What's 'normal' for year 1 reading?

[GiraffesMum]

My dd is very bright and articulate but seems to be really struggling with her reading. She's on the yellow band but still not secure with all her phase 3 phonics (especially er, ure, ear). She can learn spellings for her spelling test but doesn't always use them on her writing. We have always read to her at home but she shows no desire to read for herself. Will it suddenly click? Is this within 'normal' for year 1?

I think it depends on what you mean by click. If she's reading yellow then she knows fairly well how to decode, so some degree of clicking has already happened. Maybe what you're asking is will she start enjoying reading and do it for fun and not because she has to? (That's not the same thing as clicking, if clicking means understanding.)

Can she not read about things that she likes? You can write things she likes reading and talking about on pieces of paper with a marker pen. Reading doesn't have to be about books. Either find things that she likes to read or write them yourself.

They should still be doing phonics every morning at shool at this stage.

The gap between the youngest and oldest in the year is still huge in Year 1.

Dipon't worry; keep her reading at a very simple level. Make sure you're reading to her in bed every night; this will fuel her appetite for free reading.

A lot of kids in DS1's class were indifferent to reading in Year 1 but suddenlt took off in Year 2.

I read with yr1 kids in my DC school and the majority of them are still on red books and a good reader would be on yellow/blue...

However this is a school that does seem to have a high amount of children that don't seem to read at home sadly....

It sounds like your DD is doing fine and I think it is common to learn the spellings but not necessarily to remember them in their writing....

My DC school do phonics learning until end of yr2 (phase 6) and then in KS2 are always recapping iyswim....

There is a HUGE range of ability in Year 1, from red level (a few kids) to turquoise level (again, a few kids). The majority are on blue/yellow/green. They are still doing phinics every day and it can take a while to get from 'knowing' them to being able to apply them in reading. Just make sure you spend time reading for fun with your dd and she will get there.

Just reading with interest as my DS is in Yr1 and turned 6 last week. All these colour levels are confusing, he is on ORT Stage 5 and i'm very pleased with his reading progress but am now curious as to how this stage corresponds to the levels mentioned above?

My class range from red to lime book bands and all are normal for Y1. Most children fail to apply the words they learn for spelling tests in their independent writing afterwards which is why it's not very effective.

Both my DD and DS were level yellow in Year 1, I think that's pretty normal so nothing to worry about. I found I had to look around for books that were a bit different to get them interested in reading themselves, especially my DS.

I tried some 'learn to read treasure' books that I got on eBay which worked really well.

I also got my DS to read for himself through writing my own treasure hunts and hiding clues round the house. Anything to get them interested in reading, and seeing that's there's a purpose and that reading can be fun. Good luck!

I found that allowing my daughter to have her light on and a few books to read (not schools ones) when she goes to bed for half an hour really encourages her to read for pleasure. I guess anything is preferable to going to sleep to a 6 year old. Not the same levels as your school do but i know her class range from one child still on box 1 and a couple on box 23 and all in between so i guess there is no normal as such.

dgs is a September born year 1 pupil who has just movet on to ORT turquoise level.His best friend is a June birthday and is on green.

Always surprised by all the posters who know so much about their DC's classmates reading, I haven't the foggiest about anyone other than Dd3 in her class...

I think leaving a set of books out that she can read before going to bed is also good and worked for us. I've had a year 1 reluctant but very good reader (no idea how she has got to her reading level with so little practice). However, it is only now that she is reading books on her own and enjoying them, I think they do need to get to a certain level and fluency of reading to enjoy it rather than be a chore. You need to have a range of books for her to read - Book People is great and so are the Usbourne non-fiction range. Everybody suggests going to the library but never worked with my DD. She would choose books, most too difficult for her to read and then they would lie around unread for weeks. Her tastes and interests seem to change all the time.

Sounds totally fine to me.

My DD got from blue band to free reader in year 1 where it just clicked and literally every week she was moved up.

DS1 followed the same pattern but DS2 is now in year 2 and still on pink band where is is struggling quite badly.

I TA in a year 1 class and read with most of them today and there were a few reds, one or two purple and golds but most were around the green, yellow and orange bands in the middle

Also teachers assess reading comprehension and the expression so check after she's read to you that she understands what it is she's reading. Explain to her about the use of using different tones in her voice when she is reading a question or a statement.

Thank you for all your replies, I feel very reassured and obviously made the rookie error of comparing her to her two closest friends! I like the idea of doing treasure hunts and getting her a light. Thanks a lot.

You must never compare your child - somehow the comparison never works in your child's favour.

I occasionally help out with reading in Yr 1. The range is from Yellow up to free reading but most are blue or green.

Everyone has 'their thing' and with reading I really think that there is a moment when it 'clicks' for a child.