Where is that list that tells you how the levels of the different reading schemes match up?

[GDG]

Ds1 is in reception and his reading is great. They did JP so he's been reading the JP books - he whizzed through all the red ones from level 1 to 6 (both the general fiction and the other set) and tbh, they weren't that challenging for him and he was reading much harder stuff at home.

Last week at parents evening, his teacher agreed and said she'd read with him and move him on.

Well today, I am totally at a loss as to why he has come home with a pink level New Way book which is so easy for him it's a joke. It says 'Ben ran down the hill. Look at me. Look at me said Ben' and then it repeats this on about 4 pages with a different 3 letter, monosyllabic name. It's just ridiculous and I'm fuming tbh.

I don't understand this - one of the books he read pretty easily in the JP range was 'The Wind and the Sun' which had words like 'shouting', 'glinting', 'glistening' in it and he read these with ease. What makes her think this is moving him on?!?!? He's also reading books like 'Jack and the Beanstalk' at home and finds the Apple Tree farm books easy too.

Anyway, just want to see what the level of JP he was on matches to on New Way so I am armed with relevant info when I 'blast' his teacher

anyone?

You could have a look at \link{http://www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk/graded.htm\this one}, which I found somehow or other some time ago. I'm not sure what scheme their numbers correspond to (ignore the dyslexic bit - I think the levelling applies for all children), but it's given me some ideas of what things to look for in the library for DS2.

That's the one, thanks!

However, I'm confused still! It has 'The Wind and The Sun' Jolly Readers yellow level 2 (ds1's was a read book and it said level 5 on it) is book level 8 and so is this New Way book 'Meet the Friends'.

The JP book has long words such as 'shouting', 'glittering' etc and Meet the Friends by New Way is only as difficult as 'Can I help you, said Jip' - they don't seem very equal to me!!

Anyway, will put a note in his book that this book is far too easy. I've heard a few parent complaining that the books aren't getting any more challenging and I have to agree!

'red' book, not 'read book' - pmsl!!

Perhaps there is a specific reason why your teacher has chosen this book for him?

I'd love to know it!! Maybe I'll approach it from that angle 'Was there a particular reason for choosing that book, it just seemed a little easier than the last book he read'. Going to find it hard not sound cross!

Singersgirl - that's a really useful list - I like it! Though I must admit I chortled at Secret Severn [sic.]

But it is useful when trying to assess the readability of longer books for older readers.

GDG I hope you manage to sort something out with the teacher. FWIW ds1 spent a year (yr1) on completely the wrong level of books, and it did him the power of good! He read his school books in 5 mins flat, and they were only changed twice a week; we spent the rest of the time concentrating on reading far longer, really challenging books.

That's interesting Roisin. So far that's exactly what I've done - we've whizzed through the school book pretty quickly and then read another, more challenging, book from home. I've thought, it doesn't really matter what school book he does because it doesn't change the fact that he can read harder words and as long as I'm reading with him regularly he is still progressing.

It just left me almost speechless though to see this book that was supposed to be 'moving him on a bit' in the teachers words!!

Also, I suppose, if they group them in class according to reading ability, he may be in the wrong group. Then again, does that matter? She told me at parents evening that he is the only one on his table that writes without help - he's still doing it isn't he regardless of what everyone else does?

They will probably group children according to standard tests - such as reading age tests - rather than where they are in the reading scheme.

In year 1 ds2 was always on an "appropriate level" and his books were changed daily if he'd read it, (which he always had). The result was we had less time to spend on challenging books and really extending his vocab and his reading. Technically his reading is better than ds1's at this age (7 in May), but ds2 is still very reluctant to tackle anything challenging: He rarely reads books longer than 100 pages. DS1 at this age had read The Hobbit, Harry Potter and similar.

Of course it may just be temperaments, and ds2 does have wider interests than ds1, who basically did nothing else except read at this age. But ds2 is certainly not yet firmly a "lifelong reader and booklover" in the way that ds1 certainly was at that age.

PS Sorry this sounds like I constantly compare them and match them up against each other - I don't really - but it's just to give you an idea of our experience. Hope that helps you to chill a bit about the level of school reading book.

R

Thanks R - not at all, it's natural anyway to look at the differences between siblings - it's not comparing them in a negative sense - just identifying how children can be different

You've made me feel better and I have calmed down. It was the initial shock from reading 'I've moved him on a bit' and 'I'm really pleased with ds1s reading' to flicking through this book!! I think as long as he is happy to read the more challenging and interesting stuff with me, it's not really a huge problem.

How do the reading tests work as opposed to looking at the book they are on?

Reading age tests most commonly used are fairly useless - they simply test decoding, rather than comprehension.

So they just read a list of words until the get stuck or make several mistakes. Where they stop determines their reading age.

Roisin, I hadn't noticed "The Secret Severn" - a nysterious river, I guess!

GDG, I'm not sure about how the levelling is done either, as DS2 now can read me "Horrid Henry" quite easily, but that's put at only 2 grades lower than "The Worst Witch", which I seem to recall from when DS1 read it has some quite difficult vocab in it.

Progress - he's been moved on now to a book that's for end of year one I think. Step 3 of story street Literacy Land. At least it has a hard word in it - 'crocodile'