Does anyone know what reading age a junior school child needs to have to be a free reader?

[MrsBartlet]

Got ds's report today - he has a reading age of 11.0 but is still not a free reader. Is this normal?

Yes I have wondered that too. I know there are some children in ds's class who have asked to read to the teacher to see if they can move on and she has then made them free readers. His teacher is an NQT and she has been brilliant on the whole, but I'm not sure that she hasn't been pushed into moving some children on before they are ready.

The reading test in sats is a comprehension test involving reading a text and writing the answers.

A lot of the reading age tests are just decoding the word, the child does not need to know the meaning of it or have any comprehension skills.

At Dc's primary they never went through reading schemes as such, just colour coded boxes which had various schemes ie ORT, Roger Red Hat and various other books. Once they worked their way through all the books they became free readers which for my dc's were sometime in yr2.

If he is reading a lot for pleasure they are not going to 'overtake' him. It doesn't matter which reading scheme they are on-it is whether they can read and understand what they read, that matters. I would have a word with the new teacher at the beginning of term.

Yes I think you are right picsesmoon. I will talk to his new teacher in September if he doesn't move up then.

Bruffin - his comprehension is very good. This was assessed in his QCA test (optional Sats type exam for Y3)as a 4C which is very good for his age.

One thing I would ask is - is your DS a free reader? By that I mean will he pick up books of his own accord at home and read them? In preference to TV or Nintendo or sport or whatever? Not encouraged by you, but freely and of his own volition?

I ask because my DD was a free reader in that sense (which the school didn't acknowledge) and I doubt DS ever will be (although his teachers described him as an "avid reader"). All of which made me have considerable doubts about the school.

Yes that is a good question, Quattrocento. He is but not as much as dd (who is 12). He always comes down to breakfast armed with something to read. Like a lot of boys he reads a lot more non-fiction than his sister - she enjoys losing herself in novels.

But it is a good point that you make as I do feel that he doesn't have the same desire to pick up chapter books and read them to himself all the time. We do spend a lot of time reading with him before he goes to bed (approx 45 mins most nights) and he loves this. We had a bit of a breakthrough at half-term when he chose to read the first Harry Potter to himslef and loved it.

My daughter has just finished P1 in Scotland (reception in England). She is just finishing Harry Potter 4 and has started Lord Of The Rings. Yes, she does have the comprehension to go with it. The school has her on Oxford Reading Tree 8 and despite discussions with her teacher and headmistress we are getting nowhere. She is bored, does not want to go to school and is usually very well behaved, but behaviour is becoming an issue. We have not pushed her and she could not read before she went to school. Can anyone offer any advice please?

Forgot to say she is testing a reading and spelling age of 10.5.

My G/daughter age 8 has just finished her 3rd yr in a Danish school. Next yr the class will begin learning English. Having lived in Eng til age 4 & in a hsehold speaking Dan/English/German, her Eng vocab is vg as is her reading.
On a car journey, she read me 'Oops'/Colin McNaughton for the 1st time & only stumbled on approx 3 words (but not 'gnash'!). Her intonation is exc. Her teacher has said that next term she can help the other children. She's on a 2wk visit & I wld like her to return with some books. I don't know how to evaluate her reading skills/level. Any suggestions on assessing & books - please?

The reading age only measures the ability to decode/sounds out/read the words, it doesn't measure the understanding and comprehension of the child. My DD has a reading age of 13yrs+ but there is no way she can understand the text that a 13yr would be able to read...yes she can read all the words but what good is that?

But, your DS's reading age sounds excellent for his age and his progression is super. Well done to him!

Apologies- have just read that his comprehension is excellent too.

Not sure why he isn't a free reader then, very strange. Maybe a new teacher in September will change his book level.

ermintrude: I would ask for advice at Waterstones, they will know what is available at that level.

Ds's teacher moved him up to free reader on the last day of term so that he is ready to hit the ground running when he starts Y4 after the holidays. He was very pleased as he can now read Harry Potter legitimately!

Toptip: Thanks for tip. G/daughter has always asked us to read to her. She appears to read Mr Men bks to herself. I actually asked her to read 'Oops' to me cos I'd been reading for most of the journey! She seemed to u/stand what she was reading - we discussed the 'happenings'.
She tells me her Mum only has easy bks with v large letters like 'THE CHAIR', so I'm curious how/where she's attained her reading skills, especially as she's had to learn to read/write Danish. Her Eng spelling isn't so good, so perhaps her teacher will work on that next term, rather than her helping other children?
Hopefully, W/stones can judge her level & advise? Thanks
PS - my apologies - I'm a new member & in error I 'reported this post' instead of 'adding message'. I hope this doesn't create a problem. I'm trying to retrieve the message.

I would think my dd is at a similar level, although I don't know the Oops book. Depending on her interests, there's the Rainbow Magic series about fairies, The Magic Treehouse series about time-travelling children is great too. Have fun choosing!

Toptip: I think 'Oops' is an easier read for G/d than Rainbow Fairies, which I read to her when whiling away many hours at airports. G/d hasn't attempted to read them herself, but cld be for lack of opportunity as she's only with us a few times a year.
Magic Tree are good alternatives & will interest her - Thanks.

Must be a very local thing as both of my DDs were free readers by Christmas in Year 1. They had to finish level 12 in ORT system and other equivalent books.

They do still listen to them read occasionally but don't seem to mind what they read as long as they are progressing well.