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Original poster

6.6 year old (Year 2), reading stage 5 books (in the Kipper and Chip books)

45 replies

HandleMeCarefully · 23/01/2009 11:14

At the end of Year 1 apparently dd's reading age was 5.3 and her actual age was 5.11; so something of a gap.

I've had bugger all feedback regarding how she is doing during Year 2, but I suspect she is behind her peers.

From what I can ascertain other classmates are reading books at much higher stages than stage 5.

I do intend to meet with her teacher to ask for feedback

...and I am going to administer the Burt Reading test over the weekend

But she should be achieving higher than stage 5 books at this point shouldn't she? ..and what input should there be from school to bring her up to speed?

(Btw - recently she had a stage 5 book for 12 days without it being changed, and it seems during that period only one person heard her read - a volunteer parent. I had to prompt the teacher to get it changed...is that reasonable?)

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nailpolish · 23/01/2009 11:17

my dd is 6 and has just started stage 8
from what she says, some are a couple of stages behind, whilst some are reading chapter novels

i would nt worry about that, but id be annoyed about lack of reading aloud in class and having to prompt the teacher to get it changed

does she have a reading journal? wehre you get to comment?

Feenie · 23/01/2009 11:25

I teach Y5, but was in Y2 for 5 years recently. I am also a Literacy co-ordinator. Your dd does sound like she is struggling with reading. Oxford Reading Tree is a whole word reading scheme (although the new strand Floppy Phonics is very good, and is starting to address this ) If your daughter had been struggling and battling through this scheme even in Y1, I would have made sure she was switched to a phonically regular scheme, such as the Floppy Phonics strand on ORT, or Jelly and Bean.
I would ask them:
1)Why she is still using a whole word reading scheme when it plainly isn't working (I presume she is on the core strand - The Magic Key, Pirate Adventure, etc).
2) Is she getting extra phonic support - have they a latest assessment for this, where are the gaps, how you could help at home.
3)Is she getting extra reading support - which should definitely include extra practice, at least 3 times a week.

Hope this helps.

Original poster
HandleMeCarefully · 23/01/2009 11:35

Thanks Feenie - I can put those questions to school. She is on the magic key strand....

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Original poster
HandleMeCarefully · 23/01/2009 11:36

(and thanks nailpolish too! )

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Gorionine · 23/01/2009 11:37

I think you are doing the right thing by keeping an eye on things. I do not mean at all by that that i think your child is behind but I am convinced that sometimes children sleep through the net.

When DD1 started school I had no worries about her and was very happy with the teacher's ways of teaching.

When DS2 started school, I just assumesd it would go the same way, but he had a different teacher and because I had not been on the ball (assuming that everything was ok he just did not learn to read). He got out of reception not being able to read a single word (was only "reading" by helping himsef with the pictures). i am now ed to think that I never questionned the teacher when she was answering to any of my concerns that "it is normal at this stage to struggle a bit" Well now, with hindsight, he was not struggling at all, just not bothering putting any effort in it because he was not asked too by his teacher!

When he started year1 he had a very pushy teacher, who had quite a few friends of hers,(retired teachers mainly) who volontired to listen to the children reading individually. He now reads well above his stage.

I think a lot depends on how the teacher and helpers, TAs ,interract with the children when they do their reading.

I would advise you to do some reading with your child, which you probably already do and keep on making sure that someone in school reads with him regularly as well as it is key to make progress.

Sorry for the lenghth of my post!

Feenie · 23/01/2009 11:37

Definitely time for a change, then! Let us know how it goes.

Katw3kitts · 23/01/2009 11:39

12 days !! thats disgraceful ...

Original poster
HandleMeCarefully · 23/01/2009 11:43

I suppose - in the interests of maintaining good diplomatic relationships - I should approach her class teacher first, rather than go directly to the Head...(it's a smallish school - 100ish pupils so that is not as outlandish as it sounds).....

Hope you ds2 is doing okay now Gorionine

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Original poster
HandleMeCarefully · 23/01/2009 11:47

Also, are they any courses that I can attend (I can self-fund, and I am a SAHM so would have the time to attend a course) to assist me in teaching her how to read more effectively?

I do listen to her read, but feel I could help her much more if I fully understood the theory of how to assist them in developing their literacy skills....

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Gorionine · 23/01/2009 11:51

He is! I think having had people actually listening to him got him in school more confident and I also thing that the more interesting ( more aventurous stories) the books got the more he started actually enjoying it. Maybe you could try to find a book on a subject your Dd likes a lot and make it exiting for her so she would want to know how it ends, it might encourage her more than the Magic Key? DS found them very "boring" and uninteresting!

cbtrue · 23/01/2009 12:23

Hi, Really interesting to read different approaches from different schools. DD seems to be top reader in class, she's 5.7 months, has finsihed ORT to stage 5 and has ready nearly 50 New Way Ginn levels 4&5. She reads everyday to teacher and has a score of about 6yrs 9 months on Burt. School reluctant to let her progress further, but offer extension reading from class library. Older children (6+) reading about level 4! They focus heavily on phonics with floppy phonics and Read Write Inc etc. Reading some of the threads is a bit worrying when you see some Y2 appearing to be much more advanced. Our school is high achieving independent - so I am hoping this is the right approach.

chocolatedot · 23/01/2009 12:26

Agree that you need to look into this and it looks like you've been given excellent advice above.

Would also just add though that my son who is now 9 was dramatically behind his classmates in terms of reading at the same age. His teacher advised us to send him to an educational psychologist and there was talk of keeping him down a year. Anyhow, fast forward to Yr 5 and at our last parent teacher meeting he was described as the "Star of the class" academically and hereads voraciously. It's amazing the difference a few years makes but it's so important that they get the support they need.

Gorionine · 23/01/2009 12:27

cbtrue why is you Dd's school reluctant to let her progress further?

Original poster
HandleMeCarefully · 23/01/2009 12:27

cbtrue, "Our school is high achieving independent - so I am hoping this is the right approach"

I'm pondering whether we need to switch dd and her younger ds to the independent sector. Her teachers at the village primary are committed, diligent, capable etc but it's the class size issue I guess....

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pagwatch · 23/01/2009 12:32

cbtrue

Have to agree. My DDs ind school has some of the best results inthe country but children are not pushed through reading schemes. The use ORT and Heineman (?) and Ginn but the girls read around the levels and are not pushed on.
Choosing books independently from the library and reading for pleasure are emphasised.
Seems to work.
And DD LOVES reading because she/we are never under any pressure to push through the books.

I hate reading schemes, and parent/teacher pressure about 'what level' kids are on so this was BIG thing when choosing school for DD

cbtrue · 23/01/2009 12:44

Gorionine - School's view/or teacher's view is he can get them to read anything - but they have a huge focus on getting it right first time - i.e. They started cursive writing at 4, learnt all of letterland, sounds, songs & actions with emphasis on decoding words. Also spelling tests consistent with reading levels. We are lucky also that school holds a number or seminars for parents to understand system that they use. We read a lot at home and at present she is reading Winne the Witch books.

Gorionine · 23/01/2009 12:48

It sounds like a great school and a great approach cbtrue I misunderstood the meaning of your sentence previously.

skay · 23/01/2009 12:54

Handle - Do you take her to the library?

12 Days is a bit much without changing a reading book.

If the school can't be bothered to do something about her reading maybe you could ask her to read a library book to you. one that she has chosen.

DS Gets much more advanced books from the library then he does at school.

DS has just turned 6.

VanillaPumpkin · 23/01/2009 13:06

I just wanted to add our reading books only get changed if I ask or if dd is heard individually in school (not that often really). This is because there is more emphasis on the guided reading which is done with the teacher or TA much more regularly, and involves comprehension type worksheets too. There is also the 20 mins letters and sounds session every day.
Through year 1 and into year 2 the strugglers are given extra more focussed sessions.
I think we could all do with a lesson in phonics though.

thirdname · 23/01/2009 14:52

no expert but thought the ORT books were crap in the early stages where they know the letters and sounds but where they now have to make sense of "real words".
I got some "proper" phonic" books from the library which made much more sense to dc.
Oh, dc has not had her book changed for 14 days...

marialuisa · 23/01/2009 16:06

This book:www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Children-Cant-Read-About/dp/0140266976 might be useful for you.

How does your DD get on with phonics work?

IotasCat · 23/01/2009 16:13

IME in the dses small village school the books are changed as soon as you finish one. The faster the book is changed the faster your child gets through the levels.

I am really surprised that they don't change their books very often.

Original poster
HandleMeCarefully · 23/01/2009 20:26

Well I record in the reading record the date that we have read the book, and sometimes an age can pass before it is changed - so it doesn't work like that for us unfortunately.

Thanks for the book recommendation marialuisa - I think I will order it. Dd is fine on completely decodable words, but as soon as it is a tricky word which can't be fully decoded phonically, then she struggles a little

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ChasingSquirrels · 23/01/2009 20:29

re changing books - are you sure that it isn't that your dd should be doing it herself? Probably not, but worth checking.

cory · 23/01/2009 21:12

HandleMe, I think you also have to remember that she is only 5 and if she is not reading at a higher level this may be because she is not ready yet. Remember that in Scandinavia she wouldn't have started school yet. Reading didn't really click for my ds until he was 7, but he is ok now.

And do check that she is not supposed to change her own books; my dcs were after Reception.