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Primary education

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

Reception reading lack of progress - should I be worried?

15 replies

woobly · 12/03/2013 01:00

Due to see the teacher soon and would appreciate some other views on this. My older kids are good readers and learnt to read reasonably quickly (not in an exceptional way, just never behind and I was aware of constant progression). But my reception child started school already being able to sound out very simple words like cat, dog, flat, sand etc. she was put on reading level 1+ and is still on level 1+.

(I'm not saying I think they should be giving her higher level books, although she can handle level 3 books ok, she does sound out a lot of the words rather than just saying them).
On the one hand I think she's only 5 and don't worry, but on the other I can't help feeling disappointed by the lack of progress. Would you voice this at parents eve due soon (and how? Would you be asking for extra plans /support?), or just chill?

For those of you whose kids started at level 1, what is their level?
Ps - I have never even vaguely complained about anything at school so feel quite anxious about raising this as an issue.

OP posts:
littlemiss06 · 12/03/2013 06:43

Definately wouldn't be worried, level 1+ in reception is great :-) my little girl was on level 1 in reception but didn't move up to level 2 until near the end of year 1 and now near the end of year 2 she only just moved up to level 3 so no at your stage I certainly wouldn't be worried shes average for this time in reception

christinarossetti · 12/03/2013 07:12

It doesn't sound like you're 'complaining' at all, you're disappointed and curious about what you perceive to be your dd's lack of progress in reading.

I would just mention where your dd was when she started school, where she is now and ask the teacher for their view and suggestions as to how you can help her progress.

How else is she doing in reception?

learnandsay · 12/03/2013 07:29

Progress her at home. Teach her to sound out ever more complicated words and to read books at home which are a tiny bit harder than the stage 3 books which she can already read. Ask her to read Dr Seuss and Elsie Marinarik's Little Bear. Ask the school what they're doing but don't worry too much about the reply that you get. Concentrate on progressing her reading at home.

simpson · 12/03/2013 08:16

My DD is in reception and the majority of the class (with a few exceptions) are on red level having started the school year on either pink/red.

They are certainly not racing through the levels.

My DS (now in yr3) only got his first reading book in feb of his reception year and found it tough until about the June and then it clicked and he was off!!

Fuzzymum1 · 12/03/2013 09:21

My youngest started reception able to sound out very basic words like you describe. His reception teacher at our first parents' evening said he was making good progress but didn't want to rush him through the levels. I agreed that a good foundation in the early levels was a good idea and didn't want him rushed. I think he moved onto level 2 around this time last year (reception year) and now in year one is a fluent reader able to read chapter books so I wouldn't worry too much.

learnandsay · 12/03/2013 09:21

I think the OP is suggesting gently that the school could give her daughter slightly herder (or even reasonably harder) reading books if it wanted to, because her daughter can read them already. (And, by implication, therefore, that the school perhaps is possibly missing a trick or two in regard to this particular girl.)

ateacherwrites · 12/03/2013 11:43

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MountainOrMolehill · 12/03/2013 11:50

At the end of last summer our reception dc was behind with reading. I was disappointed no one had told me he was behind until the end of summer term. Not just reading, but maths, writing, social skills. I was really upset as I thought we were plodding along quite nicely.

He had a little project to do over the summer hols.

Then sept we asked what we could do to jig him along a little. Don't mind dc being average or a bit slow in some areas but don't want him to be behind at everything as it will knock his confidence further etc. we agreed on having two reading books a night, practice writing and some sort of maths once a week. With no pressure on dc, only if he enjoyed t and wanted to do it.

Had parents eve last week and he's now on par with other dc with writing. At the level he should be at the end if y1 in maths. Reading age of a 7.6 year old and is uber confidant in class! I don't mean to boast but I'm just using it as an example of what can be done. I'm not saying you should do it either do what you feel you're comfortable with with your dc.

For us it was and is very important that dc enjoys doing the tasks and homework an reading rather than feeling a pressure that dc is behind and has to do it. I think we'll be easing of a little now he's come on really well but not fully decided yet.

Do what feels right for your dc.

manchestermummy · 12/03/2013 12:27

My DD's school seems very hot on comprehension, so they don't seem to be charging through levels like some on here would have you believe is the norm! Once they are confident, then they move up. DD's on yellow at the moment (having only been able to sound out the odd word at the start) and is getting to the point where she's sounding out fewer and fewer words at this level.

Don't forget that they don't always need books to practice reading - we were stuck in traffic and DD read "keep out" at a construction sight, and learned "ph" from a pub sign! I've also recently discovered the free Oxford Owl e-books, which she enjoys because they're a bit of a novelty.

MountainOrMolehill · 12/03/2013 12:29

Agree with manchestermummy about the levels. Confidence and being able to recognise and sound the important sounds like ch,ph, igh, ow, ea etc is much more important than what level they're at.

woobly · 13/03/2013 09:18

thanks for replies! i suppose my frustration isn't that she doesn't seem to have got any further than she was last summer before she started school.

But I know we're not in a rush... and I know she'll get there. You just feel in the dark a bit as a reception parent as you have no idea what they are really learning. If progress is slow it's hard to tell if your kid isn't really getting something and if the school are failing to pick up on that.

I'll try to get a better sense at parents day.

OP posts:
Sommink · 13/03/2013 20:05

my dd started school in September. She started school with some simple words and could write her name etc but i didn't push her to read at all before she started as I wanted to make sure she was taught the correct way and didn't have to relearn.

She is now on stage 4 books, or "hard yellow" in our school system but she is the only one in her class at this level. There are a couple of others on yellow but the majority are on pink or red books. My dd's school are more bothered about them enjoying and understanding what they have read, so we have to do a lot of what was the story about once the book was finished. In some ways I wish my dd had been kept at a lower level as now she feels the pressure of having to decode longer words and sometimes forgets words she could just read and has to start decoding them again.

Pozzled · 13/03/2013 20:48

My DD started at a similar level to yours, OP- able to sound out simple CVC and CVCC type words like 'had' 'went'. She now knows a lot of vowel digraphs (like 'ee' and 'igh') although she doesn't always remember to look for them when reading. She's on yellow book band/ORT stage 4.

However, most of this is from what I've taught her at home. They seem to be making really slow progress at school - she came home today and announced that they were sounding out words with four sounds like' drip' I get the feeling that because she's doing well for her age, they're not worried how much progress she's making.

I would suggest having a word with the teacher to see how they feel, and being as proactive as you can in encouraging her at home.

Ogretmen · 13/03/2013 23:29

I'm speaking as a teacher here but I would suggest you just have a chat with the teacher. Schools work in different ways when it comes to reading. It may be that the school have a set number of books within a level (particularly ORT) and will say that the children have to read all of them in order to get the full range of text types/vocabulary within the level. Depending on how often books get sent home and read (this could be from weekly to daily depending on the school, monthly if you have some parents who don't read 'very often' with their children) it can take a while to get through them before moving on. Not saying this is the right approach, but it may explain slow progression.

But hopefully the teacher will be able to explain her reasoning. If she's worth her salt she will know exactly why she has made the decision not to move up to the next stage. If she umms and ahhhs about it, then I would be more concerned.

I'm not saying she's wrong, I like to foster the love of reading that comes with books that are achievable independently at a level of over 95% accuracy when it comes to home readers. I use guided reading sessions to look at books that are a more tricky level for the children. However, I would be surprised to have a child who seemingly was accessing text level books upon entering reception, not moving above 1+ by this point in the year.

Have a look at this website to see what book band colours/ORT levels correspond with age related expectations (obviously this is not definitive in terms of age as often children pick up reading very early or come to it much later than expected).
www.readingchest.co.uk/book-bands

PastSellByDate · 14/03/2013 05:18

Hi Woobly:

I'm just a Mum, but this is my theory on reading in Class R based on my two girls at a school which doesn't get a lot right, but does get good results with their highly structured reading programme:

I'm not sure what your level 1 - level 3 books relate to - because we used colours - but I'm going to assume that the colours tie up to the numbered bands on reading chest www.readingchest.co.uk/book-bands.

Reading is a thorny issue for many reasons - but partly because it's one of the first and most obvious ways parents can use to distinguish able children. Not all schools, of course, but in some schools what level book your child is reading at becomes something of a competition. I know that DD1 was a slow starter with reading, and it affected everyone's attitude to her abilities, including my own.

Meanwhile the teacher is teaching 30 or so separate individuals with different strengths, weaknesses and abilities reading. Some may be good at sounding out but not blending. Others have memorised words and have great decoding skills so can guess a lot by looking at pictures and recognising patterns. There was one girl (youngest of 3) who basically could read in Class R - she was around reading practice at their home so much.

Beyond this there will be children that have not attempted any reading out loud whatsoever to this point. Are they behind? Well not really - especially if they're newly 4, but for whatever reasons they're still read to and haven't yet started to read themselves. There also are children that simply prefer to be read to (my DD1 comes to mind - she prefers to listen to a story given the choice, she hates reading out loud - she struggles to prounounce 'r' and is increasingly embarrassed by it).

I can't say this is every school - but you can understand the advantage in expending energy on getting the vast majority of pupils in Class R to a fairly similar standard. It can be very frustrating as a parent, you want your child to progress, but it may well be a case of the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

As part of many reading programmes, phonetic sounds in English (there are ~ 42) often are taught in order - e.g. jolly phonics approach here jollylearning.co.uk/overview-about-jolly-phonics/ - and often this is accompanied by writing work, songs and reading books that target that week's sound(s). This structured approach can meen that reading books don't seem to be making a lot of progress, but could well be making a lot of 'decoding' skills progress (pennies in the bank for Year 1 for the entire group).

As many have suggested talk to the teacher - but bear in mind that your child may be the child who is streets ahead of the others and the teacher may feel it better to teach to the abilities of the other 29. You may feel this is simply repeating information your child has already acquired - but the phonics systems have worksheets for writing skills, songs to learn subtle changes in sounds and the system feeds into further word skills (especially spelling and some grammar rules - understanding short and long vowel sounds, so understanding why you double letters when you add -ed or -ing to stop). I suppose a good way of thinking about it is if your child presently can't write the words she's reading, than it is worth working systematically (which can mean slowly) through the phonetics programme.

However, as learnandsay & many others on other feeds have said, there is nothing to stop you progressing her reading out loud skills at home. However, it may be worthwhile asking the teacher outright if there are other aspects of reading (prediction - what happens next, discussion of structure: beginning, middle and end of story/ sometimes called story mountains, terminology: author, illustrator, character, narrator, etc...) at home.

HTH

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