Go on honestly what reading stage is your reception child on

[schmoopoo]

???

Yes a lot of people have actually posted "level 1+" etc, but some have said level 9/10/11.

That genuinely amazes me.

Ds is on stage 3 ORT, he's a summer baby (July) who started reception in Jan. So I think he's doing jolly well. Personally I'm thrilled that he's interested in punctuation and does an emphatic tone of voice if there's an exclamation mark, or waits if there's a three dot ellipsis - but then I am a pedant.

Mine is the youngest in the class he will be 5 at end of June and can't read at all although he does have Global Development Delay so will get there when he is ready.

I help out with the reading twice a week and there are 10 children in the class and it ranges from stage 1 pic books up to stage 3.

I am not worried and think that the teacher has it sussed, i also help out in my DD class yr2 and there are 9 in the class, 4 are on stage 12 and the others range from level 4 to 8.

I think each child is different and also some children do no reading at home so therefore it takes them a bit longer.

Hello Clary, I do find it a bit frustrating when others don't believe a posting. Just to let you know, DS brought home the ORT Dragon and Castle Poems most recently.

I didn't go into details in my original post (didn't think I had to), and if you look back through this thread, you can see that DS is not without his other problems!

Sometimes MN can be a bit harsh - I tried posting a question on the Gifted and Talented section once (but not ever again likely) and was swiftly set upon by those policing it to make sure DS was good enough to warrant inclusion!

I am very confused after reading this thread. DD is in the top set for reading and phonics and she is level 2!! How can this be? Does this mean her school isn't pushing them enough?

Schools follow the reading stages. Even if your child is more advanced, they'll tend to stick to it, because its the understanding, punctuation and content which is more important than than knowing the words.

Read with them at home and use expression and talk about the story etc. Read all types of books. How many people use the local library? [huffy emotcion]

McDreamy - No it does NOT mean they aren't pushing enough (IMO )!
That sounds exactly like our school and why I love it so much.

Thank you VP you

I saw one ORT reading age /stage guide that really seemed quite pushy to me starting them at age 3 etc.
I have just found this though which seems slightly better. So they expect 4-5 year olds ie reception stage to be between stage 1 and stage 3. This is exactly where dd's reception age classmates are. One reader on stage 3 and the rest on stages 1 and 2. I am happy with that.

I think it's currently quite confusing trying to work out exactly what's expected by the end of Reception. And from reading threads on Reception just from last September it's clear that there's a huge range of differences from school to school.

ORT 6 and they are too easy for her but her teacher won't let her skip ahead. I haven't pushed it (or her reading) because I suppose it's better that she enjoy it. On the other hand, we read (informally) a lot at home, and during Easter break she read some of the Cam Janssen books at the library without difficulty. As soon as she was back on the ORT she decided not to read those anymore. As I said, I've decided not to make an issue of it.

I just saw SNora's post above and I think that's right-- punctuation, comprehension, etc are all important so we spend time discussing that.

ORT 1+, DS2 now year 2 was a terrible reader in reception and finished on ORT 1, now aged 6 he is a brilliant reader and can read about anything. He was reading a mythology book and was reading words like cyclops and hercules [proud mummy]

So the fact that DS2 is on ORT 1+ doesn't stress me out, he is doing better than his big brother at this stage.

Don't push for children to jump ahead of levels too much - concentrate on the love of reading and check comprehension. So many early readers have quite limited comprehension of their books - this needs to be worked on as it is just as important as being able to decode letter sounds into words. Lots of talking about the book, asking what is happening, what they hink might happen next and why, who they think would like the book and why, etc. They need to be able to understand what they are reading!

Also encourage them to read a variety of books at the same level, not just go trhough all the books of one reading scheme really fast.If you chose just one scheme it really does limit the child's vocab. You need a range of books and schemes at each level to get a good breadth of reading.

ORT is really bad at having a very limited range of vocab for example.

Hulababy I agree with you. I am sick of the ORT books we get home and frustrated at the schools lack of resources and also that some of the books aren't even in the correct stage. They stick absolutely to the books in the scheme, DD has had to read all of them even though she doesn't struggle at all and I know she understands them. I get lots of her to read out of school but that isn't the point. I think reading is so important yet so many schools still seem to be using one scheme - the ORT books with perhaps a few others mixed in. Surely it would be better to have lots of different books and the schools to grade/stage them. BTW for the OP she is on level 4.

DD's school have loads of different schemes which they mix and match. So, according to the "levels" she is not necessarily on as high a level as some of her friends from other schools. Yet her actually reading ability is far beyond theirs when they actually sit down and read together. I think it is because DD reads so any books from different schemes at every level. Her vocab is immense in comparison t some of these friends and she struggles with very few new words, yet they stumble over so many and really struggle with such a wide range of words.

we don't just use ORT. there are quite a few schemes they use at DS1's school and the stickers to identify the level are cleverly placed OVER teh stage of the book!

I know he is on box 48, reads confidently at this level and understands most of it. He is happy reading and although i would like him to go up a box, he is enjoying the stories in this box - lots of dragons which he is into at the moment. To me the enjoyment is more important than the level

is 1,2,3 and away Roger Red hat??@ I thought they had done away with that?

dd2 is oldest in her class and on ORT level 4-6 or there abouts. she was on songbirds 5, finished level 5, and moved to ORT last week. They have started her at the point where biff, chip and kipper mvoe to their new house and find the magic key/dolls housE?? (think thats right, remember dd1 reading these books last year). think thats level 4 ? she is finding it very easy though. she loves reading, and is starting to read indeptendantly, is loving cat in the hat books, magazines, other short stories. she actually reads to herself, sounding out phonictically around 1hour every night, i dont make her do it, she just comes in from school and starts reading.

Clary,

Yes ds is on level 9 about to start level 10 but his handwriting is average for a 5 year old. IMHO its because he is bright and because his mummy likes reading bed-time stories with him (books with lots of additional vocabulary as ORT are quite limited on vocabulary, presumably to build up confidence) much more than doing handwriting practice.

I'm not sure what is required to move up a level though. Ds reads at level 3 (and most of his class seem to be at 2 or 3). He gets through them no problem, although sometimes larger words like "everyone" will take a while. I am happy with this and ds seems to be (although he does find the books boring).

However, Grandma bought him some books at level 7 (she doesn't have a clue about levels - they were on sale) and ds read them through in much the same way. Short words easy, long words need to be spelled out and the odd word requires help. I suspect if I gave him 10 or 11, the result would be similar.

What level of profficiency is required to move up a level and (a qu to teachers) how do you decide that a child should move up? I ask as I wonder if different schools are doing different things.

ds2 is still on 1+. He's not young for the year, he doesn't have sen, he's extremely bright but he can't or won't read. I don't know why - we read bedtime stories and ds1 in year 2 is a great reader.

GooseyLoosey - that is very much dependent on the individual teacher/school. Some schools will move children through levels really fast, for example just doing the 6 core books of ORt before moving on to the next level. Others will spend longer on each lecvel, reading every single book at every single level, pus supplementary books from other shemes. It is getting the balance right that is the key.

GL I think it's not just the added vocabulary in the higher levels, it's the amount of words and pages. I've found that dd rarely has a problem with deciphering words but she doesn't yet have enough stamina to read through 32-page books with 2-3 longish sentences on each. I usually do it in two sittings.

Thanks IF and Hulababy - I was starting to wonder if some schools were packed with child prodigies and our local primary school was somehow doing the children a diservice.

Please don't compare between schools.

My DSs started school in different primaries (we moved) and the schools were/are very different in their use of reading schemes. DS1's school used a range of schemes banded according to something called Cliff Moon. By this stage in Reception he was reading books in a band that included ORT 3 (I remember him reading a particular book on holiday on DH's birthday); they were very easy for him. He was in the top reading group and there were 2 boys who were on the next band up. No one was 'off the reading scheme' by the end of Y1, even the children who were reading Roald Dahl etc at home.

In their current school, where DS2 started, they pretty much only use ORT in Reception and by this stage of Reception the whole top group was reading Stages 6-8 ORT or above. The top group was all 'off the reading scheme' by Christmas in Y1.

Yet I know for a fact percentage-wise each year School 1 gets more Level 3 readers in KS1 than School 2.

So I've concluded - big surprise! - that it really doesn't matter and YOU CAN'T COMPARE! Honestly, if I'd visited Mumsnet when DS1 was in Reception, I'd have panicked.