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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

Lilac book band

34 replies

Mandzi34 · 08/11/2016 16:42

Hi all,

DS - Reception has just brought home his first reading book which has no words and is Lilac book band. He can recognise the tricky words he's been taught and is able to decode various words, such as pen, car, are, etc. I'm wondering if I need to help him with his comprehension, hence the wordless books? There are some tips at the beginning of the book and I will follow them. Any other advice greatly received!

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katand2kits · 14/11/2016 19:30

My DS got books with words after I wrote in his reading record that we had done a few books with words at home. The "songbirds" set is good for beginner readers and its available cheaply from the Book People.

MrsMulder · 14/11/2016 19:25

My ds is the same op, he has had 3 books without words now and he enjoys making the stories up so I am not really that bothered. I know he can read above this level but he is only in reception, there is no rush and the main aim is for them to enjoy reading. He has moved through the books quite quickly and now has one with words that he read easily. I am sure your ds will move quickly too

Tomorrowillbeachicken · 14/11/2016 19:16

Depends on school I think. DS is doing RWI and they haven't done all set 1 sounds yet but he's getting books with words.
Lol as for the pink band I am very tempted to kill chip, biff etc.

katand2kits · 14/11/2016 19:06

What phonics scheme are they using? If its read write inc, I think they dont send those books home until they have done them at school. Which isn't until they have done all the set 1 sounds (around about now). If you know your child can blend simple words like "sat", " hat" "pin" etc, then you could ask the teacher for a relevant book in the next band to practise but be careful what you wish for, we have had pink band for a couple of weeks now and they are not exactly scintillating. A better use of time might be playing with phonics flashcards to practise blending words.

Mandzi34 · 10/11/2016 14:39

Thanks Ginmumm1 it was very useful! Although they only referred to the books being sent home as books with words in which I thought was odd. They didn't mention that parents would see books without words in book bags.

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Ginmummy1 · 10/11/2016 12:36

How did the reading workshop go?

Mandzi34 · 10/11/2016 06:48

Thanks jamdonut but I fear this is not the case. Just shocked that I've mentioned on numerous occasions that I'm happy to help at home. A simple - read to him and ask him questions would have sufficed.

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jamdonut · 10/11/2016 00:22

Is it possible he or teacher/TA has just picked up a wrong book?
It happens, sometimes books get put back in the wrong place, and sometimes we don't notice,when we are busy trying to write in the reading record and the reading diaries, and in a hurry ...

Mandzi34 · 09/11/2016 20:55

I asked him questions on a story I read him tonight and he's answering questions. I hope we get a book with some words soon, otherwise I'm going to be concerned that he's just not picking up what's happening in class. Although I would have thought that would have been mentioned?

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Tomorrowillbeachicken · 09/11/2016 17:22

To be fair we only got two lilacs then a level 1+ so not too bad in our case

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 09/11/2016 17:21

The latest I've known of any school starting phonics is after the October half term. So even then, they should have started blending and segmenting by now.

There's not really any excuse for not knowing or having assessed the reading level of children this late into the term either.

Tomorrowillbeachicken · 09/11/2016 17:17

Yes, i think as soon as they get satpin (probably mid/end of week 2) they start trying to blend. 1

mrz · 09/11/2016 17:08

"MY Ds' son only started phonics three weeks before half term."
So by the end of the first week of RWI they should have begun blending and segmenting.

Tomorrowillbeachicken · 09/11/2016 13:26

Np. theres also these:
www.collins.co.uk/page/Collins+Big+Cat/Apps

Mandzi34 · 09/11/2016 12:41

Thank you Tomorrowwillbechicken I will check them out.

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Tomorrowillbeachicken · 09/11/2016 12:30

Btw you can read some ORT books for free online here
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home

Mandzi34 · 09/11/2016 11:27

We have a reading workshop later today so hopefully that will shed some light. I know my DS isn't a great story teller as such but he does like to try and read words and knows the tricky words he's been taught in school so it's a little surprising.

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Tomorrowillbeachicken · 09/11/2016 07:47

MY Ds' son only started phonics three weeks before half term. Some don't start it straight away plus this is their first year doing RWI.

MrsKCastle · 09/11/2016 07:31

I think it depends on if they have assessed their reading levels. My DS' school haven't yet but when they do they'll probably be given more appropriate books.

It's November! Any halfway competent teacher should be well aware of their children's reading ability by now and should be sending home books that match.

user789653241 · 09/11/2016 07:10

My ds has started lower level than his actual level beginning of reception, due to his reluctance to answer any question by the teacher. Luckily, he came from school nursery, so they knew roughly what he can do, so it wasn't too bad, but changed few levels in 2 weeks.
Does your ds do the same as he does at home? Does he show his proper ability at school? Mine didn't. He was shy and also very lazy.

mrz · 09/11/2016 06:50

They should have been teaching blending and segmenting almost from day one.
The books should match phonic ability and knowledge

Mandzi34 · 09/11/2016 06:46

Thanks all. I've written my comment in the reading journal. Although he enjoys books he did find it strange that there were no words and just opened the front cover to try and read the guidance notes!

Would they be teaching them to blend letters at this stage?

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Tomorrowillbeachicken · 08/11/2016 22:43

The other way is to write that he found it easy in the reading journal if you have one.

Coconut0il · 08/11/2016 22:20

Look at it with him, talk about the setting, the characters, the action and just ask the teacher why he hasn't had a book with words. Don't worry too much about it, if he can decode you can make your own simple sentences for him or invest in some good phonics books, like the songbirds, to read at home.
For the comprehension side talk about what's happening and why, what are the characters doing, how do they feel, what might happen next? Any discussion to check that the text has been understood.

Mandzi34 · 08/11/2016 22:14

I think they have assessed their reading levels. So I imagine those in the lowest groups are given books without words? I'm just surprised that I hear from the teacher how well he's doing (this is without me asking).

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