" These first graders who had proudly shared with anyone who would listen that they were reading Harry Potter are at risk of becoming fourth graders who must be incentivized in order to read anything at all."
I don't know any kids like this. Does anyone else? A child who read HP or similar in first grade and then became a nonreader in 4th?
What really aggravated me (well, among other things) was her theory that kids who learn to read later become better readers than those who independently learn to read early. There is no evidence for this. Her private school background is probably completely deluding her here, in the sense that sure, there are indeed bright kids (what's the average IQ at her school--115, 120?) who read late and then catch up very well. But much of the time, the child who is struggling with reading in second grade is a child who is going to continue to struggle. Early problems with reading predict future problems for most of the population, and early success with reading, especially untaught, predicts future success. It's not a big mystery. This is established. As a literacy specialist or whatever, she really ought to know this.
My son, in a way. Younger than what she is discussing, though. He entered preK already knowing how to read- self-taught, no flashcards, no phonics, just learned through osmosis. Then in kindergarten, his teacher* insisted he had to re-learn reading through The One True Way of Phonics, and it threw him for a loop. For a full year to 18 months, he read very, very little and had to be incentivized for that little he did read. Fast forward a couple of years, and he is again a child who reads 24/7, anything he can get his hands on.
She might be admitting that the school screws up kids without actually realizing it.
*She was called a teacher, but to my son she was really the Killer of All Desire to Learn.
