Should my reception twins be on higher reading levels?

[lovessummer]

My 5 year old twins are nearing the end of reception & every time I read reception reading threads on here, it makes me worry! One is on green ORT & one is on blue. We read loads of books etc in the house & I realise i could push it more, but to be honest, feel they are knackered most evenings and want to relax at weekends. They get two books a week & we read them a few times during the week. They are always confident by end of week if not on first or second read through. But by end of year, they are clearly not going to be on higher levels. It's a pushy middle class school, so I am presuming most of the other kids will be on higher levels. (One mum said in passing her child had been given a poetry book last week) On MN all the children seem to be on much higher levels by end of reception. I guess what I am asking is should I be pushing them more and going in to request more books, as I know they are capable- they are bright and engaged with a love of books? Or shall I just leave it to work itself out & not pressure them in their last few weeks of school? We'll do lots of reading over the holidays I am sure. Are they reassessed in September? Maybe they could catch up then?

Well in my DD's case she gets through 1 development book per week and at least 2 pleasure books, but sometimes 3 or 4. Their development book they are allowed to read if they have finished all their allocated class work and they are encouraged to read their pleasure books if there is wet play. So not really 10mins once a week for weeks. In English class they consider a wide variety of genres including plays, letters, poems etc usually reading an example and then writing their own.
Development books for year 4 would be classics like Carrie's War, Charlotte's Web, Swallows and Amazons, Pollyanna also more modern books like Spiderwick Cronicles and Invasion.

All I can say Blue is that it really works the fast majority of girls have a tremendous enthusiasm for reading and if my DD is anything to go by the reading ages are high from this system.

Daft I guess my dc will get less time as they get older to read what they want for pleasure. You can see why reading gets squeezed out.

Don't worry Blue I spent half the time I was supposed to be studying for my degree reading trashy novels (light relief/ rebellion over what I had to read).

I find time, even in the bath!

Interestingly my year 4 twins have read most of those for pleasure(must get Carrie's War),Swallows and Amazons wasn't a hit though.I rem hating that book(written in a dull turgid way)and interestingly DS didn't want to finish it(first time ever).He wasn't reading as much so I let him ditch it.Believe me at the rate he was going it would have taken weeks.

Ditto Daft(and Jackie magazine). Eng Lit degree

I don't read books for development now,at my age there isn't much left to develop!

Not being funny but how many boys would stick with Pollyanna and romp through it?

But do you not mix up Chick lit with things like Salmon fishing in the Yemen or the Kite Runner or A Thousand Skies?
Some of the time I read to escape and other times to explore ideas and cultures etc - this I would call development.

But that is why there is a choice in the development books. I suspect this is why I choose this school as it had an approach to reading I have emulated through my adult life. Not everyone's cup of tea I know.

My reading tastes now are all over the place, from books about lit theory, cultural beliefs about forests and winter to Game of Thrones, philosophy, non fiction books about plants and fungi, New Scientist. I don't read much chick lit, although I sometimes do and some is very good.

I think what I'm saying is I don't worry about genre any more.

Don't read chicklit,find it annoying and tbh since babies time is so short I have to love a book and find it fully engaging to read.I'm kind of middle of the road now- yes Kite Runner etc.

My DD (summer born) was on pink for the whole year. They don't do a specific scheme like ORT though, just a mix. She is in yr1 and on orange now. I don't have the foggiest about anyone else but the teachers seem happy and DD is reading other stuff happily (dr seuss and some non fiction like usborne beginners) so it seems ok.

Oops only looked at page 1 and it seems to have moved on...

Hi - retired TA (male) here, with 20 yrs KS1 classroom experience -

OH DEAR! - this all gets so sad, that so many parents worry and fret about things when there is TOTALLY NO NEED TO!

As all the other replies have said, lovessummer , your twins are perfectly within where one would be happy for them to be at the end of Reception. I have worked with plenty of children who are at this stage in Yr2, because their parents NEVER read TO or WITH them, and see school as being solely responsible for teaching, and it's not parents' job. BUT, needless to say, they are NOT MN parents!

Rather surprisingly, we haven't had the dreaded 'phonics' debate yet in this thread : do try to ensure they are sounding out correctly, and not just remembering words which have been previously told to them. I once did voluntary help with a Reception class, where many of the children would just 'recite' whole books, without even glancing at the pages, because they had done them so many times and knew them off by heart! That is NOT reading.

So, OP, carry on just as you are : a variety of books, plenty of praise, encouragement, and discussion, and above all, MUTUAL ENJOYMENT!

[ Blueskiesandbuttercups : you upset me! : S&A has always been my favourite book; it contains history, natural history, teaches you to sail, and is good clean fun, though admittedly old fashioned. 'Coot Club', set in The Broads, and can be read in conjunction with the 2-1/2" OS map, as all the locations are real. ]

Only briefly fuzz, just discussing how what you read at school influences (or doesn't influence) adult reading habits.

Ferguson DS says "they just keep going to collect the milk and nothing happens" that is all I can remember tbh. Sorry!

He reads and loves anything and everything particularly adventure stuff so I was surprised though.

He switched to 5 Children and It then Phoenix and the Carpet which he is loving.

I never read Swallows and Amazons, or 5 children and it. I loved Ballet Shoes, Charlotte's Web, Swish of the Curtain etc

now my adult tastes currently are harmless easy reads like Debbie Macomber or Adriana Trigiani but I also like (when less tired and stressed out) autobiographies and what I class as 'important stories that need to be told and recognised' like books about the roles SOE women did during the war etc or The Shetland Bus.

The term free reader should be banned, it implies an end point and anyway all kids are free to read other stuff at home. We read all sorts, except on fridays when everyone is shattered. The kids i teach in y5 do ORT treetops, most on L14/15, i expect them to read around 4 a half term one from each genre and then spend the rest of their time reading from our vast library or home books. They love the treetops books as they are much shorter than anything else they read and have pictures. Lots tie in with our history topics too.
I have two kids in the class who were raced up the levels (school has a slow and steady wins the race approach). It may be coincidence but they are my two poorest spellers with weak knowledge of phonics. They are also less enthusiastic than most. Won't always happen with early readers of course but both had very pushy parents behind them...

surely though Babiesarelikebuses the school shouldn't have moved those children up the levels then. At the end of the day the teacher is the one in control of that however pushy a parent may be.

Yes i agree. I'm not sure who moved them up and am 90% sure it was the children themselves.. We have now closed the loophole but when we first bought treetops children managed it themselves for the most part. Worked for the vast majority and the children liked being able to choose the book and genre. One or two took advantage. One of these boys came to me at the start of y5 on level 16 and admitted moving self up (we save these for y6 as topics are challenging and several based on ww2 which they study that year). He read all the words fine but his tone wasn't right and comprehension minimal. He wasn't impressed but i moved him down to a more appropriate level. It was a teething problem for us (previously we had no scheme from y3 onwards just library) but it made me think re my own dc about not rushing.

wow - I can't believe a child would have the nerve to do that or even the inclination. that was some loophole but then once they are at that sort of age you would hope you could trust them to a point wouldn't you.

Agree some loophole and to get to year 6 before anybody noticed comprehension problems.

Comprehension probs noticed in y4. Advice given, extra teacher time, parents summoned etc. only started taking it seriously later in y5 when kids they were ahead of they are now behind.
I was surprised a child would have the nerve. Suspect it was parent's suggestion!

Those levels sound fine fore op? Dd is in year 2 in an outstanding primary and they aim to get everyone to level 4 minimum at the end of reception. Dd is y2 stage 12 and top of her class. Don't forget mums net has lots of kids who are tutored or go to private school etc. levels 4&5 in reception are above average for all the reception kids I know! In dds class, some kids are on level 4 at age 7.

I volunteer in an outstanding infant school as well as having a DD in reception (different school).

In the outstanding school they aim of level 3 (yellow) or above and the highest level any kids are on is blue (120 kids in reception).

In DD's class (90 kids) there are 4 kids on turquoise and DD who isnot on levelled books anymore but I would not say she is a free reader as she skipped stage 11 and I suspect she will go back on them when she has matured a bit.

Ahhh, pressed post too soon

There are still a fair few kids on pink/red level at both schools.

My DD (reception) has just gone onto blue and I am pleased as punch.

No children in her class (v. good, inner city primary) are above blue.

I am delighted with how her reading has come on. I was very sceptical about phonics, but this year has converted me. A couple of times I have wondered whether she should go up a band, but then she has had a big leap in terms of reading, and I realised that the teachers really do know what they are doing.