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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

My sons school reading level doesnt match the level at home?

14 replies

pomegranate1975 · 07/04/2014 00:47

My son is in first year of school. He recently brings home school readers of level 3. Whereas at home he can read level 11 fluently. I dont understand why he hasnt been moved up? I wrote the teacher a letter to review his reading level. Do you think that was okay to ask the teacher to do that?

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Original poster

pomegranate1975 · 07/04/2014 00:47

we are in Australia.

OP posts:

TrinityRhino · 07/04/2014 00:52

maybe his comprehension isn't at a level to move up

he's only in first year, chill out

you were fine to ask the teacher but that depends on what you're going to do if she does nothing

is he your first?

ZanyMobster · 07/04/2014 07:59

Some schools require the children to have completed all the relevant comprehension tasks for each level before moving them up.

This is what happened at DS1s old school which is fine with regards to the comprehension side but it meant he was never challenged with his actual reading so was completely bored with school books.

I am not sure how your levels correlate with ours in the UK but it is unlikely that a reception age child would be able to complete the comprehension tasks for L11 (around a 3c in our NC levels) as they would just not understand.

On the other hand at DS2s school they just read the books in the level and move up, they do separate comprehension work. I think this can work better however there are some children on very high reading levels who can just read words very easily but they are not able to understand the books as well as they should do.

I would have a chat to the teacher and see what they say but at this stage I wouldn't worry at all and if he wants to read different books at home as well as the school books then this is not a bad thing.

mrz · 07/04/2014 08:26

I'm assuming by the levels you are talking Reading Recovery levels?

ilovepowerhoop · 07/04/2014 08:42

librarianedge.pbworks.com/w/page/16868404/Literacy%20and%20leveled%20reading - level 11 reading recovery is about stage 4 ORT.

I think dd/ds school use reading recovery levels for everyone too (Scotland)

SilkStalkings · 07/04/2014 08:45

Perhaps he's just very good at decoding and is not actually listening to what comes out of his own mouth.

MissMe · 07/04/2014 09:45

I don't like to move children up until I am sure that they are able to understand what they are reading. Some of my Y2 can read at age 11 levels - but I cannot give them a young-teen book to read, it would be totally inappropriate!

GoodnessIsThatTheTime · 07/04/2014 15:36

They often start school at 5 or 6 in Australia, depending on state. I'm not sure how much they do at kinder but it often starts later.

MrsKCastle · 07/04/2014 22:26

It's ok to ask the teacher, but it could be for all sorts of reasons. Most usual reason is that the child's comprehension is not as advanced as their decoding. Comprehension includes things like:
How does the character feel?
Why did he/she do that?
What do you think the writer is trying to tell us?
Where is the story set?
Where is the introduction/contents page/glossary and what is it for?
What did the writer mean when she used the word x?

It's not just about 're-telling the story.

simpson · 07/04/2014 23:36

Are you talking ORT? Stage 3 to 11 seems a major difference.

I would be speaking to the teacher (in a non confrontational way) about the difference and how you can support your child at home.

nonicknameseemsavailable · 08/04/2014 00:08

I THINK with the Australian levels - just to make it clearer to UK people - the difference from 3 to 11 is the difference of red band to blue band so 2-4 over here.

brettgirl2 · 08/04/2014 06:29

rather than writing a letter I would ask the teacher what they are concentrating on at the moment with the childs reading and therefore how you can support it. It isnt just about barking words out but comprehension, links to writing etc. Of course the main thing is that they actually learn to enjoy reading in the long term.

ilovepowerhoop · 08/04/2014 08:03

if you look at the link I posted above it gives the reading recovery levels as opposed to ORT. DD/DS school used those levels too rather than ORT (Scotland).

Lizziewarmington · 09/04/2014 08:52

Hope you are equally worried about him Getting himself dressed, laying the table, taking turns, being polite, swimming and riding a bike independently etc etc. Please relax about reading or you could put him off and as you say let him choose at home and enjoy books not levels. No one puts when they learnt to read on their uni application form.

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