Okay- I know nothing! Is that okay?

[littlebylittle]

Dd is in reception. We read her reading books daily, but I know nothing really about levels, either reading scheme or nc. I certainly know nothing about other children's levels. What I do know is that she can manage most words fairly well by sounding out, using pictures and sight words, but there are always a couple that are tricky. Do I know enough or do I need to find out more? To my shame, I am a primary school teacher too, but have no key stage one experience.

You don't need to know what the levels are, you just need to see that she is progressing - her progress might be faster or slower than average, or she might be going faster for a while then slow down again. But as long as things are progressing, and she's getting the hang of it, then I don't think the exact levels matter terribly much. Her teacher will let you know if she needs additional help, and you should get a feel at parents evenings of whether her progress is about what the teacher expects.

MN threads often make it sound like you have to be an educational expert to be a good parent, but you don't!

Reception is not even in KS1 it's in the Foundation Stage. Levels don't even kick in till KS1.

She is in reception. Chill. She sounds like she is doing absolutely fine.

As you know, levels don't ever really matter, but the first external 'measuring point' is end of Y2 - so almost 3 years away from where you are now.

I think you need to find out more - for your own professional development, really. Finding out how they learn in Reception can only help inform your knowledge of children and how they develop.

Take the point re prof development, although in terms of our family, it seems to work better to know as much as we need to, making sure everyone is happy and challenged. Sometimes it's helpful to "look sideways" sometimes not, I think.