Every so often a light goes on….

[msisolak]

Mirrored from Marsha Sisolak.

And man, even in the state of California, once in a while, someone opens a barricaded door.

So there’s no surprise that Common Core demands children have a set percentage of non-fiction text exposure in kindergarten and I’ve been thoroughly annoyed with the stipulation that 40% of what we read (independently and aloud)

Comments

[frigg]

How old are "your" kids? I honestly can't remember being exposed to non-fiction when I was in kindergarten.

[msisolak]

They're mostly 5 when they enter in the fall, and three-fourths of them turn 6 before June. So you can tell Common Core was written (mostly) by college professors and people in the testing industries (ACT, Pearson, etc.)

SO STUPID in so many ways.

And it's not that my kinders haven't been exposed to non-fiction. They have. But it's more along the lines of 20%, perhaps? Maybe even less. And you know, non-fiction doesn't not draw kids of this age as much as certain fictional works. I highly recommend "Gorilla" by Anthony Browne and "The Tub People" by Pam Conrad. Deep, meaningful books that leave my kids spellbound every year.

[frigg]

Ah, kindergarten here is from 3-5, then it's kindergarten-class, which I suppose is what you're teaching - only when I was a kid there was no such thing. :p

I do think we read non-fiction in the first grade, though (6 years old), but not a lot. Maybe around the 20% as well.

Reading to fill a personal need

[docdad2]

An excellent quote (and presentation) that suggests that children need to learn to read to fill their needs. If it is the "what happens next?" or "will (s)he be all right?" is all to their good and enriches their minds with empathy, curiosity, and wonder.
Well done that author.
Grin.