What level per age?

[mummyhaschangedhername]

Just that really, mine are on the dreaded Biff and Chip series. Just wondering what ages and levels everyone's children are on, as an average.

For clarity, mine are not good readers, two have additional needs so I know they are way way behind average, but I'm proud of how much progress they have made.

Mine;

Reception year: they haven't even started her, she's on the level 0 with no words 🙈
Year 2: level 2 and level three (although ready for 4 next change)
Year 4: level 6 but read it impeccably.

My year 4 boy has only been reading since juniors, he was out of school for 9 months and hadn't even started reaching before that as school struggled to engage with him, one of the year 2 children has significant Learning needs. The other one is lazy and I think he's possibly dyslexic (I am, as is my father, plus my husband shows signs but was never diagnosed).

I know they are very behind, but kind of what's to gauge on average, especially for those in schools that are in less affluent areas. My mum bought the series and we read with them to try and help them along, but it's a struggle, I've always read to them and they see my read a lot. The three oldest, boys, have all progressed a lot this year but even still I am aware they are very far behind and my daughter who hasn't even started yet worries me but then most of the class are not reading yet either (although I'm doing high frequency word cards with her).

Word of warning - Mumsnet children tend to be disproportionately good readers.

This is not the scheme your school are using but has a good term by term breakdown.
www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/AssetsLibrary/SECTORS/PRIMARYASSETSNEW/Literacy/BugClub/CompCharts/U109-Bug-Club-iPDF---Comp-chart.pdf

And well done to you and your children on their fabulous progress.

It sounds like they are making good progress, there's little point in comparing them to other children as all kids are different. As long as they are improving they (and you) are doing great.

Reception aged ds was 5 in January, he has autism & learning delays, functioning more at a 3 year old level with some spiky areas.

School give him level 1 books, the odd biff book and Julia donaldson this week, but I read them to him, he can blend a few words but not at the point of him reading books yet. He may blend a word or two out of the book or recognise 1 or 2 of the learnt tricky words but by god it takes me a lot of effort to keep him still long enough to focus.

Amazon do a pack of the biff books level 1 to level 4 I think, plus couple of starter books with phonics in, it's a mixed pack, there is about 30 books in the pack. I bought these myself for home for ds and we do those too.

X

Just read your mum bought the series so sounds like you already have the pack I mentioned.

Agree with the others, your trying, your bothered & your children are progressing, even if it's not at the same rate as their peers they are still progressing,

that's all that matters

It's so individual to each child. Dc1 by that point in reception was probably on about the 3rd level. Dc2 would have been about the same. Dc1 clicked much quicker than dc2 who is still struggling now in year 3. Dc3 is on 2nd level but is easily ready for the 3rd and shes in the school nursery.

It's not that I want to compare them, but it's good to have an idea of how far behind they are. I realise MN is full of parents saying nonsense like "my 3 year old is only on level 13 books, I'm worried".

It's such a mixed school, we have some children with very very low level of attainment and then others who are excellent readers. I'm gutted mine still haven't got the reading bug. I'm forever buying books and take them to Waterstones where I offer them whatever they what 😂 still no. Reading is such an essential skill, I just wish they shared my love of it.

You can google reading levels & ages and there are charts showing age related expectations. Possibly a better way to find "average" than asking on here. I tend to find that MNer's children are generally very advanced

Thanks, I did try and got mixed results and I got the impression that the stages only covered infants? Yet the majority of our juniors are still on books of some sort. That might be because the whole school is behind I suppose, and I guess as a Governor that might be good to know too.

Agree, huge mix. I’m always shocked at the advanced level of the average mumsnet child 😁
I think as a rule levels 1-3 are reception, 4-6 yr 1 etc etc

Year two child and atm his book is big cat level 16 which is ort level 14. He is best reader in his year though.

End of year
I think year 1 meeting expectations at our school is band 7 or 8. So yr r must have been around 3.
Lots are now free readers since Xmas yr 2. But we only go up to lime band 11 i think.
Obviously there will be children below these levels though and school will do some interventions.

I think like 75% or so pass the ks1 sats so i guess that many would be able to read/write pretty well by May of yr 2.

It's actually quite interesting. I'm also on the PTA 🙈 and I bought the books for prizes for the world book day winners, when I showed the school what I intended to buy the school suggested getting much younger books i.e. picture books for the infants as they were mostly not reading books like Ronald Dahl etc I had originally picked out. Clearly much further behind as a school. We do have reasons for that, but as it applies to my children i think I need to be pushing the issue more and working with them more.

Thanks everyone.

My daughter was distinctly average or below in the early years (she is a very late August birthday)

Reception stage 2
Year 1 stage 4
But by the end of year 4 she was a free reader so caught up completely and overtook loads who were ahead of her.

DS is also a late July birthday and he took to reading like a duck to water

End of reception level 5
End of year 1 level 9
Now in year 3 and he is a free reader.

My ds is year 2, and August born so the youngest in his class and is a free reader. He’s always loved books. His brother is almost 4 and couldn’t be less bothered about reading !

shut mine are exactly the same. Hopefully my dc2 will get more interested in reading before school.
They literally dont even pick up a book

My child is Year one and is on reading recovery level 15/16 (orange band). The school target is turquoise band (rr18) as they finish year one x

The old rule was reception 1-3, y1 4-6, y2 7-9. But the new curriculum has seen those standards change. I think I read somewhere that children are expected to be on L3/4 at the end of reception, but as one pp said it is then more like L8 at end Y1 as expect. I think I found it somewhere on the ORT website. It then took them up to L20 as expected at the end of y6. But I am going on memory. OP it sounds like it may be worth talking to the school to see what their expectations are, and how they can support reading. Also, there are a lot of phonics experts on here who could also give you guidance on how schools should be teaching reading, because I believe some school are still stuck on methods that may be outdated.

Don't just rely on Biff and Chip books to gage what level a child is at. They are quite dull books and a lot of children seem like they 'can't' read them but actually they don't want to.. I have done book sales through my PTA. Picture books for Infant age (4-7) is quite normal. That age is all about Julia Donaldson, Mog books by Judith Kerr, Alfie books by Shirley Hughes etc. Picture books of whatever the 'in' telly programme is -Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig etc. Topsy and Tim books are still popular too. It isn't really until the end of year 2 that you see some of them reading their way through The Secret Seven or Fantastic Mr Fox.
Comics are brilliant for that age too. Beano and The Phoenix type ones. Does your eldest like The Simpsons? You can get comic books of the simpsons.
Remember - all children are different and learn differently (and Biff and Chip books are dull so no child ever gets excited by them!)

Just to add, you may also want to look at audiobooks (we use the audible app on the phone). My Ds isn't as passionate about reading but he LOVES audiobooks. If reading is really effortful they provide a way into the amazing world of books and stories. I used them as a dyslexic child. Reading does catch up but audiobooks make stories fun.

ORT levels, book colour bands and ages attached.

But this really does vary - hugely!

At my very mixed school we have children in EYFS who can read gold and white, but need lower for suitable material and comprehension at a decent level. We have Year 2 children who are still reading red books.
We don't use the term 'free readers' as we allow all children to read books of their own choosing throughout the day and at home and never restrict them to a set band/colour. It's only when reading to the teacher/TA in a more formal way that we use set colours, and we do let parents know which colours they are currently working out consistently in class, and which colours are their challenge level.

The school my ds goes to (fairly nice area, academic school) reception had most children who were age related in level 2/3 by the end of reception. Exceeding group were all level 4.
In year 1 the top level at this moment is level 6 with a range below that. They seem to like them tightly grouped though and don't really encourage them to move in at their own pace.

I work with a class of KS2 children who all have learning difficulties of some type.
They vary, one child on level 2 currently but the rest are all level 7 plus.

I have 'typical MN children'. DS1 was on level 9 at the end of reception, DS2 on level 8; DS3 is currently in reception and about to move to level 5.
That said DS3 has ASD and whilst he's fantastic at decoding, he often lacks understanding of characters' feelings or motivations in fiction books. I find it's a lot harder to teach him those kind of skills than it is to teach the actual reading (decoding).

My son has just turned 6. He's in p2 (Scotland) - he is on green which I think is level 5?

I know there's kids on higher levels than him but I'm happy with his progress :)

Looking at what you’ve said, I think the whole school is behind.

Even in a school where almost all children are behind on entry to reception I’d expect very nearly all children to be reading books with words by Christmas of Reception. If almost none of them are at this point I’d take that as a red flag that there’s a teaching issue rather than this being an issue about how disadvantaged the children are.