Really no idea of expected reading level (end of Yr 1)

[Todayiscool]

DD has just completed year 1 at school.

These are the books she is reading (photos attached). She reads these books with expression, but not 100% fluently (she sounds out some of the trickier words).

I was hyperlexic (ASD) so I have no innate idea of how well a nearly 7 year old 'should' be reading. I'm also aware there is a large scope for 'normal' at this stage of development.

DD's school are non-commital as to whether her level is expected, or above or below expected.

She's not a very enthusiastic reader, but we keep plugging (and trying to help her find some joy in it!).

If love to hear from anyone who understands primary education whether this type of book is approx. average for her age.

If she's behind, I'd like to spend some time thinking of how we can address it to build her reading confidence.

Of course I've googled it, but the results were contradictory.

DD's school are non-commital as to whether her level is expected, or above or below expected.

We have to report that with the end of year report. How did your DD do in her SATs?

She goes to a prep school, I not sure if that makes a difference.

Either she didn't do SATS (they weren't mentioned) or the results weren't reported back to us.

They did do a literacy test of some sort. The results for that weren't reported to the parents (maybe if there had been an issue they would have raised it).

What’s your concern? That’s she behind?

There are no SATs in Year One… Did she pass her phonic screening check? It looks like an age expected / greater depth level book for Year One IMO although I haven’t taught that year group for many years!

What phonics scheme do the school use?

My concern is that she doesn't really enjoy reading, and I'm not sure if it's because she's struggling, or because she just hasn't found any fun in it yet.

If she's struggling or falling behind, I'd like to figure out the best way to support her.

If it's just she hasn't found the fun, it's more about continuing to try to find her things she wants to read.

We haven't been told that she didn't pass the screening. So we presume she did.

The school are not great, TBF (and in fact, we're changing schools for year 2).

Try reading my interesting stuff - no kids want to read the shit school books. Try Roald Dahl, Tom Gates or Harry Potter or the like

I believe it's called Letters and Sounds.

That looks fine. Certainly not "behind". To an extent, though, it doesn't really matter where she's at compared to others her age, parental input should still look the same - make time to read to her, and to read with her, find books that she enjoys (reluctant readers often prefer non-fiction) go to the library, make a point of reading in "real-life" (like reading the display boards on a nature walk etc)

I would spend the same time extending a precocious reader as I would do supporting a struggling reader.

I’ve had four kids go through primary and one who’s just finished year one and I’d say that’s about where all mine were, give or take. They’re all around bottom end of greater depth I’d say in terms of English.

That book looks a bit boring though so I’d crack open the Wimpy Kids or something more relevant.

Only one of my kids really enjoys reading. I’ve tried lots to get them more interested but you can’t force it. Mine would all much rather be outside with a football or doing some drawing than reading.

Fwiw my kids never read early reader type books. We would read proper, interesting books "together", which would start with me reading the whole thing whilst occasionally pointing out very simple words they could recognise, then finding a few short, straightforward sentences they could read here and there and just building up to them being able to read the whole thing.

Ah this is great Intel, thank you.

She is a more confident and enthusiastic real-life reader. Maybe non fiction would help, I'll try that.

We go to the library, DH and I love books and reading so I'd expected that'd rub off naturally.

As I said, I was a precocious reader (I read before I talked, I could read fluently before 4, but was electively mute until I was 6). I remember at (mainstream, state) primary school they had to order new books in for me when I finished the year 6 books in reception. So I have literally no basis for what 'normal' looks like. The parents at DD's current school are very competitive - so I've been hesitant to ask them how their childrens' reading is going. Hence, no benchmark.

Once you find the book/ thing she’s interested in she’ll fly. I remember worrying at my daughters reluctance to read the boring school books. Then when I found what she liked she couldn’t stop reading!

Same with DD. Except (horribly) she rather watch She-Ra on Netflix.

And we're not a particularly TV oriented family, we do arts, crafts, reading, playing. It's a salient reminder that our kids may look like us, but their personalities can be very different.

That makes her sound like Mike Teavee... She's not, she's smart, observant, funny, good company, makes friends easily ... Just would prefer to watch TV than read a book. 😓

My son has just finished year one and this looks about what we are reading. Agree the book doesn't seem very inspiring to me. He loves to read and gets excited for it. We go to the library and he picks books himself and enjoys that more than me picking.

Definitely not behind - I have two in y1 and one of mine (who is meeting expectations) would be okay but stretched by what you have posted, my other (who is a bit behind) would have a harder time. They are also at a prep (if that matters??).

so capability is fine, but maybe the challenge is engagement/enthusiasm? Some of it might be finding things that excite your child. Mine are more excited to read things that are not phonics style readers, and are more excited by comic style format. We are also doing a ‘summer reading challenge’ where we pay them 1p per page for every completed book during summer break. My idealistic self opposes the transactional nature of paying for reading, but in practice it is a gentle nudge for them to read daily without needing to coax - they are reading because they choose to rather than being forced. In the process they have also had the opportunity to choose lots of different books, and are really enjoying some of them to the extent that the reread favourites despite not getting any more money (rule is only get money for the first read of a book). I also continue to read to them, which they love.

I teach KS1. That is quite a challenging text for the end of Year 1 so your DC is a good decoder. However, the focus in reading currently is to ensure that children are reading each text completely fluently at this stage before moving on to the next stage to ensure they are able to read for meaning. The dreaded Ofsted would also expect to see children reading books matched to their current level of phonics knowledge, so not including sounds they haven't been taught (eg has your DD been taught the silent k?).

Obviously Ofsted speaks a load of old rubbish most of the time. However, as a Year 2 teacher one of the issues that has frequently occurred is that, partly due to the focus on completing the phonics screening check in Year 1, some children become adept at sounding out and blending words but miss out the next step of automaticity - knowing the phonics "code" well enough to read words containing sounds they know automatically. This of course has a significant impact on their comprehension. So I do agree that at this stage they should be reading books that they can read almost completely fluently. As these books are often, let's face it, pretty tedious, it's also important to share a range of other books with your child.

Some Y1 kids will be able to read books harder than your example completely fluently - one of my DC could (although is now 11 and has almost no interest in reading). Although these DC represent 90% of MN offspring, in the real world they are definitely the higher ability rather than "average" readers.

Just saw that your DC is at a private school so what Ofsted thinks will mean diddly squat to them. I would still advocate the importance of building up fluency though.

Definitely not behind!
I can comment from both ends, all be it extreme ends.
My son has just completed year one and can't read a book, he can only just do basic phonic sounds and still has the "pat a pan" type books. He is behind in literacy/reading/phonics. He scored 20/40 In his year one phonics screening,
My daughter when she finished year one was reading chapter books, Enid Blyton etc and in her report was labelled as "working beyond the expected level". She scored 40/40 on her phonics screening.

I have always encouraged books with both children, my daughter is a very keen reader like me, spends a lot of her time doing so, so it makes sense she's ahead. Whereas my son, is extremely uninterested, really needs to be doing something with his hands and benefits with play based learning - he is also being assessed for SEN, which of course may play a large role in his struggling with literacy in comparison to maths, which he enjoys and is much more confident in.

My honest advice would be not to push it, or to worry. That book is absolutely fine for where she is at. If she doesn't love to read, I wouldn't think it a big deal, especially not in year one. Having two children who are both so different and have such different skills and interests has made me so much more relaxed In my expectations of how they achieve in school.

You sound lovely, your daughter sounds like she is doing wonderfully. Please don't worry, and enjoy watching her progress ❤️

Being a total geek about this as it's the school holidays, but here are a couple of pages from the book level we would expect our "age-related" pupils to be reading at the end of Y1/start of Y2. As you can probably see it's written to specifically match the phonics sounds taught at this phase (eg children would have learned the "j" sound spelled g/ge like in "giant" and "rage" and the hard "ch" sound. Not particularly inspiring to read though.

The best approach, IMO, is a mix of hearing your child read, reading to them and around them, and discussing what happens in books you are reading.

However, the ability to read is your ultimate aim and it sounds as if your DD is doing just fine. I know it can feel disappointing if your child is not as avid a reader as you were at that age. As I said, my DC was a naturally able reader, was read to daily since she was a baby, but now barely picks up a book in case it interrupts her watching some kid make a milkshake blindfolded on YouTube.

I'd guess it's the same level as my son who has just finished year 1 too, the scheme he uses at school (Read Write Inc) suggests he was on the colour band expected for middle-end of year 2, but he is one of the older ones with a December birthday, so probably just at the right level. He did phonics with a mostly year 2 group by the end of the year, but his report says at the expected level, rather than exceeding. (My other children were a still emerging at this stage at the same time, but are summer borns. They had a huge leap at 6.5 when they were in year 2 and then read a lot for enjoyment and easily caught up with the rest of the year). Although my son has found reading easier, he doesn't read for pleasure yet like my daughter's did, and I'm still mostly reading him picture books, whereas I was reading chapter books only at this age with my daughter's. He's more picky about what I read to him and I am sure he is high functioning autistic, I think he will be captivated more by non fiction when he is a bit more mature.

To try and install a love of reading get her books that interest her (fiction and non fiction) share those interests and extend them. So if she's interested in fairies get her the Daisy Meadows sets (this can be you reading to her) but also do some research or watch films or set up a fairy house in your garden . Join your local library, most libraries are doing the summer reading challenge where children get a certificate and medal if they read 6 books. It's completely free to join. There some great fact books that are fun to read together. Role model to her , children are far more likely to read if they see their parents reading. Read together every night before bed.

I would second the suggestion of non-fiction - it's often laid out in a much more engaging way for a reluctant reader.

Or even just find her a She-Ra book! There are loads from the 1980s which you can buy cheaply on Amazon. I remember She-Ra and the Golden Goose being my absolute obsession at that age.

I have a child same age also at a prep school. Like yours, there is no phonics test at end of Y1 but our school routinely teaches a year ahead of the curriculum and places a huge emphasis on reading in general. Children are expected to read to a parent daily, reading books changed multiple times each week plus school library books sent home for us to read to them. They do not progress to harder books if they cannot demonstrate comprehension, expression, fluency and inference. My DC has been frustrated at times that school won't give them harder books but my answer to it is that they can read whatever they want at home but at school, they follow their curriculum.

They stepped away from phonics based learning at the start of Y1 and follow their own curriculum. I know many teachers who post on MN would probably be horrified because they do not use a phonics scheme or teach how other schools do but they are successful with how they teach it and I trust them.

We get a reading age on our end of year report - I have no idea how my DC compares to others in their class though.

At home, I personally follow the advice many other PP have given and encourage DC to read anything that appeals to them. This means they sometimes pick easier books which they can get through themselves at ease but mostly prefer harder novels which we read together due to the longer plots. We usually split one page each and discuss as we go along to make sure they understand the nuances in the plot. It involves input from us but seems to be working at developing the enjoyment from reading so we are continuing with it