Does this reading gap sound unusual

[Toarrie]

I am just looking for some opinions. My 6 year old in year 1 is reading ort level 7 in class but I am struggling to get her to read these at home as she says they are too easy. She reads at home books like the dreaded rainbow magic books, horrid Henry, famous five, magnificent Mabel.
I raised with the teacher a while ago that she was finding the books too easy and she was put up 1 level a few weeks later, she initially told me she wasn’t ready but apparently was after 2 weeks?!?
I don’t think the teacher knows where her reading is at as she isn’t the one that reads with DDs reading group (which incidentally is very large at approx 10 children).
I had just given up but it feels like a big difference to what she is reading at home? And what if it gets wider? Am I doing Dd a disservice by not approaching teacher again or am I just totally off and those type of home reading books are actually part level 7?

Former Primary teacher here. At this age the main thing is to encourage a love of reading. Try her with lots of different genres and enjoy reading together. Do lots of phonics games together and don’t worry to much about what level she is on at school.
In 1996 I wrote my dissertation on how reading schemes do not encourage children to become successful readers. It creates unhealthy competition and puts children off reading because they can’t choose a book they like the look of as it’s not in their ‘band’. Nearly 30 years on and nothing has changed, which I find incredibly sad.

It’s a common problem, same with my year 1 ds but I just roll with it. The books he reads at school do have some good vocabulary tbf, and I know he has in depth conversations with the teacher regarding comprehension. Whereas Horrid Henrid etc content he reads at home is a bit questionable but they are longer and keep him interested. I just see it as he’s getting a variety of reading material. p.s ds does have ‘reading for pleasure’ sessions at school where he can freely pick books off the shelf to ready quietly to himself. It’s worth asking the teacher if they have something similar in addition to their usual book reading.

I teach 5 & 6 year olds. We regularly test the children to find out what reading level they are at. We also use the ORT reading scheme. Sometimes the ORT books are easy as we've read them in class a couple of times and you will have 3 maybe 4 reading groups in your class with a variety of abilities in each group. We do a range of written tasks on their books so the children are being challenged that way. So even if they are reading it fluently it might still be tricky for them to answer comprehension questions in written form or to unjumble sentences etc. We also send home easy read books that are individual to their reading level. So it could be through the written work etc that your child is being challenged but if you have concerns speak to the teacher again.

Yeah, DD is in Year 1 and her school reading books have been below her 'home' reading level the entire time she's been at school. We now completely disregard the books she brings home - she reads them at school and she's an avid reader whose own choices challenge her more, so we see no point in forcing the school's books on her.

This was happening when I was at primary in the 1970s (reading Watership Down and the Hobbit at home, stuck on Ladybird Peter and Jane readers at school), and when my DC were in primary in the 2000s (reading eg Harry Potter at age 6, still on graded Biff and Chip or whatever they were called at school).

Mention it to the teacher by all means, but the main thing is to make sure they carry on reading for pleasure at home so have plenty of books around and just explain to them that the reading books at school are to make sure they understand every word and aren't just racing through because they want to find out what happens next.

I have had similar conversations, the upshot was I encouraged both mine to read more non fiction at the reading level school say, on the advice of their teachers. Non fiction is much harder to read, less repetition, so they need to work out more words.

Work on the comprehension, stop half way through a new book, predict possible endings, what could happen next, what do you want to happen, how does this story make you feel, etc. At the end of the story - what could be a sequel.

Thank you. We enjoying reading together. Both me reading her reading. That has been the route we have been going done but I wanted to make sure i was doing the right thing.

DD has been given ort books home that she has never read before and reads them fluently with no mistakes so it isn’t that she knows the book.
i believe there are 4 groups based on ability they all get the same book home in the group.
I thought they should be challenged with reading too? But we do it at home regardless

Many schools have actually ditched Oxford Reading Tree now as the books aren't completely decodable. However, there is a huge emphasis on fluency these days so it's normal for children to be given books to take home which are slightly easier than what they're working on in school, in order to develop this.

Tbh, the books you mention may look and seem a bit harder as they are longer, chapter books but the content isn't overly challenging (by nature, they're designed to be easy reads which draw children in through the familiar characters and the repetition of the many books in each series, to help then develop a love of reading). I'd say there probably isn't a world of difference between Horrid Henry, Rainbow Fairies etc and ORT stage 7 (there isn't also a massive difference between ORT stages 6, 7, 8, 9 etc. The length and vocabulary increases ever so slightly, but the change is designed to be subtle to help make for smooth transitions between stages). I wouldn't expect her to enjoy stage 8 or 9 any more than she's currently enjoying stage 7 tbh. They're all so similar.

The main things is that she's enjoying the books she's choosing at home for pleasure. That should also be a huge focus in schools now so by all means mention that your daughter isn't enjoying the ORT books and ask what they do to promote reading for pleasure, but don't assume your child's teacher doesn't have to clue about her reading abilities simply because they don't work regularly with her guided reading group. They do so much more reading in school than guided reading, which the teacher will be more involved with. Whoever does teach her guided reading group will also be giving regular feedback. The books she's receiving from school will be developing her fluency and comprehension skills, the books she's choosing at home are helping her develop a love of reading. It's a nice mix I'd say.

We gave up with the books coming home. They were matched to whatever phonics that was going on that week and DD was already in the top group so we read books we had at home. She might read the school book once to quickly tick a box but that was it - we certainly didn’t bother with the three times.

Agree with this. My 6yo is a
a massive Horrid Henry fan and on level 7 in his school books. But the Horrid Henry vocab is actually quite basic and repetitive whereas some of his school books, especially non fiction, have more tricky words albeit are shorter. His school does Big Cat Phonics though and they seem to be much more challenging than other schemes.

Anyway it’s really not a big deal - we read the school book once and otherwise just read our own stuff.

I would just let her read the books she enjoys at home and make sure to ask her if she understands. You could get her to read the book they send once and then move on to whatever books she enjoys. When my dc were little we just read the books at home (i also had many first reader books). I was rubbish at remembering to return the reading books and it was just easier to have our own. It worked out well and I explained to the teachers.

Great thanks all. That is what we are doing. Read once (mostly she has sometimes refused all together) and then reading home books. Her understanding is great, always has been ahead of her reading ability.

Ignore the school books.
Dd1 wasn't allowed to go above level 6 in year 1 but was reading FF easily.

We had an arrangement that as long as she read I'd sign the reading diary.

The main thing is they enjoy reading.

I remember the literacy coordinator coming out to tell me that she'd had a lovely conversation with dd2 about The Hobbit in year 2 and saying to me that clearly there was no worry about her reading, and (being an infant school) they didn't have any books near her level, so not to worry about reading the school books unless she wanted to.
Actually dd2 loved reading anything and just read any book that came near, so was happy to read that. She's still like that aged 20 and I may come across her curled up with a Rainbow Fairy (I still find the wretched books, despite thinking I'd got rid of them all!) or Harry Potter or an adult book. It's just good she likes reading.