That level D looks maybe similar to a little harder that the accelerated reader books. The one I saw for him had lots of words like looked, chair, and said. I can't figure out these levels at all, TBO, because I'm still of the mind they should be learning how to read with phonics.
Displaced, my children's school taught phonics, but they also emphasized learning (memorizing) sight words so that children would not be tripped up by high-frequency but phonics-rules-breaker words when reading. You might want to see where your ds is at on the Dolch lists of site words as a reference point.
I'm not certain if she mentioned retention because it was a likely possibility or a distant one and she didn't want us to be surprised at the end of the year.
Since it was mentioned, I'd ask her specifically what she *did* mean. If it is a possibility, you need to know the details of why, what are the criteria, etc. I would also, after talking to her about this, seriously request a team meeting to discuss the reading issues. Please note - I don't think that anything you've mentioned about your ds' reading level is cause for concern at this point in kindergarten *at all*, but it sounds like your ds' school is really pushing the students in reading. So even though it's most likely just developmental for your ds, since the *school* is insisting there's an issue, call a team meeting. If they insist, at the meeting, that your ds is underachieving or struggling in reading, formally request an evaluation for an LD in reading. If he's struggling so much that the school feels he needs to repeat K, they need to also evaluate and look at whether or not he needs individualized instruction.
polarbear
