requesting to go up a reading level declined, i'm a bit miffed as to why.

[tomhardyismydh]

my dd in year R, has recently moved up to level 4 (blue), they seem to be shorter than the yellow books. DD is able read them confidently, follow the story and discuss. I requested in her book if she could try a level 5 (green book).

DD came home saying teacher told her she could not as they have complicated words and are for 7 year olds. The teachers rarely listen to them reading indipendently and although Im sure she has a very good idea of her benchmark I thought she should know this is within dds capability.

I just wondered how many of your year R children are on level 5 or above.

no stealth boasting though, I was just wondering if this was an unreasonable request.

[fivegomadindorset]

I know where you are coming from Catsu.

[Catsu]

My ds has just gone up to level 2 and I thought he was doing really well!

[CardboardFox]

We had the same with my DD, and my advice would be not to stress. DD could not read at start of reception, but by Xmas in year 1 was reading Roald Dahl and by summer term Harry Potter. School meanwhile were slowly progressing her through the book bands. I can't remember what level she was on, but I do know she curiously managed to finish the reading scheme just as she left year 2 .

One comment that stuck in my mind was at the first parent's evening in year one when her teacher said 'yes, some of the others are starting to catch up with miniCardboardFox now'. I helped in that class for a year - no other child was even close to dd in terms of their reading, but then she was/is a total book addict. She has been G&T for literacy ever since she went into Yr 3. Yr R to yr 2, no mention was made of this .

This information is by way of explaining the difference in her ability compared with that of the rest of the class btw. The point is, this situation, while frustrating for me, didn't hold her back, she did not lose her love of books. At school, she did guided reading with the others and just got on with it, even though it was easy peasy for her. She took in her own books to read once she had exhausted the class stocks of chapter books, she read her once-a-week reading scheme book on the morning at breakfast on the day it had to be handed in, and we went to the library and she chose whatever she wanted from there.

It really doesn't matter what books school are giving her if you make sure she gets to read outside of school whatever she wants. A child really eager to learn will do so; a school laboriously following a reading scheme does not have the power to squash that love of books.

I do admit though, as a parent I wanted to jump up and down about it sometimes - it seemed like her teachers didn't understand her ability or were unable to deal with it. I never really understood why, but in the greater scheme of things, it really didn't matter.

[Sylvaniasandwich]

It doesn't matter that much what they read so long as they enjoy it. Take her to the library and get some slightly more challenging books for her to read at home if you like.

[fairydoll]

the books they bring home are supposed to be a level below the teaching level they do in guided reading.They are supposed to be easy to build their confidence and enjoyment rather than a challenge!

[tomhardyismydh]

[blackeyedsusan]

Bloody key board... finally ill children are in bed and I get to proof read... non fiction,
can

and put bad grammer down to ill children...

[oldsilver]

DS has a super reception teacher, they change book levels individually when the books cease to be a challenge. He is now on Purple (haven't seen any unsuitable books for a 5 year old yet); has good comprehension, uses inflection - just basically a pleasure to listen to. Like the fact though that it is based individually on each child.

[ballstoit]

Do all reading schemes have the same levels?

[Dancergirl]

I would really leave it to the school regarding reading levels. Remember as your child starts to read more and more, they will hopefully be reading a wide range of books and the school 'reading book' will only be one of many books they are reading.

I can't remember much about levels but it sounds like your dd is doing very well. Supplement her school reading book with lots of books at home that she can read. The 'read it yourself' ones are good. And I think Usborne do a range.

[fun12]

I think it massively depends on teacher. My ds ended year 5 on level 5 books then after summer holidays in year 1 was put up 3 levels straight away, despite not doing too much over the summer. The pace has continued this year which has given my ds lots of confidence and he is about to become a free reader after level 13 at our school.
Best thing is to read loads of books which interest them from library etc, regardless of their level.

[galois]

op, just do reading chest at home with her. Doesn't matter what school do, then.

[blackeyedsusan]

tomh, mrz often says yr children ranged from pink band 1 to white band 10. All of which is normal.

we have a similar problem with school as dd is reading 6 bands above her school level at home,(confidence issues may explain some of this) doing lots of comprehension, using punctiution, using contents and index pages etc. (probably something to do with having an early years teacher for a mum) she is quite happy to read school books though and reads the instructions for parents at the beginning and end, which gives her some decoding practice. we use the books to get her to retell the story, she can answer questions about the stories she reads and will occasionally summarise the story for me with a suitable bribe.. but school books are useful for retelling the whole story as they are shorter. Sometimes i cna be bothered to think up extension activities for the school book, rewriting the story (dd dictates) or thinking of some extra describing words for the pictures...but it is demorilising sometimes.

I found it helped to read books from the library and write these into her reading diary. I try to get no fiction, stories and poems. I occasionally find a banded book to check her progress (for my own sanity) I have had to try and let it go, with a lot of help from mn, although i do get really annoyed about it now and again.

[tomhardyismydh]

she changes own books, in other bands she rarely had ort as she didnt like then tended to bring non fiction, but she only tends to bring ort from this band she says they are only ort, but Im not sure. she changes her book everyday

[redskyatnight]

Also, it's worth remembering that books within a book band vary a lot. Who changes her book? Is it your DD herself? At this stage DS could read the ORT books very easily and fluently, whereas some of the other "types of books" he really struggled with. Has she been reading a variety of "types of books" within the level?

[SarkyLady]

I think it is highly unlikely that her teacher is "clumping her within the general ability of the class".

What it comes down to is whether you trust that the teacher has a good idea of you dd's ability. Patents often make a huge deal out of reading levels because they are often the only objective measure we get of how able the teacher thinks our child is.

But please remember that although you undoubtedly know your child better than the teacher does, she has a much better understanding if the various aspects involved in learning to read.

I do suggest you speak to her.

[Runoutofideas]

My dd1 finished reception on level 7 and was regarded as a "free reader" half way through Yr 1. This in itself has its issues though. The books now are whatever has been put on the shelf, which could be anything. The last book contained the words "loathsome", "repugnant", "abomination" and "gender stereotype" which she read without faltering but had absolutely no idea what they meant. Quite hard for a 6yr old I thought. Often with more confident readers it is quite difficult to check their comprehension as they read it as though they understand completely but on questioning actually don't have much of a clue!

[BarbarianMum]

Ds1 is in reception and is on orange/turquoise books (level 6?).

I would be concerned about the teacher's given reason. Having said that ds1 can easily read his books but I don't want him moved on any further because his ability to discuss the books (not understand-he can do that) could do with further work, as could his reading style.

[tomhardyismydh]

some very good points, Thanks, I will just continue at home as we are and see if she progresses at school before the holidays, if nothing then I will make sure she gets the right level at school in year 1. she has a very good comprehension and clear recognition of the letter patterns and sound blends.

she reads larger words in her story books at home and I feel that gives a clearer picture of her ability than the recognition of repetition and familiar sound patterns. I get what you are saying though SARKY if she jumps to far ahead she will miss out some of the important learning, but she already has that knowledge, she is familiar with far more sound blends than she is currently bringing home.

I suppose it is not terribly important just yet, but find it frustrating that the teacher is not realistic about her individual learning needs and is clumping her within the general ability of the class as a whole. Im hoping she will move up to y1/2 rather than yR/1, After the summer, then she will be grouped with others closer to her own ability.

[teacherwith2kids]

I would say SarkyLdy has it spot on.

Also remember that reading 'better' does not just mean 'being able to decode the words', it means being able to use the punctuation appropriately (going 'up' at the end of a question, using voices for speech etc), understanding what has been read, being able to self-correct if a word sounds wrong or doesn't fit, understand that there are different types of book that we read in different ways etc etc.

Most schools IME will have a huge range of levels at this stage in reception - from the Level 1 and 1+ all the way up to 7/8/9 (or beyond in unusual cases). The only schools which won't are those which do this truly bizarre thing of making everyone read every book (why limit progress in this way, very odd and nbot remotely responding to the needs of children?)

[SarkyLady]

IMO the most likely explanation I'd that the teacher feels that your lo is not quite ready to go up a level and was trying to give her a reason that wouldn't make her feel bad. Better to say "those books are for older children" than "you are not yet reading well enough"

IME reading books are nearly always at a lower ability level than the books we think our children should be reading.

If you genuinely think she is on the wrong level then speak to the teacher directly. Ask her what your lo needs to be able to do in order to be able to go up a level.

[2pinkmonkeys]

my dd was on stage 5 at htis point reception, they are not unsutable for a child of that age so i dont know why your dd's teacher said they were for 7 year olds?
i wouldnt worry to much about what reading level she is on at school, my dd is in y1 and just finnished stage 9 ort, she is now doing a few of the robins extended ones before she goes on to tree tops, tbh she finds them so easy and reads them with very little effort. The books she reads at home are alot more complicated. So she just raeds her reading books quickly and then reads more interseting stuff when she feels like it.
maybe if she likes reading you could get her some more tricky but interesting books for home.

[jaffacake79]

Just supplement her reading at home with anything and everything you can find that interests her. We love the Oxfam book shop for this very reason.