good readers in reception

[wobblypig]

If your DS/DD was a good (but not gifted) reader in reception was there anything specific that was suggested or provided.

We have parents evening approaching ; DS is good reader - Purple books/level8 currently ; average at other things; fitting in socially etc.

Is there anything we should ask about with regard to this ?

DD's very good and very wise reception teacher said to us in similar situation 'you need to keep doing whatever you have been doing because it clearly works for her, set a good example yourself and never lose the fun in reading'.

It was bloody good reassuring advice and now in year 1 DD is a complete bookworm. Now whether that was design or destiny I don't know, but we never pressured her or ourselves either way. Words are incredibly fun, keep having fun with them!

Absolutely agree with Ismeyes, keep reading fun.
Don't be tempted to get your dc reading Dickens at 5 just because.

DS is a good reader - he is on a gifted and talented list for literacy in general. He reads his Mr Gum books for pleasure at home with me, and we use his school books which are technically simple for practicing in a more educational way, for want of a better way of putting it. He brings fairly low level books home - stage 4, but can read them fluently so we practice things like - expression, how would he make something more interesting if he wrote the book (e.g. person wouldn't have said it, they would have shouted it) so when he gets to write his own stories he has had practice, finding rhyming words and then looking at the different spellings that made the same sound.
But I think the most important part is that he enjoys it and wants to get books out to read, he reads to his younger brother etc so he is putting everything he learns into practice and improving every day without it feeling arduous.

I think there are 2 points here. The first and most important is developing a love of reading. Actually it's a tricky stage bring an early good reader as choosing appropriate books can get tough. Despite being a good reader my yr2 boy still wants to read about farting and bums not dickens. He does however love the easy reader Shakespeare's (al the murder ones!). I think the other point is comprehension and grammar as the other posters pointed out, just because you can read the words you also need to make sure that the real expression and meaning are coming through. Inference is also a great skill to practise.

We've always read to them at night, for at least 10 mins. Even DS1(Year 2) still likes to be read to, even though he is a free reader.

With reception children, you can start reading long novels to them. Dinosaur Cove, Beast Quest, Dick King Smith, Mr Gum, How to Train Your Dragon....

I was thinking about this the other day. Someone once said that it's neither a good thing nor a bad thing if children can already read when they reach Reception. But surely a child who can already read can start reading children's books on say the Romans or Eskimos and can actually learn something about Romans and Eskimos, rather that having to concentrate on what sounds combinations of letters are making. How can that not be a good thing?

Learnandsay - I guess the trick is to have lots of books of all levels around, and read about Romans etc to them. My dcs are bright, although I wouldn't say exceptional, but I have always read to them. Not just fiction, but history books, science books etc. Even when they were toddlers, they liked to look at the pictures. I always thought that the love of books and knowledge should come first, the skill of reading second.

Agree with these points - it's about playing the long game and seeing reading as a fantastic pleasure. Lots of fun books to read and be read to - reading is great time that I get to spend with Mum and Dad (as well as alone reading to myself.) Asking questions around comprehension/meaning of tricky words/how would they use that tricky word in a sentence? Lots of ideas for what might happen next in the story etc

DD is one of the youngest in her year (Y1) and was free reading early in Y1. We have kept it fun and she loves reading and being read to. We are currently enjoying lots of the Michael Murpurgo books, and she loves lots of unicorn pony books to herself and us...

Thanks - my question really related to whether or not any specific should be raised at parents' evening.

I was initially only wanted to know whether he was well behaved in class and keeping up in other areas. I then thought that maybe I should ask about the reading since it seems to be disproportionately good compared to everything else DS does. ( which is fine )
The reading log is generally just ' well read' ' good reading' except for a single mention to work on expresssion.

My DD is in Reception and is learning to read. I feel she is doing well, although I can't really compare as her school have their own levels. My advice to anyone (for what it's worth) would be to simply read as much together as you can and keep it as enjoyable as you can. Explore everything you can in books, and try poems, pop ups, comics, papers etc. DOn't discard picture books too early.

And I would also say that Mumsnet is not typical of what happens in real life. I find it a bit scary on here that everyone who posts seems to have children who are reading fluently in Reception. My experience of my DD's class and year cohort would seem to suggest that that is actually quite unusual.

Sorry OP, I was addressing your first point 'was there anything specific that was suggested?'.

I guess whether you need to ask about it, depends if you feel they are adequately supporting him in his reading, or possibly I get the impression that maybe you want ideas of how you can be supporting/encouraging him at home, in which case I think it is fair enough to ask how you can support/encourage your DS reading at home. FWIW, I find in DSs reading record when filled in by the TAs, parent helpers it tends to be 'read confidently/fluently' type comments, but when by the teacher they are more specific - 'looked for oy/oi in the story, or talked about how people in story were feeling' which I have then used as a basis for how we read together.

LMG - all comments welcome -I don't know what I am doing.
We haven't had any specfic comments at all but teacher hears him read twice a week.

Campapse - I get the impression that many children can read at this level in reception. If that was not true I would expect more comments from the teacher.

The teacher won't comment more because of the PC culture in schools ... they don't want to give you too much attention because you are good at something, cos then the less able kids/parents might get upset....sorry, but dd now in year 2 and find this is the case unfortunately, and this is her second school and both were like that...

.....same as parents evening - bland PC comments from teachers....

Btw Purple is very good for that age, but don't think you need to mention it specifically

oh no I completely dissagree. Children who have learning difficulties should receive more help, because a) schools are generally under resourced b) teachers are super busy and c) there are not enough resources and time to spend endless amount of energy on children who are actually performing well.

I have a child with a learning difficulty and if I was to learn that all the teachers time would be spent on children who are actually doing very well, I would be very upset. Maybe I am politically correct, I don't care, but if your child would have a learning difficulty you would have a very different take on this. Yes I would be upset if a teacher assistant's time was spent on children doing well instead of children struggling, it would not be right! If schools had the budget and time and staff and resources to do both it would be fantastic, but they don't.

What does PC have to do with this? If your child had a diagnosed, monitored learning difficulty, you would not be calling this situation un-PC or too PC or whatever.

But to come back to OP, of course you can discuss this with the teacher. If the teacher 'knows' your child, he or she will be happy to discuss this with you. But as I said, teachers in general unless your child is on G&T program will be able to provide limited resources and time. That's what's happening at our school anyway.

MrsTruper - I haven't found that at all, tbh. We've just had parents evening, and the teachers were very specific. They don't give actual grades/levels, but they are mire than happy to praise and to push when a child is doing well.

I do think we get hung up in early reading, partly because it is one thing we can actually measure, as parents. When I met with DS2's teacher, my main questions were how was he doing socially, friends, confidence etc. Stuff I can't necessarily see at home.

That's really the crux of it Sittigninthesun - my main concerns for reception were that DS had made friends , wasn't being naughty and was keeping up. But the reading came ot my attention and I began to think maybe there is something I should look into.

My daughter is likely to be SEN so I have a lot of sympathy for those that are havign difficulties as well and DS is not gifted just one of the eldest in his class and quite confident