Friend boasting about Y1 reading levels

[CalamityJane10]

DS is Y1 and on Turquoise /level 7 book band. I thought he was doing really well; I am really proud of him.

Met an old friend today whose DD is same age and at a top London prep. She asked me outright what reading level DS is on and was visibly pleased when I told her.

So I (stupidly) asked about her DD and she said most of class are on Purple or level 8 and her DS has just been moved up to Gold.

I just feel really flat about it. DS is one of the stronger readers at his school but none are on level 8. Should I be worried?

Just interested about how OP would have reacted if her friend had said that her DD was working at blue level (or some level lower than turquoise; I can't actually remember what the reading levels are as my DC are past that level - which proves something I think!) and that was about average for her class.

Wonder if OP would have felt smug, or made some response back?

Also, OP you may be interested, that my friend sent her DC to a private school. She started teaching them to read from about age 2.5 because she "didn't want them to be behind" (read- wanted them to be ahead). If parents at your friend's DD's school have done similar, it's no wonder the reading levels are higher.

They develop very differently at this early age, the goal is aiming for as much pleasure in reading as possible no?

My daughter couldnt read much after reception (her sister is in reception and couldnt read now either), autumn term yr1 she was in band 5 or so but by the summer she was a free reader. She finished the whole Harry Porter series in the summer, we just couldnt stop her. Books like lord or the rings were read in yr3 then read again...last night(yr 6 now). She could spend hours reading very dey science books too. So I think its too early at this tender age to compare reading levels. Some children just pick things up at lower pace.

Apologies for various typo!

I meant to say some children just pick things up at much slower pace at this age. I have seen that from both of my daughters. For example the 4 yrs od reception couldnt colour well just before reception but now she could draw pictures which surprises us other day with a proper lay out, a pond with trees, cloud, and grass and something look like deers. Over the half term she now remembers all the alphabets even still couldnt read...much. We dont teach them read or write or draw rather than provide them what they need...loads of books, white papers, pen, free and quiet time.

For me comprehension needs to be ensured before moving up reading levels.
I am pretty sure much of what my child reads isnt all that clear to her.

There was a parent at our autumn parents info meeting who asked the teachers in the &A if they would be publishing a list of what reading levels all the children were on, so parents would know how hard to push them to get to the top.

My DD was on band 9 at the end of reception. I thought book bands were important. Now yr 4. The children who were on band 2 at the end of reception now all read better than her !! Subsequent DC - I no longer cared about book bands as it is irrelevant at this age...

I was slightly obsessed with reading levels in the infants as dd could read extremely well but in school she was like a different child! So frustrating. She ended up explaining that the books bored her so we went to the library and chose some she liked and went to book shops and did the same. Her collection grew and grew and I've always encouraged her to read the school books as they are more than just the words, it's the comprehension, tone, inferring etc and now she knows all that she is much happier to read them and then get
stuck into her own ones..

Now year 3 and on copper books but is very aware of all the other children in the class and their levels. 2 children are reading higher than her and 27 lower.
It seems quite competetive from what she tells me.

smile and wave. just smile and wave.

seriously good advice on here - as long as your dc is enjoying reading and heading in the right direction then it's all good. No one will even be talking reading levels in another year or so.