Moved up 3 levels in reading?

[AbbyR1973]

Just wondered what you think about this- DS1 in reception is a fairly good reader. His last 5-6 book have all been ORT stage 6 (book band orange) and he has managed these fine. His last book was The Treasure Chest which is also an ORT stage 6 book but turquoise band which is one level up.
So yesterday he came home with The Quest, which is an ORT stage 9 book, book band gold. He read last night and although it was more of a challenge, he did not really need any help with it and did not seem fazed by the obvious level jump.
He could probably do with working on expression but has good fluency. His comprehension is ahead of his reading skills as he has no problem understanding the difficult language of books like Five Children and It and The Wind in the Willows.
I was surprised that he had gone up 3 levels/ book bands though and wondered if it was deliberate, or perhaps giving him something more challenging to keep him going over Xmas or if it was more likely a happy accident!
Thanks.

My DC school have a bit of a thing about KS1 children not being free readers (they only go up to lime level) so tend to let them stagnate on lime for ages (my experience with DS who is now in yr3 - I personally think that KS2 were a bit protective of their books and did not want them going to KS1).

I also think some levels seem to have a bigger jump than others (only going by what I have seen and experienced with DD through the reading chest - she found red to yellow a bit of a jump and also green to orange another big jump).

I reckon it all starts with orange.... orange is the beginning of reading what you like. DS stayed happily on those Magic Key books up to Turquoise/Purple/Gold but in some ways they don't get that much harder, just longer, so if the child has good comprehension and a good grasp of phonics they can get going IMHO.

Simpson we are not paying much attention to the school books now. I am letting DS decide more what he wants to read so the school ones tend to linger on our shelves as they are normally not that exciting and he doesn't choose them. Works for us!

DD is on orange (with reading chest) and if the link earlier is correct then her school books are orange/turquoise too.

She now pretty much reads what she wants tbh, she read The Tiger Who Came To Tea tonight to herself in bed....

Agree with you on the length of the books now, it takes a good 20 mins to read her school books now....

Have found a fab basic chapter book she is going to love called The Enormous Postman....think it might be her new obsession

simpson that's appalling! When my DDs were in Yr2 they were reading all kinds of stuff way above lime level - in fact, they were bringing in a lot of their own reading books because the school didn't have the money to keep enough high quality reading material on the shelves. The school were fine with this and certainly did not let anyone stagnate.

DD2 was most annoyed to be put back on scheme books in Yr5, when the school got enough money to get the diamond/pearl/whatever gemstone levels in, but even then her teachers knew what she was reading at home (Susan Cooper/Terry Pratchett/Diana Wynne Jones) and didn't complain when she wrote book reports about her home books rather than her scheme books. She's now off the scheme books, thank goodness. The modern ones are better, but still pretty short and dull.

In my DD's school they read every single book in every level - is this not the norm? It sort of means progression is purely down to how conscientious your parents are (we're encouraged to do a book a night - we don't always). On the other hand, I am quite pleased that she is not being pushed too quickly through the levels. What is the point? I can see how it would hinder children who might be given books that are too difficult, but not how it would hold back a child who can read confidently. My DD has plenty to read at home, picture books and early readers.

Well you can not become a more fluent reader if you limit yourself to texts within a certain level and you would like to be able to read more complex material. You need those more complex texts in order to be able to negotiate them. And if you are however old (Y2 in particular) and ready and able to access all sorts of books then you have such a world of literature at your fingertips, and why shouldn't you? Then again you might choose to read the books you read 8 months ago (DS is doing this at the moment )

I suppose you're right. It's just that DD's reading progression has been so smooth and so stress-free, that I wonder if they are on to something! She does read books that are more difficult at home, which sometimes frustrates me, but I think perhaps I am more appreciative of the confidence she's gained in being perfectly able to do something. After all, the school reading books take a few minutes each evening and she has plenty of other reading besides.

And maybe your DS likes those 8-months-ago books! (Are they any good?) I think that's fine. Reading is a life-long joy, if you're lucky. Not a race to the top.

Reading is a life-long joy, if you're lucky. Not a race to the top.

Absolutely, PatsysPyjamas. I have read far too many threads where the OP wants to question why their DCs are on a particular book level, often believing their child(ren) should be on a much higher level. This is usually based on decoding skills and not on their DCs reading ability as a whole. To be fair, I have heard the same from some aquaintances too - book band levels are a easy comparison as to how children are doing in relation to their peers and, consequently, a stick to beat the teacher with.

I have nothing against encouraging children to foster a love of reading or, indeed, all things academic. But, I do feel that some parents need to take a step back; we are talking about 4, 5 and 6yr old children, not Yr13!

pointy - I would much rather the school was honest with me re the situation with school reading books....

DS in now in yr3 and I provide his reading books as he prefers what we have at home and his teacher is fine with it....

bunnyjo, I'm not sure about parents comparing children's reading levels and having great sticks to beat teachers with. Unless one is a parent helper in one's daughter's class how does one know what reading level the other children are on?

I think the issue of the wrong reading book (or the wrong reading level, if you like) is deeper than that. (But then how typical my view is is a moot point because I taught my daughter to read.) But my view is that if the books are too continuous, if they're phonics readers which avoid most graphemes because the children haven't been taught them yet, then the child's reading is being stifled. It's very similar to the "read real books" campaign. In a way it's an argument against levelled reading schemes as a whole. It's an argument that I favour. But then again, my child was brought up reading real books in the first place. So the scheme has been a bit of an unpleasant shock.

LandS - DS knew ALL the reading levels of everyone when he was in yr1 + 2. He is hugely competitive....

Is it the same when parents are comparing children's reading levels and when children are doing it themselves?

The most sympathy I have for a parental involvement was the one recently when one mum thought that not being in the top phonics group caused her daughter to have a general lack of confidence. I find it desperately difficult to imagine how the lack of a phonics group could bring about such a crisis. I feel there must be more to it. And I suspect the teacher's responses such as you're taking up my valuable time don't help the mum to get to the bottom of it.

If I had a child who was dependent on the reading levels then I might see it differently. But at the moment I think they're all a bit sucky and just get in the way of reading in general.

The ones from a while ago are Magic Key Stories !, and various others. He loves the Riddle Stone and wants riddles for christmas. They are fine, he can read what he likes and enjoys, it's interesting to see the range he picks now, some probably more Y4/5 level and some like the Magic Key ones! Actually I'm not sure he has much clue about "levels" and I didn't pay much attention lands, to me you cam either read or you are learning that's about it. If you are learning you need something appropriate for where you are and if you are 4,5 or 6 or more and you cam read you need something age and you appropriate!

I think it's a bit mixed up, because lots of people have different opinions about what reading is. It would be nice to have different areas say

decoding
comprehending
expression
(and what have you)

and then to treat them differently, rather than give a child easy books to decode because the teacher thinks his comprehension isn't all that good. But then the argument is still there for people who don't believe in phonics and think that decoding doesn't exist.

In the end it might be impossible to disentangle really. Perhaps the reading levels should largely be ignored by parents, (and maybe the school reading books too.)

bunnyjo, I'm not sure about parents comparing children's reading levels and having great sticks to beat teachers with. Unless one is a parent helper in one's daughter's class how does one know what reading level the other children are on?

Believe me, I have seen parents doing it and it's not pretty - not in DD's school thankfully. Although, one parent did rifle through DD's book bag on a play date . As Simpson said, the children know themselves what book level they are on, so there is plenty of scope for comparison and competition and there are plenty of competitive parents.

In the end it might be impossible to disentangle really. Perhaps the reading levels should largely be ignored by parents

I completely agree with this, learnandsay. Reading should be viewed as a whole, there are many skills involved in reading, of which decoding is just one; decoding is necessary for reading, but being able to decode doesn't mean that you are able to read.

DD jumped up 5 book bands over the summer holiday but has been on the same band for a term now. I think this is what happens - as it also did for my DS - they get to a point where their comprehension needs to keep pace with the books otherwise everything needs an explanation IME.

Your DS is clearly doing very well OP so I wouldn't worry about levels at all - just go with what he wants to be reading. We have unfortunately hit the abysmal Magic Key adventure books at this reading band which are possibly the worst books ever written - I've stopped taking any home and we just read our own stuff!!

Well I think it is individual especially in y2, and that is why reading levels are fruitless. My dd stagnated on white for a while.

so,e children cn read very complex chapter stories, my own dd is off the reading scheme at school, but my dn can't read very much at all. He is within normal range for his age, but my dd has this week gone to y4/5 class to get reading books specifically for her.

In the same year group you have one who is just begin the journey of coloured schemes he can actually read and one who is leaving the scheme. It seems that the coloured bands are pointless I'm cases like this as parents tend to try and place age brackets on them.

I would much rather that the children are given a broad spectrum of choice throughout the school years.

I think that y 1 and 2 can cover a very broad spectrum of abilities that are all very normal and the gap will eventually lessen as the children on the lower bands grasp reading.

Just a little anecdote about my DS (4, in Reception) here. He's on ORT Stage 1+ now and we started with the no-words books (annoying for me as DS is my third child so this is my third go-round with bloody Floppy and co). He got sick of them pretty quickly and when I picked up his book one week and said (with faux enthusiasm) 'I wonder what's going to happen in this book', he replied, in a very bored tone, 'they find a cardboard box, they turn it into a house, it rains, the box falls apart, can we read something else?'. So much for interesting books! His teacher found it highly amusing...