Bill you can also go to a reading interventionist and have you child tested. This will come out of your pocket but often the school district has a conflict of interest because if they assess an issue they are obliged to support it. Get an independent assessment and they will walk you through areas of strength and weakness.

Oh yeah that was the guy who mixed agent orange with old motor oils and sprayed it on all the dirt roads in the town to keep the dust down. Just one bubba and a lot of passing the buck killed a whole town, there was a 60 minutes on this a few years ago

So true!

Local control is hit and miss. Our vulnerable students deserve to learn how to read by end of third. We need leaders because it is not happening on local level. All students have a right to a free and appropriate education but 60% are not getting that if you include reading as part of an education.

They are in leadership positions and it is so sad to see them not taking a stand on something so important to our most vulnerable students who can't afford tutors or private school or have a learning difference. We can have 95% proficiency if we do universal testing, science of reading and timely interventions for all who need. If we had a proactive approach there would be 70% less students in special ed which cost districts 4x more. We need a proactive approach and no cueing system, guessing at words aka balanced literacy.

Yeah. I get that there's no context here, but it seems like 10 painful pregnancies don't indicate a lot of respect for her wellbeing. Time to buy some condoms. Or pills. Or an IUD. Literally anything has to be better than that?

Limericks are fun too!

Copper IUD?

The Jabberwocky and the Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis!

This is the exact debate I'm having. I want to take the lead on this because I know I never want children and don't want to ask future partners to bear the burden of it, but some of the chronic pain stories are debilitating.

Why are there still Lucy Calkins followers when Lucy herself back peddled on her own program Balanced Literacy in NY Times article. The public needs to push for more SOR.. it works. Literacy is a human right and so many are not proficient. No more Lucy Calkins it harms students and wastes their time. Those who can't read proficiently by end of 3rd are 4x more likely to drop out and never become proficient.

I read all of your well done coverage!

There are so many games to play too.

Eye spy - using colours initially, then starting sounds, then letters

Rhyming games - see who can make the longest rhyming silly sentence.

Hangman - once they're starting to write, this will teach the spellings, as well as have them think about what they want to create.

I pick a word, and give her an "imaginary coin" every time she sees that word. Things like Bus or Stop, Road, Exit. Words she'll see around.

Get a different teachers. Sign up for a reading tutor. Teach the reading yourself.

Good to see the governor engaged in the issue as the moribund state education leadership is totally lost in a fog! If you know what I mean. Maybe it involves kickbacks from publishers. It wouldn’t be the first time!.

The Science of Reading was handed to educators on a silver platter over 20 years ago. Since then we have sown almost 50 million illiterate 4th graders! Beyond imagination! No?

Thanks for joining the conversation. We had fun during our first Reddit AMA.

I think we have to be careful about framing the best approaches to teaching reading as philosophical. The best ways to teach reading are based on science and evidence. It is not a philosophic proposition. Doctors don’t consider the use of antibiotics to treat bacterial disease as a philosophic dialectic! No?

Sad state of affairs that reflect very poor leadership in my view

Thank you for your efforts!

We need these assessments for accountability purposes as well as individual student diagnostic purposes as well.

Unfortunately, we're out of time for today. Thank you so much for your questions. Check out our California literacy coverage here.

Plus, we recently held a roundtable discussion on what parents and teachers can do to help their children and students learn how to read by third grade. Watch here.

While the SOR approach is ascendant, now there are many educators who remain true believers in balanced literacy, particularly followers of Lucy Calkins and the Units of Study.

You touched on a valid issue. Teachers who think SOR too will pass 1) need to see the evidence that it works; 2) receive continued funding for training like LETRS from the state. California simply has not invested money in early literacy and early numeracy instruction and coaching. It's hard work that needs more support than teachers have received.

Schools do their own assessments of early literacy. Ask your teacher. But many parents simply assess at home by listening to their child read and going with your gut. Are they looking for clues in the picture? Do they understand what they are reading? You know your child better than anyone.