Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy How to talk to teacher ?

My son in kindergarten now ( will turn 6 this April). He started this school year at Guided reading level J, after about a month or two he started bringing level K books and as of past few weeks, he has brought home level L books (may be 3 or 4) and level J, K books too. He used to bring chapter books Nate the great, Cam Jansen, Henry Mudge etc. He no longer does now.
At one point he got a Cam Jansen book, which seemed little harder for him - small font size was kind of intimidating for him. So I did tell his teacher - it will take us longer to read this book. After that she never sent any chapter book.
Over the December holidays he started reading Roscoe Riley at home on kindle (font size is not an issue on kindle).
I don't know what's going on, I want him to read the books that are just right for him not too easy not too hard. I am afraid if I talk to his teacher, she will send home too hard books. Any suggestions on how to approach this with his teacher.
Thank you so much
RPJ

Hi mom77 - welcome to the site! Have you asked the teacher how the levels and books are determined? It may be that they test regularly, and based on the results your son is getting books at his level. I'm not familiar with the Guided reading levels, but I guess if I were you, I would ask the teacher how she determines what is a just-right book for your kiddo. I have used the 5-finger method, where my kiddo read a page, and if he didn't know more than 5 words on the page (or was it 5 or more?), the book was too difficult, but fewer than 4 unfamiliar words was just right, to introduce new words. Some other methods seem to favor easier books for kids until they become confident readers.

One difficulty at this age, which you mentioned, is the size of the font and number of words on a page. You could mention this is a problem to the teacher, and maybe she can recommend some books at your son's level with bigger fonts/fewer words per page. Geronimo Stilton, if I remember, was an easier read at that time for my son because there were plenty of fun illustrations on the page along with words.

Anyway, I would mention all your concerns, plus the level of books your child comfortably reads and the difficulties with small fonts, to your teacher and see what sorts of ideas she has.

We have had this issue with my first grader all year. I don't worry too much about this in school- my son reads chapter books at home and easy books at school. oh well. I've told them he can read harder books, they know that... His reading is improving alot so I don't see what the big deal is.

I'd play with it a bit longer at home before approaching the teacher so you have a better idea of what to ask for. Our public library has an ebook lending library, so you might look into a similar option where you are. Then you could choose several books and see which he gravitates to. When my kids were small, we would sometimes bring home as many as 30 books at a time so the kids had a smorgasbord to choose from.

Thank you so much for your replies. I am going to follow your suggestions and not make it a big deal. May be casually ask the teacher how he is reading. Although I might look for guided reading level for dummies kinda book. Just to figure out how they evaluate kids and move up or down. Thanks again.

I can give you a teacher perspective on this. I taught kindergarten several years. *Most* teachers are more than happy to talk to you, provided you schedule a conference. Don't just try to talk about it after school or when you drop off. We have things to do, meetings, planning, prep, etc.

Come to the conference prepared. Make a list of what you want to be sure to say. Don't present a problem without a solution. So, if the problem is the flip-flopping between levels, you may ask that he have just the level he is on. However, I imagine the lower levels reappearing is to help with fluency or just to make it more enjoyable for him if the J level is a little too frustrating for whatever reason. If they are doing guided reading, truly, they must have a guided reading library full of books on each level. They aren't all chapter books. There are lots of leveled books on nonfiction topics too! You may even ask her to bring some samples of them to see if there are some of the other types of genres of guided reading books he may do better with. For your own personal information, I think Lakeshore Learning sells some of the best sets on the market. I have sets A-E for dd4. Their non-fiction is great!

Other ideas...what is he being asked to do with the books? Is he filling out a summary sheet for them? Answering comp questions? Practicing for fluency? AR tests? (Book Adventure is a similar program you can do at home.)

Oh! And be on time, leave on time (so she isn't rushing to pick up the class from gym or whatnot), and try to find something nice to say at some point.

Thank you all for your replies. I think I am going follow your suggestions and not make big deal about it.
ABQmom: my public library only has Junie b jones ebooks for his level can't wait for them to add more books.
Mom2ms: Really appreciate teachers perspective, �and thanks for lakeshore learning materials and book adventure.

Thanks again!
RPJ

Thank you all for your replies. I think I am going follow your suggestions and not make big deal about it.
ABQmom: my public library only has Junie b jones for his level can't wait for them to add more books.
Mom2ms: Really appreciate teachers perspective,  and thanks for lakeshore learning materials and book adventure.

Thanks again!
RPJ

You might try here:

Kindle Owners Lending Library http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000739811