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Original poster

Could your child read before starting Reception?

242 replies

imaginaryfriend · 22/09/2007 13:25

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.

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Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 27/09/2007 13:11

I don't know Roobie. What does 'can read' actually mean?

When people are talking about long vowel sounds they mean saying 'e' as 'eee' rather than 'eh'? Dd's always only been encouraged to do her letters phonetically so far...

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swedishmum · 27/09/2007 13:26

A long e sound (sounds ee) can be made in lots of ways - e (me, he), e-e (these), ea (read), ie (field), ei (ceiling), ee (need).... lots of things to take in! I don't remember doing any of this myself, or with dd1. Dyslexic ds needs to overlearn the rules though.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 27/09/2007 13:33

Was it more just by remembering the words then swedish that your dd learnt? I don't know whether to teach dd to 'decode' or to memorise.

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Housemum · 27/09/2007 13:47

Don't worry about it - my 2 girls had the same books/toys etc - when DD1 started school she was reading, DD2 shows no signs yet. They all will eventually, the teachers will hopefully spot any real problems, but in general there is a broad range of ability and it is no reflection on the child's intelligence or your parenting skills!

DD2 knows that words tell a story, and can follow pictures to work out what's happening. She knows that signs can mean something and recognises these - eg no smoking, speed limits etc. That's about average amongst her peers (she's almost 4.5)

procrastinatingparent · 27/09/2007 14:34

You could try both decoding and memorising!

Many really common words are not phonetic and need memorising, hence the key words they teach them in Reception. We had those on the fridge, and started with being able to identify the initial sound, and then moved on to recognising the whole word. We had two groups, and every time DD learned a new one we moved it from one group to the other. That way she always had challenging group of new words to try and a confidence-building group of known words she could already read. We also used to try to find all the 'the's and 'and's in her bedtime story.

When it comes to 'decoding', we played lots and lots of I Spy for hearing the initial sounds of a word, obviously using letter sounds rather than letter names: 'something beginning with 'buh''. We have a chalkboard for drawing near the dining table, and used to play with letters at the end of the meal if we and they felt like it: h-o-t, then c-o-t, etc. Eventually we introduced 'ee', 'oo', etc.; although I think there is a particular order they are meant to learn the sounds in, we never knew it.

Anything we have ever done with our kids has been as a fun game, and we have absolutely lavished praise on them both for trying and getting things right. And when their attention wandered we stopped immediately. Because it was part of everyday life, it felt very natural to them to spot and comment on letters and then words. And then there is that magical moment when they don't have to think 'what is that word?', but they just know it, and then go on to do the whole sentence, and then the whole paragraph and then the whole book!

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 27/09/2007 20:49

It's strange but since I started this thread dd's reading has been soaring ahead all by itself anyway! She's now putting together short sentences with very small words in them and is learning to recognise 'the', 'he' and 'she'!

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swedishmum · 28/09/2007 09:47

Good for her! Dd1 did letter sounds and cvc words etc at pre-school and just seemed to take the other stuff on board.

Butkin · 28/09/2007 11:14

when your DC is reading "A rug, A sheet" etc from ORT should they be pronouncing it A like the letter or ah like the phonetic?

It just seems funny when she says A phonetically but we don't want to contradict her if this is what she is learning in reception.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 28/09/2007 12:08

I'm not an expert but I've always been told with dd to say the letters phonetically. It does help when piecing together the first few small words if they know their alphabet phonetically.

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ChasingSquirrels · 28/09/2007 22:01

tbh, I would say "ah rug", not "A rug" - I guess that's accents - so personally I wouldn't correct.

seeker · 29/09/2007 23:08

forrowing on from my post on Wednesday, I've just had a message from another reception teacher friend, who says that in 5 years of teacheing she has never had a fluent reader staring reception. Odd words and lots of books learnt by heart - but no fluent readers.

Blu · 29/09/2007 23:12

Ah,yes, DS could certainly parrot a whole ORT stage 3 or 4 book by heart after one reading, as could some of the other children in reception when I helped with reading...but he was still struggling with reading unfamiliar text until last week (Yr2)

It's funny - the ability to remember everything after hearing it once seems to diminish once real reading is 'cracked'. Has anyone else found this?

expatinscotland · 29/09/2007 23:14

Read?

LOL!

She's SN.

I'm just hoping she's semi-potty-trained by then.

singersgirl · 29/09/2007 23:22

Well, Seeker, that was my point earlier in the thread - that proper reading was really rather uncommon, even if quite a few children are reading a bit or nearly reading.

But I was flamed, on another thread, for being smug on this one, so I will go tipsily away now.

And for the OP, I'm glad to hear that your DD is picking things up quickly. Watching children learn to read is a real joy.

seeker · 30/09/2007 08:12

I just think it's really important to get things in proportion - and I thought a few quotes from reception teachers might help!. It' really easy, especially with a first child,to worry that they are not doing what they should be doing when they should be doing it. And it's also easy to forget that it all evens out in time. My dd talked at 9 months - but it was a bit of a "circus trick" iyswim, and she certainly isn't somehow a "better talker" now she's 11 than her friends who talked later. She also didn't walk til nearly 18 months - but the same principle applies. My ds's best friend was a "free reader" at the beginning of year 1 - ds is just getting there in year 2. By the end of this year I imagine they will both be around the same level of ability.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 30/09/2007 09:51

Dd's told me that two girls in her class can read but I don't know to what kind of level. So I think it's probably possible.

Having now gone through her first reading book which she's now memorised and is no longer 'reading' i.e. spelling out words and deciphering them, I wondered if there's a way round the memorising thing?

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MellowMa · 30/09/2007 09:54

Message withdrawn

seeker · 30/09/2007 10:42

No need to get round the memorizing thing - it'a part of the process! As somebody said earlier, it's an ability they lose once they learn to read properly. It's all very interesting!

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 30/09/2007 20:34

Dd told the entire story of her book tonight by memory except one word which she said 'I can't remember what that said' so I said 'try reading it' and she just didn't get that at all!

She also has big problems separating out d,b,p and g. She consistently gets them mixed up. Is that common?

Having said that she's definitely getting the hang of the CVC words now and is more keen to have a go. Her attention for it is pretty small compared to how long she'll spend bent over a drawing.

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RustyBear · 30/09/2007 20:44

Your DD sounds very like mine at that age imaginary friend - being a perfectionist, with a great vocabulary & loving drawing & writing - and like yours, she didn't read before school, whereas DS (2 years older)went through the ladybird books in about a week at just over 4. But she is now doing English A levels in both Lit & Lang & getting top marks - exactly the same as DS did - they were at the same level by 7, despite DS's early start.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 30/09/2007 20:46

That's interesting RB. Did your dd pick up reading fairly quickly once she'd started?

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RustyBear · 30/09/2007 20:55

She didn't have much confidence at first, but she was with a teacher who started everyone, whether they could read or not, on the lowest level of ORT. It was good for DD because she realised she could do it without making mistakes & she started moving ahead fairly quickly. (Luckily DS had a different teacher who let him read what he wanted, as Ambers's teachers approach would have frustrated him terribly)

seeker · 30/09/2007 20:57

imaginaryfriend - please don't disregard what I'm saying! (And what others are saying)Your dd isn't 5 yet - it really REALLY isn't usual for anyone that young to be reading fluently. Honestly. Read what I've said about what reception teachers I know have said. My dd is 6.5 and is only just reading proper books fluently. And even then only books which he in interedted in reading.

People have incredibly selective memories about ehri childrens' reading - just as they have for potty training, sleeping through the night and eating spouts. And the ones that don't have selective memories are often lying. And anyway, their child is not your child - theya re all different.

Read your dd lots of stories, have lots of fun with her, and try to stop worrying. She is fine. And she is incredibly lucky to have a mum who is so interested in her and who loves her so much.

3andnomore · 30/09/2007 21:18

and there was me thinking that they actually went to school to lern reading and writing

but honestly DON'T WORRY...

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 30/09/2007 22:48

seeker, I'm not disregarding what you've said at all, it's really reassuring. And I'm not worried either. It's just a new phase and I'm quite enjoying entering into it and finding out about it. I've already said earlier I worry far more about the social / emotional aspects of school for dd as she's so shy and reserved. I have no intention at all of pushing dd in any way she's not ready for but I would like to help.

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