Back-To-School Night

I had the chance to speak with J's kindergarten teacher after her Back-To-School Night presentation. I wanted to discuss his reading, mostly to let her know what he's capable of.

I told her that J is reading the Magic Tree House series, but she'd never heard of them. When I explained that they're short chapter books, with about 10 chapters each, and that he reads through one book in about an hour, her eyebrows went up a little and her mouth became an "o." She said, "We'll have to do something about that."

At first I thought it odd that she'd never heard of those books, but as I thought about the rest of her presentation and that she'd asked for donations for an ABC rug to help the kids learn their letters, I realized that most kids she teaches aren't ready for these books. So I looked up the books on Scholastic.com and discovered that they rate the books on grade levels. Magic Treehouse books are rated between grade 2.1 and 3.5!!! I had no idea! It's no wonder a kindergarten teacher has never heard of them!