Are lots of pre-reception 4 year olds reading ?

[flowerpowersd]

My DD is 4, she starts reception in September.

I've been speaking to a few parents who said their child is so ready for reception.

One today told me that their child was ready because she was already reading.

My DD likes phonics and can recognise some words, is making the first attempts at blending sounds and ' reading '.

Should I aim for her to be reading by the time she starts reception ?

Is this quite common that children can read this soon and is this what parents mean when they say they're ready for reception?

Another mum told me her son was also reading and he was not even 4 yet at the time.

Should I invest in some very basic reading books and try to teach her so she can ' read ' when she starts reception ? Or can my DD also technically 'read '?

Or when people say they can read, they actually mean they can read books for their age independently?

She's been going to preschool nursery so far. She loves it and I'm not sure I would say she's ready or desperate to go to reception, although I could be wrong.

Op, get used to this, it's absolutely crazy how competitive parents get.

Neither of my two could read before Foundation, and to be honest I wouldn't say they picked it up quickly. I used to read to them loads though and they eventually both became voracious readers. I wanted them to enjoy reading and not feel it was a chore. Oldest is now predicted 4 x A* levels, and youngest going into GCSE years already getting really really high marks in English.

Neither of them spoke much either before they were 2. They don't stop now however.

Really try not to worry.

My child is very ready for school but he definitely can't read. He knows some of the phonics sounds and is showing an interest in learning to count to 100 but currently can't even count to 20 without missing out a couple of numbers.

Clearly, him being ready has nothing to do with his academic achievements - he's ready because he is at a stage where he is willing, keen and ready to learn. Not all children in reception will be this keen to learn, and that doesn't mean they aren't ready for it. I'm just saying that I know my child is ready because of how keen he is. He's also quite emotionally mature (for a four year old 😂 it doesn't really say much!) and I think he'll thrive at school. I didn't feel the same way about his brother when he started but he's still been absolutely fine.

My mum got called into reception for me, to 'stop me reading ': I could read, but I hadn't learn any of the rules, so they went back to basics.

My july ds could 'read'(recite) books at 3, but could only read things like his name, mummy, a few other basic to sound out words with some support. He's doing well in reception and is starting to enjoy figuring out other words that we see around us. We were told that them knowing their phonics sounds and doing some basic blending out loud (c a t, cat) was much more important than reading.

As an EYFS teacher I’ve had to reteach many children who had learnt to read by memorising.

Best thing to do is get their pre-reading skills ready: lots of reading stories to them, singing songs and nursery rhymes, playing around with rhyming words, oral blending games, listening games and listening for specific sounds (e.g. birds outside) and reading print out and about to them.

My child starts school in September and I’ll be doing this and I will teach her a few words (like sit and tap) but mostly focus on oral blending. The most important thing though is to have fun and play. Children have lots of time at school to learn to read; it’s not a race.

One of mine could read before he started reception, he taught himself! The second barely knew his colours and definitely didn't even know all of the letters. He was reading at a level just above where he needed to be by the end of reception and now he's at the end of y1 he's reading well above and unlike his brother, he reads for pleasure quite happily.

Don't worry, it comes in time 😊

Honestly no.

Help out in reception. I think 3 are reading now at nearly the end of the year. The rest aren't - still on phonics. Just support what the school wants/do.

School happy with kids who are toilet trained and respect the teacher. Sitting still for short periods is a bonus.

My son has been reading since just before he turned four. I'm a teacher and I taught him. My parents taught me to read and I was reading before starting school. My parents say that was the norm, whereas now it isn't. I don't believe it is just school that should educate. Parents should take an active role in educating their children.

My first could read at 2, second at 3 and 3rd at 4. And by reading I mean a good grasp of phonics and decoding/blending words, alongside recognising common sight words, meaning they could read level 1 and 2 books. This is not that unusual in many countries and I find it odd that people here think it is tbh.

’Ready for reception’ usually means that the parent feels the child has outgrown nursery/pre-school and is ready for the next step in terms of confidence, independence, and learning. I’ve never taken it to mean they can read, and it’s absolutely not an expectation that the school will have.

As pp have said, some will be reading, some will have the skills in place to learn to read, and others will be nowhere near, yet. As they get older it tends to even out, as the non-readers will catch up very quickly, once they start school.

Don’t get caught up in competitive parenting, op, just support your dc in ploughing their own unique furrow!

You’ll get some precocious readers, but it isn’t common. My twins could write their names before reception and count to 20, but that was about it. They are now mid year 1 and can read most things fluently.

That doesn’t mean teaching to read though. Most parents will be unfamiliar with the phonics programmes taught in schools anyway and could teach with inconsistencies. It’s not necessary.

I've never met a 6 year old who I would believe could effectively interpret the themes and world building to actually understand books at that level particularly the later ones, it's way above their comprehension even if they can string the letters together to form the right words.
I was a constant reader as a child and can honestly say the meaning of lot of the texts I read went right over my head till I re-read them as an adult.
All I did was parse the words without understanding and it was completely pointless.

My parents also taught me at the same age (dad also a teacher, this was the 1980s) - I can't remember how well any of my peers could read at the start of reception so don't feel I can comment on what was "the norm". Having said that, I'm an August baby who started in the summer term rather than in September (this was not long after moving house, but I do remember there were a few summer babies starting with me that term so maybe it was more a thing to start the term you turned 5 back then, rather than starting in September which seems more common now) so I guess that starting 2 terms behind some of them, quite a few of them may well have been reading when I met them but weren't when they started in the autumn/spring terms.

I do remember that the childminder I had back then would always tell me to find something to do if I was reading. People have tried saying that maybe she thought I was only looking at the pictures - if that had been the case, can someone please explain to me what exactly would have been wrong with that, I don't see where looking at the pictures would have done any harm to anyone? Would she really have preferred me to run around screaming and scribble on the wall?

Some can, some can’t. Our grandchild is reading level 1 books unaided at 8 weeks shy of 4 because that’s very much his thing. Others will be adept at arithmetic, sports, cooking, dancing. All are perfectly normal and it generally levels out by year 2 or so.

"I hated it when parents or nursery staff with limited training had taught their child just a bit of phonics, because often it meant bad habits that we had to reteach. "

@mummyuptheriver wouldn't it be better just for parents to know how/which sorts of phonics to teach?

Very few can and unless it taught phonics I was advised not to teach reading before school...I kinda wish I understood phonics...dd and her friends seemed to pick it up....dh, me and a whole room of parents attempting to learn it at the school teaching parents season...my decision after that session was not to attempt phonics...once I stopped teaching dd phonics she flew it...I think I was holding her back... Just make sure your dc is toilet trained..

I really don’t think it matters. My DD knew how to write her name and that was it, probably not even the letters she was writing. She was a free reader by Christmas of year 1. Her friend has a very pushy mum came in writing and being pushed into reading, she isn’t reading or writing as well as DD now and often writes in capitals as mum taught her wrong!

My four year old is interested in words and sounds. She can copy simple words and read her name, mum, dad etc. Her brother was totally disinterested at the same age. I went a bit potty with flash cards and phonics sounds. He did not engage. He can read fluently now age 7. It does not matter. Don't allow yourself to fall down the black hole of comparing children.

"Peaked early" often means "subsequent schooling and education failed them, was unable to teach to their level so let them drift back down to average level whilst challenging and teaching the kids who were behind more so that they caught up".

Children peaking early and other children catching up is a sign of a failure to educate children who are ready for more challenge.

Mine can, her nursery started phonics early and she was trying to read words so I just taught her. It’s just practice really for most kids, some are exceptional in some way but for most it’s just bog standard time and effort.

I was taught before school in the 80’s as well, I don’t think it’s a big deal really it’s not like you can tell when they are 30. However I can still read a decent sized book in a few hours, which I think is helpful in some ways.

We do have a problem though with DD being able to read text but struggling with comprehension. But, my comprehension was pretty good so I assume at some point I became more adept at scanning instead of reading individual words and my comprehension caught up.

Looking at my own DD I can definitely see her comprehension improved as she gained fluency. Theres a lot of mental effort involved in being a new reader, she’s very much focussed on decoding the odd word so her attention is on that rather than the story.

I think most kids can be taught to read before 5 tbh, I doubt it’s that unusual.

We had a lot of competitive parenting in Preschool and Primary. It gets easier in High School as you don't have your see the utter fools the other parents as often.

I have t read the full thread but I'm sure all of the usual things have already been said about preparing for school like making sure they can use cutlery, put their coat on and wipe their bum.

I'd also start to play some board games aimed at their age, if you don't already. Pinterest is a good resource for finding Maths based games hit 4 year olds. Helping them to concentrate and start to appreciate numbers will give them just as good start.

My DS was totally uninterested in anything to do with writing or even mark making so we played games and walked and talked about numbers on doors and car reg plates and collected leaves and tried to spit which tree they came from. All of this seemed to give him just as good a start as the DC who could write their name or do some reading.

And himestly if he's been able to read and write when he started school I think he would have been bored quite quickly

This is so true. I used to help with listening to children read in class when mine were in infants’ school many years ago. I remember there being 3 or 4 children in the yr1 class I helped in, who were reading HP books. Only one of them (who later became a vet, as it happens!) was able to read with real expression and understanding. The others could say most of the words, but it was obvious that there was no comprehension of what they were reading. I always felt that it was for the benefit of the pushy parents to be able to say their children were ‘reading’ HP books.

This really surprises me, I am fairly sure both of mine were reading Oxford Reading Tree Kipper & co by the end of reception. DS was by no means one of the fastest. Are we still suffering the fall out of COVID ? Did they not go to nursery ?

I doubt they mean proper reading but DD does join three letter words and sound them out. Things like c-a-t cat, p-o-t pot, she goes to a nursery attached to the primary, they pride themselves on the children transitioning really easily into reception so although they don't aim to have the children reading before reception some will pick up the basics.
DD watches her older sister reading and is in a rush to do the same but lots of others know their basic phonics sounds just as well.
I think most importantly you should create a live for books in them so although they may not be reading, they enjoy sitting with books, reading will happen in their own time.
You also need to help her handle cutlery, dress and undress, put on her shoes, sort of be able to fasten her coat, these things all really help them in reception more than being able to read.

Reception staff here - lots of good advice on here. I would say the most important thing for a young child to have is good quality of attention. An ability to share, and and a degree of independence also good.

I have known 3 children who have come into reception able to read and comprehend chapter books. All three were hyperlexic and autistic.