Reception reading - when to talk to teacher?

[StarvingBookworm]

Over the summer, DD (4y 3m) started reading alone, almost overnight. She started reception last week. First reading book was sent home yesterday. She read it in about 30 seconds. I sat with her and listened again, asked her questions about the pictures etc to try and help her comprehension which is something she needs work on with some books.

Her book is only changed once a week, am planning on reading/talking about this one a couple more times - but it's too easy in what it's asking. Should I speak to school yet, should I wait a bit while she gets used to school and work on comprehension etc, should I just leave it until they work it out?

I really don't want to be labelled as a pushy parent, but I have no idea how to approach this.

Thank you!

These reception aged children that can read, do they read by word recognition or by decoding using phonics? Very interesting, as DS who started reception a couple of weeks ago absolutely loves books and being read to (I can easily spend a couple of hours in the library with him), BUT he has no interest in learning to read. I do sometimes sound out words and point to the words as I say them, but he doesn't like it and just wants me to carry on with telling the story! I'm not worried in the least, but just wondered how any child does learn to read.
Should ask my parents really as I was reading by 4yrs old in 2 different languages and my DH taught himself to read by 3yrs too! I have no idea if I was "taught" to read, or just did it myself.

I taught DD with phonics, I'm really pro-phonics and didn't want her to learn by "look and say". She is rising 5 - if her birthday was a few weeks earlier she would have started reception last year unable to read at all, like many of the other children. It's amazing the difference a year makes!

Choceyes - my DS2 started reception this month. He can read well for his age ( no child genius as utterly clueless at anything else).

He learnt through doing phonics at nursery and it clicked in his head that it related to words in books. Taught himself. I thought he was talking to himself in bed then discovered months later he was reading books out loud.

Lucky for us his teacher spotted his interest in reading, came to speak to me and said she wanted to bench mark him after doing a brief assessment. She has and he brought home a new reading book yesterday that is apt for him.

My DS1 couldn't read at all until the latter term of reception. It did not click with him. Was a lot of books with the same old words "look, here, it, is " He is 8 and it is only this Summer he has discovered the wonderfulness of fiction and begun to enjoy reading.

I think it is one of those things that you cannot push but can just introduce reading as something that is all round in their daily lives. And keep stories read at bedtimes a happy time.

The school should be differentiating at each end of the spectrum. If she can read, she should be given a book to help consolidate and practice. It's really that simple. Of course reception is about other things and there are differing levels of ability but a suitably challenging book is a no brainer to me.

Just read back my most recent post and realised it looks a bit nobbish - I didn't mean to imply that starting reception unable to read is a bad thing. What I was trying to say was that the randomness of school year groups has meant that DD1 happens to be able to read already.

agree with Mistlethrush. I still have this issue in Y2 and DD is basically a very fluent and advanced reader. They repeatedly send home books she can gulp down in under 5 minutes. I write in the book "this is too simple", they write "No it isn't, it's quite complex" and we carry on like that through the terms! Her comprehension is fine...

My conclusion is that it's worth having a word in a few weeks if the books are still not at the right level but if they have a certain idea about the route to reading, it's hard to move them off it and you should just read what you enjoy together at home. In the early years I did read the school books with DD just so that she could then read with the TA and show them that she'd done what was asked. But now I just ignore the books they send home and we read our own stuff because I want her to have the love of reading, not plodding through the badly written and boring stuff they send home.

Different strokes though. DS is also in Reception and is just about reading cat, hat, sat (Aug baby) so he'll probably be very happy on their scheme at least at the beginning. Just really sharing my experience that this issue doesn't go away.

it will carry on up the school I agree. I would just put a note in the reading record saying 'read well, with expression and so on' then note in the books she has read at home. Then give them a chance to see what level they feel she is working at and go from there.

OP, make sure that your DD isn't reading the book at school with the teacher and then just remembering it when she reads again at home - this does happen with some children! If you know she is reading it easily the first time she's seen it then just make a note in the reading diary. I think comments like "could we have a book that's a bit more challenging for her?" will go down much better than ones like "this is too easy" :) The school may not have noticed yet - my DS learned to read pretty much overnight as your DD did and it took them a while to believe me :)