Could the average year 2 child do this?

[Greythorne]

Reading ? example :
Crabs and lobsters have shells which are a sort of hard skin. A lobster has a shell. It flaps its tail to swim. As the lobster gets bigger, its shell splits. The fresh shell is soft to begin with, but it soon hardens. There are lots of different sorts of crabs. Some are good at swimming and some have long thin legs.

-- Children should be able read this text comfortably and, after reading, say what it is about without looking at it.

-- They should be able to try to explain one or more of the words in bold and should be able to describe crabs (good at swimming / long thin legs).

-- They should then be able to talk about shells for a few minutes in correct English.

I just asked my dd (year 1) to read it and she read it and understood it fine, although she did run a couple of the sentences togathar.

She is just above average in her class.

Yes, I think my DD in Year one could read it no problem and pretty much understand the concept.

She is a strong reader though.

DD can't read it comfortably

yep, 5yo dd in yr1 has just read and summarised and treated me to 10 mins on shells

dd is in Y2 and bilingual (in speech but not reading/writing) and could do it. Her reading is above average, at least in her class, and she can talk the hind leg off donkeys, crabs, lobsters...

But English is her first language (other one is French).

thanks for all the replies.

It seems like this afterschool ,programme expects the same level or thereabputs frpù the bilinguals as you would expect from monolinguals. ok, spoken, I can understand, but it does seem like alot to ask in readuing / writing.

Going to go away and think about this one.

It does look like a high standard doesn't it. It might be worth asking to go into the afterschool programme and see what they are doing there. It would be fantastic to get your dcs to this level in 2 languages. Don't lose heart.

DS1 is in Year 2, and English is his second language. He has only started being taught in English as well as his first language this year, although he had been exposed to a lot of English before that. He could do the exercise in the OP without any problems.

Yes. But we have done a lot of crab fishing.

Jemima
That's great that your DS is at this level in his minority language. That's a super avchievement. That's what we have to aim for, but the DC will not have had any formal schooling in the minority language (ie English) when they take the exam.

It's all a way away; my DC are 4 and 2. But obviously, i have to plan ahead to do the prep now which will allow them to be at this level by 7.

With DD1, aged 4, I read aloud loads, we sound out the initial letters of words, we find rhyming words, play I Spy.

I have to just keep at it, very consistently, and regularly, and trust that by 7, the reading and comprehnsion will come.

Yes, DD age 6 could do that.

They learn at an amazing rate between ages 4 and 7, and i am sure that must be the same for bi-lingual children.

I also read the heading as referring to a 2 yr old......

Yes - just got DS2 (7) YR2 to do it. He read it brilliantly, comprehension wasn't quite so good.......that's something we have to work on (he rambles on and on, and by the time he's finished telling you what happened in a passage he's read he could have written a 4 page essay on it (mostly irrelevant )

(I confess at first reading of the thread title I thought it said 2yr old as well - it's why I clicked on the thread as I was about to take the p*ss - but then I read it again and then realised it was Year 2.

This reminds me of the red patent kickers.........

I remember the red patent kickers

should be:

"could the average 40-year-old mother read a thread title including the words "Year 2" without swapping them to "2 Year" and if not, why not?"

I read it as 2 years also!

Yes, in my experience.

My Y1 DD is sat beside me and could read it but didn't understand much without rereading it a few times.

They are 4 and 2...honestly, you'll have a much much clearer idea of whether the levels are anything to worry about in a year or two. You will be amazed at the changes in that time.