AIBU to ask why my Year 1 child reads so much at school?

She is lucky they let her read. In Y1 mine got to play outside when finished (so half the day…!). Now in Y4 she seems to be sat next to people she can help when she has done her own work, meaning she is never with her friends and loved with the most fidgety children in the class. Which she finds quite upsetting because she actually doesn’t like lots of random movement and noise in her space but masks at school and gets upset at home….. on the whole being allowed to read would be amazing

It's quite normal for a variety of needs in the class. It is however surprising that the school are grouping children in maths and English time based on ability as this is something Ofsted frown upon I believe.
The only time our school group is for phonics, where reception, year 1,2 and 3 mix depending on level. Your daughter is very advanced to be a free reader. We only have 1 child in year 1 at that point, with 3 others close to this (last phonics group).

All children where I work have the same opportunities. There is always a challenge task in maths, however not everyone will achieve it and aren't made to do so. If this is completed then we might say read a book if there isn't another task (sometimes there will be further practice sheets recapping general maths from before e.g complete a number square, write your number bonds to 20).
You would need to talk to the school about how soon she is finishing and whether as others suggest she could take more care of things like handwriting - our school will ask a child to do the work again if we think they have rushed and know they can do better. Maybe your DD thinks the important part is doing the work rather than whether it is legible so slowing down would mean it takes longer so less time to read (however she might be upset that she is not seen as quick, we have some children that we have to try and explain to that there isn't a rush to complete work, doing extra sheets or reading isn't the main focus, it's about what they do on the task that session).

There was a very brief period at Primary when a teacher who genuinely detested me would punish me for completing my work quickly (and getting everything right) by criticising my handwriting and threatening me with more handwriting punishment at every opportunity.

I had hypermobility and whilst I was great with tapestry, Art, crafts and was perfectly capable of putting Lego bricks together, my fingers were too bendy (what with also still being nothing like adult hands - and this is only a 5-6 year old we're talking about here) to be able to write without pain until I was about 11.

The only way to avoid the punishment was to keep quiet and never admit to knowing the answer or having finished early. Fortunately, it was only a year with her until I got a teacher who didn't hate me.

Don't fall into giving the 'I don't care that it's all correct and at a higher level than others, you're still not good enough' message that is what comes across loud and clear to bright children when they've done really well, but all you say is that they have to accept their punishment and do it again.

I find it is often the girls with asd who do this in secondary. If i am not watching they are reading their book. Having not finished their work. Hyperlexia maybe.

My comment was in relation to the OP talking about the children who are still doing more basic phonics. I'm saying they are only 6 and it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Children develop at different times at different rates, that's all I'm saying. Some will come into their own later.

Some if my kids (unfortunately) went to a so-called 'pre-prep' school where much hoo-haa was made about reading ability etc etc at age 6 because they were sitting entrance exams (the 7+) for schools like St Paul's Juniors etc etc. My kids are 22, 20 and 18 now and I can see that the ones in reception and Year 1/2 who were reading early, or who had the best handwriting, or got 10/10 in spellings every week (or any of the other 'measurables' at that age), were not the ones who necessarily went on to get the best GCSEs, A -levels or into the top unis. For instance, my DS who was an ok reader but could hardly write until he was 8 (dyspraxic tendencies and couldn't hold a pen) got all 9s at GCSE, A stars at A level (in social science subjects) and ended up at Oxbridge where he got a starred First. To this day, he has never read a book, fiction or otherwise. Another DS is dyslexic and was basically written off by teachers. But something clicked for him at 12/14 and now he's at Imperial. DD who was a very avid reader from a very early age (and still is) got a mix of 9,8,7 at GCSE, which is great but not quite as high as her brothers. But she is the only one of my kids who genuinely loves reading!

And some children can decode very well AND do the important understanding bit. My daughter is one, and it sounds like OPs daughter is too.

also enjoying the poster saying once they can all read it all evens out 😂 yes, because famously all children achieve the same GCSE grades don’t they? Erm, no. They won’t all be free readers ‘soon’, some may still be reading scheme books in y6 if they struggle. The difference in ability only widens as they get older. I have taught a y6 class with reading ages of 6-15.

At that age, there are children who are able to decode words but don't really engage or infer much meaning from the actual content of what they are reading. Other children might have slower phonic skills, but really engage and get a lot of pleasure from the content of what they are actually able to read. This is more important than the phonic skills themselves, because it is about developing a life long love of reading, rather than who can rush most quickly through the various book band levels. Some children love fiction and can't get enough, other children may be more inclined to read non-fiction because this is what ignites their interests. Your DD has found some books she enjoys and she sounds absolutely fine. If you're worried about anything though, just talk to her teacher. Maybe she is reading at lunchtime? Or maybe she is telling you she has read more than she has? But if your overall sense is that she's being 'held back' in class, just ask the teacher for her / his thoughts on this.

Again, what would you have her do rather than read ?

We're talking year 1.
The rhythm is not non stop work, relentless worksheets and pushing each child to squeeze every last drop out of the school day.

It sounds like your daughter is doing well.
Other pupils may be spending those 45 minutes playing or doing other activities not strictly related to advancing through the curriculum. School is about so much more at this stage.

If she's happy at school, if her teachers are happy with her progress and behaviour, then I'd be bursting with pride to have such a devoted reader and not worry about what else you think she " should" be doing with her time.

Like I said, if you're worried have a chat with the class teacher, but as a KS2/KS1 teacher of 35 years I think she sounds like she's doing wonderfully.

Reading, reading and more reading is the key to doing well and I am always delighted to have little bookworms as students.

OP, your DD is in year 1. KS 1 and in particular the first two years are about getting used to school and finding out about other people and your strengths and weaknesses. I wouldn’t get at all hung up
on what she is doing academically, particularly as she is an avid reader which will stand her in good stead in all subjects and is something to be encouraged. I now tutor GCSE English students and if I had a pound for every one who comes to me and says they never read a book and wonder why their English skills are limited (SEND notwithstanding), I would be very rich

Hi OP. I mean this gently, but you do sound a bit OTT. You say -

"There are children still on CVC/CVVC/CVCC words and struggling, and 3 free readers - soa wide rane of abilities. We have children who still don;t know number bonds to 10, and (the same 3 kids) that have completed the Year 1 maths work books by feb half term...."

How and why do you know about other children who are doing CVC or whatever?

It sounds like you're also just a little over invested in these 'the same three kids' who have finished the reading scheme and maths book etc. Really, let it go.

Children learn to read at different times. It's like walking or teeth - some kids get there before others, but once they can walk and once they have teeth it's all the same! What I mean to say is, once the whole class are free readers, which will be soon, you won't remember any of this. In the meantime, don't be 'that parent' of the 'gifted' 6 year-old. It's great that she's enjoying reading, long may it last, but education is a long meandering journey and she's only 6!

If it's any reassurance, my DS has some fine motor skills problems at that age and by the age of 8 or so, he had grown out of it. I remember so much drama about doing exercises with putty etc - the school made such a fuss about it at the time - but it was just a phase. The reading levels etc, are also just a short phase. I remember my DS telling me his friend's mum used to blatantly look in his book bag to compare what he was reading with her son, Funnily enough, they can all read now!

What exactly is it that you want?

Do you want your child to be given higher level work? Then discuss this with the school.

I'm struggling to understand why you are framing this as a problem that your child is reading too much.

Yes i have just seen it is on their website. I guess I hadn’t realised other people were doing this!

@Polyestered it is a requirement (in England) that state schools include details of the curriculum on their website, so if yours doesn’t then you can query that

I’m curious! How do you know so much about the other children, and in such detail?

@Polyestered school website should detail the curriculum. DS used to just tell me had baked beans for lunch (which was usually evident by his school jumper!)

Some schools will have mini blogs where they might give a brief detail what the class has done that week, or have a session for parents to explain phonics, SATs etc. Some of our local schools also did session on maths to help parents navigate the way schools teach it and the language used like number bonds. This then helped parents feel more confident with maths too.

Was very evident during the pandemic that the maths work set by schools for home schooling was the one most likely not to be done as parents didn’t feel confident. Reading on the other hand was the most popular

I was like that. I found the work super easy, was always finished very early and I loved reading. I was even allowed to take a book into exams with me!

I’d check she is being given stretch work if she’s finishing the ordinary level work quickly.

Totally reasonable. It sounds like she is being given easy work then being allowed or told to read because she has finished. Occasionally, this is fine, but if it happening often I be wanting to know

• whether anyone is checking her worksheet and helping her with the bits she got wrong.
• also whether she is being given support on the things SHE finds harder. If for example, she is good at reading, but not so good at maths, she shouldn't be being given a standard year 1 maths worksheet, rushing through it and then reading rather than being supported to do harder maths or do better at maths. You don't want in say year 3, reading at the level of year 6 or 7, but still on year 1 maths, because she's been allowed to put extra time into reading which she finds easy and not enough time into maths which she finds hard.

At that age (in the dark ages) we had to read by rote, by the time it came to my turn I had finished reading the book to myself and had to try to find where the class had got to, it was so boring. If she is clever reading instead of just sitting bored to tears when she has finished the set work is good, otherwise she is going to get so frustrated constantly just sitting waiting for the class to catch up.