Reading non-scheme books - levels?

[soph252]

Hello,

Just a quick question re: reading levels for non-scheme books. I must admit I did like the reading books all with levels on as it enabled me to see where my child was and progress they were making etc.

Now I know he is not a free-reader yet, but I think when they get to a certain level his teacher is not keen on the ORT books, so chooses others for them.

I am just really wanting to check that he has made progress this year - I know I can do that at parents evening in a couple of months, but it's much easier to ask you guys on here in the meantime to set my mind at rest - Hope you don't mind.

So he is reading 'The otter who wanted to know', 'The Hodgeheg' & other similar books. He is year 2 & finished last year just above expected level. (2c) What sort of reading level/ band do you think these books would be and does is sound like he is making progress to you? I feel he is, but wanted to check with you, so I don't get any nasty shocks at PE.

Thank you - if you can help me that would be great!

You listen to him read every night - so you're the best judge of whether or not he's made progress.

The NC levels are funny things and don't necessarily reflect how well they're improving. For example there are 8 strands to get a reading grade - and only one of them is about decoding text.

So it's possible for him to go up from a 2c without his reading actually improving - but you probably wouldn't feel very happy about that.

So, seriously, ask yourself - Is he reading better now than he was in July / Sep? That's the only thing that counts.

I think once you get to that stage it's just a question of hearing their reading - are they managing well with new words? Do they know the meaning of words they come across in the story? Ask questions - what might happen next? How do think x felt when that happened?

Rather than working out the nuts and bolts it's more about the understanding of the story. It sounds about the right level to me. My daughter couldn't manage them yet (she'd Yr 2 but she's been a slow starter). My son didn't like Dick King Smith and would have been on to Roald Dahl, Mr Gum in Yr 2 which are possibly similar in terms of 'tricky' new words, but more meaty in terms of story and amount of text.

I know you're right and I should be-able to tell myself. Based on reading with him at home, I would say his reading has definitely improved with regards to decoding, enthusiasm & the main area of improvement being his confidence. He wouldn't have wanted to read a chapter book a few months ago, as the amount of words on each page put him off.

I guess that should be enough to show me he has made progress in attitude to reading at least. I am just one of those annoying people who like to know facts and figures. Probably something to do with the job I do. The levels gave me that measurable thing, which showed me that the progress I could see him making was reflected by the progress he was making through the levels iyswim. I think you are right though I know he is moving in the right direction & that's all that counts.

Thanks for your good advice guys!