School starts next week, which means we are back in staff development. Today was data day (everyone’s favorite, right?)

We analyzed our school’s data and my principal told us that the district is setting a goal of having every child “on level” for reading by third grade. We were then encouraged to think about our team’s reading goals for kindergarten.

I let out a sigh and scrunched up my face. (I want to stop and interject that, as I have mentioned before, I love my principal! I really do. He is far and above the most understanding administrator I have ever met in regards to easing off pressure of intense early literacy. My complaint here is with the system, not my principal.)

Now back to my scrunched up face…I don’t teach third grade. I have read articles indicating that reading levels in third grade can predict academic success. That might be true…I don’t know. But I do know some other things.

I know that reading “on level” for kindergarten in our district, and most others, is horrendously developmentally inappropriate, and an unreasonable expectation. I know that in the most academically successful countries in the world, formal literacy training doesn’t even start until age 7. And most importantly, I know that if a push is coming for all third graders to be reading “on level,” that push is most likely going to be felt all the way down to my littles in kindergarten.

I am very scared about that.

I have never understood why education seems to be the only industry where we actively ignore decades of research. Many studies have proven that early formal literacy instruction is unnecessary.

Let’s look at the research

This University of Florida study suggests that students who attended academic focused preschools actually struggle more in school than those who attended play-based ones.

In New Zealand, researchers evaluated two groups of children, one group which started reading instruction at age 5 and one at age 7. The reading levels of the two groups had leveled out by age 11, indicating that early reading success doesn’t even persist into later years. Even more significant, that same study showed that those who started at age 5 were more likely to be disenchanted with reading by age 11.

Early formal literacy instruction is not only unnecessary for long-term academic success, but it can even ruin a child’s love of reading. Yet the system continues to push intense formal standards for reading into younger grades, requiring kindergarten students to truly be reading by the end of the year to be considered “on level” and fully ready for first grade.

Now if I could, I would run a purely play-based classroom. But even working within the system, what we should be doing, rather than forcing formal literacy instruction, constantly assessing reading levels, and labeling students on their reading when they aren’t developmentally ready is provide a healthy, holistic foundation of literacy.

So what are my reading goals for kindergarten?

Every child will enjoy reading

In my class, reading is fun. I am not worried about reading levels, achieving results on assessments, or forcing kids to think they need to leave kindergarten reading. Instead, I want them to know what a wonderful experience reading can be! I want them to listen to great books, become invested in the characters, get excited when they go to the library, and continue to WANT to learn how to read throughout the school year.

Every child will learn how to choose books they love

In order for kids to learn how to read, they need to be inspired. I hope to help each child find the types of books that make them want to stay up late flipping through pages, whether that’s Pete the Cat or a non-fiction book about trees. Exposing the children to a variety of texts is a far more valuable use of my time than displaying boring big books that I read over and over, trying to drill the words into my students’ brains.

Every child will build a strong, holistic foundation of pre-reading skills

When we pressure little ones to read before they have basic foundational skills, we are robbing them of the chance to become good readers. Reading is a process and we are trying to jump kids up to the top of the ladder, skipping all of the essential steps, such as conceptual understanding of print, phonological awareness, and letter and sound knowledge.

In my classroom, having a print-rich environment and building up pre-reading skills through poems, songs, and games is much more important than leveled reading or scoring high on an assessment.

Those are my only 3 reading goals for kindergarten. If every one of my students left my class with that but couldn’t even read the ‘A’ book in a DRA test, I would consider that a successful year. I am teaching children, not statistics.

Posted on: August 10, 2018, by : admin