Learning to read in Y1 & Y2

[learnandsay]

How unusual is it for a primary school to focus its attention in YR on teaching the letter sounds, maybe some digraphs, perhaps one or two trigraphs (or maybe not even) and learning (whatever that means) lists of HFW, but not to any great extent turn attention to reading actual books (of any kind)?

And the school thereby, presumably, places the emphasis of learning to read books (of whatever kind) onto Y1 and beyond? And, if one's school has such a system how does one approach it if one's child already reads books quite well and has done throughout Reception? Getting the Reception teacher up to speed with the child's reading has taken a while, but it's getting there. Does one expect to have to introduce every teacher at every early years level to the child's ability to read?

My daughter has read a lion and the mouse story which has very similar text. But I think the publisher was Hopscotch and not Heinemann. The Hopscotch book has very similar text but no speech bubbles. The dialogue is included in the story. Because it's an Aesop's fable everybody has access to the same text.

I have just bought DD 2 stage 9 books (which she probably won't be able to read yet - although will assess when they arrive).

Will probably hold them back for her birthday which is end of Jan.

Cannot look at other books in this scheme (unless a child I read with in KS1 just so happens to have one).

Yes she read the whole thing,tbh it's not that long, 12 pages.

Tgger, yes. My daughter and I are a double act, as you suggest, to some extent. But the parent helpers seem to be suggesting in her diary that she's doing good reading (and they're not me.) And the teacher says that my daughter can read. Which I already know. So there are divisions in the double act. You're quite right. I may not be able to see where those divisions are. But life has a way of making you stand on your own two feet. And at times my daughter clearly has to read on hers...

DD is getting pretty good at reading by herself or to her teddies (or the cat!!) But it is a very recent thing.

She has had the same teacher in nursery so is confident to read with her and quite frankly does not seem to care who she reads with (read with HT and Deputy Head last week - as they seem to be showing a special interest in her).

But she still refuses to go in the HT's office as she thinks this is where the naughty children go!!

I'm sure she is learnandsay. Just some of your posts seem so righteous. Can't think of a better word. You clearly have your own approach with your DD with reading. Chances are it won't fit in with school until she can read fluently if you are happy in your double act. At this point they can give her any books suitable for her age. Hopefully that won't be too long but wonder if you can chill out about the poor school books and scheme stuff until this happens .

I've studied some philosophy, so there's a chance that what you describe as righteous in my posts is rhetoric. (I've found sometimes in fora/forums that one has to put a point across in stark terms to "win" the argument. Sometimes it's not exactly, (or even) what one believes. It's simply that that logical possibility triumphs all others. (Fora/forums, as the Ancient Greeks discovered, give rise to the art of public speaking.)

All of that has nothing to do with my daughter's reading. The school (or to be more realistic, the teacher,) is doing some sort of assessment of my daughter as we speak. So I guess time will tell.

Jolly good. Hope you find some common ground . And I like a good argument too.

Fingers x with the assessment.

Although be prepared to be told that she has not read a book (by your daughter ,not the teacher!!) as DD had an assessment a few weeks ago but told me she did not read a book (it was a reading assessment) but then told me 12 hours later that she did read from a bit of paper about a pirate!!

Agree nothing wrong with a good argument debate

I think you might find the reception teacher is looking for what your daughter can do totally independently learnandsay

And on the first read through,too.

Nothing stranger than seeing a parent write in a reading diary; 'X has learned her book'!!??? (Well, obviously, there are stranger things but, you know, rhetoric and all that!)

OK, (even though when a child is reading with an adult they're not independent,) but even so, as the various parent workers reports in the diary have said, my daughter's reading of the non decodable Ginn readers is pretty good. ( I don't want to blow horns, so pretty good will do.) That on its own is a sizeable step up from the ORT readers we had before. And, I'm afraid, there's a way to go yet in assessing what the double act has done.

Out of interest what would you expect a parent to write in a reading diary for the first time of reading a book??

In DD's book earlier I wrote something like "She read this book fluently (did not sound out anything) with great expression (which she has) and answered questions on what might happen next etc. But did need help with XX word....

I don't see the point in writing something in the diary that she hasn't done as I would hate her to get books that are too hard for her (although no teacher is just going to go on the words of the parent in a reading diary only)...

booksandcuppa, if you want a rhetorical scrap, just come out with your premises....

The idea is the parent/teacher just listens. . That's independent.

I don't know BooksandaCuppa it's pretty strange when you hear your reception and Y1 teachers ask "have you learnt your book?" [rolls eyes] drove me mad last year

I think diary comments depend on the teacher and school. But I'm guessing that a fair trade between parents and parent helpers/TAs/teachers is: if the child couldn't work out how to pronounce the name Aesop in Aesop's fables, then write that down.

I would love to listen to reception read ( as its the year group I want to work with) but am not allowed as DD is in there (fair enough) but I do read with yr1 and yr2.

Although no parents are actually allowed to read with reception as lots of them can't read yet...

I do just listen to them (yr1&2) but ask questions about what they think might happen next, how a character feels etc and at the end if they liked a book and why.

DD said to me today she is being encouraged to look at blurb and talk to the person next to her (in guided reading I guess) about what she thinks the book might be about. And then they have to do the same thing when they have read the book (retell it in their own words)...

Sounds perfect. It's detailed without writing an essay and covers most of the bases of reading at this stage.

I'm not a teacher but have many years experience as a (trained) parent helper (and experienced secondary professional - not teacher) which is why I know that there can often be a gulf between what a parent and a teacher 'think' of a child's reading. Some parents think reading is only decoding. Some know to acknowledge expression but think that means speech only. Some help their child out a lot and don't record that. Some think that how the child reads the book on the fifth time of asking is them 'reading' it, when it's pure memory. And so on.

And obviously sometimes teachers get it wrong, too, though I'm sure it's less likely!

Sounds like you know exactly how your dd is doing, simpson.

I am told not to write anything negative so if they have tried hard I write that,if they have used the pictures to tell the story I write that (although I don't agree with doing that tbh) or any phonics sounds they were strong with etc etc...

This is in other kids reading diaries obv. not my own child's!!!

Literally, if the child was on its own reading that would be independent.

yup, mrz, that's even stranger :-)

Just wanted to clarify as you said "reading with". THought it important to you being part of a double act and all .

Tgger, to be honest I'm not sure what the beef is here. But I've been reading with my daughter since she was two. I cannot hope to judge objectively what she can read. (But then I'm not trying to.) But I can easily judge when something is too easy. That's simply a matter of experience.

In your shoes, I'd just continue plodding at home and use the library. Also directly ask them to test her reading age as the books are too easy.

My eldest DS's class had 4 readers out of 30 when they started R - one in particular was seriously gifted in every area -think genius! My DH could read quite well too but wasn't an all rounder. In that specific able class, almost all of the kids became free readers over Y1/Y2.

DS not DH !!