How hard would you expect the school to push your 6 yr old?

[wrenster]

My DS is 6 and in Year 1 of a private school (12 in the class). He's a very strong reader and devours books while also understanding the context, meaning of words etc.

He's on stage 11 at school (Oxford reading tree) but the books he brings home are riduculously easy and in no way stretch him with vocab or contexts. We go to the library once a week and get him books which are more suited to his reading ability and I've met twice now with the teacher about this.

She has said that she doesn't want his learning to be out of line with his class mates and wants to keep his overall learning in line with a Year 1 student. She has said that I need to be doing more discussion around the books he brings home, rather than just reading them. I do plenty of discussion but the stories are so short and simple even the discussion isn't very challenging!

I've seen children in other schools put up a class for reading or given more challenging material which is what I would have hoped for in a private school, but I don't want to come across as a pushy Mum who thinks she knows best. I also don't want this to turn into a big deal that could potentially put him off reading.

Any advice as to what I should expect with a school and how much it is appropriate to challenge a child. I feel like I need some more ammunition and confidence if I'm going to go in and tackle this again.

How hard depends on the child.

I am in a similar position with DD in YR1. She has been working with a Y2 class for phonics and comprehension and is thriving. Was identified by the school and moved without any intervention from us.

DD is in a state school.

You are supplementing the books from school already, just record these in the reading diary.

The teacher has mentioned comprehension, so it is possible that your DS is above average for YR1, but perhaps teacher does not feel that they are ahead enough in some arrears to warrant a move.

Continue to support your DS at home and work on any areas the teacher highlights.

Do not look for ammunition, in my view, at this stage it is not worth it and can be counter productive. If your child is struggling, then by all means fight, if they are doing as well as your DS, then you are obviously doing something right at home, just keep on and be thankful.

She has said that she doesn't want his learning to be out of line with his class mates

WTF?

Children are not all the same and they learn at different rates (and at different times).

Why does what your child is reading create a problem for this teacher?

I don't get it at all.

We had something similar with our DS who was able to read anything given to him before he started school.

I think there is something to be said for keeping them as in line with the rest of his classes as possible, unless they are vastly ahead across the board rather than in just reading.

From the start of YR our DS was allowed to choose whatever books he liked from the school library and whilst this meant his reading continued to accelerate at a stupendous rate, looking back, I think it may have come at the detriment of everything else.

There was a huge disconnect between the vocabulary and complexity of the books he was reading and the written work the class was then doing which really put him off. A lot of the work they do at that age is topic focused or group based so giving separate work doesn't necessarily solve the problem either. Effectively he became more and more focused on the reading and frustrated that he couldn't write to the same standard and it is only really now in Yr 2 that he is starting to balance out more.

So, I'd agree with what others have said. Carry on letting him read more challenging/interesting things at home and leave the school to set the pace there as long as your son is happy.

We also found that things got easier towards the middle/end of year one when reading properly 'clicked' for a lot of the other children too so that by now they are all much closer in reading ability.

Our DD is a strong reader, in YR1 (ORT level 14), but we have had a different experience to you so far, at a state school. The school does guided reading--children read and discuss books in groups. The school have put DD in YR2 to do this, and they are also giving her reading books at her level to bring home. They have ordered new books that they think will suit a 5-year-old who is reading at this level. But she also continues to read in a group in YR1. So they are trying hard to both integrate her in the class as well as providing a challenge. It has taken them some time to realise how good she is, but they have made decisions without any requests from us. I think they are doing a good job of keeping her interest in reading high (she reads for 1-3 hours every day).

So I do think you have good reason to think that your school aren't currently doing enough for your DS. At the same time, it is easy to get real books for him to read at home. And most of the reading he does will be at home. There was a long time when there was a big disconnect between my DD's school books and home books, and I don't think it mattered in the long run. At this age, I can't help feeling that a child's love of reading is the most important thing to nurture... is this being affected by the way school are treating your DS? Most of all, I'd be generally concerned with their attitude not to consider every child an individual and to be attempting to tailor their education to them as far as possible. Our state school tries to do this, even in a class of 30.

Interestingly, we also have the problem that tired mentioned: our DD has struggled with writing this year because it didn't come as easily to her as reading. She over-complicates things, using numerous brackets within brackets for example, and often ends up in a mess. But the school have realised this and worked hard to increase the ease with which she writes, lots of practise means her cursive script is coming together now and suddenly she finds writing much more enjoyable.

I hope this is interesting to the OP, to everyone else I apologise for any apparent stealth boasting.

We had the same issue with Dd1 in Y1-2 and are also at a private school. In fact - there are lots of comments about it on MN.

In Y1 our school kept saying that they want her to keep reading easier books so that her writing can develop. And it is true what someone already said - she found writing frustrating as it was nowhere near the language she was encountering in the books she was reading on her own.

My advice would be to let the school do their thing - arguing with them won't get you anywhere, I have seen it so many times.

Just make sure that he has access to great books from libraries, etc. in addition to his simpler books. From Y1 I just let Dd1 to read her school books by herself and we read more challenging books together.

Dd1 isnow in Y3, still loves reading, and her writing is finally catching up with her reading!

My daughter has been encouraged massively by her teachers, state school. teachers even bring in their own books from home for hershe gets plenty 1-1 , teacher says she lisves finding new waysisto challenge her. Same in maths. My daughter loves school and always has flourished there. I wouldn't want her to be in a class where everyone is expected to work on the same things or read the same book, differentiation according to ability is crucial.

Seriously, the best advice I can give you is to just ignore the whole school reading books thing.

DS1 and DS2 both go to a selective and very academic primary school. They were both reading before school and DS1 in particular will read whenever he has a spare moment. He often wanders off and we find him tucked up in a corner with a book. He was allowed to choose any book from the school library by the second term of Year 1. DS2 was just as strong a reader but had a different teacher who liked to work through the scheme.

Reading is nothing other than a tool. Once he's in year 3 I doubt anyone will even keep track of what he's reading. Its just a tool to enable him to understand the other subjects; history, science even maths all require him to be a competent reader which, from the sounds of it, he already is.

Whizz through the "school book" in five minutes each evening and then open up a lovely "home book" snuggle down and get lost in a world of adventures and fantasy. Reading is about more than words on a page.

Also make sure that school are covering a range of texts with your child, non fiction as well as fiction for example, poetry, plays, scientific texts etc. Bug club is great for on line reading this is provided by school for them to log in at home and the bookds increasing in difficulty and there are all types of books from funny ones to history ones, fact and fiction. Oxford owls are also good.
How about a kindle my dd likes reading in that sometimes. Libraries are brilliant I think we forget now what a range of books they have and learning to use the online catalogues is a good skill.
I would be up talking to the teacher or head about this if I was you, you are paying for this- jeepers! If your local state school is any good, save yourself £15k to spend on other things that will benefit your child! You can buy a lot of music lessons, extra curricular activities, sports coaching, travelling the world for that.

I have a similar ds to yours, reading level 10/11 age 5 in Y1. His writing is nowhere near as strong and his teacher this year (non selective private school) seems reluctant to move him up quickly. We do the same as some of the other posters and go to the local library to supplement. He also gets a weekly school library book that he can choose. Even more complicatedly he doesn't read phonetically so we are having to do extra phonics as well (mainly online games and stuff) to keep his phonics progress up! I think the poster who said reading is a tool is probably right and hopefully things will even out as he gets older.

I know children in local prep schools, where they like to keep the class at the same level - unlike our state school which teaches to the level of each child.

I don't think you'll get anywhere with the school tbh, just ready your own books at home. My friend is moving schools because she is fed up with asking!

Dd1 alway loved reading, school rarely supplied her with appropriate books but it was never a problem, she reads what she likes at home, she's now 11 and her reading is at a very high standard despite the school not giving her books.

Have a word with his teacher and let him read what he likes at home.

Shouldn't matter what type of school they are in - a child should be reading books at the level that they are at, not where others in the class are at. Certainly that was the case at DD's prep school and is the case at the state infants I work at.

Sometimes it can be a challenge to find reading material which is sufficiently challenging in terms of difficulty, but still appropriate in terms of subject matter.

Glad I read this post my daughter has whizzed through her ORT book tonight and don't feel she is being stretched enough with the reading . Teacher also said the same a few months back we should discuss the book etc...attending none selective prep ...

Thanks so much to you all for your responses. It's good to know there's other people in the same position with different ways of handling it.

DS is in the top groups for everything, so I'm inclined to think his reading is in line with spelling, writing, maths, but I feel in these areas he is being challenged and the top group is given more stretching work. His spellings came home today and they are slightly more challenging than usual which is encouraging.

I'm inclined to stick with what we are doing at home, keep allowing him the freedom to choose the books he wants to read and wait until our Easter parents evening to tackle the teacher a bit more.

I am left wondering what we are paying for though as it seems state schools have a rather more proactive attitude.

Thanks again

When ofsted inspect state schools, one of the considerations is how more able pupils are progressing and schools have to demonstrate and evidence the progress made by this group and it is scrutinised. There are a lot of able pupils at my dds school and teacher was telling me how they pull the rest of the class up by focusing in high achievement. Teaching the whole class using the same books would not be acceptable in a state school differentiation and specific provision for more able children has to be demonstrated and the governing body have to give this focus. This can include small group teaching, 1-1 teaching, specific resources etc. my dds teacher just went on an update course about teaching English to high learning ability pupils and she is already implanting those strategies in the classroom.
People think the are higher pupil to teacher ratios in private schools eg 1-15. In most ks1 classes there is a teacher plus a teaching assistant so it is also 1-15 and those who need additional support are often taken out the class in small groups with a Senco. The one thing I would say is poor in state infant schools is sport and music provision but you can purchase a lot of extra curricular sport and music tuition with the cost saving from school fees. Obvioulsy depends where you live and what local schools are like.
I hope the school buck up their ideas for your son.

One reason why we selected our daughters (outstanding) state school is because it has a government gifted talented policy :

<a class="break-all" href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/GTPrimary.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/GTPrimary.pdf

She is well above average in her English and Maths, so her new states school is giving her higher grade books to read. We also buy & borrow higher library maths, English, general studies books for her.

We previously sent her to an awful private school, and we now use the money saved on private 1 :1 music & sports lessons, and family holidays.

DD's school allow KS1 children who gave finished ORT stage 10 to become free readers (books available are age appropriate) until they start KS2 when they go back on to the higher ORT levels.
But mostly I ignore school reading, there are so many fab books out there!

wrenster I guess that what you are paying for is small class sizes? I think the evidence to date suggests that these are most beneficial for low-attaining pupils, although it is a complicated debate:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/13/class-size-debate-asks-wrong-question-simplistic

I agree with heels that there is a lot of pressure on state schools from OFSTED to monitor more able pupils and ensure they progress. That is certainly what we've experienced. DD's school was rated "Requires Improvement" at the last inspection, OFSTED said (amongst other things) that it didn't do enough for more able pupils, and I think we are now seeing the benefit of that.

My business partner is a former primary school teacher. I asked him and he largely agreed with the advice on this thread. He did say that if the pushing isn't coming from the school, then pushing the child further at home, will help. Get your child to go really above on beyond on producing a piece of homework to demonstrate to the teacher the proactive approach they are taking to their education.

I'm thinking about getting extra books from the library and documenting them in her reading journal. Make a subtle hint ....

Yes we do that!