Reception child reading at Year 2 level - what to expect from school

[ProcrastinatorsAnonymous]

DS in Reception at good state primary is reading well above his expected level - on around Oxford level 8 / Purple - which I think is more like Year 2? He's in the top phonics set, but the books he brings home are still way below the level he's capable of and aren't stretching him. I realise he is 1 of 30 in a class, but what is reasonable for us to expect from the school in terms of meeting his needs and stretching him? We obviously read with him and to him loads at home, but I'm hoping school can also do more... I would be interested to hear what happens in this situation at other schools...? Thanks!

Mine was like this. Way ahead. School said just to focus on her comprehension, ensuring she understood all the words she was reading and encouraged us/her to keep reading anything age appropriate, not just fiction, to strengthen comprehension and her “word bank”. And also ensuring when she was reading out loud she was using appropriate tone, etc. A passion and talent of reading is a wonderful skill IMO, but be prepared to buy lots of books and use the library a lot!

Forgot to add, she was flying through the school books and her school did an few tests on her , one I think was called a miscue analysis, which showed she was much further ahead than they initially realised. She stayed on the reading stage books into Y1 and they worked on comprehension and tone etc, but was off the scheme completely by Y2.

most important thing was 1) comprehension of what they are reading and 2) reading age appropriate books and not things they are way too old for them in terms of content

My summer born child was similar, there were several others in his reception class reading at this level. We just let him read whatever he wanted. School were happy as long as he was reading every day. I only needed to step in and prevent him reading a few books. I have found that children tend to be fairly self censoring.

Does he actually understand what he’s reading? How is his comprehension?

He will be learning phonics and doing lots of play based learning. They will also be working on his social skills and ability to follow instructions. Moving him on to harder books won't be a priority. Encourage his comprehension. Read to him and talk to him about what is happening in the story.

The phonics will be linked to writing and handwriting
Can he also write as well as he can read?

We just said we’d help them choose books at home to bring into school. In Y1 they went to to library. They didn’t really use reading schemes at all. It was never a problem. They had lots of opportunities to read quietly and were allowed to do so if they finished other work quickly. They read in assemblies and things from an early age. They can read still.

I don't mean this to sound rude OP, but he will be one of many. My DD was free reading by year 2. There's a lot of kids like this, the school will manage just fine. One thing I've learnt is that excelling in one area does not necessarily translate into excelling in other areas.

@Paddingtonthebear - Thank you, that's really helpful! He seems to understand what he's read - we ask questions about it etc and sometimes ask him to retell the story in his own words. He's able to understand the tone of what he's reading and puts the emphasis in the appropriate place (eg. responding to exclamation marks / speech marks etc as he reads). I'd appreciate any recommendations for books that stretch children of this age in terms of vocabulary but stay at a level that's appropriate and engaging for a 4 year old. Although he's ahead in terms of his reading, I don't think he's socially / emotionally ahead for his age.

@OldMotherShipton - No at all - his handwriting is way behind his reading, but I've read that's pretty normal and that you shouldn't hold them back in reading to wait for writing to catch up?

@ChristmasisRuined - It's not about what other kids are doing and I'm certainly not claiming that he will be exceptional in all areas. But if there are 15 kids in his class all reading at Year 2 level but being given "the cat sat on the mat" level books to read, then that's 15 kids not being stretched!

OP, there is no limit to what your dc reads. If they are what station? Ahead then just pop to the library every fortnight and get a few books for them to read in their spare time. Even if it is a waste of time reading the school books, who cares? It's not like there isn't enough time in the day for them to read other books.

Please excuse the autocorrect fails

You’re right to believe that reading shouldn’t be held back because of writing, but when a child is at the stage where the reading is significantly ahead of the writing you need to stop trying to do the stretching and challenging on the reading and focus your time and attention on the writing.

Until he can independently, confidently and consistently write the words and sentences in the books that he flies through easily, there is still a big benefit to him reading them.

Let reading be for enjoyment and follow his lead on the books you get for home. They don’t all need to challenge. Spend some time in a bookshop or library where he can see a variety of books and see what he likes. Ask school if he’d be allowed to choose any of their class library books to read at home in addition to the the easy ones.

So from the responses so far, it sounds like the answer to my question is that we shouldn’t expect anything from the school and just need to read at his level at home? I thought that might be the case, but still interested to hear any examples of initiatives in reception to stretch children who have turned up able to read…

the phonics lesson will include reading and writing- so he may be able to do part of it (reading) but from what you said is not ahead in applying phonics into writing.

Just leave the school to do their stuff.

And in parallel, make sure you have at home the books he will enjoy reading (either entirely independently or with you) and foster a love of reading.

Even the most precocious readers in DC's class went through the same phonics programme (to make sure no-one had any weird gaps, I guess, and really were competent), but there was greater variety in their home reading book. Whether that can happen probably depends on how well resourced the school is (ie how many books of what type are available to which year groups)

Oh yeah that was the other thing that was said, they need to be able to apply the reading to their writing

I don’t know whether it’s the sort of example you want op, but dd started preschool able to read, and they let her do her own thing. They told school (same site but not directly linked) that she was very able and school were very dismissive, said she wouldn’t comprehend it, etc. When she actually went to school they had clearly made their mind up about her. She wiped the floor with their tests in the first week and was allowed to just go to the library and read what she wanted. School basically did nothing. I don’t think she even read to an adult in school as they were more concerned with the kids who struggled. Dd didn’t mind, but that’s her nature. Initial assessments at secondary put her reading age off the top of whatever charts they use. She’s nearly 13 and just reads what she wants, as she always has.

Let your ds read whatever takes his fancy, use the library, talk to him about what he’s reading and let him know to ask if he’s unsure on words or meanings. If he starts to complain about the school books and you think it’s spoiling his love of reading then bring it up as a concern over that aspect, but otherwise I think this is one thing you can manage very easily yourself.

I would agree to focus more time on writing and keep the reading ticking along.

The Julia Donaldson books and the Hairy McClary stories.

My dd had a reading age of 8 years and 3 months when she started reception. School listened to her read a few books then moved her up and she was a free reader within a year. I worked on her vocabulary and spelling at home as school did not seem to be doing anything on that. I put her in for a scholarship on advice of school. She was awarded 50 percent scholarship to large independent school and went as a day girl. She loved school and loved all additional activities she got to do. She loved languages and at one point was learning German, French, Spanish and Latin. She is grown up now but still loves learning and reading.

Phonics lessons are not just about reading, but also about writing, so there is a balance to be found.
yes he may easily read the cat sat on the mat, but he also needs to write it. That’s what phonics lessons are for.
alongside that he should read for the joy of reading. That’s the motivation/ enrichment.

but still interested to hear any examples of initiatives in reception to stretch children who have turned up able to read…

That would be an unnecessary initiative though when what you seem to want are just higher levels of school ‘reading books’. Stretching the children who are able to decode easily comes from all the things like fluency, expression, tone, response to punctuation, inference, following instructions and the rest. Your child is in reception, he will still benefit from practicing all of those things with a wide variety of books at a level he can read and digest easily.