Year 1 reading levels- feeling a bit freaked by other parents

[ladyandthechocolate]

DD is very young for her year, late aug and has just gone into y1. She started reception with no reading ability and now is on a reading level which I think is magenta. She still has to sound out most words and can find the process quite frustrating. She is getting to grips with some of the tricky high frequency words (we, you, here, said) but they are not coming easily. She adores being read to and we've recently finished the magic faraway tree and charlotte's web so her understanding is there.
Anyway, I wasn't worried until I went to a party today and some of the mums were chatting about school and reading levels, one was moaning her ds is finding the yellow level too easy and needs to be challenged. God, I hate these comparisons but tbh I was a bit worried about dd's progress. It seemed all the others seem to be streets ahead.
We read every day but should I be doing more?

Ah wow I have one v v able child (Feb born). Did everything with little input from either us or his teacher. He's a natural learner

My second child (May born) finds everything a struggle despite loads more input from us and his teacher. He is the opposite of a natural learner.

You are naive in the extreme if you think your child being capable despite her August birthday is nothing other than bloody luck.

luck?

So when you said "being born in August is certainly no excuse to be behind!" you actually meant "being born in August may be a factor in where you are at the start of Year 1 and could account for being behind your older classmates, but it could also be masking a genuine problem and parents and teachers should be alert to that possibility"?

what I mean is, a lot of parents go on how their child is behind "but that's normal" (and ok) because they are younger than most of their peers! I'm sorry but I do not agree and some people do use this as an excuse! if your child has no problems when it comes to learning then there is no excuse!

If OP is concerned she should speak to the teacher!

I didn't really bother with all of that school stuff till my kids were into year 2. I worked on their social skills and they caught up with the academic stuff. DS is above average and dd is G&T but they are both incredibly grown up, bright and sociable in any situation.

3 of the competitive mums have super bright kids (really) who they constantly brag about yet the kids are IMO lacking in social skills and can't even hold a conversation with an adult and find looking you in the eye a problem.

So don't sweat the academic stuff, don't pressure your child, concentrate on making them a well rounded individual and the rest will come with very little effort in my experience.

luck?

Yes luck. DS was in the fortunate position that if he read a word once, he would know it next time. It was something inate and no virtue was involved on his or mine. OP's DD is not in that fortunate
position; it sounds like she really has to work on her reading and OP is doing her absolute best to help her.

the term 'using as an excuse' is really loaded though, and is the reason that people are finding your posts hard to take.

Being up to a year younger than the other children is often a reason children are behind their peers rather than an excuse.

If you, as a parent, feel there is a difference in your child's level of achievement in school versus their ability level then there is every reason to speak to the school. The op did not give that impression.

The reading level thing is a red herring, we have no idea what level the child is actually on.

Arguing over age being an excuse is pointless as it isn't 100% fact. Some August born children will be "behind" someone born in November and some won't. Same as everything related to development, you shouldn't generalise.

My DD is August born and is actually top of the class doing some work 1-2 years ahead. She is top of the class because she has parents who are very bright and has been very keen on learning since she was two. Another child we know born in August struggles a lot more due to many reasons. Being born in September does not automatically make you top of the class just as being born in August does not make you behind. There is so much more to ability than the month you were born!

OP, if you believe you are doing everything you can to help your child progress, along with the teacher, then I would try not to worry. If you feel your child is capable of more and needs more input then try and find the time.

"what I mean is, a lot of parents go on how their child is behind "but that's normal" (and ok) because they are younger than most of their peers! I'm sorry but I do not agree"

That's fascinating, but experts who've actually done extensive research on this do agree that, on average, children who are youngest in the year will be behind children who are the eldest in the year. Obviously it doesn't apply to each indivudual child because that's not how statistics work.

It's not even particularly counter-intuitive; if Child X (with a September birthday) starts Reception at a level well ahead of the much younger Child Y (with an August birthday) then why would he finish Reception at exactly the same level? You appear to be arguing that if Child Y doesn't make much more progress than Child X "there is no excuse" - so what's the excuse for Child X making much less progress than Child Y (which is the necessary consequence of that)?

op if you are still reading please try and see past all the arguing that's going on re agust vs September babies and go by your own dd.

If indeed you mean stage 1/2 red books then I do suggest that whilst it's ok to take comfort in other peoples stories of their kid being at similar stages at yr 1 and being ahead by yr 3, I do believe that it is not worth risking leaving it.

After all it can only go one of two ways, the teacher agrees that she needs extra support, or she tells you not to worry and they will revisit the situation in a month or two.

There is a chance that she hasn't been heard enough or hasn't had extra support that she needed. Or the reception teacher wasn't making her classes accessible to everyone. Alerting the teacher to this can't be a bad thing as it will help others in reception and maybe get your dd some extra phonics tuition.

Whilst her age is a factor it is imperative that you do not take that as a repeated excuse if you feel that she is being left behind. Just ask the teachers.

I'm back! Was working today and I just thought I'd log on to see if the thread had been continued and it certainly has.
So, I thought I should give you a few details about the exact books DD is reading. We had home from school this weekend a snapdragons book stage 1+ 'hello grandma'. I'll give you an extract " we went to sleep on the plane, too". She managed ok with this book but it wasn't that interesting.
We are also reading the Songbirds collection at home and she is bridging level 2/3.

She started school with no pen control, doing very simple drawings and is now drawing very well. Ditto reading ability, she had none and now she has some. I just don't think you can compare children at this age despite the fact they have all been taught the same things. She is very mature in other ways, talks well to adults and is confident and has very good understanding.
I will speak to her teacher this week and see what she thinks.

It's not about comparing them. It's about keeping on top of the situation to ensure that there aren't problems and that support is given where needed. There may well be nothing to worry about but as with anything better safe than sorry. I apologise if I have worried you or upset you that was never my aim. I just think that it's best to find out. :)

What method are they teaching in her school? I agree with some of the other posters that while it is perfectly normal that she hasn't got to grips with reading yet, I would personally want to look into it. I would have a chat with the teacher about which aspects of reading she finds hard and where they are with learning different sounds etc. Keep practising the sounds she has learned and check that the books she is being given match what she has been taught. For instance, has she covered 'ee' 'oo' and the long 'a_e' in plane? If not, or she's not yet confident with those sounds, then I'd question whether she's on a suitable type/level of books.

FWIW, I have a DD same age as yours- August born- and she has picked up reading very quickly and confidently, using a phonics approach. However, although her understanding is good, she is not yet able to access chapter books- even when read to her. There's no way in the world I could get her to read and enjoy Charlotte's Web yet! She's still very happy with picture books. They all have their own particular strenths.

wheres I do agree it is best to find out, that's why I posted to begin with,to get some general feedback on other people's DC at a similar stage.

I feel she should be better at reading than she is as I am very academically qualified and while DH hasn't got great academic qualifications for other reasons, he's certainly not daft. We've read lots and lots to her since she was a baby. I think she finds the whole decoding aspect quite frustrating and I sometimes feel uncomfortable reading with her as her irritation shows through and ruins her concentration. Maybe it's a maturity thing or is it a sign of an underlying problem?
She's done oo/ee/ch/sh and understands those.
We do reading eggs but not regularly. We do some reading pretty much every day but sometimes it's really really hard to find lots of time for extra work for reasons I can't go into without giving myself away. That should improve with time though.
Feeling a bit sad and worried now. Not particularly with what others have said but just the realisation that there could be a problem and how I'm going to fix it.

Don't worry about it. Its just her age and she will catch up at some point.

Our school identifies the younger ones who need more help and they get one to one assistance called Reading Recovery.

There could be any number of factors here. She's only jut gone into yr 1 so there is plenty of time to help her and get her where she needs to be. ORT has to be one of the most boring schemes ever. My dd thrived on library books and rainbow fairies way before she was moved up on the damn things.interest is key , she will do better reading books she enjoys.

In all honesty the teaching may or may not have been that great it might not be your dd who has the problem if that makes sense. Hopefully her new teacher will be able to pin point where her strengths and weaknesses lie. Once you know that you can begin to know what to work on. Better now than in yr 2 or three. If it does turn out that this is how it is and she naturally is slower to pick it up , it will sink in, she won't be on red forever but of she's getting annoyed with herself then obviously it's best to act sooner rather than later before it puts her off for good.

Don't be hard on yourself it is very hard to know, if it was easy you wouldn't need to post. I hope your dds new teacher can she's some light. :)

Shed

Hi - if it's any reassurance my DD was in year 1 last year and is a Nov birthday. She was struggling to blend simple words this time last year and I was probably even more worried than you because she's an Autumn birthday. She did come on a lot in a year. We bought an Usborne set of readers (yellow box set called Very First Reading) which helped a bit and I did a lot of extra practice with her that I hadn't had to do with my first born child who was June Birthday

Have a word with the teacher, that's all you can do really! It is a worry and a shock if for whatever reason they don't develop in something as you think they might. But they are all different. Year one can be an anxious year for reading from a parent's point of view - from what I've seen there can typically be a large range in that year from those free reading chapter books to those still working on the basics.

A bit late to this thread - and all the reassuring words have been said. Progress and interest are great, and she'll get there. For some kids, at some point it 'clicks' and they speed ahead, others need to apply themselves more.

I have seen in my DDs how different they can be, and for the record both had the same reception teacher. neither could really do more than recognise the letters in their own first names at the time they started reception:
DD1, late July baby third youngest in her class, took to reading effortlessly and I never had to make much effort practising with her - we do and did read every day at home. She enjoyed it and was a 'natural', holding her own with the best readers in her class from day one.
Three years later
DD2 , early Sept baby, oldest in her class, took much longer. by Christmas we were still working on blending 3 letter words. I had to muster all my patience not to show my frustration at the lack of progress and the endess need for repetition. She did make progress. She is reading fine, enjoying it too - but at a very different pace. She enjoys writing enormously too, but again the 'quality' of her handwriting is nowhere near where DD1 was at the start of Y1. On the other hand she's a natural in mathematical reasoning, something I had noticed already when she was a toddler...

So: don't worry, don't get sucked into competitiveness, and be guided by the teacher (who in my case had some suggestions on how to support DD2 even though she was not worried in any shape or form by the slower rate of progress)

ladyandthechocolate my dd's reading level in Y1 was only just above average. I was a bit surprised because I, like you, expected her to be like me (I read before going to school.)

I was even more surprised that she was singled out of her year for 2 extension groups and sent to the local high school for them. I couldn't understand given her very average-ness at reading & writing.

However, her teacher assured me that she was indeed very clever and that the reading & writing would happen.

And it did. By the end of Y2 she had finished all reading levels and assessed to have a reading age of 11.

So my point is, try to trust the teacher and to be patient with your child. The learning may not happen the way that you or I wish or imagine, but it will happen. It would be really interesting to know where your daughter is at in a year's time.

I'd say that is almost exactly where my dd was at the beginning of year 1. I didn't question it but knew she was in the hands of a very capable teacher. They also do read write Inc. as said before she has made really good progress.

So yes, have a word with the teacher about your concerns but please ignore silly comments about ensuring your child is in the top group. There is just so much more to life!

Do other people have these levels up on a big poster by the classroom door? Else, how in the world do you know what is above or below colour wise? I'd be nodding politely & happily cluelessly at "yellow", "red" or "magenta" levels.

Dont worry, my son is one of the older children in yr 1 and he sounds to be at the same level as your daughter. I flagged my concerns with his teacher and she reassured me that he is doing fine, he is making progress at his pace and is average in the class. They are s5till woring on blending, phonics etc and they expect a reading leap in most of the children at some point during the year, each child will differ as to when this happens. Dont worry your dd is where she should be, please ignore xxwowxx@s clap trap.

fwiw, my now 8yo was not interested in reading at all till the middle of yr 1 when she was about to turn 6.

By the middle of yr 2 (nearly 7) she was reading independently including the Roald Dahl books, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. (recommended for 9 -11 yr olds)

I'd say that as long as you read to her and she's understanding well and has a decent working vocabulary then she will be fine. I wouldn't start to worry till she turns 7 which is when they start formal teaching in Scandinavian countries.

The Oxford Reading Tree is slow crucifixion for parents. I stopped reading it by the end of the autumn term in yr 2 (when she was 6.5yo and she was had a good uptake of high frequency non-phonetic words) and we read whatever we liked in bed. She'd read for 5 mins and I read the rest till lights out. Round the middle of the Summer term I listed the books we/she had read in her reading log and I was pleasantly surprised.

Try not to worry - easier said that done I know. My son is in Year 2. He spent most of reception on red level and was on red up until about autumn half term of year 1, so less than a year ago - just after he turned 6. It then really "clicked" for him and he's raced through the levels and is on white level now. He was moving up levels every few weeks at one stage. He loves reading now and sits in bed reading his encyclopaedia or chapter books most nights. They all develop at a different speeds.