When do children stop needing to putting their finger under the words when they read? (looking for normal readers not the super-duper reading-a-chapter-a-3 types)

[imaginaryfriend]

I had a note in dd's reading book to suggest she should stop putting her finger under each word as she reads as it will make her read more fluently.

I'm actually quite happy with where she is reading-wise and I'm aware she does that robot-voiced reading but I don't know if she should / shouldn't be expected at this age (5, Reception) to be able to read with a fluid sounding voice?

at my Dc's school, they encourage even the 'super-dupers' ,to put a finger under each word in reception!

dd stopped during reception but ds still does it now at 7. I was told last year to encourage him not to do it but tbh I find it helps him as he is so easily distractable that if he doesn't have his finger on the page he loses his place all the time.

reception seems a bit early. I think dd was encouraged to stop it in year 2. So she was 6.

SOme time during Yr1

It sounds like she is a jolly good reader IF and the comment was not really a criticism but the teacher's way of trying to improve what she can already do.

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. She will stop the finger thing when she is ready to. It is definitely not an issue IMO in Reception.

My ds is in year 2 and a good reader. He still does thios if it's a hard book. He was having a go at Harry Potter over half term and I noticed he was using a ruler unde the lines to help him keep his place. i would just let her get on with it if I were you - she is definitely in the super-duper category!

Thanks for the replies. I think she's doing well with her reading, she amazes me in fact with some of the words she seems to know how to read! But she does have a totally robotic voice and doesn't really notice punctuation. She's very easily distracted when she's reading, going from the pictures to the words to tell the story frequently and if she doesn't keep her finger on the page would be constantly losing her place.

if you learn speed reading as an adult they teach you to follow the wrods with your finger. Nothing worng with it - it stops you backtracking which we do a lot when we read normally.

It might be to help her sounding quite so robotic though?

help her stop sounding so robotic I mean.

my 5yo (rec) does it when he is tired but not otherwise - BUT he is one of the more advanced kids in his class for reading - so I suspect that the majority of reception children will do it.
Now read the rest of the posts, I think robotic & punctuation will come, I am concentrating on this more with ds as he can read the words. I am talking about expression, full stops etc. It's just practice.
How about suggesting that she keeps he finger on the line (ie at the left hand side of the first word in the line) and move down a line at a time, rather than word by word?

Yes, that's a good idea CS. Or someone else suggested using a small ruler.

She often reads the sentence robot-style then repeats it after with more animation.

I guess when we read we are naturally reading ahead - so can judge the expression to put in, but when they are just learning they are reading the words rather than reading ahead.
ds sometimes looks at a line (reading in his head) and then reads it outloud with more expression - so I suppose the line by line thing helps with this.
Also, talk about the book with her, ask questions to ensure she is understanding, ask what she thinks is going to happen next etc (not suggesting you aren't doing these things already - but in case you aren't).

CS, no she's definitely not at the reading ahead stage yet, she focuses on each word in turn.

She always analyses the pictures first and kind of works out the story to an extent before she reads. Sometimes she works out that the story is slightly ambiguous and she asks me a question and I tell her that the words will explain it to her when she reads them.

Message withdrawn

Yes, oops it was strange that after my meeting with her the teacher has now stopped the parent-helpers doing the only 1-on-1 reading with the kids and taken it over herself. I did say to her that I felt ill-equipped to be helping the group I listened to as they were the lowest achievers with little English in most cases. I'm still doing reading with them but now it's with them as a whole group and more relaxed with me reading and asking them questions about the book / words / pictures.

I really really wouldn't worry about her sounding robotic - she's 5! LOTS of children aren't reading at all at this age. LOTS of children in year 1 aren't reading at all. It is not at all the "norm" for 5 year olds to be able to read, so there are no shoulds or shouldn'ts. Maybe the next stage would be to read witholut usig the finger - but there's no rush. As I said, my 7 year old still does this when he's reading something he finds difficult.

completely agree with seeker, and having just re-read my post, when I said ds sometimes read ahead - I mean about once a fortnight, NOT some lines he does/some he doesn't.

Well I wasn't worried, I was more surprised by the comment in her reading book from the teacher. I didn't think she was meant to be doing things like that yet.

I suppose most 5yo's won't - but the teacher might well think this is the next logical step for your dd.
Or she might be trying to show you (given previous posts) that she IS taking note and reading with your dd!
Either way it is positive really I think.

I think that accuracy is more important than anything else for a child starting to read. I actually tell my six year old son to point at each word. Otherwise he starts looking at the pictures and guessing instead of blending.

Your dd is doing well. She will stop pointing at words when she no longer needs to.

Well we tried it a bit tonight on the easier parts of her book (the pages with only two lines of writing rather than 3 or 5) and she was fine actually although she did keep reaching her finger out!

Yes, I think the teacher is making a lot of effort at the moment. I'm feeling rather sorry for her, I think she's coming in for a lot of criticism. I think this may be her first class.

Honestly, I wouldn't do anything that might deflect her from the progress she is making. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

having read all of the thread, but we encourage the -sixth formers- to use their finger when revising. It helps with retention of words/facts.

If you're happy and she's happy - does it matter