Can your reception aged child read?

[theplantlady]

DC1 has just started reception, he'll be 5 in December and DH and I have just had slight cross words over the books DC has brought home from school.

They're picture books. No words. We're to sit with dc and help him to describe what he sees in the images, essentially telling the story through description.

DH is annoyed because he thinks this means that the school thinks our dc is 'stupid'. I've told DH that I don't think many children that have just started reception are fluent readers, but he's telling me I need to work with dc more so they can get to grips with reading properly.

For what it's worth, dc is (I think!) very bright.

He's known the complete alphabet for well over a year now, he can count to 30 with ease, will happily tell you rhyming words, he knows a vast amount of colours ranging from your basic reds, greens, blues etc - to teal, maroon, turquoise, beige, lilac etc.
He knows a plethora of animals and I regularly have to hear about velociraptors, pterodactyls and parasaurolophus dinosaurs - essentially, he knows a lot of big words and has no trouble remembering them!

Dh was a 'child prodigy' in that he apparently skipped 'baby' books and started reading adult fiction at a very young age, so I think he expects the same from our dc. Unfortunately, I don't feel comfortable putting that kind of pressure on a 4 year old, unless of course, it does indeed sound like our dc is behind?

@stripetop that could be describing my 6 year old DD. Doesn't like not being able to do something so won't until she knows she can.

My dd school sent out an email saying they were about to send out books with words in for children. If they 'weren't confident' with the letters they would get a picture book. Dd got a picture book and I felt like absolute shit.

Dh told me not to worry. She's only 4 still. But then I thought I'd ask her about the letters she had been doing and she can tell me all the letters from sight and sound. I can sound out letters and she can work them out. She's read things to me from other books. But she doesn't like doing things in front of people. So I'm a bit worried she will be behind because she won't tell people what she knows.

Sorry I meant sound out words !

@girafferafferaffe just mention it to her teacher. She may still think picture books are the right starting point but at least you’ll know it’s not because she isn’t aware of what your daughter can do. Kids can usually do more with their parents than at school as they usually feel more confident at home.

My older son had a reading age (this was nearly 2 decades ago) of 7 at this stage in Reception. Read LoTR at eight, that kind of thing. Still reads for pleasure, but I've never managed to get him into Cryptics.

My younger son was given the picture books for a few weeks - and blimey, they are hard for a word-focussed parent!

He's just gone off to Cambridge for an essay-based* degree.

*probably not the right term but you should be able to work out what I mean

I wish people would stop saying "just rush through the picture books and go on to something challenging". Decoding the glyphs is only part of reading, and talking about the pictures is also challenging - as many of those posters themselves acknowledged.

(My credentials: picked up how to read at 3 by having Heidi read to me by my sister. And yes, my comprehension kept pace with my decoding. I mean, obviously I didn't always have the background knowledge to fully understand a piece written for older people, but I was dam' good at figuring things out from context!)

I must be odd in that my DDs read the words and we relied about the pictures. I don’t see why it has to be one or the other. We did picture books from a few months old. Why do even more? Some DC need this but absolutely not every child.

My kid in reception hasn’t even brought a book home yet!

When my daughter was younger she could only really sound out works and by half way year 1 she could read everyone's different sue used to have help reading where this lady took her out and helped her ready maybe ask the school for extra help it takes time everyone's learning paste is different.

My reception child was bringing picture books home for 3 weeks, (she's one of the oldest in her class)
I put a note in her reading log that she was already reading simple words at home/knew the alphabet and since then they have been giving her more challenging word books and it's done her the world of good.

Oh gosh mine are in their 20s and had a love of books when they started reception. They were almost free reading at home and I felt school was dumbing down. One of the reasons I didn't have a third was because I couldn't have suffered Biff, Chip and fucking Kipper all over again

I quickly learnt to go through the motions vis school fir a quiet life and donor own wonderful things at school. Thankfully we were able to pay and bought them an excellent education.

@bangonthedoorgroovychick
So I would want to know why the school didn’t have the info from you or nursery about what she could do? Or indeed assess for themselves. I don’t understand why all children should be given picture only books.

I meant to say earlier that DCs can read and discuss the pictures in the book! They are not exclusive activities.

I must admit I was dubious when ds, who could read fluently when he started school, was given these last year, but it is easier to see the gaps in his understanding in hindsight. He wasn't on the book bands all year - they did picture books until half term and then he just brought home books from the book corner.
He was moved onto white band fairly quickly this term so I wouldn't say it's held him back (he can read chapter books but his inference etc isn't quite there yet).

@TizerorFizz after only 3 weeks at school and a large class of 30 children I presume (and I'm not a school teacher at all so I'm just presuming) that the teachers were allowing the children time to settle into school and kind of assess each childs abilities then get a bit more into the reading? If that makes sense?

Im in no way frustrated or annoyed by it.
Since I mentioned that DD can read simple words and knows the alphabet already the teacher has gone to great effort to really push reading with her in the weeks since, and she's coming along fantastically.

Being able to describe a picture
Make up their own story about the people in it
Etc
Think about what they just ate or did or who they are
Good verbal skills
If dh wants to do more reading g with his child no one is stopping him

@bangonthedoorgroovychick
If you are happy, that’s fine. I would have expected a pre starting assessment based on info from nursery and you. Teachers used to visit nursery to assess children and talk to nursery staff about the Dc who were starting so they had a better understanding of who was further ahead and who wasn’t. But maybe that’s gold standard expectations on my part.

@tizerorFizz unrealistic expectations, not gold standard. There's 30 children and 1 teacher and all at different points with different preschool experiences. Plus there is often a regression in skills when a child starts school or the few children who have parents who think they have a far higher ability and taught them incorrectly. More able children will progress faster but it absolutely makes sense for the same starting point.

@Mumofsend the same starting point doesn’t make sense atoll. The teacher should be given time to assess all the students but then they should work at their individual reading level. For some that will be picture books while others might be free readers.

Dd (4 in August) started reception a few weeks ago and is bringing home the Biff, Kipper books with no words and has been for a couple of weeks. She can sound & blend CVC words and has a bit of phase 3 phonic knowledge she picked up from last year’s homeschooling. Dd5 & Ds6 all bought these books home too and that was last year & 2019. They move on from there. It helps them to build literacy and not focus just on the letters. We read a few of Usborne & Songbird books too at the moment as dd feels a little fed up of them. Ds is in year 2 and way below his ‘expected’ reading level and struggles. Dd5 is above her reading expectation and free reads already and is ahead of her older brother on reading bands. I wouldn’t compare to other kids, stop now or it will drive you mad. Share any concerns with school.

@LondonGirl83
I agree. It makes no sense at all! My DD was in a class of 66 in a hen and chickens classroom with two teachers back in the day. I expect they had a TA. Most YR classes now have at least one TA. How did they manage to assess the children back then? Perhaps they expected children would come into yr and be further on in being ready to read? Or maybe it was a higher quality school? Probably both.

The children went to various nurseries but one thing about nurseries is that they all assess children!!! The info is there. Teachers should see new parents and ask for info too.

A few years ago, when phonics was made compulsory, it was said nearly all children would be able to read. It now seems this was an empty promise. I know in my LA the phonics only approach has not suited very bright children because it’s too slow. We are a high achieving LA so many schools accept DC will arrive who simply don’t need picture books so they work a bit harder to assess what books they do need!

@TizerorFizz I do think that’s what most schools do still as standard.

That seems sensible to me and gets DC off to a flying start.