Reading age........How do you improve it?/Can you?

[pepsi]

Having a chat with a Mum in the playground today and she told me that children in my ds's year are already on reading level 10, my ds was 6 in March and is currently on Level 6 which his teacher said is good and what they expect for this age. I wondered...should I push my ds so that I can improve his reading age or should I just let things progress. Are children which such good ready just naturally bright or are they really pushed by their parents. My ds does have some special need issue and Im pleased he is doing as well as he is but I do wonder if I should push him more. Apparently the class has been streamed now and those at the top of the class call the ones at the so called bottom the babies. My ds is on the "bottom" table but has to be because of his poor concentration. He is a bright and well behaved child, Im feeling sorry for him today now.

If the teacher is happy with his progress I think its best to let him progress at his own pace. My ds is really good with mathmatical things but is about average with his reading etc - mainly because maths is the subject he is most interested in. His teachers are happy with him and I try to help with his reading by making it fun eg reading road signs, looking at leaflets in shops, playing eye spy etc. I think if you push them too much they may loose interest.
Your ds will probably find a subject he excels at soon and I bet someone in his group will think of some names to call the other group anyway!

Various different issues there.

(1) The rumour-mongering Mum in the playground: either silly or being a stirrer (deliberately or not). Children are on all sorts of levels, and what matters is whether an individual child is doing well by their own lights, not what number's on their book. And please remember that some kids are fantastic de-coders - so can make out the words in a high-level book - but can't tell you what the story was about, what their favourite bit was - ie, are just de-coding, not understanding. Understanding's FAR more important!

(2) What some children are apparently calling others in the class. This shouldn't be happening - nobody should be being called a "baby", and you should take it up with the teacher - if you're sure it's true (if that info also came from that Mum in the playground then it's probably rumour-mongering too).

(3) Whether it's better to push children or let them be: totally depends on the child, and what keeps them happy and motivated. If you think your ds would enjoy a bit of extra reading practice, then do more with him at home; but if it would put him off, then let him be. He's very little.

Does the school have it's own banding apart from the book levels. My dd's school have banded all their ORT books and they have coloured stickers on them. Dd is in Reception and can have books from level 2,3 or 4 to bring home. However brown stickers are easier than green stickers so we are told by the teacher not to put too much emphasis on levels. I understand alot of schools do this not just dd's school.

Im sure the "baby table" thing is true because the Mum said that its what her little girl calls this table and that so and so sat there and I said that person is on my ds's table. I think she was a little embarrased by that, but she doesnt mean any harm and is a Mum that I really like and at least she was being honest with me.

My dd1 went to a private school nursery because she was my first one and I was anxious to give her a head start. She was said to have exceptional reading abilities at aged 4. My second dd went to an ordinary nursery, played all the time, did no work at all.

However, the younger one is DEFINITELY a better reader now (14 and 11). She reads fluently and has excellent understanding. My other one still stutters over words and really hates reading books. My opinion now, as a grown up mummy, is to let them develop at their own pace. Pushing didn't seem to make a difference with my dd1, but the relaxed attitude to dd2, defintely helped her.

I think the 'baby table' thing is totally out of order. In dd1's Y6 class some of the children are extremely advanced, while at the other end there are children who are still reading from the infant reading scheme. The children do know who's doing what, but I've never heard any nastiness about it. If that is true then the teacher should be stamping on it hard, or moving the groups around for different activities so that it's not so clear who's working at which level.

wrt early reading, some children 'get' the whole reading thing v. quickly, and will move from early Biff and Chip to chapter books within 6 months. That's just how they are, it doesn't mean they've been pushed. Most of the rest will get there in their own time. I think it's worth practising with children while they build up fluency and stamina, but only to the extent that they're happy to do it with an moderate amount of encouragement/chivvying (10 mins in the morning, same in the evening, for example). That's not 'pushing', that's being supportive. 'Pushing' is when parents make children carry on practising far beyond what they enjoy or can benefit from, and is ultimately pointless, since it will eventually put them off the whole idea.

I don't know that you can really. Both my DS and DD have a reading of only slightly over their real age....funny how everyone else's kids seem to have a hugely advanced reading age..... I think it's a serious mistake to try to force a child to practice their reading....once they have got basic skill under their belts I mean. The most important thing IMO is to help children to understand that what is inside the covers of a book is worth having. Which is why I've explained to DS's teacher that we won't be taking any more school books home as they are soooo dull and don't appeal to DS at all. Instead we read more interesting books together - ie DS reads 3 or 4 paragraphs and I read the rest of the chapter. We've tackled some monsters that way incl Lord of the Rings (which was a bit of an epic read), plus all the Narnia books and Moomintroll and many more. Finally at age 9 he is choosing books that he wants to read on his own. DD at 6 is more self-motivated and likes to read on her own most of the time and her reading age is moving up in leaps and bounds. But I really think it's important not to force children to read. I find it really sad that of all the men I know so few every pick up a book for pleasure - that must come from somewhere.

I agree with frogs that those at the "top" of the class calling those at the "bottom" "babies" is unacceptable. You would be fully justified in talking to the teacher about that. I don't believe that the school can entirely disguise what levels the children are working at, but they should act against nastiness over the issue.

Does your son have any particular interests that you could encourage him to read about? I wouldn't advocate "pushing" to improve his reading age, but regular trips to the library can be beneficial (and fun!).

Please don't worry about the reading levels. As other posters have said, some children get it really quickly and some take a little longer - but by Y3 in DS1's class almost all are reading books meant for at least their age-group, and many are reading much more advanced books. Your DS doesn't sound as if he is struggling to me if he is on Level 6 (I am guessing Oxford Reading Tree).

I wouldn't push him, but I would just carry on doing 10 minutes or so reading most days. 5 minutes happy and concentrated reading is worth more than 20 minutes cross and distracted reading, too, from my experience, so pick your time. DS2 always wants to read at bedtime, even though he is very tired - but at least he is happy to read then.

I agree with everyone else about the 'babies' thing. I would have a word with the teacher about that.

In the class my ds (6) is in the 'streaming' has happened almost totally on ages - those that started school first are in the 'top' sets, the August birthdays tend to be in 'bottom'. He has refered to them as the 'little ones' which seems preferable to calling them the bottom ones. Agree that a six year old being called a baby isn't nice for them but maybe there is an age difference and the top set aren't able to think of younger then themselves but not babies.

to improve his reading age - make sure you read to him, give him access to things to read (not just books - comics, etc - gte him to read the shopping list while you are at the shopping, read signs etc - make it practical!).

Talk to him about the books he is reading - comprehension, predicting things etc!

Most classes are streamed - because how else can you make sure all the children make progress! However, I often get my top children to help the weaker children because its good for all their esteem! And we do lots of talking about are different talents - we often talk about things we are good at and things we find hard - I talk about how I find spelling and art hard etc!

I also agree with what was said about being too pushy and turning children off - if he is average - then that he is where he should be don't forget! If all the children were on level 10 then that would be the average!