reading levels, bloody reading levels (again...sorry!)

[MigratingCoconuts]

I don't even know why I am writing this, I know this is insane, but I have these little gremlins in my head telling me to worry. My DD is in year 1 and quite young for her age, her reading age is spot on average and she is probably about to go up to stage 5 reading.
And yet I read all about these 'free readers' at age 3 on MN and I know of friends of hers who are 4 or 5 levels higher.

There is history of de-coding issues (I was slow to read) in the family and I know that she is making progress. And I also know that some of these friends who are on higher levels are 6 months older...

I guess what I need to be re-assured about is that she is not the only one out there (nuts, i know, she is 'average' so there must be!) and a metaphorical slap round the face to bring me back to my senses!

Harangue.

Analogue.

The Pogues

epilogue and prologue

I had my 4 year old dd in tears beceause she go the word ballet wrong in a reading book. Crazy.

Friend and I were talking about spelling the other day - hers is dreadful, mine is good (no effort, always has been) we are both prolific and early readers.

The big difference is that when I think about spelling a word, I can see it - mental picture. I have visual as well as aural memory. She is a musician and can play anything she hears by ear - her aural memory is better, or arguably more practised, than mine - but she has no visual memory (she says).

I would imagine that is genetic, and unchangeable, and one of the factors that influences spelling as much as anything else??

My sister (who also struggles with spelling, albeit very bright and far better read than me) says the same: she can't picture the word in her mind, only 'think' about it.

mrz..just wanted to thank you again for the tip about the book set. They have been just right! thank you

I know a word is right or wrong if I write it down

Migrating coconuts... just don't go on the book people website late at night, it can be expensive, very expensive!

I'm eyeing up that Reading chest website...that seems a really good idea...

Elibean
U are spot on re the difference between good and bad spellers of English. It is about being able or unable to form mental pictures of words and seeing if a word is right or not. And it is genetic.

Re words with gue and ue.

The most common words with are:
argue, catalogue, colleague, dialogue, epilogue, fatigue, guerrillas, guess, guest, league, meringue, plague, rogue, synagogue, tongue, vague.

, without those starting with , occurs in:
accrue, antique, argue, avenue, banquet, barbecue, blue, bouquet, boutique, catalogue, cheque , chequered, clue, colleague, conquer, conquest, consequence, consequential, construe, continue, cruel, cue, devalue, dialogue, due, duel, duet, effluent, epilogue, fatigue, flue, fluent, frequent, fuel, glue, gruesome, guerrillas, guess, guest, imbue, influence, infuential, issue, lacquer, league, marquee, meringue, mosque, opaque, picturesque, plague, pursue, queasy, rescue, revenue, rogue, rue, sequence, sequential, silhouette, squeak, squeal, squeamish, squeeze, squelch, statue, subdue, subsequent, sue, synagogue, technique, tissue, tongue, Tuesday, unique, untrue, vague, value, venue, virtue.

Off to see my music genius friend this morning, Masha - will reassure her that our hunches were right and she needn't stress about her spelling

except Masha in incidental teaching you would never use argue and plague together

I don't really get a post that is just a list of words spelt vaguely (!!) the same way. I'm afraid my brain phases out after about the third word adn it all becomes a bit like background telly-snow

Some people like making lists, train spotting, tanker tracking or whatever ...background telly-snow is a perfect description.