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Wow, pulling a kid out of school (private or public) because a teacher didn't see a book on the desk, and your child did something else seems a little extreme. What else has happened? The teacher says she's not reading on level- what is her reading level according to the tutor/reading specialist?
According to her reading specialist in NC public schools she is in the middle of 2nd grade reading. The biggest thing my daughter has gained since working with this tutor is self confidence in reading.
The reading specialist noticed some key things at the conference that I was oblivious to. She said the classroom was very cold and bare. There was no kid art up anywhere or kid made things for the children to "show" their work on. I understand limited budget for classroom decorations but this doesn't cost anything to do. The calendar and things that were put up where at adult levels not kid-friendly. The tutor stated having high academic standards is wonderful but there comes a point where unattainable standards can have a huge impact on a child's self-confidence, motivation etc..
I think the teacher and principle felt a little threatened by the tutor's progression notebook on my daughter and her extreme knowlege on the subject. REading is her passion and boy does she know her stuff. She had the dates of each tutoring, speed fluency in reading, sight word knowledge etc... I'm going to take a 30 year experienced (Master's degree, National boards...), highly regarded tutor (I got LOTS of feedback from other parents and some teachers on this person) prior to hiring her. My daughter's teacher is into her 3rd year of teaching. Kinda like getting a recommendation for a heart condition from a new general doctor vs a highly regarded seasoned cardiologist.
I've decided to pull them from this school because I don't want my K-5 child to go through some of the same stuff as my 1st grader. It's also the unexplainable "gut feeling" you have. I weighed the pros and cons of the school and the cons outweighed the pros. To the previous question this is not a Montessori school.
My children occasionally forget something, and when I drop the book or whatever off in the office, the secretary calls the classroom and the child has to walk down to pick it up. Maybes omeone dropped the ball in the office, but I find it peculiar that they would just put the book on the teacher's desk without notifying her.
I wold also say look into the public schools. Any concerns, you can just hire a tutor, plus there are a lot of resources online and books you can order yourself. I'm not happy with the math at my school so my son does Math Whizz online and my daughter does Dreambox (K-3 math).
According to her reading specialist in NC public schools she is in the middle of 2nd grade reading. The biggest thing my daughter has gained since working with this tutor is self confidence in reading.
The reading specialist noticed some key things at the conference that I was oblivious to. She said the classroom was very cold and bare. There was no kid art up anywhere or kid made things for the children to "show" their work on. I understand limited budget for classroom decorations but this doesn't cost anything to do. The calendar and things that were put up where at adult levels not kid-friendly. The tutor stated having high academic standards is wonderful but there comes a point where unattainable standards can have a huge impact on a child's self-confidence, motivation etc..
I think the teacher and principle felt a little threatened by the tutor's progression notebook on my daughter and her extreme knowlege on the subject. REading is her passion and boy does she know her stuff. She had the dates of each tutoring, speed fluency in reading, sight word knowledge etc... I'm going to take a 30 year experienced (Master's degree, National boards...), highly regarded tutor (I got LOTS of feedback from other parents and some teachers on this person) prior to hiring her. My daughter's teacher is into her 3rd year of teaching. Kinda like getting a recommendation for a heart condition from a new general doctor vs a highly regarded seasoned cardiologist.
I've decided to pull them from this school because I don't want my K-5 child to go through some of the same stuff as my 1st grader. It's also the unexplainable "gut feeling" you have. I weighed the pros and cons of the school and the cons outweighed the pros. To the previous question this is not a Montessori school.
Based on what you say, I agree with your tutor's assessment of the classroom. An early ed classroom should be warm and welcoming with plenty of kid work around, and certainly with things at the kids' eye level. Her reading level is pretty good for kindergarten, perhaps this school is overly academic for her and you- listen to your gut and good luck!
According to her reading specialist in NC public schools she is in the middle of 2nd grade reading. The biggest thing my daughter has gained since working with this tutor is self confidence in reading.
The reading specialist noticed some key things at the conference that I was oblivious to. She said the classroom was very cold and bare. There was no kid art up anywhere or kid made things for the children to "show" their work on. I understand limited budget for classroom decorations but this doesn't cost anything to do. The calendar and things that were put up where at adult levels not kid-friendly. The tutor stated having high academic standards is wonderful but there comes a point where unattainable standards can have a huge impact on a child's self-confidence, motivation etc..
I think the teacher and principle felt a little threatened by the tutor's progression notebook on my daughter and her extreme knowlege on the subject. REading is her passion and boy does she know her stuff. She had the dates of each tutoring, speed fluency in reading, sight word knowledge etc... I'm going to take a 30 year experienced (Master's degree, National boards...), highly regarded tutor (I got LOTS of feedback from other parents and some teachers on this person) prior to hiring her. My daughter's teacher is into her 3rd year of teaching. Kinda like getting a recommendation for a heart condition from a new general doctor vs a highly regarded seasoned cardiologist.
I've decided to pull them from this school because I don't want my K-5 child to go through some of the same stuff as my 1st grader. It's also the unexplainable "gut feeling" you have. I weighed the pros and cons of the school and the cons outweighed the pros. To the previous question this is not a Montessori school.
Thank heaven for your reading tutor: that is a person who knows what he/she is talking about.
When I was a teacher, I didn't even have a classroom, just an office, and I still found a way to display my students' artwork--in my office, around the door, etc. And the reason I did it was b/c I remembered how special I felt when I would see my artwork displayed when I was a student in grammar school.
Your reading specialist seems to understand something your DD's teacher does not: boosting a student's self-confidence can do a lot for his/her academic performance as well as his/her personal development and self-esteem.
Perhaps I'll be the one to rock the boat here. I noticed that one of your original concerns involve your daughter failing her reading & phonics tests. As a special education teacher I work with kids who have reading issues. K-3 years are the most important in reading development. I complete a reading diagnostic test. A thorough test should cover reading skills from the down up. A small weakness or gap can make further reading difficult or frustrating for her. I would have verified that she has solid skills in alphabetic principles and phonemic awareness. She should know how to manipulate phonemes. Once I come across reading weaknesses, we begin to work on them. Reading problems may not show up when you only assess reading based on reading fluency. Most students can memorize vocabulary up to a 3rd grade level. Which is why other reading tests are important. I get too many new student referred to me in the 4th & 5th grade b/c their reading progress stagnates at the 3rd grade level.
The fact that the room isn't decorated only indicates that she may not be an interior decorator. Most people prefer a bright warm room but it's not causing reading problems. Please check out the society for quality education website. It has a lot of parent friendly information and the latest scientific based research on reading.
I taught elementary school for years. In second grade it wasn't uncommon to have students that were at different reading levels. In first grade a difference of +/- 24 months was considered normal.
It seems that the school your daughter is enrolled in is putting a lot of pressure on homogeneity. I had the benefit of having some of my students three times between second and seventh grade. Some of the students who were at the top of the class in reading in second grade were reading at grade level in seventh grade. Conversely, some of the students that were not "ready" at the beginning of second grade had become strong readers by the time they were in fourth or seventh grade.
Today there is too much pressure for a child who does exhibit many of the "reading readiness skills" at a young age. This can create problems for the child learning to read and interfere with the child developing a love of reading. Many schools now have a formal reading and writing curriculum for children in kindergarten. Unfortunately these objectives are often at the expense of activities that lead to the development of proper socialization and listening skills. These skills are essential to success in school and a lack of them has adverse affects on learning later on.
I love hearing from other teachers and parents to get a well rounded perspective on this. My daughter's tutor did a very in depth assessment at the beginning and has worked wonders with her. She did start with how strong she knew her alphabet sounds, sight words etc and went from there. She said from her assessment that DD is doing good but that she is not were the teacher wants her to be (because according to the tutor the reading level was way too fast and intense for were my daughter is). I wish I could remember the term she used but she said that my dd needed to get the basics very well prior to building the new rules (like for instance they were already having to know eigh in weigh and ay in way when the teacher was calling these blends out for the tests. DD was getting confident with the ay in way but wasn't ready for the other won due to it confusing her.
I've decided on public school next year. Honestly I put my dd's in the privat school so they would get more one on one instruction. There are only 12 kids in my dd's class, but she hasn't been offered any extra tutoring etc.. to help with the reading concerns. I asked the teacher at the first parent-teacher conference if she could recommend a reading coach and she couldn't. I went out on my own and did the research to find an awesome tutor. The clincher for me was at the last parent-teacher meeting the teacher saying maybe by the middle of next year she may be "caught up" with the other students. They have already labled her and no matter how good of a tutor I have in their eyes she is not as good. The reading tutor was very troubled about this too and called me later that night because she said she would not be able to sleep without telling me her concerns.
It would be nice if the teacher had 1 or 2 extra books in her class for a situation like that. And then when the other students realize it's not that big of a deal to forget their book, it will be 4 or 5 kids forgetting! There have to be rules like this to keep the classroom running smoothly. I would only be concerned if the teacher was singling your child out and this rule only applied to her. I taught first grade and held them all responsible to be prepared. They need this to continue to be responsible in the future. I do think it's unusual that the office didn't explain the situation to the teacher as opposed to just leaving the book on the desk. The teacher has many things to do all day, and not seeing the book makes sense if the office didn't point it out. Good luck with public school!
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