Early reader in reception - what to do in the classroom?

[onesandwichshort]

DD has just started in reception. She's been reading for a year or so but we hadn't really realised quite how well. It turns out that in terms of decoding at least, she has a reading age of about 10. (No signs of being advanced in any other area fwiw).

The school are being fantastic about it - not only have they clocked this very quickly but they are also being very open and discussing with us what to do. But I could do with some suggestions from people who have been there before as they seem to be a little bit at sea too.

There are two main problems. One is finding books which are interesting for her but also emotionally and socially at the right level (in every other aspect she is a typical reception age child). School are struggling with this as most of the advanced books are either scary or too socially advanced - it doesn't help that the school only go up to Year 4 as well. Any thoughts on series/ways of going with this. Or do we/they just stop teaching her to read for now and concentrate on other things like comprehension and expression instead?

The second thing is what to do with her in the classroom during all the phonics etc. So far we're thinking of her doing some comprehension work with a TA during the sessions, and also doing a completely other, but challenging activity. (I, half-jokingly suggested teaching her to knit for a couple of years and they were actually quite receptive to this!). But she's quite a shy child, and so I am wary of isolating her from the group too much and making her 'different'.

We've got a full meeting with the teacher in a few weeks time, so before that I would really love to hear from anyone else who's been in a similar situation, and what's been helpful/has worked/was a complete waste of time.

[chillikate]

Good luck!!!

My DS has just started Reception too. They have only just started assessing the kids.

If you go to the NAGC website they have some lists of books that might be suitable. There might be a lot of other useful information too.

Sorry I can't help directly.

[mummytime]

Does the school have a school library? I would get her on to reading proper books, including non-fiction if she prefers stories. I was reading the Olive Fairy book etc. at that age. She might not understand it all but its not too adult. If she likes helping people maybe she could help a weaker reader?
A lot of reception is learning the social skills, so she should have a lot of the day with everyone else. Also others will be catching up fast, so don't panic.
Getting her to write her own books. Maybe musical instrument lessons?

[Colleger]

Has she finished all the Oxford Reading levels? I think they go up to level 14 and I bought them from ebay. Lewis Carol books are good for age appropriateness as are fairytales. Just buy her fairytale books that an adult would read to a child rather than a child read for themselves.

As for phonics, does she know phonics or does she just know how to read. My boys were reading at three but it was not through phonics but through word recognition and if she is the same then it is still beneficial to do phonics.

[LovetheHarp]

There are plenty of books she should find interesting and appropriate. For example the whole Roald Dahl collection - my 5 year old loves them - there is plenty of rich vocabulary and the stories are fantastic for any age...even I enjoy reading them!

[NormalServiceWillResumeShortly]

agree with the comment re: phonics vs whole word recognition.

also, what is her writing like? my dd can read, and is in reception. she knows all her phonics and phonic blends. but her writing is not so good. so, while the class do phonics, she gets to practise writing that letter alongside. sort of phonics extension work, if you will.

as for books - here have been some good suggestions here. and I would look into teaching comprehension, yes. it is not enough to be able to decode. relating what you are decoding to actual events, or predicting storylines etc are useful skills.

[piprabbit]

Perhaps she would enjoy looking at some of the non-fiction books, either in the ORT ranges or perhaps some of the Usborne reference books (I'm thinking of things like the Castles lift-the-flap book). She may find the material interesting because it is presented in a very different way and will perhaps stretch her understanding of the topics a little.

Or find a good compendium of children's poetry and enjoy reading that - again a different approach to reading and using words.

[onesandwichshort]

Thanks for all of the help and suggestions, it is all much appreciated. There are some good suggestions for books here, and I'll pursue them.

I totally see your collective point about phonics but school seem to think that there is not much point teaching her phonics as she can sound out most words you throw at her. They sent her back with a Level 14/Ruby book earlier this week, and she had to ask for help with 5 or so words. I needed to explain the meaning of perhaps 10. But on a bigger level, she missed the point entirely - it was a detective story, and, being 4, she has no idea about detectives or mysteries or indeed vegetable growing competitions. So it's not reading experience she needs to understand it, just life experience from being a good 4+ years older. She reads lots of real books at home, so perhaps we will just take some of those in.

But I think comprehension work will be good, and she might do that with the TA some of the time, as well as joining in for some of the phonics. Is it good for her to help another reader though, or will it set her apart from the others too much? (I was the freaky swot at school and would rather avoid that fate for her if at all possible).

I completely agree that we want to keep her with the class as far as possible for social reasons, but it's a question of finding activities that will stretch her - and teach her that school is about trying as well as fun things.

[Jazzy0310]

Hi there, my son is now in Yr 2 but could read fluently before he started Reception. I was pleasantly surprised to find he enjoyed and benefitted from the Phonics work (e.g. learning signs and sounds to go with the letters) and there was relatively little 'wasted' time. His teachers have also been helpful in letting him jump ahead on the reading scheme and providing him with extension tasks, but I agree it's easy to overlook comprehension when they decode so well - definitely worth spending time discussing the stories as well as reading them. Re: book suggestions, have you tried the Mr Gum series by Andy Stanton? They are hilarious and there is lots of clever word play.

[onesandwichshort]

They look hilarious - I've ordered one from the library!

What you said about phonics is what I expected the school to say too. I think she will do some, but perhaps not the full ration every day.

[mrz]

I suggest the school looks at www.oup.com/oxed/primary/oxfordreadingtree/resources/allstars/ reading scheme books as they are intended for younger children who are able readers.

My son was a very early reader and never grasped phonics which has been a huge disadvantage for him so I firmly believe that all child benefit from good phonics instruction even if they can read fluently. I would want my child to have the "full ration" everyday if it were me.

[iggly2]

Ds also a fluent reader in reception. He did all the phonics sessions and enjoyed them and they were good for spelling. I certainly recommend it.

[MirandaWest]

Those books look better than the (boring) ORT ones DD has at the moment. They are tie in ones from when Magic Key was on television and are dull. Was better in reception when she could choose from a box of banded books including non scheme ones but now in year 1 she is given books and that is that. She is reading lots of other books at home - I am not at all concerned about her reading but it would be lovely to have something slightly more interesting from school.

[chillikate]

DS has just had one of these delivered:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180628685182?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

What an amazing game!!! I think this is great for entertaining those busy little minds (and DH for a good hour!!)

[MirandaWest]

That looks rather good

[clutteredup]

Agree that phonics are good for spelling - try rainbow fairies i think thet're ick but little girls like them how is her attention span for taking in stories as that is probably a problem - I should carry on with whatever she was reading at home as it seems to have been working OK and let her choose what she likes I'm sure the school won't insist on her having school books.

[blackeyedsusan]

rainbow fairies are fairly innocuous stories, but seem to have some lovely rich language in them.

mr majeika, prrobably not 10 year old decoding, but my sensitive 5 year old has enjoyed the stories.

flat stanley(series) is fairly safe in terms of content too, and has got potential for some really good comprehension questions.

there are also lots of non fiction books to choose from.

reading lots of picture books will help to widen her understanding of language. some of them have rich language in them. try choosing at the library.

I am looking for a cheap set of secret seven by enid blyton, though my memorries are hazy as it is a long time since I read these, but do rremember that they were easier and less scary than famous 5.

some of the roald dahl stories are too scary for dd.

it sounds like you need to work on comprehension, talking about chaacters feelings and why things are happening. have school given you any guidance on the questions you could ask?

[onesandwichshort]

Thanks everyone, lots of useful stuff here. Her attention span is OK if a book catches her attention, so that's not so much a problem as just understanding what the heck they are on about. She's also just found Mr Majeika, and yes that seems to hit the spot perfectly, so I might also try the secret seven too.

Despite my best effords, I think we may be about to move onto the Rainbow Fairies; DD picked up 'Kate the Royal Wedding Fairy' in the bookshop today and had to be prised off it, even though I informed her that I was never, ever, ever going to buy the book. I do feel a bit better knowing that they have at least been recommended....

[Haberdashery]

Might she like some other Enid Blyton, onesandwich? My DD, also in reception, has been loving The Magic Faraway Tree and its sequels over the summer. I've had to explain some word meanings etc but she was absolutely glued to the whole thing. It's not really any scarier than, say, Octonauts or Numberjacks or similar. Sometimes a chapter ends with someone in trouble but it is always very swiftly sorted out. There is nothing inappropriate or complicated in the content for a bright five year old.

I think Rainbow Fairies are absolutely fine if they are reading them alone. It's when you have to read them that you want to scratch your own eyes out!

[madwomanintheattic]

oh god, i assumed she'd been through them already!

if that's the sort of thing she likes, there are endless variations which will keep her going for the next year or two. blardy magic kittens/ puppies/ ponies

but if she's missed the whole fairies saga, has she read all the horrid henry's etc? there loads of books on a similar level that she should be able to cope with if that's where she's at... (like flat stanley above)

[madwomanintheattic]

then cressida cowell's dragon books - it's pretty much endless for yr 1 ish strong readers.

[onesandwichshort]

Many thanks everyone, I now have enough recommendations to keep DD quiet for the rest of the school year and possibly beyond.

As you've all clearly been through the same thing, can I ask what your children did in the classroom, and with school reading books? School seem slightly at a loss as to whether she does comprehension with a TA, or indeed knitting while the others are sounding out letters. I know other children will catch up, but right now DD is a bit out on a limb.

And they are also sending back daft reading books; she can decode all the words but a sentence like 'The scrap metal tree was a left over prop from a film set' might as well be in Mandarin for all the sense it makes to her.

We're meeting the teacher in a couple of weeks, and it would be good to have some sensible suggestions up my sleeve, as they are slightly asking us what to do with her.

ps. Random fact, but I only discovered the other day that Cressida Cowell's two daughters are the voices of Lola in the Charlie and Lola cartoons.

[madwomanintheattic]

our experience with dd2 was slightly different, as she was assessed as having matching comprehension and decoding skills (EP half way through yr r) and she had 1-1 TA time for a completely different reason (she also has cerebral palsy) so differentiating wasn't an issue.

dd1 had a similar thing though - tbh i let her carry on with the random stuff that she couldn't comprehend (lol at the scrap metal tree ) as i figured it would eventually all sink in as she learnt more about the world in general... we talked through the random books at home of course, but no idea what they did with her in school. i used to go in as a reading buddy for the children that were struggling, but never got anywhere near dd1's group so couldn't really say! i drew the line at (what i considered to be) inappropriate content though.

at nursery they gave dd2 a 'riddles' book with a large percentage of stuff about ghosts and haunting. (like i needed less sleep and having to settle a terrified 3/4 yo) - i did ask them if they thought it was appropriate for the age group (particulalry for those with, er, more volatile imaginations!) and they removed it from their shelves. and until dd1 was yr 3 i asked them to go easy on the more teen/ young adultish jackie wilson stuff - i'm not particularly precious, but i figured 7 or 8 was early enough to be introduced to some of the harsher realities of life. as you say, it's more a social/ age thing rather than an ability to decode texts. that said, jw is hotly contested on here.

ds1 will only read what he wants (stubborn) anyway, so there wasn't really a question of what to provide. he read all the percy jackson series, a few more other things by rick riordan, and then went back to blardy beast quest (which i loathe). so sometimes it's best to let them be as long as you can grit your teeth whilst they read rainbow fairies beast quest. they branch out when they want to.

that said, i read some enormously inappropriate stuff from as early as i was able to pick up whatever trashy novel my mother had left around, and i'm reasonably unscathed. i do remember the town librarian guiding me carefully around the adult books when i was at primary. i ended up reading mystery/ detective stuff, none of which i'm remotely interested in now.

i love the random fact! how cool! i will have to tell the dcs - they will be very impressed.

that was a complete ramble, sorry! all i really meant was, in a few years it will all have sorted itself out. and you'll be forking out gazillions in scholastic book orders. and buying more and more bookshelves. and trying to prise kids out of book stores.

[onesandwichshort]

Thank you - that's a really helpful post, mainly because it's a reminder not to take it all too seriously yet (I have a PFB in her first month of reception, getting a sense of perspective is proving a bit hard!)

But also (and this is probably a whole other thread) you've reminded me precisely how many unsuitable books I read as a child without having a clue about what was going on, and it doesn't seem to have harmed me too badly.  We didn't have that many classics in the house, so by the age of 7 or so I'd read the complete works of Georgette Heyer (my mum's favourite) and worked out a version of the facts of life from Jackie Collins' The Carpetbaggers well enough to tell everyone at Sunday school.  

But the one which always completely stumped me was The Private Eye Guide to London, from c1970.  I went back to it time after time to see if it had started to make sense, but was always completely flummoxed by it.  Probably more of a lesson for life than a million scheme readers.  

Can't go past a book shop with DD already though, do you mean it gets worse?

[pyjamasinbananas]

Milly-molly-Mandy, naughty little sister, Amelia Jane

All good books I'm reading them to DSD (4) at the moment.

[AnxiousElephant]

Definately Roald Dahl is a favourite in our house although dd1 isn't quite decoding at that level, we have the opposite problem of comprehension being much better than her decoding So she completely understands the stories but I sometimes ask her to give me another word for a longer one in the text i.e. descended - he went down, or ask her what it is. i.e. whats a brook - stream.
Enid Blyton famous five? I seem to remember she did some circus based books but can't think what they were called.
TBH I think if her comprehension isn't as good she will still enjoy reading books not at the 10yo level and it really is better that she enjoys and understands what she reads imo.