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Original poster

To be shocked that the national average reading age is 9-11

353 replies

SailorSerena · 06/02/2025 22:54

I often think why are people finding this confusing? It's not difficult! Did any of these posters even read the OP!? When reading threads here. On another thread I saw someone say so you know what the national average reading age is? When peoples comprehension was criticised. So I googled it. And I'm appalled!

How on earth is the UKs reading ability so poor that the average adult has the reading ability of a 10 year old child!?

OP posts:
gatheryerosebuds · 13/02/2025 12:19

Angrymum22 · 13/02/2025 12:08

Being able to read is very different to being able to understand what you are reading. The more time you spend reading the more you explore both the subject and language. I can read German fluently but understand very little.
DS was fascinated by dinosaurs as a young child, he had a large collection of non-fiction books about dinosaurs but was a late reader. I refused to read dinosaur books to him so he learned to read quickly so he could read them to himself. 15 yrs on he still has an encyclopaedic knowledge, although doesn’t admit it. He skipped the reading out loud stage. He was just lazy , happy to let others read to him. It was the content of books he was interested in not the words. Luckily his teachers realised early on that he was an advanced reader and put him onto the free reader books quickly. His grammar, comprehension and use of words is exceptional. He was known as the grammar policeman at school and spent twelve months at 6th form volunteering in a local primary school helping with reading skills.
His ability to mimic accents and voices helped make reading interesting to the children he assisted.
I think the most important part of learning to read is for children to realise how it allows you to access so much more of the world around you.
We have always had a weekend newspaper. DS would pick it up at a young age when something piqued his interest. There are so few opportunities for children to engage in the written word with digital technology. You can entertain yourself with videos and photos without the need for the written word.
Communication is moving away from words, and digital communication leads to misunderstandings due to the lack of accurate grammar. As is often seen in MN.

Show quote history

This is exactly my point. Why can’t children who can already read the words have to do phonics rather than doing a “reading comprehension” which would be of far greater educational value to them.
This is what would happen in an independent school.
It would only mean one TA or parent helper sitting in a room with them

Grammarnut · 14/02/2025 13:12

gatheryerosebuds · 13/02/2025 12:19

This is exactly my point. Why can’t children who can already read the words have to do phonics rather than doing a “reading comprehension” which would be of far greater educational value to them.
This is what would happen in an independent school.
It would only mean one TA or parent helper sitting in a room with them

Show quote history

I wonder if it would happen in a private school. The school would want to test phonics and comprehension before doing any such thing, I suspect.

Grammarnut · 14/02/2025 13:18

Angrymum22 · 13/02/2025 12:08

Being able to read is very different to being able to understand what you are reading. The more time you spend reading the more you explore both the subject and language. I can read German fluently but understand very little.
DS was fascinated by dinosaurs as a young child, he had a large collection of non-fiction books about dinosaurs but was a late reader. I refused to read dinosaur books to him so he learned to read quickly so he could read them to himself. 15 yrs on he still has an encyclopaedic knowledge, although doesn’t admit it. He skipped the reading out loud stage. He was just lazy , happy to let others read to him. It was the content of books he was interested in not the words. Luckily his teachers realised early on that he was an advanced reader and put him onto the free reader books quickly. His grammar, comprehension and use of words is exceptional. He was known as the grammar policeman at school and spent twelve months at 6th form volunteering in a local primary school helping with reading skills.
His ability to mimic accents and voices helped make reading interesting to the children he assisted.
I think the most important part of learning to read is for children to realise how it allows you to access so much more of the world around you.
We have always had a weekend newspaper. DS would pick it up at a young age when something piqued his interest. There are so few opportunities for children to engage in the written word with digital technology. You can entertain yourself with videos and photos without the need for the written word.
Communication is moving away from words, and digital communication leads to misunderstandings due to the lack of accurate grammar. As is often seen in MN.

Show quote history

Why on earth would you not want to read to your child about the things he is interested in? Reading to a child is a very important part of teaching reading, along with phonics and following a knowledge-rich curriculum. I read to my DC till they were around 10 and 12, serials of The Dark is Rising, Sci-fi, whatever they wanted to hear. They are both avid readers and at 11 DS had a reading age of 15.
And those who say children who have learned to read should not do phonics miss the entire point. One of which was revealed in the first phonics checks with 'alien' words (i.e. phonically accurate non-words). 'Good' readers were misreading the alien words e.g. 'storm' for 'strom'. This meant they were not using phonics and were guessing at unknown words or assuming that the unknown word was another word entirely. Those children needed phonics to increase their accuracy. Some might have bridged the gap and read accurately, many might not and would eventually fail to become good readers.
I suspect this thread is done! 😀

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