Thanks for the ideas Shannon! He has read a lot of the Boxcar children already and likes them. Our library just doesn't have a lot of them. Might just need to start tracking more down. :) I went back and added in the grade level equivalents that the school has told us correspond to the letters they use. I am so used to updates in letters, I forget that they mean nothing outside the school. :)

My K kid's guided reading group at school is at an end of third grade level right now. At home he reads anything from a first to fifth grade level. His teacher told us to keep reading over the summer a step or two above his guided reading level, and have him keep reading out loud. I was thinking of just picking up a McGruffey reader at his level (if I can figure that out) and have him read to us from it each day. He is really good about switching things up on his own (fiction to nonfiction books), and just let him have the freedom to read whatever he wants the rest of the time. Think this works? Would you do anything differently? I struggle at finding books all the time for him that are appropriate, so I thought if I did a bit of read alouds at home at his level I would feel better about keeping him going with what the school has him doing. Edited to add in grade levels for the letter levels the school has told us.

I'd say go with the flow and at their pace. If they want to do something, then do it. :) I was very hesitant with my ODS as he begged for school from such a little age and I tried to hold him off. It felt weird buying him a kindergarten math book when he was three, but he would beg and to his credit he would do them! Some of our favorites at that young age is a game called BambinoLuk and eventually MiniLuk, and then the Magic School Bus series (so many fun topics to jump from and do projects about). I also like the Mathematical Reasoning and Building Thinking Skills books from Critical Thinking Company. They make math books for three and four year olds, and up into the later ages. They are high in price but we reused them for our other kids (at that age we would just snuggle up on the couch and talk through the pages). There are lots of great products out there that get your little one learning and thinking in a fun way, so I say if your child is ready to go then encourage it. As I look back (and DS is only in kindergarten) I loved that we followed his lead and just wish that I wasn't so hung up on what other people thought when I was out shopping around with him for things above his age.

Thanks everyone for the insight! I did go ahead and order the challenge math book and it came yesterday. DS was super excited to see it. We sat down and just started with the first chapter...what number comes next. I read him the question and he wrote what information he wanted on a dry erase board. He was sooo excited and worked up through halfway through Level 3 before I called it quits to make dinner. This morning he woke up excited and begged for another question from "the fun math book" so I gave him one more from that same chapter in Level 3. It took him a good ten minutes but he stuck with it and was so excited to have figured it out before it was time for school. And he then raced off to school in excitement (lately he has not wanted to go but we are hoping that changes and now he is getting pulled out in two 45 minute sessions each day to work on reading and math more at his level...so keeping our fingers crossed it helps with his excitement to go). So my question now is how do you use the book so it makes the most sense? Do I just pick a chapter and work through a few questions and then move on to another? And then rotate back through at a higher level later on? Or do I do like I did yesterday and let him just keep going on the same topic until the questions become really challenging?

Thanks for the suggestions! I am off to look those things up. :)

My kindergartner just finished up the first grade book of mathematical reasoning. I was wondering what to do next. He goes to public school and so we after school. I would like to find a second grade book to work through (he is well ahead of that but trying to make sure we cover and practice everything). I am very open to finding something besides the Critical Thinking Company's math book if there is something that is still fun (he loves these books) and cheaper. :) He gets pulled out daily for thirty minutes at school to work on math at a higher level, but he is insistent that he wants to keep learning more at home as it is fun here (he can multiply and divide in his head, and is anxiously awaiting for those to show up on paper he says). He loves math, but I would like something that is still simple (we just do a few pages a day and I usually cut him off) and doesn't take a ton of time on my end as we have other things we like to do and lots of other kids in the house. :) Any ideas?

Our favorites at that age. Card games (uno, crazy 8's, go fish, etc), Blockus Jr, Rush Hour Jr, Memory, Sequence for kids, Honey Bee Tree, Monopoly Jr, Hoot Owl Hoot and then the Chicken game from the same makers of Hoot Owl Hoot.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts. It is interesting to read. I must say that I am in awe of what our kindergarten teacher must manage so I am trying to not focus on the number. I know that the class is in the upper twenties for kids and that is a lot of five year olds! Especially how I know my one five year old can exhaust me most days. But I am a number's person so this is hard and being a first timer, even harder I think because I don't know what it all means and what, if anything, really to do with that information. :)

I just ran into our teacher and was told that next week reading groups will be formed in kindergarten. So it is my impression that they do do it, but my knowledge consists of one classroom since we are newbies. :)

Kindergarten teacher told me our son was tested today and has an 18 DRA and that he will explain more at a later date. When we got home I asked my child what books they read. They said that they read The Wagon (Level 14) and then Thin as a Stick (Level 24) and that both were easy. Who knows though, right? I am just left wondering what we work on at home, if anything, until we learn more from the teacher. Right now our kindergartner can read a Magic Tree House in an hour and a half if left alone and can tell us all about the story if we ask followup questions. Most days we carve out time in a different chapter book we take turns reading a page, so I can make sure (1) the story is being understood and (2) we can work on pacing/timing/etc. I would have thought that they were a higher reading level given what we are reading, but I understand that there is likely more to it than I realize. However, when I ran across the levels for the books that they read to assess, I saw too that there are often ceilings of 18 for kindergarten and it left me wondering if a ceiling was just hit. Ultimately, the number doesn't matter ....but I want to make sure that we are reading appropriate books at home. I just don't want to deciate a lot of time and energy for us all on books that might not be the most effective. Make sense? Should we just keep doing what we are doing? Or should I follow up about maybe getting a reading list to follow at home? This is our first time to be in school so I just don't know how much this stuff matters or doesn't matter. Any thoughts?

Thanks everyone! I am excited to have found this board, and appreciate your responses. We will be doing all day Kindergarten here, and so I am not sure how this will all pan out. He has been at home with me since birth, so having a set schedule where he is away, etc. will take some adjusting for us all I think. My hope would be to do a fun worksheet/activity during breakfast (since we do that now....but this is assuming we get into a nice morning schedule), then spend some time post school as I figure he won't have homework and we could do a snack then too, and then he always reads to us (and us to him) at night for about 30-40 minutes (LONGEST bedtime routine ever due to some anxiety about sleeping). I don't really have any concerns about the school yet as we are new to it, but it does have a great reputation. So I really don't know what to focus on? Should we work on things he does in school like math, language/grammar, writing? Or should we expand to things he won't cover this year but might enjoy like history, science, etc? Any recommendations for a Kindergartner?

I know I am new, but would love any insight. Our oldest child is starting K this fall and I wonder how you go about planning out what you work on, etc. Do you work on things everyday? Have a set time to work on things or do you just focus on set activities to work through? I would appreciate any advice/insight. :)