Could your child read before starting Reception?

[imaginaryfriend]

Dd (5 in 2 weeks) has just started Reception and they're learning basic words like 'is' 'it' 'in' etc. My mum said to me on the phone last night that I could read the first stage Ladybird books before I went to school and suggested dd was behind.

To be honest I always thought she was pretty bright. She can recognise and write most letters of the alphabet (slower with numbers) apart from lesser used ones like 'j' but she's nowhere near being able to read words yet. She can write my name, her dad's name and odd words she's written a lot on cards like 'me', 'to' and 'love'.

I'm wondering now if she's actually behind her peers at school. I haven't asked the teacher as it seems kind of wrong to ask about what stage your child is in comparison to the others. I'm not competitive, she'll get there when she's ready, just curious.

so I thought I'd ask you guys instead.

She will do it when she's ready. Don't worry. It's good that she knows her letters, she's half way there.

They are still so little in Reception anyway.

I've used Letterland with my 3 and that held their interest.

Jolly phonics doesn't hold my 3yr olds interest. She likes Letterland.

Nice to see that not all Mums are competative. I hated that bit of school.

Your DD sounds fine, children do progress at the rate that suits them.

DS was only just over 4 when he started and could read a few shop names etc but could hardly hold a pencil let alone write. He is now the best boy reader in his Y3 and can write too. Altho he's not keen!!

DD (Jan b-day) has just started in Reception and has been bumped up a level already!

All kids are different and I'm sure that she's going to be zooming along by the end of the year, if not before.

Your DD sounds fine, children do progress at the rate that suits them.

DS was only just over 4 when he started and could read a few shop names etc but could hardly hold a pencil let alone write. He is now the best boy reader in his Y3 and can write too. Altho he's not keen!!

DD (Jan b-day) has just started in Reception and has been bumped up a level already!

All kids are different and I'm sure that she's going to be zooming along by the end of the year, if not before.

Your DD sounds fine, children do progress at the rate that suits them.

DS was only just over 4 when he started and could read a few shop names etc but could hardly hold a pencil let alone write. He is now the best boy reader in his Y3 and can write too. Altho he's not keen!!

DD (Jan b-day) has just started in Reception and has been bumped up a level already!

All kids are different and I'm sure that she's going to be zooming along by the end of the year, if not before.

few questions asked. ds1, 5 today, started reception 3 weeks ago. Today had his first books home and I would say well beneath his level.
what level - atm he is upto ORT level 5, he is nowhere near reading chapter books, but he confidently reads the books at his level (not just ORT) and comprehends the story, he reads signs, cards (just read the poems in his birthday cards, and suprised me by wanting to), notices etc.
why - my mum has been teaching him, she is a retired reception teacher and 6 mo ago said that he was ripe for learning to read and it would be a shame not to when he was so ready for it. She has him 3 days a week when I am at work and she started off with him, we continued it by having him read to us every night.

my ds has just started reception and can read his name and thats about it

My DD has just started reception (though just 4 as an August birthday)and I'd also say she can read her name and that's about it. I'm not concerned though as I remember at school I was not an early reader. In fact, I was on the brown table for the not very clever kids! However I loved reading once I got the hang of it and ended up with an English degree.

My children could all read before they started school but that was due to the fact that I don't rely on the school to educate my children. The LEA provide a babysitting service for me 6 hours a day, the real educating happens at home with a 1 to 5 ratio ie me and the kids.

Hideehi I'm not sure about that at all. i'm relying on school to teach dd to read in a way that I may not have the skills to do. Plus she'll listen and learn with her peers in a way she wouldn't with me. The kind of teaching I do at home is the fun stuff - art, music, imagination - all things which the current school system seems not to value so much as getting results!

DD1 could read before she started nursery (2y9m) which was about when I could. However, that is definitely not the norm. She is way ahead of the rest of her class (in reception now). She showed interest in letters from a very early age and knew her phonic alphabet by 18 months. DD2, however, shows no interest at 21m so I haven't taught her any letters. DD2 loves climbing and generally throwing herself about so each to their own, they should enjoy life with no pressure at this young age. I only taught DD1 because she was genuinely interested, not because I wanted to show off!

Wulfric - that's exactly how I felt. Unfortunately, neither of my dc's agreed with me! DD learned to read at school by 6 - but at 11 is as voracious a reader as I could wish - ds, now6.5 has just finally cracked reading - but would still much rather play football!

DD could read when she started school and was reading words like "architecture" in reception. I used the Ladybird "phonics" books with her, before she started school.

DS knew his letters but didn't get reading until he was 7 then caught up all the children reading fluently in reception.

Is anyone going to be brave enough to admit they pushed their dc to read so they could bask in that warm inner glow of superiority? I have yet to see a thread so full of boastful exaggeration.

DD1 and DD2 could both read at a very eary age, we have always had a profound love of books in our house and they just always had access to them so I started to teach them not really expecting too much and they just took to it so I carried on. DD3 who is almost 4 sits andlooks and books and asks what the words say, theother day she asked if I could teach her so am now teaching her.

Not boastful but very proud of them.

Fircone - you seem a bit defensive about this, but there is no need to be quite so gratuitously offensive. I don't think you can 'force' a child who isn't ready to read. As I said, further down the thread, two of mine were early readers, one wasn't. In the long run it makes no difference at all. But in every reception class you will find a couple of children who can already read to some extent, because some children just want to learn to read when they are three or four.
With my DD2, I could not have forced her to learn, even if I had wanted to, she wasn't ready.

DD has just started Kindergarten (reception) after doing a year of nursery at the same school where they do tend to push the kids
academically. We've also read to her every evening since she was a baby and she has a heaving bookcase from which she chooses a couple of different books each night.

However we definitely wouldn't say she can read - although she knows her letters well and can write her name etc.

She has been doing well with her flash cards (she gets about 4 a night) and yesterday just completed her first book - the very basic ORT "It is" one with about 3 words per page. I think she has done some it by rote though rather than doing it with phonics as everybody is trying to teach her.

She has a reading report book which the teacher writes in each day so we know what she's reading and how she is doing.

Today the teachers comment was "we're off - well done DD".

God, as if I'd have time to teach my own children to read just so I could bask in a glow of smugness! Ha ha! I've got 3 children all under 6 so, er, not likely!

I've completely followed their lead - I don't have the time to push them to do anything extra, not by any stretch of the imagination.

I've encouraged everything they do and I read with them every night and once they've started reading I've practiced with them etc. but I certainly had no desire to push them to read before they got to school. Seriously - would anyone have the time to do that?!

My ds is five and in year one and I don't think he's anywhere near reading.

He loves books, loves being read to and is asking for chapter books to be read to him, DH currently reading him the Hobbit.

I'm not concerned in the slightest. Just so long as he learns to read sometimes before he leaves school

I totally agree with those who say that learning to love BOOKS is the important thing.

Well, I didn't do it so I could bask in a glow of smugness, but after DS2 asked me to teach him to read, I did so systematically using Jolly Phonics. We did about 10 minutes a day, usually over lunch when he got back from preschool. He is my second and younger child, and I had a free 10 minutes.

But then I wouldn't really call that 'pushing' - unless pushing against an open door. It was no great effort - he learned quickly and easily and wanted to learn.

I did it systematically because I like following things. It's clear from his reading now that if I hadn't taught him he would have been an early fluent reader anyway, just not quite so early.

My DS (3.8) is desparate to read, pesters all the time for me to teach him letters so I have started. But he seems very bright, and I'm worried that if I do too much he will be bored when starts school next year and will disengage. How well do teachers cope with wide range of abilities in reception?

Depends on the school TBH

At my dc's old school all children, regardless of ability, had to go through every book in every stage - mind numbingly boring and liable to put anyone off!

At their new school they have pretty soon assessed everyone and they are all on different stages.

I think as long as you have a happy medium there is so much else to learn in Reception that reading is not realyl a big issue if you can continue to foster it at home.

One of mine learnt to read before reception age (she learnt at pre-school, we didn't teach her) and her teachers were absolutely fine with that, most reception classes have a couple of already-reading at least. They just gave her harder books.

DD has always loved books, and practicing writing letters and her name. It's not something I've pushed her to do.

She has just started reception. She can recognise all the letters, her name, mummy, daddy, and can read a few words like cat and dog. I felt for a little while she was on the verge of reading, but held off doing anything with her as I didn't know how the school taught reading and didn't want to confuse her.

This interesting thread has made me look back on my 8 and 12 year old boys' first steps in reading. What strikes me is that I just can not remember whether and how much they were reading at the point of starting school.

My point being that, although it seems so anonizingly important at the time, in the longer term it just isn't important exactly when they start to read. They get there when they are ready. They start school incredibly young and so there doesn't seem to be any need to push it pre-school.

Ds1 had no pre-school reading skill at all and was reading HP and the Goblet of Fire alone on his 6th birthday.

My German friend's very bright daughter didn't begin learning to read until about 7, because that is the system there (I understand)

I'm sure that reading to your children is way more important than teaching them to read. It makes their subsequent learning of the skill mucch easier I think.