Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

What would you expect an "average" Reception child to be able to do?

84 replies

Festivedidi · 03/01/2013 22:11

My niece is in Reception and is one of the youngest in the class. We spent the day together yesterday and we just happened to be playing with dd2's magnetic letters from the fridge (dd2 was playing with them too). I was quite surprised that dn didn't know many letters, not even the letters in her own name. Dsis keeps telling us that dn is doing well at school and making good progress at reading and writing.

My question is, is this about average for a child at the young end of the yeargroup? It's been a long time since dd1 was in Reception and it wouldn't be a fair comparison anyway as dd1 is a September birthday so was almost a year older when she started Reception that dn is. I've still got a couple of years left before dd2 starts school as well so I can't compare her either. Is there anything anyone can recommend for dsis to do at home with her to bring her on a bit if she is a little bit behind the others?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

ShowOfHands · 04/01/2013 15:13

What is a free reader in reception? Same as a free reader in every other year in our case. DD chooses her own books from home or from school as opposed to having to choose from a certain colour coded book band. She is currently reading 5 Children and It for example. She's in Y1 though, not reception.

Itsjustafleshwound · 04/01/2013 15:16

Simpson - yes it is.

FrustratedSycamoreSnowflake · 04/01/2013 15:51

Any chance she was just being shy or coy? DS1 in Reception doesn't like being a performing seal. Some nights he "can't read at all", others he reads fluently.
Dd1 was exactly like this in reception, could read (basic cvt words) in nursery, refused point blank to read anything in reception.
Dd2 (in YR has days where she "can't" read her name when asked, even though she can read it, and if pushed she "can't" read anything.

Original poster

Festivedidi · 04/01/2013 16:13

I just posted a long reply and lost it.

Thank you very much for all of your replies. I would just like to say again I am NOT trying to interfere, I was just asking a question as dn is so different from my dds and I didn't know if there was anything to be worried about or not, I was NOT planning on saying anything to my dsis unless she asks my opinion but would like to be able to offer advice if she does.

I don't think she was being shy or coy, I wasn't asking her questions, we were just playing with the letters and she was trying to show me how good she is at reading, but she got the majority of the letters wrong.

I'll come back later when I've got more time to respond properly to more people.

OP posts:

simpson · 04/01/2013 16:22

Showofhands - thanks

My DC school do it differently and don't let anyone become a free reader in KS1 at all so it meant that DS (now yr3) languished on lime level for the whole of yr2...

I think as long as your DN is doing well at school (as her mum has been told) then there isn't a problem iyswim....

Things can vary massively in reception ability wise (DS really struggled for most of reception and then things "clicked" about May time and then he was off!!)

mrz · 04/01/2013 16:30

ShowOfHands what happens when a reception free reader moves into Y1, are they still a free reader?

simpson · 04/01/2013 16:31

Mrz - that was kind of what I was asking too...ie whether that particular year group had run out of books at the level for that year iyswim...

mrz · 04/01/2013 16:35

I find the concept that children in reception have all the reading skills they will ever need and are ready to read anything put in front of them quite strange

yellowsubmarine53 · 04/01/2013 17:22

I'm not trying to create an argument, but I really don't get that "children languish on lime/ORT/insert any school reading term".

Surely, if lime level is very easy for a particular child, you whizz through them and then go onto something more interesting?

No-one truly thinks that the school need to be providing all of a child's reading material, do they?

simpson · 04/01/2013 17:31

I would like to think that as they are supposed to be educating my child (and I support from home) that they would have him on the correct level. Not just because they had run out of books iyswim...

Of course he read other stuff at home...

mrz · 04/01/2013 17:40

yellowsubmarine lime is the end of KS1 book bands not the end of a reading programme. Of course no one is suggesting that a school should be providing all of a child's reading material. Children need to read widely and for pleasure as well as for information but if a child is still learning and I would suggest most 5 year olds still have a great deal to learn then providing appropriate teaching texts should be a priority

Tgger · 05/01/2013 22:58

Well, if she wants her DD to know the letters she could go over them a bit more at home just as and when, no biggie. If you are not taught them, you won't know them. They will learn them in Reception anyway though so it's probably best to say nothing and chill out.

ReallyTired · 06/01/2013 16:27

I think that some parents have hurry sickness and they are desperate to rush their children through the reading scheme as fast as possible. I am sceptical that there are many five year olds who would understand lime books, even if they can bark at print.

I want my children to actually understand what they are reading. My son was not a "free reader" until the end of year 3, however his reading comprehension skills are fanastic in year 6. I believe that not leaping through the reading levels at an early age gave him a good foundation.

ChippingInLovesChristmasLights · 06/01/2013 16:44

ReallyTired - I agree.

There is so much parental angst over which level of book their child is reading, but no-one seems entirely bothered about whether they understand (or god forbid enjoy) what they are reading.

OP - I can see why you asked the question and I hope you feel reassured by the answers. A schools idea of 'doing well' isn't always what you are focussing on and doesn't always seem accurate. My niece is 'top of the class' for reading (I know this from the teacher, awards etc as well as the parent), frankly, for a 9 year old I think her reading skills are poor and her comprehension atrocious - so I wonder/worry (in an abstract way) what the others are like? However, it is a brilliant school, all the children I know there are very very happy and all the ones I know are confident. The school is lovely, open, welcoming and pretty fucking brilliant - so I just assume they know what they are doing

Tgger · 06/01/2013 16:55

I agree that reading is not a race, but I am here to stick up for those 5 year olds who can read books of lime level or beyond.

If you turn the question on it's head, ie how many five year olds would be able to understand a lime level book being read to them? Quite a lot really I would hope. Therefore if they have the decoding and comprehension skills then why shouldn't they read and enjoy them, if that is the level they have reached?

It is definitely not a race, but there will be children at 4,5 and 6 who have flown through the reading scheme and are enjoying all sorts of books. Yes, most this age will need guidance on what to read to ensure it is age appropriate and to make sure they have variety and breadth in there reading.

DS reached this stage at the end of YR so he was nearly 6. He loves reading and books. I am not saying he is superior to children who have not learnt yet, just as I don't worry about the fact that he hasn't learnt to swim or ride his bike yet. Children develop in all sorts of ways in different time scales. Their own.

Tgger · 06/01/2013 16:56

its head, and their..... one day I will learn to read what I write before I press post...

ReallyTired · 06/01/2013 20:42

"If you turn the question on it's head, ie how many five year olds would be able to understand a lime level book being read to them? Quite a lot really I would hope. Therefore if they have the decoding and comprehension skills then why shouldn't they read and enjoy them, if that is the level they have reached?"

Children generally understand books being read to them at a far higher level than what thet can read themselves. This is even true of my eleven year old son. Reading to your child takes them to the next plane of reading comprehension. The ablity to follow a plot, understand subtle indenu, read between the lines is completel over the head of even the brightest of five year olds. Sharing books give the child an opportunity to ask if they don't understand a word.

It takes work to deciper print for yourself and if a child is concentrating on dercoding they have less mental enery for comprehension.

BarbarianMum · 06/01/2013 20:45

I help with reading in reception at my childrens' school and your niece would definitely be typical of the summer born children there.

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 06/01/2013 20:51

when dd1 started reception last year, her teacher said that some reception children arrive knowing no letters and numbers, and that this is well within the normal range of development

Tgger · 06/01/2013 21:08

Yes, I know that ReallyTired, but I disagree with you on:

"The ablity to follow a plot, understand subtle indenu, read between the lines is completel over the head of even the brightest of five year olds."

I agree that it's something to take into account, that it can't be rushed and maturity and development must have a role to play. However they can progress with this as they progress with decoding. DS certainly has over the last year.

Original poster

Festivedidi · 06/01/2013 21:10

Thank you very much for the reassurances. I am feeling much more confident about how she is doing after reading some of your posts. I am a teacher myself which makes it a bit embarrassing having to ask the question, but I teach secondary and obviously by the time they come to me they can all read, although to different degrees.

I do agree with ReallyTired about children understanding things that are read to them much more easily than when they have to read it themselves. I see that even in my Maths classroom with teenagers. Some of my groups have pupils in who struggle to understand a question when they read it themselves but when I go to help all I need to do is read it out for them and suddenly they understand what they have to do. It's really quite surprising how much reading comprehension is involved in Maths!

Chipping you hit the nail on the head when you said about a school's idea of 'doing well' isn't always what I would class as doing well. I see pupils coming into year 7 at my school who have been told all through primary school that they are doing really well and are very good at English, Maths, etc and yet when they are compared against pupils from other primary schools they are average at best. That's mostly the worry I ahve for my niece, that she will constantly be told she is doing fine and then get a shock if she needs extra help later.

OP posts:

ReallyTired · 06/01/2013 21:20

Festivedidi

Until recently your neice would not be in school. She has only had one term in reception. I think its too early to worry about her. Hopefully she will make great leaps and bounds in year 1 and year 2.

Reading comprehension is really language comprehension. I am not surprised that teens with weak literacy skills struggle in maths. I believe that in science children get given text in year 7 that has a reading age of 13.

I don't think that the development of reading comprehension has had as much research as other areas of the curriculum. I believe that many parents have over inflated ideas about their children's reading comprehension skills.

sazale · 06/01/2013 21:30

That's mostly the worry I ahve for my niece, that she will constantly be told she is doing fine and then get a shock if she needs extra help later.

My ds 5 (6 in Feb) is in year 1 and can read very little. When I say very little he can read the odd simple word that he can sound out using the letter names. He can't read pink band books yet.

All the way through F2 (reception) I voiced my concerns no only at how difficult he was finding learning to read but also the way in which he was doing it (trying to sound out a full sentance). I was consistently told there was no probs. He is my 3rd child but as they didn't learn to read using phonics I wasn't sure if it just took longer (I'd read it somewhere). Even so things didn't feel right.

Year 1 and I am still told there's no probs, other children at the same level etc etc. As my ds has a phonological speech disorder I hired an independent speech therapist to work with him to see if this was causing his reading difficulties (his nhs one just said it could be)!

She did the testing and found big gaps in his phonological processing which is going to need lots of input. School were still saying he's fine until the independent speech therapist arranged to go in to school to observe him. The senco then admitted he was still on the first sounds (s,t,a,p) that he had started in F1 (nursery)!

Needless to say I don't believe a word they say anymore and I'm really annoyed that I was brushed off for so long and made to believe that I was paranoid!

simpson · 06/01/2013 22:05

I agree that there is no point in rushing a child through the reading levels,after all it's not a race but just being able to find the book level that suits the child ability wise...

DD's reading is good (and she attempted a stage 10 book last week and decoded it fine and understood the story at a basic level so it was worth her reading it but cannot do all the skills needed to be at this level iyswim)...

BTW -she chose to read the book,not me pushing her to do it...

But I also agree with Tgger in that if a child is able to progress at their own level (even if it is high for their age -it is down to maturity etc (still think there is something on where the child is in the family as DD is all consumed with catching up with her brother and this is what motivates her)...

Original poster

Festivedidi · 06/01/2013 22:30

sazale that's horrible for you and your ds. It's a good job you didn't just take the school's word for it. Now that you and the school are both aware of the issues he has I hope you can make sure he is getting the right help. It seems awful that the school would not make you aware of the problems he was having. Like I said, that's the worry I have for my niece, that she might be struggling with reading (although I am happier now that she might not be having any problems at all) and nobody is telling my dsis.

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3 4