Reading

[Orangeboat]

Can anyone tell me what level/colour reading book a child entering year1 would be expected to be reading.

[BornFreeButinChains]

mine was on the very very basic books, with a few words, maybe two or three per page...

[nonicknameseemsavailable]

I think they are generally yellow/3 or blue/4 but there will be children on pink or red right up to chapter books.

[columngollum]

Anywhere from red to lime (or beyond) depending on the school. Some schools restrict the levels that children are allowed by age/class.

[Iamnotminterested]

Let the boasting begin...

[Menolly]

I asked DD's teacher at parents evening because MN boasting had made me think DD was really behind she said that they aim to have all children on yellow/3 by the end of reception and hope most would reach blue/4 by the end of the first term of year 1 but that they aren't too worried if a child is below this as reading clicks at a different time for every child.

[kilmuir]

Pick a colour, any colour...............
Huge variation across the cohort at that age

[ReallyTired]

There is a huge age range in reception and 12 months makes a massive difference at the start of year 1. I am not sure that battering through the levels is always a good idea. Children need to build up reading comprehension. Even if a child can read "lime" reading books, they may well be just barking at print.

[columngollum]

Yes, but barking at print is a skill in its own right.

[columngollum]

That's why children get given alien words. Not much more than barking is possible with those.

[Enb76]

At my daughter's school they're expecting most to be level 3 by the end of the year. Some are way ahead but only a few are way behind.

[steppemum]

I help out with reading in year 1.
The bottom end are children who are still (at this point in year 1) reading red and pink books - these are the sort with short repetitive sentences

Sam saw a parrot
Sam saw a hat
(where there is a picture of parrot and hat)

The middle of the class are on ORT about level 4-5 - 2-3 sentences on a page.

The top of the class are on chapter books, whole complex paragraphs etc.

dd2 is in this class, she isn't at the top, and I am not bothered. ds was slow to get reading, he took off in year 3, he is now year 6 and heading for level 6 sats and has passed 11+
dd1 was good early reader, but was quite in school, so was always on school level about 3 behind where she could actually read until she was about year 2/3.

Bearing in mind that some kids are 12 months older than others, and some kids are early readers and some kids have lots of parental support, there will be a huge variation.

Moat important thing is that you read regularly at home, that you still read out loud to your kids, books that are further on than they can read for themselves, (this helps with vocab building) and that you model reading to them too.

[steppemum]

sorry
dd1 ''was quiet in school''

[ReallyTired]

If a child can read a stage 4/5 book then they have mastered the art of barking at print. I agree that barking at print is a valuable skill. A year 1 child who can bark at print is in a stronger position than a child who can't blend.

Comprehension becomes more important as reading books become more complex. There is also learning the art of reading with expression. I think it takes a lot of practice of reading relatively simple books before a child can tackle the more complex books.

[BornFreeButinChains]

Let the boasting begin..

I have never seen a poster boast on here thats a really un helpful comment.

[steppemum]

BornFree - these sort of threads tend to bring out the

'my dd was reading chapter books before they started school' brigade, hence the comment let the boasting begin.

[columngollum]

It's all relative, I suppose. But, although some experience of simple books is of course necessary, I think the profit of publishers has blown it all out of proportion. Books, I think, are for getting stories, information or pleasure from. What message does an endless diet of crappy non books send out? To me it sends out the message that books are a pointless school chore. I wouldn't buy most/any school scheme books from a bookshop. (I know some people do.) I would choose and buy good books. Why would I buy bad ones? Even simple books, Where the Wild Things Are, Chicken Licken, don't have to be bad books.

[Saladserver]

Orangeboat - my DS1 went into year 1 on yellow books (so had only just mastered pink & Red during reception year). He progressed fairly slowly through year 1 (he finished yr 1 on green books). He then suddenly rocketed through the summer hols (yr1 to yr2) picking up anything he could get his hands on, and is currently yr 2 and has leapfrogged over most kids who were ahead of him in yrs R and 1 and is now the highest boy reader in his glass (a handful of girls ahead of him).

Sorry if it sounds like a stealth boast, its not meant to be....but just wanted to highlight that some kids can start off 'slow' with reading but can suddenly massively improve, catch up and overtake later down the line. Some mums in the playground looked when DS1 came running out to tell me he'd been given an award for brilliant reading / best boy reader in his class recently, as their kids were always ahead of him up until yr 2 (not that reading is a competition, but hey lets face it - lots of mums use reading bands as an indicator of their childs standing in the class in infant years, rightly or wrongly!)

[steppemum]

I agree with you column, but nobody has suggested buying bad books have they?

[Saladserver]

Yes I do agree with Columngollum too - we found the school reading scheme books SO tedious, so supplemented at home with lots of much more interesting/ fun books (whilst still reading the school books to stick with their plan too). A weekly trip to the library over the yr1/yr2 summer hols really helped things progress.

[ReallyTired]

The quality of reading books has really improved since my son was in reception in 2006 or when we were at school. The oxford reading tree songbirds are some of the best decodable books available. There are some nice non fiction books as well.

As much as it pains me, both my children adored the Oxford Reading Tree, especially the magic key books. As a parent its worse having to endure the magic stories a second time round. However its not about what I like to read. Children do seem to enjoy the dratted magic key books.

There are loads of other good reading schemes like jelly and bean, ruth miskin or ridby star books for variety. Certainly children need to be read proper books like the ones columngollum mentions.

[columngollum]

Adored ORT? I'm sitting in the middle of the floor putting red hot pins through my eyeballs.

[steppemum]

My kids did like ORT magic key. I think it is because most of them have a funny twist at the end. At home we have lots of great books, and we go to the library every week. But often my kids prefer the rubbish books. I work on the principle that if they enjoy it and are reading, that is fine. I push enough good books their way that they have a balanced diet!

There is areal lack I think of very early readers that properly use phonics. They spend all this time in reception learning their phonics/letter and sounds and then pick up ORT and non of the words are decode able with basic phonics.

[BornFreeButinChains]

steppemum*

Really has anyone said that here? I would say these threads bring out the let the boasting begin comments rather than the my child was a fast reader.

So what if they do come on and say it, if lots of posters said that then maybe thats relevant?

If anyone has bitterness or problems with what they perceive to be a child thats ahead then maybe these boards are not the best place for them?

[ReallyTired]

"There is areal lack I think of very early readers that properly use phonics. They spend all this time in reception learning their phonics/letter and sounds and then pick up ORT and non of the words are decode able with basic phonics."

There are plenty of good early phonic readers. For example Jelly and Bean, Ruth Miskin books, Danelion readers, Oxford Reading Tree Songbirds. Schools have even been provided with funding to help with the cost of replacing their early books. The problem comes is that many techers don't agree with using purely decodable books in the early stages.

[columngollum]

I suppose it depends on what we call bad books, but Biff & Chip even bring out a home version.