"Joshua's not ready for first grade."
The words fell like daggers on my heart. Joshua had successfully completed kindergarten at a private school, and we had transferred him to another private school in the same district.
I was confused and upset. Joshua had done relatively well in kindergarten. We read popular children's books and not just books for toddlers. His math and handwriting skills were at or above grade level. He knew most of his alphabet, could count to 100, and knew his colors. So how was he not prepared for first grade?
I did a little research before our next parent teacher communication. I discovered that all kindergartens are not created equal. Some kindergartens are traditional and move at a relatively slow speed. In these classrooms, students learn the basics: the alphabet and the phonetic sounds of the letters. Other schools are aggressive in their elementary reading program. This kind of kindergarten focuses on reading simple three- or four-letter words by the end of the school year. Joshua's new school fell into this category.
Parent Involvement in Education
Now that I'd figured out the problem, what were we going to do about Joshua? His teacher felt strongly that he would suffer emotional trauma sitting in the class every day listening to his classmates read when he couldn't. She told us how advanced the other children were, and counted the times she had put a child back in kindergarten for his own good; but, she left the decision up to us. My husband and I prayed about it, then decided to let Joshua remain in the class on probation.
Joshua's class was large -- 27 students -- and there were already five different reading groups. His teacher had told me she could not work with him intensively, so it was up to me. I told her that I had taught my other four sons to read and that I could help Joshua. She reluctantly agreed to a three- or four-week trial.
I began by practicing with Joshua the sounds of the letters to make sure that he knew all of them. Then I helped him to recognize vowels. In five days, Joshua knew all the vowel and consonant sounds. He also could read a few words by sight. Nevertheless, his teacher was nervous. The class was getting further and further ahead. She sent notes home saying that Joshua did not know his alphabet. I wrote her back, insisting that he did. I also told her that he was "reading." She replied that she thought it was mere memorization. I thought, "Isn't all reading memorization to some extent?"
But He Knows the Alphabet at Home!
Finally, his teacher gave me an ultimatum. She wrote me a note admitting that Joshua did know most of his consonant sounds. Still, if he could not read with his assigned reading group by Friday, he would have to go back to kindergarten.
I was disturbed, to say the least. It had barely been a week.
I went up to the school and had Joshua show his teacher that he knew the alphabet. Then I showed her that he knew the sounds of the letters. I finished up by having him sound out a few words. She told me to continue working with him, and to try and get him to the place where he could participate with his reading group. She wondered out loud how he could ever possibly catch up. I assured her that there were weekends and holidays.
At home I was becoming frustrated. I knew Joshua could do it, but the time constraint was ridiculous. Still, I knew I couldn't quit, because I felt that it would not be wise for Joshua to go back to kindergarten. I had to stop and tell myself no matter what, this was not worth getting upset over.
Finally It Clicked!
One week later, Joshua's breakthrough came. Even though Joshua had been making progress, he could not recognize most short vowel blends. One evening his father was sitting on the couch with him, going over the lesson I had prepared.
"What does S-E say?" Carl asked.
"S-E?" Joshua asked. "Se-!" he chirped. I wanted to faint. I had just witnessed a miracle, that moment when something you've been teaching for eons finally clicks.
It was then that I realized what reading is. Reading is more than sounding out individual letters. It is actually the memorization of dozens of little word sounds and blends. Like the W-E at the beginning of wet, or the P-E at the beginning of pet. No matter how many times you sound out the word wet, you won't be able to read it unless you already know that the letters W and E make a certain, distinct sound when they are combined. Once children can get these letter blends (not just the individual letter sounds) strongly fixed in their minds, they are on their way.
Reading is also part revelation. The child has to understand that the sounds they have memorized are tools that can decode any word they may meet, no matter how long or scary.
My story has a happy ending. Two weeks into the ordeal, Joshua came home with a bright, red, "Well Done" ribbon pinned to his shirt for his accomplishments in reading. Within three weeks he had joined his reading group at school.
It's been six weeks now and he is on his second reader at school and doing well. At home he is a voracious reader. He recently read 14 books for the Pizza Hut Book IT program, and he enthusiastically tries to read everything around him.
I guess sometimes a parent's intuition is right.
Jacqueline Robinson is a public relations major at Wayne State University, in Detroit, Michigan. She is a wife and the mother of seven children.