Reception Reading

[Monkeymonstermum]

My eldest has just started reception in September. Just wondering what a normal/average amount of reading from school is (as I'm new to it all)?!

He's getting 4 books per week on the reading scheme, often one of these is a book with 2 stories. He also chooses a fun book to read from their class library.
I'm not criticising at all, just genuinely interested if this is average.
He loves the reading and is hugely enthusiastic about it so it's not a problem. We've always read every night anyway. The only thing I've noticed is that it gives us less time to read our fun home books but we still manage some of those (just by the time he's insisted on all the books, bed time is getting pushed back a bit)!
Thanks in advance.

Judging from my own experience with DD last year and things I've read on MN, I'd say he's getting more books than most reception children. Does he get one per day, or two books twice per week, or all four once per week? Do you get the impression that the other children in the class get the same number of books as him?

Do you get the impression that the teacher wants him to read all of the books at that level in order to move up a level? Are the books too easy, or do you think they're at the right level?

If he's happy and you're happy, all is good!

Wow! My DS is also in reception, he gets 1 "practice book" ( for him to read to me) & 1 picture book (for me to read to him). These are changed weekly, I think the teacher hears him read once a week

At my ds' school, books are changed daily from start of reception. So got more books than your dc's school. School books are very short and doesn't take long to read. If it takes long time, dc needs more practice. So I think it's a good thing.

Last year mine has a new book every day in reception. On Fridays they came home with three new books (one for Friday, saturday and Sunday).

We get a book at a time, changed for a new one when it is finished. There is no pressure to finish one every night, although it's fine if we do. If my son wants to read one of our own books, or we want to spend longer on sharing a chapter book at home then we won't necessarily read much/any of the school book and there is no problem with that. They appear to be heard reading most days, as there is always a note of what page they have reached (I think sometimes this may only be in after school care though). I think we have a great system - no pressure at all, but a new book always provided when one has been read, so no repeating the same book over and over again.

Ok, so about average then.
To be honest as I don't know the other parents terribly well yet I don't want to ask others and come across as competitive/pushy etc only a couple of months in (easier to ask anonymously on a forum, strange as that may sound)!
I think he's at the right level. He gets the odd word he struggles with but mainly manages well, reads with expression etc. Increasingly he manages to sound out the word he doesn't know - the comments in the reading record initially were about sounding out when he doesn't know rather than guessing as he reads by sight a lot (nothing I've pushed him with but he's picked up from nursery and us reading to him).
I'm trying to read at least 2 of them a night, if not 3 but with the fun books (and 3 year old demanding to be read to separately....) that's why it's taking a while rather than him struggling with them.
He struggled with 'soil' this week and didn't manage to sound it out and I wasn't sure how to (not a teacher and this is all new) but the second time he read the book he got that word so he's definitely progressing well.
My mum has given us a bit of a hard time about us sending him to a state school (don't get me started on that one....) as she's convinced he's missing out but so far my impression is that they're great and doing lots with him - interesting to hear that it's more than some and less than others.
We've also just got a writing book this week for some words for him to practise as well as some optional homework most weeks.

Just a question for the teachers then....given we get a number of books to read over the week but other schools read one and move on as it gets changed.....: I'd thought the repetition when they're still learning to read if they've at all struggled with a word would help - ie to read the book more than once but different schools seem to be taking different approaches.
Thoughts?
Not being a teacher but from a vaguely scientific background I find it all genuinely fascinating what little sponges they are and how they learn!

More than us. DS gets two a week from school but I'm supplementing with home books. We also get one 'read to your child' book from the library a week.

We only started bringing books home the day before half term though and I think the children got word and letter cards on Friday that also came home but DS was off ill so gonna see if they come home today.

Not a teacher but a parent helper - I find when they read the same book all week they are reciting from memory not reading. It's key at the initial stages that they get in the habit of looking at all the words on the page and all the letters in each word, and reading new books encourages that more than re-reading the same thing. I'd do the same book about twice ideally. Once if it's really easy.

Worth having a look at some phonics info so you can support him in the same way school do. For example "oi" in soil is what they called a digraph (DS did refer to them as such in reception, I think DD's school just call them sounds). You tell the child that the two letters "oi" together correspond to the sound /oi/ in this word, then they sound out the word as usual. That's quite advanced for reception at this stage, so either your DS is doing really well, or school are not doing so great at sending home decodable books.

With DC we always found reading books were about a 5-10 minute job, so it wouldn't have any impact on reading home books or bedtime. I would try to repeat less unless your DS is really desperate to.

Ok, thanks cat. Maybe I'll check with the teacher what she's expecting but I don't want to take up her time as other people seem to have so many questions at the end of each day but she's lovely so I'm sure would be fine with me asking.
In terms of level I think he's on the right one as he managed all the other words, any he didn't know straight off he could sound out - soil was the only one he couldn't so otherwise I don't think it's too difficult.
It's probably not taking much more than 5 minutes, sometimes 10 I suppose as we often only read 2 or 3 school books but it's just when we add in the fun books plus the 3 year old has a picture book from nursery plus the baby needs a feed....it can take a while when my DH is late home! Maybe that's just me being inefficient!

DNiece2 used to get 6 a week, all given at once. She read one a night and I don't think she re-read any of them, if that helps at all.

My DDs never read any twice. They liked their library books from our local library and school library books too. They got the odd word where they were stuck (the days before phonics) and DD1 was reading very well in Reception - August birthday. We just kept going because she was interested and the library books added to her vocabulary. The school allowed them to read any library book they chose. She brought home the Ladybird version of Samuel Pepys Diary in Reception. We read bits of it together, talked about the history and the big events described and discussed the pictures. I think my DD would have been limited by only having a diet of decodable books. She changed her reading books on Mondays, Wednesday's and Friday's and there were quite a few non fiction too. I remember one on sea-rescue helicopters. Keep him enthusiastic and happy to read but read the school books and then choose something more interesting if he can manage it.