Kids in Year 2? What's their current reading level?

[glutten4punishment]

I've a DD who turned 6 at the end of the summer and has just started in Year 2.

She's currently at Orange reading stage but I'm really concerned that she should be much further ahead. Particularly when I look at her circle of friends, most of whom are on accelerated reading (and have been for a while).

It is our fault as we don't do much reading at home so I'm feeling pretty rubbish about it. I'd be interested to hear what stage other Y2 kids are at.

I don’t understand the rush in the uk with reading! My dd is 6.5 and on pm level 12 which looks like it’s green! And she is one of the best readers in her class!! It’s more play based here for the first two years! This is her first non play based year!! The pressure your school, the children and you must be feeling is awful!! I am so glad we don’t have that!!

DD has just started Y2. She's very bright academically and was on White at the end of Y1 so has started off back with it.

Also, don’t forget that book stages vary massively by school in kids on the same objective reading level. our school just expanded (2 form entry now, usec to br one form), so loads of new kids. most got put down at least one book band.
policy at our school is to move them up when they are absolutely secure with complete understanding. other school move up when they are “ok” on the level, yet another school in our area sends books of the next level up home to stretch kids.
so a child on lets say level gold in one school could be turquoise or purple in another, etc.

There is a lot of variation within my sons class with reading levels, but I think they all even out in later years. My kid has been on lime since end of reception and is still on lime in Y2 - higher levels have inappropriate content apparently?!?! needless to say we read our own books instead.

I don't know colours, dd seems to bring home a random selection of books but the book people have a pack of 30 reading books which MIL bought for xmas and they're really good, dd is much more up for reading them than her school book.

Tbh, if you read with her every night her spelling will probably improve as well, the more words you see the more familiar they get.

If you can't face listening to her read a whole book you can always do one page each and take it in turns. Makes it a bit quicker!

Get the national curriculum spelling flash cards and the squeebles spelling app. You really do need to listen to her read every night. Practice mental maths like number bonds to 10 in the car.

My son entered year 2 on white.
He couldn't read when he started reception but by the end of the first term, he was on yellow books.

My daughter has just started year 2 and is on turquoise.
She couldn't read when she started reception and didn't get moved onto red until after the christmas term.

DS is a Feb baby and DD is July if that makes a difference at all. My two are total opposites!

I have found that there is a massive difference between the books that my year 2 child reads at home and the ones he reads at home. We just go to the library a lot and I make sure he reads to me every day.

I discovered this morning that he thinks that the books school are giving him are literally a joke. He thought his teacher was teasing him when she made him read yesterday. I had to explain that I do not think she is.

DD moved schools over the summer. She finished Yr1 on green at her last school. Her first book home in new school was turquoise and she can read about 95% if it easily. Last teacher sent easy books home to make them confident (but it seemed to have opposite effect on DD and she went backwards).

Her sister is in Yr4 and on White, genuinely. At this stage in Yr2 it was yellow.

Really don't worry. Support at home as you can, but focus on how fun and useful reading is, not Band levels or her peers. Age 6, no kids in my home country are expected to be able to read at all! Yet by 10 it all evens out with the kids here.

And Orange is fine for Y2. Not behind, just not ahead.

My summer born dc could read lime or higher by end of yr r.
We read every night. I subscribed to reading chest from the feb and put her on the band she could read ignoring what school had her on.
We only got 2 books a week from school it wasnt enough i dont see the point in re-reading easy books.
Once at orange band we did real books by bookband that you can find on mn.
We also did the project alien books which are in sets from the book people.
She did get behind with maths during yr 1 as that partitioning and 2 digit add /sub in such an odd way was too much at 5.5yo. In yr 2 we did some cgp SATs prep books and she did pass the maths.

Interestingly now yr 3 a lot seems to have clicked so it's been rather rubbish to do the SATs so young.
What i dont like is they use this data to set targets for the kids so the school would need to push a child who does well at ks1 to do well at ks2 to make the progress. But the work is completely different so being good at 6/7 shpuldnt mean you are good with ks2 grammar