Does your year 1 child read to themselves at home?

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DD is year 1 but summer born so still 5.

We have read to her all her life.

She reads her school books at home (they have to read 5 per week). She reads the Oxford Reading Tree books (Biff, Chip Kipper etc) and is on level 6 (orange label). She seems to find these ok, probably one or two “new” or tricky words for her in each book.

She is so reluctant to read the school books it is painful. I have come to hate it but obviously try to be jolly & encouraging.

She is totally reluctant to read anything else for herself out of school. She likes being read to. she has a book shelf of beautiful books.

If we are out and about, she will say “what does that sign say” and refuses to read it herself.

The other year one parents say their kids are reading Roald Dahl, David Walliams, Worst Witch etc which is so far ahead of DD’s level

Should I be worried?

What are you worried about?

Biff, Kipper and Chip are the best educational books ever created - intentionally created to teach children to read the English language properly.

Don't fall into pretentious claptrap. And don't try and force your child to engage with other reading material.

Most children are reluctant to switch from illustrated books to pages full of just words.

So go buy some Dr Seuss. Let your child see you read it and chuckle and be curious - and then that will be another series of books your child will love.

There's plenty of stories with lots of illustrations.

Possibly your child at this precise age would rather retreat than be exposed or have the spotlight shining on him/her to answer a question they're not confident about just yet. Enjoy reading foremost. You don't need to push their boundaries at age 5.

I don’t think you should be worried, OP. I have worked in lower school for the last 3/4 years and it is quite common for children to be reluctant to read at home if they don’t enjoy it. I think a lot of children in Year 1 struggle (particularly if they aren’t as confident as some of their peers) to enjoy reading for a bit. Phonics is such a huge focus because of the screening in that year group so reading can be somewhat done to death during the day. Every child is different. It might be that she’ll come to enjoy it more as she gains more confidence. Just keep gently encouraging her and keep reading with her. Keep up that positive association she will have of enjoying books with you. It will come.

Also, Year 1 children reading Roald Dahl books independently? Seriously? Having worked in Year 1 a lot this surprises me. Are you sure that they don’t mean that their children are reading those books with them at bedtime? I don’t envisage many Year 1 children reaching for chapter books. Not saying it never happens, just that the vast majority don’t. Please don’t worry! 💕

Both mine only enjoyed reading on their own properly when they turned 6 and were old enough to reallu read books of their own choice rather than just the school ones. Now 7, they love the darcy Brussels ballet series as an example, like proper stories compared to the Oxford reading ones (we have them at school too). So I think more like level 10 it may start

Oh goodnsss! Roald Dahl! We are def no where near that level. My child is summer born and year 1 so still 5. She basically also refuses to read her school books at home. I don’t want to force her too much at this stage as I feel she’s so young! I just try to encourage her here and there but I feel like If I force her she will lose the enjoyment and interest. I personally feel there is too much pressure on kids from too young an age nowadays.

My 5 year old can read. However at bedtime they're tired. He likes us to read to him. Occasionally we can get him to read something short.

Of course some 5 or 6 year olds read long books incredibly well. We know an autistic kid whose reading long books age 4. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and different interests. Not all clever kids love reading.

But 5 books sounds like a lot so no wonder a kid wouldn't want to do more.

This is mental!! No wonder your daughter is struggling, she's probably overwhelmed.
My year 1 daughter has 2 books a week. 1 which is read to her, the other that she needs to read 3 times per week. It's the repetition that helps them to recognise tricky words and build on thier understanding and pace/fluency. This is how my 5 yr old has gotten to grips with reading she is also summer baby, not quite 6. I would challenge the school and say you want to try to have the same 1 book per week for the rest of term and see if that helps.
Im sorry but think your school have misunderstood the curriculum. I'd be questioning it.
I hope you get the support and understanding needed by the school. ❤️

This post has helped us understand why my granddaughter is slow at reading. She gets two or three books a week but is in the bottom group. She knows all her sounds, can sound out most words but does it out loud with every word. Her spelling is good and her writing is very neat so we are not sure what the problem is. She is six after the school holidays but is the second youngest in the class. Everyone else is coming up for seven and of course they are well ahead. No-one has said anything about reading chapter books although there probably are, on saying that, she can swim, is advanced in dancing exams and can learn scripts for drama very easily. She does not ride a bike, not even a balance bike.

5 different books per week is excessive. I send 1 book home (year 1 teacher). I ask parents to ask their children comprehension questions to check their understanding. You can usually find some examples on the inside back cover. Have you tried anything like a sticker chart to try and encourage her to read?

Are these parents reading these books to their children? I doubt they're reading without some help.

In any case, each child is unique.

My DD went through a stage of disliking reading. I felt the concept of reading for homework interrupted her experience of fun books she liked or cuddly time with mum. We turned this around through regular library visits and encouraging her to pick her own reading materials (I mean from books to leaflets that they give out at the supermarket advertising fun days out). We created a rule she picks a book she reads to me and one she reads herself. All with cuddles throughout so she still experiences the cuddly time that she values.

I very much remember my daughter started to read the worst witch end of year 2. Her friend at JAG, one of the best schools in London, was impressed as she only started in mid year 3. Her friend is now top of the class and going to Oxford studying literature. Each child learns on their own time.

We have two very bright grandsons of that age. Both read their school books easily and with expression. They really enjoy having R Dahl etc read to them but never read for themselves. It will come. Just encourage a love of books and let them see your enjoyment in reading.

I remember having trouble learning to read, I hated the boring books they gave me and was literally stuck on the first page of one for weeks because I couldn't real "Dick". Eventually they gave me a book about kittens that I liked and I was off.

I don’t know any 5 year olds or year 1s reading books like roald Dahl independently.
I’ve also never thought this is something they should even be striving for. I mean, great if they do, but it’s not a milestone they should reach by this age.
5 different books a week?! I don’t know of any schools that issue that many.
My son attends a school that has amazing results for reading. They get given one book a week and we read it 3 times. Mainly just focusing on expression. We were told the child should find the book well within their comfort level as they read it at school before bringing it home.
They don’t do spelling lists but just encourage the children to enjoy writing. The only ‘target’ is for kids to love the world of books annd imagination and feel they can write stuff (phonetically) and be understood.
id really take the pressure off yourself and your child. I really don’t think ‘independent’ reading is something to be even pushing for. It can only
happen organically when a love for stories, positive associations, a positive no-pressured sense of reading ability is nurtured in the child.

She is doing great!
it is hard growing up and she wants to be read to to stay a baby longer.... i would cary on this.

find another way to make her practice reading? The letters to assemble to make words or an interactive game to read?

good luck, they are hard work lol. If she becomes an editor you will have a great story for her!! Hihi

I doubt most kids are reading AND understanding all those books their parents are claiming they read. I had a seven year old student who was reading Harry Potter. They managed one page in a reading session. It was horribly slow and they struggled with the longer words but, hey, "ours is reading Harry Potter". Your child should be reading at a level where there are about four or five tricky words. ORT is great because it introduces the High Frequency Words in order (ever wondered why the kids are called Biff, Chip and Kipper - it's to do with phonics and word shapes). Level 6 isn't bad but it sounds like she could be reading at a Level above. Ask questions about the text and discuss the pictures (look for the glasses and the silly extras). Comprehension and understanding of the text is just as important as being able to read it. Look for books you'd enjoy reading and make it less of a chore. Charity shops or libraries are a great place to look. Your school should also have a library to borrow books from.

I was an early reader and was definitely reading and understanding books of that level (and higher) at that age. For example, I remember being promised a trip to the cinema to see the Secret Garden when I had finished reading the book. Checking now I can see that the film came out when I was 6. I did an English degree at Cambridge though so my love of reading definitely persisted and I wouldn’t say I was average at English during my time at school.

Anyway, my DS is a young year 1 (turning 6 later this month) and is good at reading (he is on Purple/ band 8 books at school). He gets 1 school book a week but we just read it once - never repeat it. We read reading books from the library or take turns reading pages from chapter books of the easier Roald Dahl/horrid Henry/ my naughty little sister level.

However, he does not read to himself independently at all. In his free time he’s more interested in attempting to kill himself on his bike/climbing frame/roller skates or drawing, he listens to stories on his yoto player and he still loves me to read to him. I hope and expect the independent reading will come with time. I definitely wouldn’t worry at this age.

I had the same situation with my child who is now 17. I bought book, after book, after book! Refused point black to read for pleasure EVER! wouldn’t engage whatsoever if I suggested reading signs etc. Would barely read the books set from school, even at GCSE, would skim through the relevant bits for essays or exams. Pulled in a 9 for his GCSE English language!!! They will get there eventually!! Keep encouraging them, even if it soul-destroying! Ps this is the same child that never learned to ride a bike despite me spending hours and hours, and pounds and pounds on different sized bikes, helmets, pads etc -phoned me at 15 to say he just learned to ride a bike with his friend in 10 minutes 🥹

Has she had her phonics screening yet? My Dd was always a reluctant reader. She's in yr4 now and has just been confirmed as dyslexic. Looking back, it feels like reading reluctance was an early sign of that. Then again it could be nothing! Just sharing my experience.

Ds was completely different and was reading for pleasure from reception age and is now reading a few years 'ahead'.

So yeah totally depends!

Dull trivia alert: the Biff, Chip and Kipper characters are named as such because they are the nicknames of the author's real DCs. You can Google how they originated. It isn't anything to do with phonics or word shapes, and in fact the Biff & Chip books have been dropped by many schools because they don't introduce the graphemes and 'tricky' words in the order their phonics schemes dictate.

Are they definitely teaching properly. I'm listening to a fascinating podcast called Sold a Story (admittedly American but applies in the UK too) and how they have been teaching children to read is all kinds of wrong.

One key takeaway I had from it, get your child to read to you, so you can see if she is actually decoding the words.

My top tip was to get your young child who's solid on their alphabet to decode the "sound effects" in the picture books you're reading them because onomatopoeic words like Biff!, Pop!, Eek! Moo! Woof! picked out in large friendly letters in the middle of the picture tend to be phonetically simple and readily decodable.

Three or four words per bedtime story all adds up.

I work as a TA for a year 1 class of 20. 15 cannot read like this and need help to sound out the words. About 5 of them are confident readers. If she enjoys being read to, read to her! If it’s not enjoyable for her to read, take some time out for a while! You read to her! 5 books a week is a LOT!
my girl in year 2 has 2 books to read over 2 weeks.
have you tried going to the library and she picks out books that she likes the sound of ?
good luck! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself! She will get there in the end.
the fact you have asked the question means you care and you are a great mum!

I wouldn’t be worried. My son is 6 in august…. He reads signs and simple books fine but probably wouldn’t be able to read Ronald Dahl and definitely can’t ride a bike without stabilisers. I think at this age they have certain strengths but it all evens out.

These type of books we read ALL week, they get changed on a Friday. They can have ‘library’ books to read for a change. The thing is, the ‘level’ books are not a race , to be got through as quick as possible. You do not need to read the whole book in one go- just 2 or 3 pages. Check for understanding as well, explain unusual words… don’t assume they know what a ‘simple’-looking word means. Use the questions that you can usually find at the end of reading scheme books. And reading over and over improves fluency and then you can work on expression. As for asking what signs say… just say “Let’s sound it out, together”.

And keep reading to them. Picture books are fine! Don’t be on a hurry to get them on to ‘chapter ‘ books, unless they are showing an interest and have good understanding of what they are reading. Just being able to de-code does not make you a good reader, you have to understand what you are reading. Inference is something we spend a lot of time on, particularly in guided reading.

My year 1 enjoys me reading Isadora Moon books to her and will read a few pages of her school book to me most evenings.
No way reading David Walliams etc to herself!!! My year 3 would read that to herself though. I don’t even think my year 1 would understand David Walliams books. Our school is all about understanding the context of a book, being able to read some words means nothing. The other parents sound ridiculous, don’t get caught up in that nonsense!!