It’s been awhile since I wrote a post, but I was inspired recently by several parents of children that used to be in my class, worried about their child’s inability to read. From what I gathered, at least in the local school district, kindergarten is impressing upon these children to learn a certain number of sight words by a given date, and be on their way to early reading by another date. Succeed, and you’re “on track”; fail, and be labeled as “falling behind”, and in need of special tutoring. They beautify this curriculum by calling it something fun, like “rainbow words”, but in reality, the expectation put upon these five-year-olds not only sucks the necessary fun out of reading, but mislabels them as falling behind, when in reality, they are developing perfectly naturally.
There’s a gravitational force in the elementary school system that brings milestones that were once for older kids ever downward. Kindergarteners are expected to do what second graders were, barely a decade ago. When looked at it medically, according to what’s known about child development and how the brain naturally develops to support reading skills, it’s reasonable to expect a fairly fluent reader by third grade, and manage the easiest of books by the end of first grade, or age 7.
Sight Words vs. Phonics
The problem with forcing kindergarteners to memorize sight words, and judging their reading ability on how many they know, is that memorization is a complete different part of the brain than understanding language. As you get older, several different parts of your brain work together to “read”, and sight words definitely play a role into how quickly we can read, but measuring a five-year-olds ability to memorize sight words is just that: measuring their memorization. It has nothing to do with their language and reading development, which is still developing. At this age, it is developmentally appropriate to begin learning letters and basic phonics (letter and word sounds), and piecing together very simple words whose sounds are easy to decode (“cat”, “run”, “sit”, and so on).
Expecting a reader at five is irresponsible.
This year, I have two children in their older-fours who can read. They are the exception. Why some children can read early, and some can’t, is a mystery to me, but there is no shame in not being the exception. We all excel at something, whether it’s reading or something else. Embrace the gifts your child has, and continue to encourage them in all the areas of learning that they’re working on. As long as your child is developing at a healthy pace, try not to worry when their kindergarten teacher comes to you saying they’re “falling behind”; it’s the curriculum raising the bar far beyond their reach, and making them jump for it. Take the help they offer, but don’t take it personally. Hopefully, someday, they will realize that their strategy is ineffective, and until then, all we can do is meet the child where they’re at, and continue to support them as best we can.
Counting To One 