does it teach?  If the teacher has developed the program, ask for specifics. Know what is expected at different points in the year. I might even want to know what is the expected outcome at the end of the school year.  

(3)  Ask how the next grade builds upon your child’s current grade? This is important because you want to know how well articulated the program is from one grade to the next and between grades (I can go on for hours about this point, but you don’t want me to. Come to think of it, this might not be a question that will help our child at this time. Maybe it's one you want to hang onto and think about for a later time. Then think about how to phrase it.) 

(4)  If your child is ahead of the rest of the children (or behind),  how is the teacher going to differentiate instruction. That means, how is the teacher going to plan for providing instruction that is appropriate for your child’s skills.

(5)  Ask the teacher how you can help at home.

Parents, please remember that the school and home is a partnership in teaching. It is not just up to the school or just up to you. Developing and maintaining relationships and not appearing adversarial is an important piece of cooperation.  There are many, many fine teachers out there with lots of years of experience. Go into this process with good intent,  open-mindedness, willingness to work together, and expecting the best. Hope this helps.