As a parent, how would you react to this?

[eflabb]

Bit of a long story, but we have just returned from abroad and started my son in Year 1. Where we lived (don't want to say the country name because of school identifying us), primary doesn't start until 7, so my husband taught my son to read, write etc at home. He is also bi-lingual. My husband is a retired ex-teacher.

He has done extraordinarily well and is reading ORT 10 books now, with little difficulty. Comprehension is excellent. He is a real little book worm. I spoke to his UK school about this before we came over and was told by one of the teachers that she personally wouldn't countenance Reception children reading above Level 5 during the Reception year. I comforted myself with the fact that she wouldn't be teaching him, and he started school this week.

On the first day, I was called in by his teacher to a meeting with her and this other teacher. To cut a long story short they wanted to take issue with me claiming that he could read level 10 books. His reading was, quote "all over the place." There were "large gaps in his reading" and "I mean (she laughed and threw her hands up in amazement) he couldn't even understand what a title was." He had, according to this woman, been "sped through the levels" by us to a very advanced level that she claimed he could not function at. And approaching unknown words by sounding them out was apparently "not appropriate" at this level. She apparently felt "sooooooo sorry for him being tested in this way."

Her tone was very dismissive and sarcastic (but lots of smiling at the same time).

Suffice to say, she would now start him on Level 6 (note her position on children only being able to reach Level 5 during Reception, so the way I see it, she is positioning him according to her set ideas as to the levels children can achieve during a particular year).

When we got home he read his school book in about 2 minutes flat and told me how great school was going to be because he can do it all.

I've had my head in my hands over this. My husband just stared at me in disbelief when I first told him and got on the net to check out other schools (which all seem to be full now).

What do we do?

Is your ds far ahead in every area, or is it only/mainly reading? Do you think he should perhaps be in year 2 instead?

back to front and upside down??? WTF?

Hang on.

He doesn't know how to read a book, and is reading at level 6?

Eh?

His progress won't be inpeded by the school not being aware of his reading ability. In fact it will leave him free to read widely at home and challenge himself there.

School is much more than a succession of reading books and there will be plenty to keep him occupied while he cruises through the reading.

Reassess at half term - but remember confidence in school when faced with the work is what matters - and you have both enabled your ds to have a lovely first year at school as he floats quietly to the top of the pile while feeling he's having fun!

Is private an option? Private schools don't tend to stick to such a rigid programme.

the obsession with what level of teh ORT your child is on is not worth it. i had a massively high reading age when i started school aged 4 and could read pretty much any book off my parents' book case.

but understanding and absorbing information and reading appropriate books for your age is also important

so what if he can read at level 10 or level 7 or level 38.. far better to encourage him to read his school book and then read whatever else he can for pleasure and sheer enjoyemnt of reading

reading is such a wonderful thing, don;t make it into a hostile battle ground with school

BTW< his peers may soon catch up with him, it is really not that important imo

She hates you because she thinks you're a pushy parent and she hasn't yet developed a proper manner of dealing with them.

She sounds gruesome. But as long as your DS likes her and enjoys school, it doesn't matter.

Personally, I would send your dh to any further such meetings.

I would also keep reading at the same level as you have been doing with him at home.

If you are beginning to have doubts about your assessment of his reading ability you could also access/download reading age tests on-line and try and satisfy yourself of his actual reading age and then measure that against the ORT levels.

If you have no option but to keep using the school I would return the smiles of smarminess and just do yor own thing at home.

In response to OP, as a parent...
I would feel pissed off and patronised.
I would quietly seethe, and get whatever books my child could read from the public library (there are plenty from about ORTlevel 6, ime).
And subsequently ignore whatever the school said/did/believed about his reading skills.

Agree that reading levels don't really matter. You can continue to read with him at home. He will read the easy books with someone at school once or twice a day and that's it. What's the problem, really?

I think that whether your child is good at maths or reading or whatever, reception is largely about COLOURING IN and socialising. Anything more than that is probably too much to hope for.

I'm pleased to say that DD has been in Year One for two days and has done more work in 48 hours than she did in the whole of reception.

It helps if you see Reception as an 'introduction' to school, rather than much to do with learning.

Give it a bit more time and see how it goes.

In the mean time just let him read his own books.

How is his fluency and expression? Can he read a range of texts - fiction, non fiction, plays and poems, etc?

Do you think/know that he knows what a title is, what an author is, a contents page, etc?

And at home - if he is at ORT level 10 - get rid of the reading scheme books Once DD got to aout Level 5 or 6 we never read a single reading scheme at book (bar school texts) again and enjoyed proper books.

Also - just curious - when your DH taught your DS to read - did he use a range of reading schemes and other books, or just ORT?

Also:

• join the Governors
• stop bristling
• read one book a day and return it the next morning and he will get through the levels very quickly anyway
• and remember that primary school teachers are used to talking to 4 year olds so they do tend to come across like Mr Tumble on speed

does it really matter??
you know he can read - let him enjoy school and all the 'learning' that comes with it- imho ORT are very boring anyway so maybe a 'proper chapter book' like a horrid henry book will be more fun to read at home anyway?

the reading book does not make the child!!

and

i wouldnt want to make an enemy of the teacher on the first day if i were you

It's very likely that your son did not realise what they wanted from him and did not show what he was capable of. I would watch and wait for a bit - it's quite likely that they will realise his ability in time.

My DS did badly in the English section of his entry exam to secondary school, despite being an extraordinary reader etc. He had not been coached for the exam and I blamed myself. I said nothing to the school, however and sure enough they quickly realised he was in the wrong group and moved him up. I know it's different with secondary, but sometimes children just need to be allowed to prove themselves.

Thanks for your comments.

I asked him about whether he read his book upside down and back to front and he looked at me and laughed and said "like Japan?"

We didn't dictate at all to the school, just told them what he'd been reading (he doesn't have a Reception year report like the other pupils so they wouldn't know what he'd been up to, unless we told them). Sitdownpleasegeorge. We did download an online reading age test (Channel 4) tonight and it came out roughly in line with the ORT 10 reading age (no surprises there).

woah .. you're testing him to confirm a level that is not really relevant to his enjoyment of books

I think you're getting a wee bit hung up on 'how well he can do' here (meant nicely) .. I am sure he is very bright but he's 6 .. maybe you should consider not letting his reading 'level' bother you at all .. believe me he is going to have enough testing in the UK system in his early life to make you want to vomit with the lack of necessity of testing small children who should be playing and learning and not learnign to test

I would probably agree with just going with the school for half a term, and reading other stuff at home (there is loads of good stuff at the level he seems to be ok).
Also talk about the school books, ask him questions about them, ask him to tell you the story etc.

fwiw my ds1 has just started yr1 and is also a good reader - BUT doesn't sound out unfamiliar words (his main reading failing, he sight reads and guesses unknows words), his reception report picked this up as the only problem with his reading. So it amazes me that you are being told that your ds shouldn't be doing this.

They don't really follow ORT at our school, although they do have some, they have a range of books across a variety of schemes. But the last ORT's ds1 read in reception (before they stopped letting him have them because he needed more breadth - despite not having had any for at least half a term and having been gripped by the series) were level 7 before Easter. If the child is reading and understanding a level and the next level will challange them, but not put them off, then why would you make them read at a level below where they should be at just because of a view on where they SHOULD be at.

I have to say I agree with Twigglett's last post.

Although I wouldn't be too pleased at the way the teacher talked to you, my main convern would be that DS is enjoying and getting pleasure out of reading, not what level he is on.

None of it will matter when he's 20.

also agree with Twig - he is presumably only 5 or just 6, let him enjoy it and read stuff at home (with and to him) that will excite him.

Lose the attachment to what level he's on. As long as he enjoys school and can choose books he wants to read at home, what's the problem? They'll soon realise what he's capable of once they need some good data for their testing regime. Fortunately my kids' school didn't follow a rigid scheme and my two appeared to pick up the skills by osmosis. I don't recall much effort on my part, anyway. But they read avidly at home always, and still do. Preferred activity of both, even DS who is now 12. So be glad he likes books. It'll stand him in good stead later on when you've forgotten the ORT even exists.

The reading tests are very fkawed anyway. They only test the words a child can decode. They don't test comprehension, fluency, expression and ability to read in different contextx, and reading different forms of text/writing.

"Her tone was very dismissive and sarcastic (but lots of smiling at the same time)."

I hate this too. Makes it so hard to be objective because you are filled with legitimate loathing. All the more reason to listen to the advice on here.

I have to say that if the message had been delivered to me in an objective way ie. "To be reading at X level, the school would expect to be seeing a, b, c" then I'd have given her conversation some thought and been able to respond properly. However, the tone was almost ridiculing (with him sitting there) as she listed off her impression of his reading faults that she said she'd seen (it wasn't even framed as a 'sandwich' either). Not one nice word to say!

I was totally perplexed by the reading upside down and back to front description as well! We don't keep our chairs on our ceiling! If he was doing that, then it sounds like he was a nervous wreck there, which worries me even more. He's always really enjoyed his reading, and loves going to the library and bookshops.

well yes of course you would hope in the best of all worlds that the way the message is communicated is the most diplomatic and acceptable and pleasant method of delivery. And it is truly understandable that you are peeved

Playing devil's advocate though unfortunately I'd rather imagine the teacher is young and not trained in the difficult modes of communication with parents and I'd try to cut her some slack

yes we all hope that we hear what we want to and all messages are delivered in the right way from all the professionals we meet .. unfortunately that rarely happens

it takes maturity and experience to deal with parents who's only interest is their own child whereas you have to be interested in up to 30 children, plus national curriculum requirements, plus your SMT's opinion and the paperwork