Reading levels at home and at school - does it matter if they are different?

[Hooliesmoolies]

This is a hard question to ask without sounding like another over-inflated parent who thinks their child is a genius and why doesn't the blasted school notice.

Basically, the books that my DD is getting from school are very easy for her. In particular the Biff and Chip ones, which seem to be quite a lot easier than the non-fiction ones she gets (not sure if this is the level of language or her level of interest).

School have her on level 5. The other evening she was reading a Horrid Henry early reader out-loud to herself (in fairness, I think that this was a rather easier and shorter one than some others) (cue proud mummy moment because she said she was quite enjoying it, even though she was also in a manic over-tired state and declared she wanted to finish the book). She didn't get it perfect, but I did ask her about what was happening and she knew. Most often when she gets things wrong in her reading it is because she is predicting the story too much and so essentially reading too fast and looking at the first letters and not the whole word. When she slows down and reads, she can read it fine. So I do know her reading is perfect (obviously!). However, she can read the level 6 Biff and Chips with minimal faults already, and all of the Read at Home series (the old one for which, as I understand it, the 5c books are actually equal to level 7). She isn't particularly daunted by the number of sentences on the page, and had a really good stab at reading my 1967 ladybird version of Cinderella the other week.

So, my question is, does it matter? Should I just let her speed through the school books and then get onto what ever else she wants to read for the rest of the week? Or should I be talking to the school (and probably sounding like the aforementioned pushy parent)? I will add that I don't at all think that she is a genius, I just think that she seems to have 'got' the reading thing in the last few months and is on a roll at the moment.

AH! I meant to say I know her reading isn't perfect!!!

Reading at home is quite different to reading at school though. Many children can perform much better sitting quietly at home, with the one-to-one attention of their parent(s), than they do in the noisy and distracting environment of the classroom.

So, my question is, does it matter?

No, it doesn't. It really doesn't. If she has access to plenty of good books at home, she really won't be held back. :)

Jinsei I guess at some levels, what she is doing and how much she is enjoying it is the most important thing.

Calamitously I can imagine that is an issue for my DD because she has not really clicked with her teacher this year (she is 'scared' of her).

Hmm. But if the school haven't noticed what reading level she is at, then isn't it worth them knowing? I find it hard to deal with the idea that they think her ability is that much lower than it is because it makes me think it is harder to actually teach her, but perhaps with reading it doesn't matter so much? I want them to know what level she's at (and to 'get' her generally, perhaps that is part of my problem). I suppose at reception level it is less important. I'm still struggling with the idea it is just my vanity that wants them to know though!

They will notice eventually. Or perhaps they already have, but are keeping her on a particular level for some reason. You could ask, but honestly, I'd just wait to see what next year will bring. Presumably she'll have a new teacher in September?

The same thing happened to us when dd was in reception. It all sorted itself out eventually. Just let her read what she wants at home, and continue to nurture a love of books. She won't be putting her reception reading level on her CV in the future!

She won't be putting her reception reading level on her CV in the future!

That has given me a big smile.

Jinsei you are right. I have already invested in a load of books (school only gives us two a week and we aren't organised enough to get to the library every week), so we may as well keep going as we are and see what happens in September.

I think it greatly depends on the child and how they feel about the books from school. DD1 was on a lower reading level at school all the way through reception and at the start of yr1 than she was reading at home, for her this resulted in a lot of stress about actually READING the school books because they were boring her to tears and they weren't testing her in the slightest plus it meant the school didn't believe me when I said there were actually problems for her in breaking down words so they didn't investigate her problems. fast forward a few months and once she got into year 1 I eventually asking in October if she could just take in her own books as she was enjoying reading them and the school ones were just kind of getting in the way a bit and not really achieving anything (she was beyond band 11 by this point and I was VERY tactful in my wording) and they said fine and she became much happier and loves reading again.

DD2 is on books below what she can read (on level 7, currently reading early readers and simple chapter books at home) but she is enjoying the books she is finding at school so it doesn't matter IMO as she is happy and it isn't putting her off. When she runs out of books she likes and if she starts to complain about it then I would think about speaking to the teacher about whether she could try something a bit harder. I expect though that by the time she goes into Yr1 she will be on 'proper' chapter books anyway so it will probably be of less significance as if she gets DD1's teacher then she will probably be happy for her to take in her own books anyway.

We too have lots of books (thanks Book People and Grandma) and some of them have been really popular with the girls.

nonickname My DD doesn't mind the easy books. And I guess some nights easy reading isn't a bad thing (like on a Friday, after a busy week). Other days she'll just read a school book and something else. I suppose what bothers me is the size of the difference between home and school. Hopefully it will re-adjust naturally at the start of next year, and if it doesn't I'll just try prompting them a little .

This is a constant issue, especially in the earlier grades. Dd1 currently in Y2 has been reading and re-reading Harry Potter 1&2 this year, while the school kept giving her level 13-14 books, all because in our school one can't become a "free reader"' untill Y3!!!

Schools have different aproaches to progressing through levels - some want all books in a particular level to be read before moving up.

Ours is like that - read most of the books in the level, move up. Only time when one can skip levels is in the fall, when a new teacher assesses the kids.

Like many of us - you'll end up spending a lot of money on buying the books to keep your DD interested. I buy most 2nd hand on Amazon, also local Oxfam has a good kids books section. Libraries are good as well, if you have time to browse to find what she may like.

well that is a good thing if she isn't too worried at the moment. It isn't THAT long until the end of the school year so if she doesn't mind it then I would probably just note how easily/fluently/expressively and so on she reads them in her reading diary thing and then note what she is reading at home too. the year 1 teacher will no doubt assess her in september anyway (although we went back a level because they looked at the last book she had read in R and gave her one from that level, the fact that she had been mopping up random books at the end of the summer term just for something vaguely interesting to read because she had finished box 11 had been completely missed).

The other way you could word a discussion with a teacher is to ask what skill she needs to work on say expression/fluency/comprehension etc. if they say that she reads brilliantly with all of those then you can ask if she can try something harder.

Actually one of my frustrations is that there is NO space for us to write in the reading diary. So they have no idea what she is doing at home. The school actually said they took out the parents comment bit because they didn't have time to read them.

But as you say, a new year is coming up soon. And I think that the school doesn't mind free readers early, they just aren't pro-active about identifying who is reading at what level!!!

My DD is 6 and can read exceedingly well, she can read Roald Dhal to herself at bedtime, and loads of other stuff.
She reads out loud very very well too, with tons of expression and she has an excellent idea of comprehension.
She is very quick to grasp things only needs telling once...

She is on level 7 and we were told she might get to level 8 by the end of year 1. She is reading chapter books at home, Gobbolino, the wooden horse and so on...and is reading a book with a few sentences per page for homework.

I do not understand it, and if you can provide suitable reading matter at home, no it wont hold her back.

I also think its lots to do with her writing, is her writing good too? My DD's wasn't that great...not adventurous...not keen on writing so for those reasons, I was OK with her reading level.

On the other hand would this happen in a private school with only a few pupils per class?

Also, reading can be slow or amazingly fast so in some respects I don't blame the schools for not being able to keep up.

We have now got to the stage where sometimes I lie in the reading book that she has read a book when she probably hasn't.

BTW we wrote in book all the other books she was reading and it seems to have been ignored.

I do like her teacher lots though and think over all she is doing a brilliant brilliant job....so I am not too worrried. and reading is something you can really help with at home.

I have opposite problems, the readers DS gets from school are much harder than what he can manage to read at home. We work it out okay. I get easier books for him at the public library.

I think a lot depends on the teacher/school's attitude to the school reading books. If they expect the child to read school books every night, then it's important that they're at an appropriate level- or the child can really be put off reading. However, my DD's school are not bothered in the slightest what she's reading, so long as she is reading. She's in Y1 and we gave up with the school books about halfway through reception, when her reading suddenly 'clicked'. Now we just read home/library books.

The other side of it is that yes, of course they should know what level she is at in order to teach her. Sadly, I have accepted that DD's school are not doing a very good job at all of teaching her reading, so it's mostly down to me. I would hope that our experience is the exception though, and I would certainly speak to the teacher. It may be that the easier books are a deliberate decision to allow your DD to work on fluency/expression/comprehension etc.

I had the same issue when DS was in reception. I think it is just that they are focusing on other things than reading with such young children. If she is enjoying her reading, then I would just carry on letting her read other books at home, and see how things go next year.

I didn't speak to DS' teacher until a few weeks into Y1. I just pointed out he was reading the books in a few minutes, and asked if he could try something harder. He went up about 4 levels over the next few weeks, and since then, has been bringing home books that seem to be about the right level.

My DD is currently in yr1 and absolutely loathed school reading scheme books (whether at the correct level or not).

I spoke to her teacher & now I provide her reading books which is all good

Tbh I don't think there is anything wrong with a child reading books that are too easy for them (as long as they are happy to do so) as then you (the parent) can really push the comprehension/inference without worrying about the decoding side iyswim.

However IMO this works best if the child reads other stuff (other than reading scheme/school books - which your DD clearly does )

We've had it both ways round - really easy books from school and (currently) really hard ones. When school books were easy DS chose more challenging things at home, now he's choosing easier things so we have always had a mix.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a gentle, "DD is finding these books very easy. She's reading xyz at home. Could it be time to move up, or is there anything particular she should be working on at this level?"
Then you find out if there's a plan or if teacher just hasn't had a chance to hear her read recently.

I used to let dd read the whole of her school books, including the introduction for parents and follow the instructions given. she then used to read her own books/library books. they had a policy of starting with the easy books and reading every book in the scheme at one per week in reception. By the end of reception she was reading level two books in school and level ten at home.

If school are open to changing her level or providing an adequate reason why she is not yet ready, great. if not try not to stress and teach skills at home from lots of different books. Use different books for different skills.

Or they could be keeping her on a certain level because "year 1 can't go beyond this level or they won't have anything to read as they get older".................... tries to keep calm and not think about changing schools to a more enlightened one

I think that different schools play their reading books in different ways which is why you get such a mixture of responses posting on a non-school specific, national forum.
Some schools send home readers at a lower level than the child is reading in school - the parent isn't meant to have to teach the child to read, but to encourage and foster a love of reading in a stress free environment.
Some schools make all children read all books - DS1 fell foul of that one at his first school. Having to read 6 books a night to get him to the right level of book in school.
DS1 was reading books like Harry Potter by the time he was 5 for pleasure - at home. Yet the school only realised he could read at about this point in reception. Not the school's fault - he was really shy and quiet and didn't give them enough to go on to know how well he could read. I could tell them until I was blue in the face what I thought he could read, but until they could see evidence of it they couldn't act on it.
DS2 and 3 the school seem very on top of where they should be. I get notes home e.g. we tried him on next level but decided to keep him on current one for a bit longer, so easy to see what is happening in school. they constantly have new targets set in their reading diaries so I know what they should be working on, whether that be self correction, or noticing specific punctuation etc.
Regarding the ease of reading, I know there is a quoted "10% error rate", but I have found with DS2 and 3 that they always read with a much higher accuracy rate than that, even when they have just gone up a reading level.
So I guess it comes down to how much you trust the school. There are parents on here who it is very easy to see why they don't trust their schools, and it is impossible for any of us to know where your school lies on the spectrum.
My only real comment I guess would be, don't read Biff and Chip et al for pleasure/ to assess where you think your DD should really be placed. This will be really counter productive if she ends up having to re-read them all again in school. Read different books entirely to foster the love of reading that can't actually be taught.

From experience it doesn't matter. In year 1 dd1 read Harry Potter down to about book 5 or 6 (whatever was out then) at home. At school, the headmistress had a policy that in year 1 they couldn't read above a level 6. (thankfully this had gone by the time dd2 got there)
Actually I thought it helped her, as she learnt to really delve deeply into the story to pick up clues that were more hidden, some of which were definitely intended for parents rather than the readers
It certainly didn't effect her enjoyment of reading at home, and she still (year 8 now) reads a lot.

But I thought the Horrid henry Early Readers were about level 5, I think our school uses them in their reading scheme, and it comes out with level 5 ORT books.

Just looked it up and ORT reckons that horrid henry Early Readers are "approximately level 6".
I suggest you mention it in the reading diary that she read one and enjoyed it, and see if the school takes it anywhere.

Hi Hoolies:

Agree with DeWee - had same issues with DDs at our primary and it drove me crazy. Weeks on not even changing books - Big Panda, Little Panda for 3 weeks nearly killed us all.

My advice is give the school books some attention - but if they're boring, ridiculously easy, not your child's cup of tea - read something else.

We had a number of strategies - finish school book and I'll read you your favourite story.

finish school book with me tonight with only a few mistakes and we'll read what you want next/ tomorrow.

I did have all sorts of weird games played with 'reading levels'/ 'reading tables'/ etc.... ridiculously hard books assigned and suddenly DC moved down a table and so on. You can get worked up about it all - or just accept that games are being played here which you don't necessarily have to be engaged with.

I focused on core things in reading with my DC:

Pronunciation
Pausing for punctuation (taking a breath)
Emphasis/ drama in reading
Slow and steady (DD2 especially has a tendency to read too quickly).

Once they were strong readers - I then worked on
vocabulary

intent (why do you think the author ended the chapter like that?)

styles (broadening range of fiction read - both DDs as early readers had a tendency to want to read books in series only (Rainbow Magic Fairy/ Horrid Henry/ etc...) - so getting them to read a range of things was quite a challenge).

We conquered fear of big chapter books with Harry Potter series. (Not a problem for my DDs - but oddly enough DD1 reports that her Y6 guided reading group always spend ages choosing books and the issue is length - most want shorter books).

I genuinely think that as long as your child is reading regularly throughout primary - starting with 10-15 minutes a day reading with your support & working up to at least 30 minutes a day largely on their own (KS2 upper- Y5/Y6) - and you dip in now and then for listening to reading, discussing meaning of words, discussing plot, etc.... it matters very little what table/ reading level your child is at.

HTH