I don't thin kthis is true. It teach high school, but all of the primary research I have seen saya that the vast majority of children are in fact developmentally ready to read at 5, The largest single factor in age approiate children in K not reading is lack of parental involvment in the process. The second is a diagnosed learing diasbility.
I said vas majority because actually the numbers are really small, less than 5% so less than 5 out of 100 children are not developmentally ready to read at age 5. That puts it in the realm of developmental delay according to the behavioral psych people.
I have never seen that in all my years of teaching. I guess it depends on who you are taking courses from. If this was some kind of homeschool agency I can see them pushing this kind of thinking. I have never seen a major accredited university teaching that ,however.
Some of you may remember me from previous threads about "should I start Kindergarten or hold them back", and it is no secret that I am a proponent of sending kids to school rather than holding them back unless there is a developmental reason. Just my opinion, yours may differ.
So this week I am sitting in my son's basketball practice (the 2nd grade clinic) with a mother who is going on and on about how worried she is because her son is so tall and thin compared to the other kids. She even said something about how he was in a play at school and when they all lined up on stage at the end he looked like "an Amazon kid" (her words not mine) compared to the other kids.
I happen to remember this kid, because when he was in our public school he was a grade ahead of my son, but now they are in the same grade. Conversation continues, and I find out that she pulled him out of public school at the end of 2nd grade, and put him in 2nd grade again in the Catholic school because he's her "baby" (an only child) she thought he was "too young". He is an October birthday, my son is November, a year later.
I know I'm a little hyper-sensitive to this because I have a November-birthday son that I sent to school, but she seriously annoyed me. Of course your kid is "so tall" compared to the other kids in the 2nd grade basketball clinic...HE'S A YEAR OLDER THAN THEY ARE!
While I realize that she has the right to do whatever she wants with her child, I reserve the right to be annoyed. I'm annoyed at the fact that now this kid (currently a head taller than everyone else in the group) will be playing sports against kids a year younger than he is, and at the fact that the mother just wouldn't stop about how her son is "so tall".
Just wanted to vent. Thanks for listening.
He is now in 5th grade and an honor roll student! 
Maybe the kid is just tall?
2 things
). I remember first grade, when we began to read. I believe what caused the change was the number of kids who attended daycare, and it was found that kids could read earlier than thought. However, not all kids are ready. In my experience, the kids I know who struggle with school are from families who value education, and who go above and beyond with their children's academics. Lots of the families who don't value education, and don't work with their kids at home, are the ones who are anxious to send their kids to school, free daycare.
Kids YOU KNOW. How many children from homes that don't value education do you know?? I don't imagine they run in the same social ciricles. The data show, and least in our district, that the majority of children who struggle come from poverty level homes with no emphasis placed on education. In our area Head Start is huge for these families. A lot of head start clients WANT their childern retained in head start another year rather than sent to K because they get to keep all of the financial assistance that goes along with having a child in head start. They get extra food stamp help, utility assitance, a clothing allowance for the kids, ect. There is not interest in teadching thier kids and moving them ahead becuase there is no financial gain in it.There was absolutely NO reading when I was in kindergarten. I remember learning my shapes and colors, plus a nap (and it was 1/2 day
There was absolutely NO reading when I was in kindergarten. I remember learning my shapes and colors, plus a nap (and it was 1/2 day
Sorry, but I don't have an "agenda" in this at all. I teach HIGH SCHOOL, so it has no bearing on what I do. Everyone here is saying how parents know so much better than teachers and how they are so much more in tune to what their kids need, so why is it so hard to believe that parents have a HUGE impact on a child's success ro lack theerof?? I think the whole "boys can't do it" and "teachers expect too much" bit is really just a big cop out. I don't know of any K teacher that subscribes to the "sit down and shut up" school of teaching. They won't get very far with most kids, boy or girl, that way. Heck, I don't do that in high school. I work HARD to keep my kids interested and engaged. I don't teach more than 30 min at a time without stopping to DO something in 10th grade! In K DD's teacher would teach for about 20 min, with the children participating, and then do an activity of some sort begfire pencil and paper work on the subject. That is much how her 1st grade class is run this year. Most teachers use carefully thought out lessons to meet students where they are. But by the same token it is very difficult to convince a child that learning has value when that is not what they are being taught at home. It is also next to impossible to get a child to make an attempt to succeed in the calssroom when mom and dad believe they are "too young" or "not ready". That mindset seeps down to the child, regardless of wether parents do in consciously or not, and the kid thinks he is not required to make the effort because they "can't". I think it is ridiculous to think that it is all the teacher's fault becuase she is a mean, rigid witch who expects too much of these precious babies. Most teachers do everything they can to reach the children they teach, but they DO need some help from home.
