Hi, I am new here and would like some advice please. Has anyone had any experience with this program or similar basal reading programs Open Court, Journeys, Story Town etc.) at their child's public school?
Prior to the implementation of this program my child (who just finished kindergarten) could pick out his own books to read in class and write in his writing log and enjoyed doing this. However, with this new program the children are limited to the books available in the "beyond level" selection that comes with the program. Unfortunately the "beyond level" selection is made up of really skimpy books for children reading at just above grade or perhaps the grade level above, while my son reads at about 2-3 levels above grade. My son said he is bored and is not learning anything from the program which now takes up a good chunk of class time. He had never complained of boredom before but instead took advantage of his classroom time writing little stories and reading books he found interesting. My son has been reading since he was 2 1/2 years old.
Just wondering if anyone else is familiar with this program or similar ones and what the teachers in your children's school do to meet the needs of gifted children when such programs are implemented in their school. I found on the internet that a school district in Maryland Anne Arundel which uses Treasures also implements a program call "crosswalks" for gifted children but could not find any details of it. My child's school does not have a gifted and talented program but perhaps if I knew what others do to overcome this problem his teacher may be willing to implement it just for him and others in a similar situation.
