What sort of reading level would you expect at the end of Reception?

[RobotElephant]

DD does ORT and I've not paid too much attention to which reading band she is on, as she seems to be progressing well. Another parent asked me what band she was reading and I had no idea

What level ORT would be normal for the end of reception?

"I'm not sure that our school does book bands, I think it's levels A to Z... Now let me see... did the teacher say Jemima was on 'P' or 'T'...".

Adopt puzzled look.

Sorted!

I think it all depends on the school. I was in my daughters school this afternoon listening to some of the yr 1 children read (9 in total). 2 were on green, 1 was on pink and the rest red. And I reckon if I'd been given a different 9 to listen to they would have covered the same range of bands.

Say "I don't know. Um, what do you call that colour that's like a really bright yellowish-green?".

That way you haven't technically lied; you've honestly told her that you don't know and then in a completely unrelated query asked her about a point of vocabulary. Any conclusions she may choose to draw are entirely her own affair...

Ah... my sister is v competitive. She's the sort to push and push and makes her DS sit and read for a set time each day. Each to their own, she does what she thinks is right. Not for me though :)
So she's constantly telling Mum what reading levels etc my nephew is on and exactly what he's doing at school. All that does is make DM think I don't tell her anything

As far as I'm concerned - DD seems happy in reception, she seems to be doing OK (has actually come on remarkably well considering she couldn't even write her own name 6 months ago) and she's doing well FOR HER. I couldn't give a rats arse how that compares to other kids her age tbh. As long as there isn't a problem and she's happy.

Plenty of time for stress and pressure later on.

Isn't more important to read to them, so they equate reading with an enjoyable, funny, special thing to do. Then one day - a desire to learn because its fun- they pick it up for themselves??? Think that's how I learned...and my son is way behind but he loves reading/books etc so I'm not really it worried about colours/bands/being 5 just yet. Is that being lazy parent??

I think its more important to encourage a love of stories, and reading for pleasure, yes. We're working our way through Roald Dahl at the moment :)

She's currently reading me one of her baby books. Better pay attention ;)

Does anyone know what level the little leaflet booklets are?

Ds has just been given his first one called 'Min'

Gets you off guard in the playground doesn't it? A mum i rarely speak to said to me 'i hear your son is using the library shelf now'... I didn't know shelves were named. I know he's doing well and more importantly enjoying it but don't have any idea what level his classmates are on. I don't have time to iron clothes never mind fret about other kids levels.
And my parents hear the kids read on our monthly overnight trips but i'm sure they haven't noticed coloured stickers on the books.

If they had an internal grading system which wasn't visible to the parents, the way progress in maths isn't, then there would be nothing for parents to get their knickers in a twist about. I can't imagine many parents sidling up and asking is your con doing textual analysis yet, or is he still on sentence appreciation?

Ds is nearly 4 and will be starting school in September. He knows all his letter sounds and can sound out CVC words and some four letter words.
However his friend who is a September birthday so nearly 5 and 10 months older is reading sentences.

I have no doubt that ds will be doing the same an 10 months but by that time his friend will again be much further on.

So surely part of where they are with reading depends on their age? An August birthday is likely to not be as far ahead as a September birthday.

ORT 2 or 3? Most I hope for DS, anyway.

Personally I think the only real answer is a suitable level. There must be so many variables it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string?

There are people who believe that children of certain ages should only read certain colour books. Such people wouldn't have the youngest child in a Reception class reading turquoise books.

really learn?

Surely a child should be allowed to read to whatever level they are comfortable and happy with?

Our school really seems to push through ORT a lot faster than other ones. I hope they haven't rushed them, but they seem to be doing OK.

oh yes Robot, I gather some schools do only let them have certain levels at certain ages. shocking isn't it!

my daughter luckily has been given books at her level but in a different school I could quite easily see her being on level 3 in school but reading chapter books at home.

thats the other thing with reading schemes. some schools make them read every book the school owns at a level before moving them up, some rush them through them, some only have a handful of books at each level, some have hundreds, some work very hard to ensure the child really is completely confident, can comprehend etc whilst others don't worry so much about expression until the top levels. They are all so different. I have been quite pleased with my daughter's school. they started her at a level right for her, they did spend a LOT of time on the first couple of levels she did (she read over 45 books) but then she did 10 at the next level and each level has taken as long as it needed to. She is very comfortable at the level she now is, she is happy with her books she reads at home and the two are a similar level.

"I think I might just make up a colour next time she asks."

Ooh I've got it. Find a chart somewhere which shows all the colours of bookbands in the reading scheme. Then choose a colour which isn't even IN the reading scheme.

...or "Blue is her favourite colour at the moment so I expect that's what she'll be choosing. I always liked that sort of lilac colour when I was at school so that's what I brought home, right up until Year Five when I decided I liked red better. What's your child's favourite colour?"

I have the dubious pleasure of being DM to the best and worst reader in the class (well that was the case by the end of KS1)

The 'worst' reader finially learnt to read in Y6 and now never has her nose out of a book.

She also got 99% on a science GCSE paper.

She is just as bright as her early reading sister and a better scientist than DD2 will ever be.

I would just say that you were told they were a free reader but you are not sure what that means

It really varies hugely, at nearly the end of YR DS2 is about L2 ORT so probably red/yellow I think. DS1 was on white level at the end of YR. My niece was still on pink level but by the end of Y2 she was absolutely fine.

In Y1 I think they will pay more attention to where the children are as they need to start reporting NC levels and expected progress etc.

I have my third child in reception now, and I would say this:

1 - it really doesn't matter where they are in reception reading-wise,
UNLESS YOU think they are struggling, not progressing, not getting their phonics and their blending. Then, there might be a problem.

2 - Each school has different ways of starting reading, which can make the child's "band" progress appear slower or faster. This doesn't necessary equate with ability of the child or even how academic a school is - they are just different methods.

3 - The absolutely best way to progress a child's reading is to read a variety of books every day. Even with beginner readers, it is worth getting books from the library and then just pointing out familiar words.

FWIW my children all finished Reception at Level 2/3 and have gone on to do very well later on. But to be fair, they were all reading at home very regularly all sorts of books, so not limited to the one or two ORTs we got from school, which imo is not enough to advance their reading at this stage.

I don't suppose it's a major worry, but isn't the sort of person who's going to ask you this question also the sort of person who is going to snoop around and find out whether or not your daughter actually is a free reader? And when she finds out that she isn't! All the mums together, pointing, yak, yak, yak.

Far better to say, ah, yes, let me see, crimson, I think. Must dash.

IME the children all know what level the other children are on so she probably already knows and just wanted to be able to say her child is higher.

Oooh, aren't some people just looking for a punch on the nose? Why do that?

mrz usully quotes between pink(1) and white (10) I haave/had one of each, and funnily enough, i was more worried about the 10 than the 1 as she was not reading in school. the 10 was one month younger in the year than the 1. both are summer born.

the 10 sat at 10 for ages as she consolidated and learned more vocab, caught up with the comprehension questions. I expect the 1 will take off soon.

I would like to know the levels of the children in the class as a comparison, but do not care which particular child is on which leval, just an overall view of the spread in the class...

If it's a parent from the same school I just plead ignorant and say "I'm not sure, it seems like he brings home a different colour every day! Ha ha ha!"

If it's a parent from another school, I'll truthfully answer black level, or get my son to tell them. His school have ORT and a variety of other books, including real story books, but have their own colour scheme so people outside the school wouldn't have a clue. I could tell them the ORT level equivalent, but I won't. Just mumble about DS not bringing home scheme books for a while, so I'm not sure.

My son knows what level everyone on his home table, and phonics set is on, but doesn't care!