Are you feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because your child's not reading on grade level?
First of all, what does that even mean? To explore this, I want you to forget everything you think you know about reading levels.
Last school year, I signed up as a volunteer to read with kindergarteners and first graders. The literacy curriculum that they adopted that year had kids reading throughout the school day, but they needed parent volunteers to help. My son was in third grade, but because it was reading related, I signed up right away.
What I saw and heard shocked me.
The first thing the assistant principal told me was that learning to read means following a pattern, that we need to make sure that the students can follow the text pattern on the page to move on.
This is 100% false, and I'm going to tell you why.
Take out any early reader, and you'll most likely see a Reading Level with a letter from A - Z. But what do these letters actually mean?
You would assume, they mark the difficulty level of each text, but this is false. These levels come from guided reading, a part of balanced literacy. The idea is for a child to start with level A books, and once they're done with those move to level B books, etc. (If you hear anything about using Fountas and Pinnell or F & P, that is also a big red flag.)
The problem is:
- The levels do not match difficulty levels. That is to say, they may be a level A book that is more difficult than another level A book. There may be a level C book that is more difficult to read than a level E book. Levels are completely random and false!
- Many early levels follow a pattern that a new reader can memorize so that they LOOK like they are reading. For example, one of the most basic books that my (most likely dyslexic) first graders read had this pattern, "My dad's favorite tie is blue, my dad's favorite tie is purple..." You get the idea. Do you think he could read all of those words with so many different phonics patterns? No! Instead the student is forced to memorize the pattern, which makes it look like they're reading while they're really being shown that phonics is a last resort. This is a hard habit to break!
Want to see an example of this in action? Watch The Purple Challenge where a parent asks the hard question: Is my kid learning how to read? Then, you can even do this challenge for yourself.
Spoiler alert: the answer is no. Following a pattern is NOT learning how to read, but you've probably already figured that out by now.
Now that we know better, we can do better. What's the answer?
In a classroom setting, the answer is grouping students by phonics skill rather than level. But what does that mean for you at home? Instead of leveled readers, choose decodable readers or books. Decodables are just as they sound, books that a new reader can decode the words and they are grouped by phonics skill rather than a random level.
Decodables are to reading as scales are to playing an instument. They are used as practice, to build confidence, stamina, and fluency. They are used to practice new phonics skills and review ones that have been previously taught.
Instead of building your library with easy readers, build a library of decodables to set your new reader up for success. (It's why we include a decodable reader in our subscription box every month.)
Not sure where to start or what your child needs to practice? Reach out by e-mailing me at aoife@thereadersdropinn.com, and we can work together to find a solution that will work well for your family.