Could the average Primary Year 2 child (ie aged 7) 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

Seashells of Long Ago

1. By comparing fossil shells with today's seashells from warm and cold climates, scientists discover what the climate may have been like in different regions millions of years ago. Snails Grow Larger Shells
2. Snails take calcium carbonate and other materials from water and food and use it to enlarge their shells. The body part called a mantle builds the new portion of a shell. Hermit Crabs Find New Homes
3. When hermit crabs outgrow their shells, they look for a new empty snail shell to take over. If it weren't for snail shells, hermit crabs would have no homes. Shells Come in Many Colors
4. Mollusks can turn their shells different colors by eating a variety of colorful food. For example, red seaweed gives some sea animals a red shell. Adding Protection
5. Some animals have carrier shells. They attach other shells or shell pieces to their own shells with a kind of glue that they make. The extra shells add protection and camouflage, helping the animals hide from predators. Fun Fact
6. The turn of a snail's shell is called a whorl. In 99 percent of all snail species, that whorl goes in a clockwise direction.

you can classify shells by their physical characteristics; shape, size, color, type.
~ To begin to identify seashell start by looking at your shell collection
~ Lay them out on a flat surface ready to compare
~ Start to sort your shell collection into sea shells and ocean shells of similar characteristics
~ Look at the different weightts
~ scroll down for some indentification of seashell guides

we studied shells last term

My ds is 7in July and would not be able to read all of that. I did a reading test with him (I'm a junior school teacher and got one from work,) and he was slightly ahead on his reading age compared to his chronological age. I guess it just depends on each child's ability.

Ah - you're in France. My nephew and neice are at a French school here in the UK, and learnt to read in Y1 - but now in Y2 I'd say my nephew (who is 7, November birthday) has almost caught up with dd in his reading. I would guess that starting reading later, they probably 'take off' a little faster.

Is it possible to talk to the after school programme people and ask them for advice in getting your children to the required level?

Elibean

Yes, France, so the Dc will start to learn to read in CP but then the theory is that they go very quickly from learning to fluent reading (expected to be fluent by the Christmas of CP, by all accounts.)

I am just surprised by the requirements of this afterschool programme which I knew all along had high (very high) expectatiopns of spoken English, but it seems like the reading and even written requirements are high, too, so kids coming from an English Primary school will do ok, but kids in a normal french primaire light struggle.

I think.

Hard to judge the different levels. The task seemed really rtough to me for monolinguals, but I don't yet have a 7 yo, so i have bo benchmark.

Glad to hear it is not above the norm for a monolingual child. That really would be ridiculous!

Greythorne - my DD is 6.2. She would be able to read this text in English and something of equivalent difficulty (or a bit harder) in French, and be able to answer the questions. She is in CP in a French-English bilingual school - French is the main language at school (hence more advanced reading skills right now), but she speaks and understands English better.

I think that although it's not really tough...it would be a challenge for many children in year two...as they're still developing aren't they?

I am thinking it's devised to pick out the most able but that the benchmark isnt so high that an average child who had been coached couldn't get there.

I say that because my DD is quite average at literacy apparently and she's been helped along a lot. SOme of her peers are ahead of her...but she's on the younger side too.

Greythorne, trust me - its impossible to accurately picture your future 7 year old at this point

Greythorne - IMVHO you should start teaching your DC letters & sounds in English now - it really will make a difference to the speed at which reading and writing are acquired.

My DD is in CP and hasn't been taught to read and write at all in English at school, but she has had small quantities of tutoring (1 hour a week) for a year and a half, in term time, and I do lots of spelling tests, reading, dictation, writing letters to grandparents etc with her (short and often).

Thx all for the advice.

Bonsoir
I agree with you, hence my OP. I do want to start now to prep for a few years time.

I am intrigued that you have had an English tutor for your DD, when AFAICR, your DD is at EAB Monceau? are you unhappy with the level of English tuition even at EAB?

I am planning ahead for possible entry to SIS Sevres Wednesday programme.

Trouble is, DH is pretty dead set against any absolutely necessary IMHO additional coaching in English as the Dc are already in a very rigorous pure French maternelle and he thinks they should kick back on a Wednesday!

Sigh.

Off to order Phonics International as recommneded by mrsz and get it started by myself.

Another yes here.

Greythorne - the level of English at EaB Monceau is fine, but always lags a year behind French in reading/writing. I just want my DD to be perfectly bilingual ie have two mother-tongue standard languages!

IME of French primary school (my two DSSs), it is very slow (some years much worse than others) and they desperately need some intellectual enrichment on Wednesdays/after school or their brains atrophy!

Morning Bonsoir
I am astonished! Everyone here talks of how tough primaire is! Esp CE1 onwards. I have (French) friends who constantly complain about "le rhytme" which they perceive to be very fast, not much time to absorb topics (conjugaison) before moving on.

The school my DD is at is in the top ten (Ile de France) for Bac results and it seems very rigorous.

Interesting.

Is it common at EAB for people to have your ambition of two mother tongue standard languages? This would be brilliant! But you are the first person to suggest that's what they are aiming for.

My DDs have English as first language (I am a SAHM) and really only started to pick up French in PS. So it seems to me like it will be swings and roundabouts of one language always being slightly ahead, then the other taking over, alternating depending on circumstances.

French maternelle and primaire are really slow and dull and some years (Moyenne Section and CM2) are null and void if you are bright child from an interested family.

Having said that, there is a lot of ground to cover in French grammar and you do need to ensure your DC keeps up - if they come home with their exercise books on Fridays, it is because you as a parent are supposed to go over the stuff they haven't understood/got right.

Yes, I know plenty of families who want their children to have two (or three) languages at native speaker level!

Surely it must depend on the school?
my DD is in MS and it seems endlessly fascinating....the skelton, old and modern types of transport, dinosaurs, animal kingdom, writing first words, lots of craft in parrallel with the topics....

And I think I must move in the wrong circles! I don't know of any families where their DC have native level in spoken, reading and writing! At my DD's age (4), yes, lots sound completely English and could pass for English no bother. but my friends with older DC say they struggle with the writing and reading to native level, even the ones in the bilingual schools.

They all do the same programme - the schools really don't vary much, especially not at maternelle! What really varies is the intake, which then conditions the depth at which topics are treated.

Boredom at school is a major topic of conversation among the parents we know - lots of children are very bored at primary (a little less so in collège). My DSS2 never did a stroke of homework at home in primary - he got it all done in classroom time.

Most parents I know supplement their older children's exposure to reading and, especially, writing in English (or whatever other language(s) they speak) in order to maintain a level that would be acceptable in their home country.

But traditional French schools are so keen on skipping...why don't the bored ones simply skip a year?

Not all children are physically and emotionally mature enough to cope with the children in the year above, even if they can manage the academics. I know plenty of French people of my generation who skipped a year, but failed (sometimes dramatically) to mature as they should.

Greythorne - I bought almost the whole Jelly & Bean series of reading books for DD and think they are fabulous. £££ however. I am happy to lend you the first 20 or so and you can try them out, if you tell me where to send them (or, if you want to come in to Paris, where to meet you).

Bonsoir
That's an incredibly kind offer. I would love to take you up on it. Are you going away for the holidays? We are but only the second week; are you around next week? We could meet up with all three DDs. Parc Monceau if the sun is shining next week....

I'm away for the weekend but back on Monday night - we can definitely meet up round Parc Monceau next week - tell me which day/time suits you on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday!

Greythorne, I haven't read all the thread, but I would not be panicking just yet. My bilingual dd is educated in French. She is 7 next month, and in 1st Primary.

6 months ago, she could read simple 3 and 4 letter words in English. After only one full term of Primaire, she would now be able to read the text and answer the questions in your example above.

And she is not being formally taught to read in English - but she has learnt to sound out the words in her head. All we do is point out that certain letters/conjunctions are pronounced differently in English to French - ch/oi/ou etc.

Hello, I hope I can be helpful here. My DS' are bilingual English/Welsh and in their Welsh medium primary school they do not learn English until year 3. Due to the community they grow up in and TV etc being mostly English they were fluent English speakers as well as Welsh at age eight, but whilst the passage above would have been easy in Welsh, they would not have been able to read a word of it in English. Within half a term of reading in English their levels were nearly up to the standard they had in Welsh, very easily. I think once they've learnt to read one language if they already have the vocabulary of a second it is very easy to pick up. I would have thought if you give your DC plenty of opportunity to practice there would be no problem in picking things up. I hope this is helpful, you have obviously already been speaking to people about this so ignore me if I'm going over old ground.