requesting to go up a reading level declined, i'm a bit miffed as to why.

[tomhardyismydh]

my dd in year R, has recently moved up to level 4 (blue), they seem to be shorter than the yellow books. DD is able read them confidently, follow the story and discuss. I requested in her book if she could try a level 5 (green book).

DD came home saying teacher told her she could not as they have complicated words and are for 7 year olds. The teachers rarely listen to them reading indipendently and although Im sure she has a very good idea of her benchmark I thought she should know this is within dds capability.

I just wondered how many of your year R children are on level 5 or above.

no stealth boasting though, I was just wondering if this was an unreasonable request.

[bubbles1112]

My dd finished reception reading ort stage 6 (orange band). Seems odd (that teacher said stage 5 is for 7 year olds)...however I have given up asking for dd to go up/be challenged/do more. It always seems to be "no" and I am of the opinion now that you just have to go at the schools pace! Very sad but I am getting used to it!

[ImNotaCelebrity]

Think your DD probably misheard or misunderstood tbh! Level 5 and above perfectly normal towards end of reception year.

[tiggerandpoohtoo]

My dd is on stage 5 at the moment (in reception). She has to read every book in each level. She has another 4 books before level 6. They refuse to move up levels without them reading each book as they say it is important for comprehension etc.

[tomhardyismydh]

not worth pushing then. Its infuriating because she does and can read all the time, she reads her story books at home all the time, quite lengthy book etc.

Im worried it will dampen her desire to read and move up, Its not a particularly challenging level for allot of 5 year olds I can see for posting here, but she is one of only 2 on blue and then only one on yellow, so I wonder if it is not to widen the gap within the class. I suppose it is easier for the class teacher to be teaching/assessing children within a similar criteria, or is that way of the mark, but I do wonder.

It does not seem to be a particularly profficient class with numbers or literacy and the teacher has said they have been a difficult year to capture.

[tomhardyismydh]

thats possibly true INC, but the teacher did not respond to my request, I will leave it a while before asking again in case she thinks Im being pushy But im tempted to ask again.

[seeker]

She is allowed to read books outside school, you know! You can buy/borrow from the library anything you like.

[LawrieMarlow]

DD is in reception and reads ORT 6 and 7 and 8 (depending on which ones we get out of the boxes that she chooses from). Have to say I am glad she doesn't have to read specific books before reading other ones IYSWIM.

DS was on ORT level 3 at the end of reception and was one of the furthest on. Not sure if I avoided MN reading threads then but I never felt he was behind.

[tomhardyismydh]

yes and I do, as I said in my op she reads her story books at home, but I would expect the school to be supporting her ability also.

[LawrieMarlow]

I do agree with seeker that you can read whatever books you like, but some children (DS being one) liked knowing he was getting to have more difficult books at school and although he was happy to read his school books was less likely to read other ones.

[tomhardyismydh]

her class seem to be mostly on level 2 and 3 Lawrie, so I would imagine definatly not behind.

[LawrieMarlow]

I also think that if you are reading "harder" books at home than school that there must be some sort of message to the child that school isn't quite getting it right (ie "yes we need to read those boring books for school but at home you can read the ones you like") wheras school should be part of the process of helping to make children want to keep learning.

Suppose I am lucky in the school DS and DD go to - we moved last year and although I felt old school was v good, this one is better for them in a lot of ways.

[magicmummy1]

FWIW, I never felt that dd was on the right level when she had reading scheme books, and judging from the way that they moved her through the levels upwards the end, I suspect that the teacher realised that she'd got it wrong too.

It didn't do dd any harm at all, and it certainly didn't put her off - she is an avid reader! As long as your dc has access to plenty of other reading material, I really wouldn't worry.

[tomhardyismydh]

maybe when she moves up and the classes are split more into ability I may find dd is challenged a little more. I agree on what you say about the message school not getting it right. I was never particularly strong at school and probably from the other end of the spectrum, got lost because I was not particularly clever or driven but I knew this from very early on.

[cece]

Why don't you just take her to the library and get some books from there?

[sharedplanet]

I think there is a difference between being able to read and learning to read. If I sat my child down we could "get through" much more challenging books than his reading level. The ORT books are full of deliberate repetition so I think recognition of some words becomes habit. If you instantly recognise building block words you can build easier bridges to more challenging words in a sentence. I guess what I am getting at is a similar phenomenon to those sentences with letter order all mixed up that you can still read. Habitual recognition forges neural pathways. So there is a tiny part of most parents that would like to see their child win "the reading level race" but as for ground work there really is no benefit to short cuts. So in respect of time spent if you completed something like a book a night and did ort thoroughly you would only expect to be around 7 or 8 at the most at the end of reception?

[jaffacake79]

Just supplement her reading at home with anything and everything you can find that interests her. We love the Oxfam book shop for this very reason.

[2pinkmonkeys]

my dd was on stage 5 at htis point reception, they are not unsutable for a child of that age so i dont know why your dd's teacher said they were for 7 year olds?
i wouldnt worry to much about what reading level she is on at school, my dd is in y1 and just finnished stage 9 ort, she is now doing a few of the robins extended ones before she goes on to tree tops, tbh she finds them so easy and reads them with very little effort. The books she reads at home are alot more complicated. So she just raeds her reading books quickly and then reads more interseting stuff when she feels like it.
maybe if she likes reading you could get her some more tricky but interesting books for home.

[SarkyLady]

IMO the most likely explanation I'd that the teacher feels that your lo is not quite ready to go up a level and was trying to give her a reason that wouldn't make her feel bad. Better to say "those books are for older children" than "you are not yet reading well enough"

IME reading books are nearly always at a lower ability level than the books we think our children should be reading.

If you genuinely think she is on the wrong level then speak to the teacher directly. Ask her what your lo needs to be able to do in order to be able to go up a level.

[teacherwith2kids]

I would say SarkyLdy has it spot on.

Also remember that reading 'better' does not just mean 'being able to decode the words', it means being able to use the punctuation appropriately (going 'up' at the end of a question, using voices for speech etc), understanding what has been read, being able to self-correct if a word sounds wrong or doesn't fit, understand that there are different types of book that we read in different ways etc etc.

Most schools IME will have a huge range of levels at this stage in reception - from the Level 1 and 1+ all the way up to 7/8/9 (or beyond in unusual cases). The only schools which won't are those which do this truly bizarre thing of making everyone read every book (why limit progress in this way, very odd and nbot remotely responding to the needs of children?)

[tomhardyismydh]

some very good points, Thanks, I will just continue at home as we are and see if she progresses at school before the holidays, if nothing then I will make sure she gets the right level at school in year 1. she has a very good comprehension and clear recognition of the letter patterns and sound blends.

she reads larger words in her story books at home and I feel that gives a clearer picture of her ability than the recognition of repetition and familiar sound patterns. I get what you are saying though SARKY if she jumps to far ahead she will miss out some of the important learning, but she already has that knowledge, she is familiar with far more sound blends than she is currently bringing home.

I suppose it is not terribly important just yet, but find it frustrating that the teacher is not realistic about her individual learning needs and is clumping her within the general ability of the class as a whole. Im hoping she will move up to y1/2 rather than yR/1, After the summer, then she will be grouped with others closer to her own ability.

[BarbarianMum]

Ds1 is in reception and is on orange/turquoise books (level 6?).

I would be concerned about the teacher's given reason. Having said that ds1 can easily read his books but I don't want him moved on any further because his ability to discuss the books (not understand-he can do that) could do with further work, as could his reading style.

[Runoutofideas]

My dd1 finished reception on level 7 and was regarded as a "free reader" half way through Yr 1. This in itself has its issues though. The books now are whatever has been put on the shelf, which could be anything. The last book contained the words "loathsome", "repugnant", "abomination" and "gender stereotype" which she read without faltering but had absolutely no idea what they meant. Quite hard for a 6yr old I thought. Often with more confident readers it is quite difficult to check their comprehension as they read it as though they understand completely but on questioning actually don't have much of a clue!

[SarkyLady]

I think it is highly unlikely that her teacher is "clumping her within the general ability of the class".

What it comes down to is whether you trust that the teacher has a good idea of you dd's ability. Patents often make a huge deal out of reading levels because they are often the only objective measure we get of how able the teacher thinks our child is.

But please remember that although you undoubtedly know your child better than the teacher does, she has a much better understanding if the various aspects involved in learning to read.

I do suggest you speak to her.