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Primary education

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Original poster

Anyone with age 4-6 on the ORT

54 replies

samanthar · 15/03/2008 23:08

Just wondered how old? which school year? your children are and how they find it

ds is on level 2 and finds it very hard ..he has very little idea and is only getting anew one each day as we got through them and he memorises them

dd is on level 5 and racing through them with never a word out of place...does it suddenly get alot harder in level 6 plus
sorry to ask but with parent consultation evening coming up i have one with one issue with it and one with the opposite

many thanks

OP posts:
paddingtonbear1 · 15/03/2008 23:15

Hi, my dd is 4 and in reception and is on level 2. She can do it when she puts her mind to it, but struggles with concentration and tends to try and guess the words! She is still v young though, it will come in time. At parents evening her teacher didn't raise an issue with it.

TheDuchyEggOfNorksBride · 15/03/2008 23:22

6yo in Year 1 is on ORT 6. She is an average ability reader and is quite fluent but still has to sound out new words.

4yo in Reception is on ORT 3. He seems to be doing fairly well.

Alambil · 15/03/2008 23:23

My DS is 5, reception and on stage 4

Do remember that all kids are different though - some "get" it and some just don't... some kids are better at the old way of learning to read and some prefer phonics.

Some kids started school with DS and are on level 2, some are the same as he is... I don't think it will be an issue for his teacher

How old is your DD? I don't think the ORT get suddenly harder but they do increase the difficulty as the skill level goes up obviously...

You could ask if they have any other programmes for the reading - DS is bringing home some New Way books that I used to read (with Meg and Jip and Fat Pig - not very PC but nostalgic!) - your DS may be better off on a non-phonetic based book scheme?

Speak to his teacher if you are concerned, but I don't think there is any particular reason for worry at this age.

TheAntiFlounce · 15/03/2008 23:38

I read at 3

My brother read at 8

we can both read now. don't panic.

TheDuchyEggOfNorksBride · 15/03/2008 23:50

ORT Reading Age guide.

But it is just a guide. As Lewis says, they will all be able to read sooner or later.

2boys2 · 16/03/2008 09:48

my ds1 age 4.5yrs knows approx 100 words and

is reading books with about 3 sentances per

page for example

"i want to play" said the cat.
"i want to sleep" said Frisky....

is this about right for his age because the teacher seemed to think he was doing really well but as they dont "grade" them i have no idea if he is ahead or age appropiate.

Those of you who are familier with ORT - what do you think??

LIZS · 16/03/2008 10:37

tbh I don't think it really matters as it levels out so much at Year 2. Those kids who were so advanced in Reception are no longer significantly ahead of those who struggled more initially. Level 6 is harder, the stories become longer and vocab more complex (still mainly Magic Key though).

DrNortherner · 16/03/2008 10:41

Wish I'd never looked at that reading age guide

My ds is nearly 6, in Year 1 and is on level 3.

Reallytired · 16/03/2008 13:21

I think that the early stages of ORT do not fit in with synthetic phonics. Lot of words in ORT stage 2 are not decodable witht the phonics covered in reception. If your child is finding stage 2 hard then I suggest that you buy some decodable books like www.jellyandbean.co.uk

Decodable books will boost your child's confidence and make learning to read more pleasurable. There is nothing like failure to make a child miserable. If a child does not want to read then read books to them and practice phonics and blending words out of word boxes.

I think that ORT are better once you get to stage 4. My son loves the magic key books.

This time last year, he was on stage 2 of ORT (aged 5 years 2 months and reception). He is now on stage 8 ORT at the age of 6 years 2 months (year 1).

Reallytired · 16/03/2008 13:23

((((((((DrNortherner))))))))

There is more to reading than ORT. Have you tried him with something else?

FranSanDisco · 16/03/2008 13:26

Ds is in Reception and on stage 4. He seems to remember most of the words rather than sound them out though

Heated · 16/03/2008 13:27

Is the ORT some kind of reading 'holy grail'?

Cappuccino · 16/03/2008 13:28

DrNortherner dd1 was on stage 3 for aobut a year

she is on stage 8 now and just about right for reading ages - but we have gone through 3 stages in v quick time to catch up

it'll sort

mrz · 16/03/2008 13:39

My school scrapped the early stage old ORT books. As reallytired says they don't fit in with synthetic phonics and there are much nicer books out there for younger children just starting out.

Heated · 16/03/2008 13:47

Was what I was wondering Mrz, why are schools so wedded to the ORT?

FranSanDisco · 16/03/2008 13:52

I would expect it's too costly to replace it Ds brings home books with damaged noted from 1991 - blimey! The books must be 20 yrs old I'd say.

madness · 16/03/2008 13:54

Agree with reallytired and mrz!!!
Got some books from the library wich do follow synthetic phonics and for the first time dd was able to read them books not just memorise them. She felt so proud.

wheresthehamster · 16/03/2008 14:10

Our school still has Ginn as the main scheme which is ok once you get to blue level and have a wider vocabulary. Probably all KS1 schools will gradually replace their schemes with more phonic based ones when they can finance it! We now have a range of ORT Songbird and Big Cat books in Reception and are gradually buying more. Rigby Star books have apparently been written in line with the new phonics and the tricky words that are being taught alongside. And although Jelly and Bean were written before the new strategy apparently they have a good mix of phonic and tricky words.

mrz · 16/03/2008 14:14

Oxford Press have produced some great phonic reading books written by Julia Donaldson (The Gruffalo) I've seen very reasonably priced packs on Amazon and The Book People.

VanillaPumpkin · 16/03/2008 14:26

I do reading with dd's reception class. Only two of them are on level 2. The rest are still on level 1. They are all so different.
They encourage them to only change the books twice a week. My dd memorises the books too, but that is part of how they learn the words if that makes sense.
Try not to worry.

VanillaPumpkin · 16/03/2008 14:28

That ORP guidance is a bit pushy imo. It recommends them starting in Nursery so ignore that Northerner.

emandjules · 16/03/2008 16:53

my dd is 5yrs and on level 1, but baring in mind she did not talk sentences til last summer , so is doing fab,

Original poster
samanthar · 16/03/2008 19:57

Thank you
We also have Ginn from 1978!!! but these are the only ones he can do
btw the said dcs are twins who will soon be 5

dtd is about lvel 6 standard and dts is the one struggling with level 2

thanks for all the input ..i am trying to persuade the pta that we could maybe help to buy some of the phonics collections you have all mentioned so good to know they are out there being implemented in schools

i think they are about £310 a class pack per level and these wont go far among 48 reception children

OP posts:
Reallytired · 16/03/2008 20:22

I think a lot depends what reading scheme you pick. ORT are very expensive but there are cheaper schemes. The Ruth Misken, Jolly phonics books or Jelly and bean are cheaper than ORT.

Blu · 16/03/2008 20:29

Northerner - your boy is doing fine!

DS didn't really click until the last term of Yr 1 (he is a summer born boy) and then suddenly raced ahead.

Even if they are learning through phonics in class, ORT isn't strictly a phonics scheme - it works on word recognition for a lot of the new words. It is ok for them to guess - and it's ok to read the book through to them first to give them confidence. DS would have learned faster had I had the sheet from the teacher that told us that earlier! It was tortuous getting him to struggle for every damn word!

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