to be upset son in year 1 has moved down 2 reading book levels over the summer holidays?

[Mumofaboy123]

My son was on red level when he completed R year and was " exceeding " in reading on his report.
We kept up the reading over the summer hols apart from the last week as we were then on holiday.
He was assessed on his first day back at school and they have given him pink books :-(
The comment written indicated this was because he sounded out all of the letters in order to blend the word although blending was strong she said.
How do I get him to blend silently in his head as he said he finds that very difficult?
Not sure now if he should have ever been on the red book to start with but I'm confused to as what's gone wrong.
My mother says I should now get in a tutor - what are your thoughts?
He is my first and only child so I haven't been here before.

It's pink, red then yellow.

I'd expect some sounding out at red. Make sure he knows his tricky words by sight and work on confidence and using context.

Continue piling pressure on a young child and completely demolish his confidence by behaving the way you are.

Just read together. Enjoy books. Laugh and play.

Seriously thinking this op is a piss take as no sensible parent behaves like this???

My daughter has just gone up to year 1 but is a confident reader on a higher level.
However over the summer, she hasn't been reading so frequently and I can tell now she's back at school. She falters a bit when reading.
Chances are your son just needs a bit of time to settle and some practice and he'll be back to his confident self in no time. Relax and make it fun and if he's not improved in a few weeks, perhaps discuss ways to support him with the teacher.

Why would she think that? If he can use sounding out to work out new words and can just read familiar words without sounding out, the rest is just practice. What o earth does she think a tutor is going to do?

Teachers, and their interpretations of reading level, vary. It isn't a science and it doesn't mean your child has moved backwards - it's likely just that both teachers interpret ate his level slightly differently.

I'm a Year 2 teacher and English lead. It's advised that children can "read" (without overt blending, which is what your son is doing) 80-90% of a book with about 10-20% being Unknown/challenging words, for them to be on the right level.

If he is sounding out every word, it is too challenging for him. It doesn't matter if he is sounding out loudly, or in his head, he is still having too blend those words to read them. The idea is that more and more words become sight words that are read instantly.

It's not that simple though, because it depends on the reading scheme!! Some books are purely phonic - in which case, he likely WOULD need to blend a larger percentage of the words in the book as they tend to focus on a specific sound that he will have been learning in school.

Other books are key word focussed and rely more heavily on sight word reading (these tend to be older reading schemes). Personally, I don't think these are great for very early readers as MOST small children learn better through a mixture of phonics and sight words.

My advice would be not to stress at all, there are lots and lots of variables on the process.

If you are worried, Google 100 high frequency words and encourage him to read these on sight, without blending. Learn a few at a time, stick them around your house etc.

Then ask his teacher which phonics phase he is currently working on, and use those sounds to blend words. (So if he's learning 'ai' you can do lots of word blending such as train, pain, chain, etc.)

This combination of sight key words, and blending trickier words, will really help him.

And definitely continue the love of reading!!

I hope that helps.

Blimey one of my DDs didn't learn to read until Easter of Year 1 so she was around 5.5 by half term of the Autumn in Year 2 she was one of the best/advanced readers in her year (60 DC). I'm appalled that your Mum doesn't know that being late to read well at this age doesn't matter.

Does she live her ambitions through her children and DGC generally? Is she going to have a melt down and think it's the end of the world if her descendants aren't academically advanced?

He does not need a tutor. You have a lot of good advice here about how to support him in developing his reading. You may also find the Oxford Owl website helpful.

I'm not sure how he was marked exceeding in reading if he was on red level, as yellow is the expected level for the end of Reception in my experience. A child who is exceeding would often be reading 2+ book bands higher and doing more than just decoding.

Mine was still on pink books in year 2 and the start of year 3 iirc. Then something obviously clicked and DC sped through all stages and was no longer in the reading tree books at end yr 4.

I wasn't worried about the pink books tbh but I was more worried about killing a desire to read through pushing something that wasn't coming as naturally as other children. DC hated reading tree books which didn't help and tbh I had had enough of Biff and Chip and kip that I was starting to hate them too

The only people who made a big deal of it were the insecure competitive playground twats who would make a big song and dance about how great their DCs were jumping from book colour to book colour.

Oh and my DC still sounds out some words like yours does and is in Yr 5.

Ha ha! Lots of Headteachers move up the ladder quickly because they are not so good in the classroom.
Your Mum may well be an excellent leader of her school but I wouldn't pay too much notice to her desire for a tutor.

How do I get him to blend silently in his head as he said he finds that very difficult?
Please don't. Just let him read however he wants to. It is far more important to enjoy reading and feel relaxed about it, than it is for him to worry about whether he is doing it in the 'right' way.
There really is nothing to worry about here. Don't get him a tutor, just carry on reading together and enjoying books.

What if 'tutor' is being used as synonym for early intervention because the school aren't putting additional help in place? Would you still be saying the OP's mum was wrong?

If the OP's DS was genuinely a pink level reader he would be having additional help in most schools. If that isn't the case then you can see why someone may be concerned.

As it happens, it doesn't sound like he is really on pink level so it's probably less of an issue.

Is you mum a primary/Infant Headteacher? I find it hard to believe any Primary Heads in this country would recommend tutors so young, when you are doing all the right things at home, practising reading throughout the holidays, reading to him regularly, sharing books.
He may be a 'look and say reader' rather than 'phonic based'; fluency will come as he knows all his sounds, and he is only Year 1. Remember that.
I never used to put children back a level because it caused so much un-necessary panic among parents and children.

I suppose because when I was young many children didn't start school till what is now year one, (so proably the same with op's mum) the idea that children this age are so far behind they need early intervention seems strange. It is only 2 weeks after the holiday and children are settling back in. If there are problems as the year goes on, fair enough for the school to provide extra help. But Op's mum is suggesting a private tutor which sounds excessive.

No to be fair she is secondary
There is no pressure in the house, and I have no idea why he was marked as exceeding then if red is not a high band!
He is feb born so middle in terms of age
I have just read with him again and asked him to see if he could read it without sounding out just to see.
Within 5 minutes he read the whole book " mums bug bag " without sounding out one letter.
So I think it may be more habit than a need to?
His class his full of very academic children and he was upset to be given a book he had read before as nobody else was.
I refuse to be involved in any sort of competitiveness and believe a tutor is not needed hence why I haven't got one in for him!
I think he could have been nervous readying with the new teacher but I was just shocked at what the last teacher was describing to me was an "advanced" reader ( which I doubted when she said it as I think reading he's average at and on ready but writing very good at and she didn't even pick up on that ) to now being on the easiest books.
Thanks for your advice!
PS - mum does expect a lot as head of a private school but we live in different counties so her opinion is somewhat irrelevant :-)

I wouldnt use a tutor at the moment, he's just gone back to school and might now get back into the swing of it. He has plenty of time to catch up and whats more important at his age is that he wants to read, and likes reading, rather than what level he's on.

I hope your mum is not pressured ino thinking that the grandchild of a head teacher should be excelling and to pile pressure on the child for moving levels?
If overall your child is working to the best of their ability and are happy then leave it be more so in primary school, only pursue other avenues if they are really struggling to cope, then you can be concerned for them.

He doesn't need a tutor he is 6. Time to be learning through play still not being hot housed. All children drop back a level during school holidays.
Give him a few weeks and he'll be back where he was and then some.

I think I'd be reconsidering the information you share with your mother.

She isn't in a position to interfere.

I think the idea of early intervention is that they don't get that far behind and the gap to close is smaller. If you leave it until 7 to find out that the idea that all children get there in the end is largely untrue, then you have 3 years of falling behind and often self-confidence issues to deal with.

A reading tutor in the short term to close the gap early is very different to getting a tutor to prepare for something like the 11+. It's largely unnecessary because at this stage I think parents can probably do it themselves but I judging the OP's mums experience and teaching on the suggestion is uncalled for.

And if she's secondary, then she's probably more than aware of the long term damage that bad reading instruction in primary can cause.

Did he do read write inc? Ds (who is very literal!) read sounding out because that's the way the teach. He also used to say 'tricky word' before read those

It's prolly best he reads books he can practice blending silently with (so easier for him) to develop basic skills than keep pushing forward just because he can 'read' the words iyswim?

If your looking for fun books for a boy who's not a keen reader "aliens in underpants" etc are quite enticing!

I think the idea of early intervention is that they don't get that far behind and the gap to close is smaller

This is how I interpreted ops DMs advice. Rather to stop dc falling behind rather than pushing advancement forward.

Please don't worry OP. It's pink then red then yellow. Pink and red have many similar books in. You definitely don't need a tutor. Sounding out when needed is a reading skill, preferable to just guessing. I would be encouraging this when needed.

RafaIsTheKingOfClay Sat 17-Sep-16 12:32:08

^ totally agree. Hate this immediate scoffing at any idea of the word tutor^

I agree with all points made
My mother feels very strongly that the sooner the gap is closed the easier for the child hence her suggestion but at the stage I feel it would be too pressurising for him to sit in a tutors house or them to sit in ours practising reading which is something I can do with him!

The poor kids get so confused that I've seen some 5 year olds who could read words fine sound them out because they thought they had to ...
It's all about enjoying and using books.
OP Don't please start having him tutored in Y1 whatever your mother says, whatever she is a headteacher of!!