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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.

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Original poster

Dandelion readers - painfully slow progress reception

22 replies

Onelittlebugbear · 04/12/2013 16:33

Ds is now on level 5 of the dandelion readers.
He's had all his letter sounds for well over a year so he's just been learning the tricky words and sounding out the CVC words.
But school will only send out two books a week - apparently they only give some children one book. Ds is more than capable of sounding out CVC words and IMO should be moving quickly towards CCVC and CVCC. Do I just have to suck it up and live with it or should I say something? They went over all the letter sounds week by week with the children regardless of whether or not the children already knew them and appear to be sending the books out at the rate at which they have learnt the phonic.
I find once we've read the book once ds has memorised it anyway so keeping it for 4 nights is a bit pointless. If we could get through a unit a week until it became a bit more tricky progress would be loads faster!

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columngollum · 04/12/2013 17:04

Why not teach him to read yourself and chuck the school books in the bin?

Original poster

Onelittlebugbear · 04/12/2013 17:13

I did wonder that but was worried he would be bored at school. I'd taught him his letter sounds (with the help of the iPad) but they seem to have moved all the children at the same pace regardless.

OP posts:

freetrait · 04/12/2013 23:45

Just ask for a harder book.

simpson · 05/12/2013 00:28

I would either ask for a harder book (which may need him to be assessed first) or do what I did with DD and do my own thing.

The books are not just about the decoding though, it is about the understanding of the story: being able to predict what will happen next, how a certain character might feel, the inference or hidden message in the text ( although not sure there is much at stage 5, I forget ).

DD is now in yr1 and has not read any of her school books for weeks ( she refuses).

mrz · 05/12/2013 07:15

There isn't a stage 5 in Dandelion. The book with be unit 5 (teaching sounds k l r u pink book band) Tell the teacher your son knows his letter sounds and ask if they can assess him to see where he needs to be placed. If he does know his sounds he would need to move on 2 or 3 units (unit 7 introduces double consonants and unit 8 cvcc words)

Iris445 · 05/12/2013 07:48

Not wanting to hijack your thread but I have a similar problem. My DS can read the pink level books with only sounding out one or possibly two words. He reads the red level books ( our own) at home and these seem an appropriate challenge, more sounding out required. ( not a struggle though)

At the moment we just read the school books super fast to tick the reading record. Our teacher is a bit odd though and I don't want to irritate her.

My question is how much sounding out should be required to challenge a reader?

noblegiraffe · 05/12/2013 07:55

My DS is the same. I asked and they only give out books for the sounds that they have taught, although they acknowledge that DS is finding the books easy.

I've decided that seeing as he learned his letter sounds in an ad-hoc way it's probably a good idea to let him go through the scheme and ensure the foundations are secure. He has become so much better at reading from these basic books and now mostly doesn't need to sound out, has been practising words like the etc.

We get harder books out from the library for a bit of a challenge. He is enjoying reading at the moment and I know that this is a fragile thing, especially for boys so I don't want to put too much on him.

Original poster

Onelittlebugbear · 05/12/2013 10:47

Sorry yes I meant unit 5, which is still single letter sounds. I think I will catch her and ask about moving to unit 7. It does seem that they are only sending them when they've learnt the letters as a whole class even if the children already know them.

OP posts:

jgjgjg · 05/12/2013 11:05

Yep, definitely don't let him be held back at the pace of 29 other children if it isn't right for him. Quickly read the school books, once or twice maximum. Reading a book 4 times is pointless if he's memorised it. Then get your him some more appropriate books from somewhere, either new or from library/charity shop/eBay etc and let him progess at the rate appropriate for him. It does mean more effort on your behalf because you have to be aware of exactly what stage he's at, what he needs to move on to next, and always be one step ahead in planning to have the right resources at the right time.

Periwinkle007 · 05/12/2013 13:20

DD1 started school able to read fluently - she still did phonics with all the other children and class reading etc. her reading books were harder but it took pretty much all year to get them up to the level she was reading at home. DD2 started already knowing a lot of her sounds - just missing ie, ea, igh etc and is doing all the simple sounds with everyone else but her reading is progressing well up the levels and at home she reads well.

I worked on the principle that they can read what they want at home, at school I PERSONALLY felt it was important they did all the phonics with the rest of the class. It won't harm them and it really does ensure they know all of them, it often goes along with practicing writing the letters as well so I wouldn't have wanted them removed from that. It would have been nice if they had been able to move on at their level but as they couldn't we just mentioned them at home and they picked them up quickly.

I don't remember DD1 complaining it was boring but the teacher did comment she seemed a bit switched off in the class reading sessions sometimes (hardly surprising when she had read the book on her own a year before) but I still didn't see it as harmful.

I suppose what I am saying is I would PERSONALLY just note in the reading record how fluently, well, easily, with expression and comprehension etc the book was read and then note what was read from the library or home collection.

columngollum · 05/12/2013 13:27

We're getting rapidly off topic here, but schools can be unbelievably crap at dealing with children who enter reception already being able to read. Some reception teachers, reading coordinators and head teachers don't seem to know what a reading reception child is. (Better start her off with phonics actions and wordless books in case she comes from mars.)

Iris445 · 05/12/2013 14:09

^^ yes that's my problem, when I gently explained DS could read she said maybe he guesses using the pictures...

Today's book was read in under two mins, no mistakes, all questions were read as questions ( raised voice at end) etc.

I keep trying to chill about it, but really it's annoying!!!!

columngollum · 05/12/2013 14:16

You give up after a while of explaining, child, book, words, reading, you know? Um, let me try again. Book, child, reading, you get me? No?

OK, you're right. My child can't read. What was that you suggested? Wordless books? Right-o.

simpson · 05/12/2013 18:14

DD also started school able to read well. She had phonics with everybody else (although split into ability groups) and my goodness, did she moan!!

She hated "sound time" with a passion and I heard about it all year!

Now she is in yr1 though, phonics is one of her favourite lessons! For the kids that can read well (and there are a fair few of them) they concentrate on punctuation to go with the phonics ie DD will be asked to write "It is an elephant." or "Is it an elephant?" and to get the punctuation correctly. Whilst other kids can learn the ph sound, or how to spell the word "elephant"

(the example I have given is very basic and she does harder stuff, but you get the picture!)

freetrait · 05/12/2013 20:15

DD was given a Dandelion reader in October as her first book, but luckily after I asked her teacher swapped it straight away for something more suitable. She's worked her way through those and I thought she'd go up to the next level, but no, there's some non-fiction. Hooray! . Actually she really enjoyed the non-fiction. I did too- DS didn't do those. There are five of those, so she'll probably do all of them before they move her up (or maybe there are more of that level, we shall see... .

freetrait · 05/12/2013 20:18

simpson, DS seems to have stopped reading school books too . He actually brought home one that I thought was too mature for him . I want to get him back on stories again soon though. He's reading loads of non-fiction, loads and loads of science and history. Just wondering do I go with the flow with him on that, or get him to read a story? I think I will make sure I read a good story to him to keep that language and imagination going.

simpson · 05/12/2013 20:29

DD skips off happily to the yr2 or yr3 classroom to choose her book but once home, refuses to even look at them.

The issue for DD has always been non fiction. She would choose fiction every time.

The school seem ok about her not reading her school books as I write in her diary what she reads instead.

She has got quite into history lately so I have used this to push the non fiction reading (or lack of it) and she has read books on The Plague, The Great Fire of London. She is currently reading a book on Henry 8th.

But the non fiction is harder work (to get her to do it).

mrsmortis · 05/12/2013 20:40

Are you writing what he is reading in his reading record? We were having this issue with our DD initially until I started documenting everything I had her read to me. Her teacher really took notice and she is now 3 bands up from where she was when I started doing it.

freetrait · 05/12/2013 21:42

He is off the bands. I think school has abdicated responsibility somewhat for his reading. Fair play. Simpson we have the opposite with DS going only for non-fiction at the moment. Ah well. For about two years he read fiction and now he is on a bout of non-fiction. I guess that is ok. . I am reading him Stig of the Dump, and I guess at some point I will find him Harry Potter- I just want to catch him at the right time for that and for him to want to read it!

simpson · 05/12/2013 22:42

We have the opposite problem in that DD has to stay on the school book bands till she is an NC Level 3.

Tbh I think she would get more out of a book that I choose than the school ones, especially as she hates them.

DD loved HP (not sure how much she understood as she read it to herself, I would rather she have waited tbh).

Does he like Horrid Henry? That was what got DS (now 8) reading fiction, that and Wimpy Kid books.

freetrait · 06/12/2013 17:39

He read Horrid Henry for about 2 years, well maybe 18 months from 5-6.5. Just having a non-fiction phase I think . Then I think I will find him HP and Famous Five and hope something grabs him.

I wouldn't make her read the school books if she hates them, but then I am a rebel. This time last year (DS is Year 2 now, just 7, DS was on the scheme books which were a mix. He did read them, but mostly they were quite short so didn't take very long. And if there was ever a tedious one we would read most of it to him so he only had to read a bit and it was done . You could try that?!

simpson · 06/12/2013 20:00

Miracle of miracles, she decided to read her school book tonight!! Although this would be the week she has been given 3 but 1/3 isn't bad!

We had the Horrid Henry phase too which thankfully has passed. He might like the Wimpy Kid books?

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