Fortnightly reading in Y1 - is this normal?

[hester]

In Reception dd had someone (teacher, TA, volunteer) listen to her read once a week. Now she has started Y1 we have been told that this will go down to once a fortnight. Is this standard? It doesn't seem much to me.

[witchwithallthetrimmings]

It was twice a week for my ds last year when he was in year 1. Now its proably once a week for most and twice a week for those needing more support. If they get more volunteers it will probably go up

[MirandaWest]

DD is in year 1 and we were told at the back to school meeting that they would do guided reading one week and be heard individually the next week and those who needed more support would be heard more often. Is the once a fortnight for your DD just individual reading or does that include guided reading as well?

I am fine with the amount of times DD's reading is listened to but can see that for some children it would be important for it to happen more often.

[redskyatnight]

In DD's Y1 class everyone has guided reading twice a week. Normally this is in small groups with children of a similar ability but sometimes individual reading with the teacher.
This term children needing additional support also read 1:1 (not sure with whom) once a week.
We try to read at home every night so think this is sufficient - I'd rather they used school time for teaching and this is something that we can usefully consolidate at home.

[IndigoBell]

There is no standard.

If you have no concerns about her reading, it doesn't really matter whether you read with her or an adult at school. So you reading with her every day, and an adult at school once a fortnight will work.

She will also have a phonics lesson every day when she is actually taught to read. Reading to an adult is just practice, it's not how you learn to read.

If school have concerns about her then she should be read with more often. And you will probably find that the kids in her class who are struggling are given more help.

If you have concerns about her, but school doesn't, then there's loads and loads of help available here.

[3duracellbunnies]

I think that as long as you read with them at home it shouldn't be a problem, what is more important is how often the teacher reads with them as they decide when a child goes up a level. Volunteers are great and in our school the yr. 5 +6 children sometimes come and read with them, but what is important is that the teacher listens to them when they are begining to get fluent at a level to give them more challenging books. At a friend's school they were only listened to by a teacher about once a term!!! FRom what I managed to gather last year the teacher listened to them about once a fortnight, but more often just before she went up, she would come home and say mrs X thinks I will probably go up a level next week, and usually she did. As long as you listen to them and put clear notes in reading book when the book is getting too easy it should be fine.

[lovingthepeaceandquiet]

I agree with IndigoBell. Reading to an adult is just reading practise. Daily reading practise is very important (and makes a HUGE difference in a child's progress) but it doesn't really matter who she reads to really. She will be being taught to read every day in class via phonics lessons and guided reading (usually done once per week).

[CMOTdibbler]

DS reads to ta or teacher 3 times a week, and guided reading daily

[coccyx]

My dd is in year 1, and is listened to in school at least twice a week. They change books 4 times a week. I enjoy listening to her try to read so does quite a bit of practice

[hester]

Thanks everyone. It does sound like dd's school expects a very high level of parental support with reading - and in this area they probably get it. I have no concerns about dd's reading per se, but by the time I get home from work she is usually very tired and resistant to practising her reading. She also spends every weekend with her dad (not keen on doing reading with her) and she has a very demanding younger sister. I would MUCH rather she was getting more reading practice at school, obviously!

However, I'll take it on the chin and try to work out ways of getting in more reading practice that doesn't feel like a gruelling chore for us both. Any ideas for this? The school is sending home 3 books per week, but at this level that is 28-32 pages of text and she would have to be a lot more motivated to get through all that.

[IndigoBell]

Either read in the morning, or do it cuddled up as part of her bedtime routine.

She doesn't need to read 3 long books per week. She's obviously reading very well to be on those hard books at the start of Y1.

So don't panic about it, find time to do it most days, and very shortly she'll be reading chapter books to herself.....

[SamsungAndDelilah]

DS1 is in Y1. Gets heard by the teacher once a week, and by parent helpers 3 times a week. Guided reading with another teacher once a week.

[Henrythehappyhelicopter]

When DS was in year one it was a minimum of once a day, teacher TA or parent helper. Once every two weeks doesn't sound much to me.

[hester]

It doesn't, does it? And yet, this primary has SATS results that put it in the top 5% in the country. So I suppose it knows what it's doing