Riggs

[ReadingMama1214]

DD will attend K at a classical school starting the fall of 2017. They use Riggs for spelling, writing and reading. I'm trying to understand how Riggs works. The site says they teach 55 phonemes in K. I don't mind DD getting extra phonics work since I think it will only improve her spelling, but I don't want her to be bored

 

We started teaching her to read after she started sounding out CVC words on her own. She currentLy attends a play based preschool program 3 hours a day and will next year as well. We are currently using OPGTR (on consonant blends now, lesson 45) and I'm trying to understand how the two differ in their progress and scope. She is doing much better with OPGTR than I expected. I expected blends to slow her down, but they haven't. She's on track to finish OPGTR before K if she keeps progressing steadily. What would Riggs expect of a kindergartener? I'm not sure what reading level DD is because most assessments use sight words and DD only knows a few. She can read CVC and most CVCC words.

[Have kids -- will travel]

No idea about Riggs. How old is your child? Going into K, there will probably be a few kids reading fluently. Our then 4yo went into preK reading fluently, while the class worked through learning to blend, and he hasn't been bored because the phonics lessons are short and aimed to be relatively fun for kids.

 

K is a long way off for you, so I wouldn't worry about the expectations until you're a bit closer. If you're thinking about early entrance for K, that's a very different matter and depends on maturity, fine motor, independence, age, and other factors.

[ReadingMama1214]

No idea about Riggs. How old is your child? Going into K, there will probably be a few kids reading fluently. Our then 4yo went into preK reading fluently, while the class worked through learning to blend, and he hasn't been bored because the phonics lessons are short and aimed to be relatively fun for kids.

 

K is a long way off for you, so I wouldn't worry about the expectations until you're a bit closer. If you're thinking about early entrance for K, that's a very different matter and depends on maturity, fine motor, independence, age, and other factors.

DD is 4. She'll turn 6 shortly after staring K. since we are in a choice school system, we have to sign a letter of intent this school year. Charters in our area require that we attend an informational meeting and then sign an "intend to enroll" form. So we've been looking over the schools this year.

 

I'm not incredibly worried about the phonics if she attends a half day K program. I'm guessing she'll read decently by then, but she is not one to get bored and act out. I think she'll still enjoy K if the phonics is not a large time focus.

 

Unfortunately we cannot enter K early. When I've inquired about it I was told that even if DD passed the K entrance exam, the head master rarely lets children skip. Her fine motor skills are good (can write full name, most letters, and numbers). But, DD is rather small and they do take size into consideration. She'd be a lot smaller than next years K students! I'm not going to pursue skipping a full grade, but will advocate if she seems bored and In need of higher reading levels.

[Ellie]

DD is 4. She'll turn 6 shortly after staring K. since we are in a choice school system, we have to sign a letter of intent this school year. Charters in our area require that we attend an informational meeting and then sign an "intend to enroll" form. So we've been looking over the schools this year.

 

I'm not incredibly worried about the phonics if she attends a half day K program. I'm guessing she'll read decently by then, but she is not one to get bored and act out. I think she'll still enjoy K if the phonics is not a large time focus.

 

Unfortunately we cannot enter K early. When I've inquired about it I was told that even if DD passed the K entrance exam, the head master rarely lets children skip. Her fine motor skills are good (can write full name, most letters, and numbers). But, DD is rather small and they do take size into consideration. She'd be a lot smaller than next years K students! I'm not going to pursue skipping a full grade, but will advocate if she seems bored and In need of higher reading levels.

 

Riggs is similar to Spalding in its methodology (children learn to read by learning how to spell), so your dd will be learning the correct letter formation of each single-letter phonogram (26 letters of the alphabet) and all the sounds that each one makes; then she'll learn the next 20ish multi-letter phonograms, and then I would expect them to begin learning to read and write the words in the spelling list (possibly the Extended Ayres List; if not that one specifically, then something similar, with the most-often occurring words). I don't know how far in the list they'll be able to get in that year; possibly they'll be able to group the children by ability, but it's hard to know. The teacher should be able to tell you. Also, they'll probably read real books, not vocabulary-controlled basal readers. There may also be writing of original sentences using the words they have learned to read and spell.

[ReadingMama1214]

Riggs is similar to Spalding in its methodology (children learn to read by learning how to spell), so your dd will be learning the correct letter formation of each single-letter phonogram (26 letters of the alphabet) and all the sounds that each one makes; then she'll learn the next 20ish multi-letter phonograms, and then I would expect them to begin learning to read and write the words in the spelling list (possibly the Extended Ayres List; if not that one specifically, then something similar, with the most-often occurring words). I don't know how far in the list they'll be able to get in that year; possibly they'll be able to group the children by ability, but it's hard to know. The teacher should be able to tell you. Also, they'll probably read real books, not vocabulary-controlled basal readers. There may also be writing of original sentences using the words they have learned to read and spell.

That's what I have been able to tell based on the Spalding site and the Riggs site. DD can write well for her age, but we haven't used a formal handwriting program since I figured she'd get that in K. She can read alright (CVC/CVCC words) but does not spell that much. I did talk to one school and they said she could start K early (which we are choosing not to) or possibly skip K and start 1st in 2017. I didn't ask about ability/performance grouping, but they didn't seem to think that DD would be bored in K. They said that their K program is heavily focused on providing a solid foundation in Riggs. They do math and science as well, but the school day for K is only 3 hours long.

[kiwik]

They use Riggs now. They could have changed by fall 2017. The only thing i have learned since I have had school age kids is not to plan ahead. You can be almost guaranteed that the thing you were looking forward too will be abolished or changed or become unaffordable just before your kid is old enough.

[ReadingMama1214]

They use Riggs now. They could have changed by fall 2017. The only thing i have learned since I have had school age kids is not to plan ahead. You can be almost guaranteed that the thing you were looking forward too will be abolished or changed or become unaffordable just before your kid is old enough.

I don't think they'll change. They've used Riggs since starting 10 years ago and the parent school also uses Riggs. But, you make a good point in that things can change. Dd could also change and the issue could become a non issue.

 

There is some planning ahead that is required though. We're required to attend a parent information meeting and sign a lette of intent. Also, our state is a school choice state and we must fill out the school choice form 8 months before the school year actually starts. So some planning is actually required on our end for practical purposes.

[kiwik]

Yes I see that. I am a bit jaundiced. Walk to math - cancelled the year ds8 was eligible. Extension programme at middle school that has been operating since the 90's - the last intake will leave the school in December and ds8 will start in January. Choose a non uniform school - 3 months later you are voting on introducing a uniform. Choose a school that offers music lesson cheaply to all kids - the year your kid starts they restrict it to senior students. I don't plan now and I don't pay much attention to what the school says they do

 

But then our school choices are between public school A,B or C all of whom are controlled by central government.

 

Good luck.

[ReadingMama1214]

Yes I see that. I am a bit jaundiced. Walk to math - cancelled the year ds8 was eligible. Extension programme at middle school that has been operating since the 90's - the last intake will leave the school in December and ds8 will start in January. Choose a non uniform school - 3 months later you are voting on introducing a uniform. Choose a school that offers music lesson cheaply to all kids - the year your kid starts they restrict it to senior students. I don't plan now and I don't pay much attention to what the school says they do

 

But then our school choices are between public school A,B or C all of whom are controlled by central government.

 

Good luck.

Gosh I can see why you'd feel so negatively then! That sounds like a rough experience.

 

Yes, our choices are all charter schools. One is a well established one with another sister school that's hitting its 20 year mark. The other two are newer. We have the best odds of getting into the older one. We shall see. I love and hate the school choice system in Colorado.