Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Nervous for 1st grade

Hi Mom23-- I just thought I'd chime in here, as I could have written your initial post myself when my dd11 was in Kindergarten. I think her issue was a bit of perfectionism. (If I can't read as well as my friend, well then I just won't read. I'll do more math!). For her, the impetus to read was the promise of a big party at the beginning of the next school year for children who had read a certain number of pages over the summer. She started the summer with Bob Books (beginner readers) and ended it with My Side of the Mountain.
There is nothing quite like the power of a well-timed bribe.

This made me think of a comparison. My DS refused to be taught how to write by us parents. He started writing letters when he was 2ish, and things didn't come out how he liked, and so he went on strike. We occasionally would try to get him to write some stuff, to major protestations. We thought kindergarten would be a great place for him to learn to write - that's one of the kindy teacher's major jobs. He still isn't great at writing, but it worked wonderfully to have the teacher at school teach him this. Maybe the same thing will happen with your son with reading and the first grade teacher.

I also am a big fan of well-timed bribes.

I'm surprised how many are saying their kids didn't read until 1st. All kids is our K (catholic school) were reading by the end of the year.

Reading is so important as it is a big part of every subject.

I would suggest trying to make reading more apart of DC's day if you are not already doing this. Our routinue has always been a reading together time before bed. I think my kids learned a lot by following the words as they were read. As kids wanted to read more on their own they keep doing this with out Mom or Dad.

You might also try a library program to read with another child.

We started our kids reading the little hooked on phonics books. They would read each book many times until they get it all, then move to the next book. As they completed a pile of books they felt proud.

Hope this is helplful. best wishes.

I'm not terribly surprised. Different kids take off in different areas at different times. The OP said her son is very advanced in math/science IIRC. I would imagine it is not too unusual to learn unevenly, showing great interest in one subject and catching up in a different area later. E.g., although my son was an early reader, he really didn't take off in math until he started school.

Also, the OP's son is just 5yo going into first, and that is the usual age many kids really start to read.

Of course, different definitions of "reading" will also make a difference. I imagine that in a GT 1st grade classroom, there will very advanced readers who can read HP, and beginning readers who are just learning Bob books. I also agree with a previous poster who said it depends on your region. There are probably some neighborhoods in the Twin Cities where you will find the majority of kids reading by 1st.

Mom2_3: I hope you do keep us posted to let us know what types of readers are in the class! And I do repeat my recommendation to email the teacher to see if she shares any of your concern. He/she can either eliminate your worries or give some good tips.

In our area, there seems to be a raging debate over it, and it seems to be a key to the philosophy of the school. Those wanting to be rseen as rigorous focus on it as a measure of that success, while other emphasize whole child, and readiness for learning.

See here for an article for a few months ago. NYT

Mom2-3
I'm like broken record on this (and I am not making any money off it ) but starfall is
just awesome for moving readers along.
Starfall

DeHe

Does anyone else think that perhaps some of the kids who are on "strike" (love that!) and deciding not to read, just can't handle some of the easy reader books. I remember DD rolling her eyes when I said we were going to sit on the couch and read the Bob books. Mat and cat and cap and dad.... dull stuff for our children who enjoy complexity.

I agree with herenow...My DD6 didn't go on "strike" with all reading, but refused to read the common simple sight word books because the context was um... well... really boring. She wanted the complexity of a plot and real information (so did mommy ha)Instead of forcing the issue, we would read together the books and magazines that did interest her...Science Illustrated, Theory of Evolution etc...Lol (Franny K. Stein books she loves) Obviously, she wasn't close to reading a lot of the words but when we would come across a word that I knew she could handle, I would have her read it. It really kept her interest in reading. It has worked great for us!

Thank you again for everyones comments, I really appreciate it.
My son gets bored quickly, he is a HUGE perfectionist. Thats why he loves Math because it's easy to him, he gets it w/out too much trouble. But reading involves sitting, something he hates doing, he'd rather be deafeating Mario Bros. for the 100th time, LOL!
We are looking into starfall, he's actually playing it right now So I hope because he's a HUGE computer kid, it will help.

Like someone mentioned above, I think he can read a little, just doesn't like to show me that he can. IDK...

I think my biggest concern, was his K teachers, failed him in a way. It is a private school that my DH and I worked our butts off for, so he could go there. Only to find they had no organization, and really failed the K's for sure...IDK about the other grades. It's a newer school so they only had up to 2nd grade and were adding a year as they go. When the director looked at me in March and said she was upset when she realized no one was teaching reading, so she made sure someone started in February. I almost cried. I was shocked.

BUT, when we decided to change schools, my DH and I talked w/ the G&T cordinator, and after talking w/ Connor she felt he needed to be in 1st grade, even w/out reading.

I'm sorry...I'm just nervous, because I know most of the kids had a much different K experience than my son. I think as a parent you almost always second guess things because you don't want to be wrong, because a lot is riding on it...your kid.

My hope is, a teacher can get him interested, or at least he will listen to them instead of his parents who he seems to think are on the "same" level as him...If any of you have a kid like mine, you'll know what I mean.

After reading everyone's posts, and thinking more about it, especially DeHe's Post:

When I look at my son as a WHOLE child, he would be bored in K again, he does need to go into 1st grade, and we'll have to work extra hard on reading and writing.

Thank-you again for all the posts! I will update as the year goes...keeping my fingers crossed that we are doing the right thing.

DD10 started kindergarten not reading (she was much more interested in math and science), but picked it up quickly and was reading well above grade level by the end of the year. At the time, she also would much rather play Mario than read.

My DS has had lots of moments where he wanted to "run before he could walk". He started learning to read a sentence occassionally from Chapter books we were reading to him. He then we went to the Hooked on phonics books.