Standard of reading in Year One

[Cortina]

As a parent helper I am shocked by how good my group are at reading. They vary slightly but most could read the Famous Five for example. There are 8 in my group.

Some literally race away. They barely stumble over any word, just a couple are a little hesitant at first. I am very impressed. They're lovely kids too!

I have a child in Year One who can just about manage 'the cat sat on the mat'. Now wondering if this is a problem?

Am going to bring this up at half term?

Can the average 5/6 year old really read this well?

I think it varies, DD is in YR1, there are 5 groups for reading, all grouped by ability.

Even within these groups there is a range of abililty!

In the group that has the more proficient readers most could read famous five style books, some would be ahead of that and one or two just below that level.

The group at the bottom are still struggling a bit with phonetics and cvc words, and all the other groups fall in between.

So I would say I would not worry about your DC, they sound fairly standard for this stage of the year.

And anyway, I believe that being an early proficient reader is no indication of ability or intelligence. Look at Einstein!

Don't worry-my dd can recognise three words-I am it. She is doing yr 2/3 maths work, but can't read for billio, despite being in a very bookish environment at home. I pushed her and she refused to read entirely, so have realised that gentle nudging and masses of praise does much more. She is now sounding out 10-12 letter words quite fluently, but knows none by sight (as far as she is telling me anyway )

No IMHO you have an exceptional bunch.

Famous Five, well each story usually follows a formula. Enid Blyton is popular stuff but she doesn't exactly have you reaching for the dictionary on a regular basis with her choice of vocabulary now does she ! (I very much doubt she used a thesaurus (sp?) on a regular basis.

I would say that the "cat sat on the mat" is perfectly OK for a child barely out of reception.

Once your child kind of clicks with reading they too will come on in leaps and bounds.

It's all about practising daily.

Thanks! I've noticed, as I said in another thread, that DC has a very good grasp as per comprehension.

When I read her a story she is able to answer quite complicated questions about it, make suggestions as to how else it could end and whether the characters were likeable or not.

cortina my DS sounds about the same - his comprehension and imagination are brilliant, but he really can't read much by himself. He loves stories, books, etc, so to me that's what matters.

My DD is in year 1 and nowhere near being able to read Famous Five type of books. Also loves being read to and has a fantastic imagination and comprehension. I am sure that there are some in her class that can read very well already but I know she will get there in her own time too.

My son has some amazingly good readers in his class too. I don't know if they can read the Famous Five but they are certainly reading at "junior" level rather than "infants". My son is in the normal band .

I think it's quite normal to have a group of such proficient readers in Yr 1. Whilst they are probably quite able the others will catch up, if not overtake. I know of one boy for example who was in the bottom group for everything including reading in year 1 and is now in the top set for everything in Year 3.