Year 1 reading question (sorry!)

[MollieO]

Ds is on Stage 2 ORT to 'boost his confidence'. Easy to read and pretty boring stories. He reads them well and it takes about 3 minutes to read one 16 page book.

Last night his reading homework was 2 stage 1+ books of 8 pages each. He read both whilst he took his shoes off - his choice as he grabbed them out of his reading folder and read them in the hallway.

I am already struggling to understand why his teacher thinks his confidence will be boosted by easy reading material but I am flummoxed to see he has dropped down a level despite reading Stage 2 books very well.

Can anyone enlighten me as to why his teacher maybe doing this? We have parents' evening next week so I shall obviously ask but in the meantime I'm curious to know if anyone can help me understand.

By way of background ds is a very confident child and does his best when he is challenged. He does his work at school and at home and complains about it being boring and/or easy. We did have difficulties at the start of term getting him to do homework but this was resolved about 2 or 3 weeks into term. His teacher has said twice now that she has never had a pupil like ds (she is an experienced teacher) and it seems to me that she really hasn't got his measure.

I assume she is but I do feel as if we've been left in limbo until ds is 5.5 (the test can't be administered before then). Hence the sight, hearing tests and on to the comm paed and child psych. All of which I hope can be actioned this term.

I do find it odd that no concerns were raised at all during his year in reception. All I got during that year was what a model pupil ds was, how well he was progressing and how motivated and enthusiastic he was.

I think there will have to be some plain speaking at parents' evening. I really try my hardest to be as laid back as I can and let the teacher take the lead, with me supporting at home. However tonight I am pretty furious. I just want to understand what her concerns are and why she didn't tell me previously that she had put him down a reading level because she thinks he is struggling. No indication at all at home. She has had plenty of opportunity to let me know.

There is a bit of history unfortunately. She told me he wasn't listening in class and asked me to have his eyes and ears tested. I asked her to do a note for the GP about what her concerns were and she wrote about ds completely lacking motivation (first I'd heard of it).

I always suggest eye and hearing tests first so that we can rule out simple explanations.
If your son is struggling he may appear unmotivated

The first I knew he is apparently struggling was with the comment in the reading diary last night. He doesn't struggle with any of his homework at all so I'm not sure why he is so completely different in class. The child his teacher describes - struggling with reading, lacking in confidence doesn't present himself at home. They do reading one on one so I don't think reading aloud is a problem.

Socially he is a very confident child so I'm wondering what happens at school to completely change that.

The test with the SENCO was suggested by his teacher with a comment that she could arrange this 'if you like'. Not sure it is for me to like or dislike. I am keen to do whatever is required to enable ds to do his best at school and at the moment that doesn't appear to be happening. It might be that he is seriously struggling or it might be that he isn't being interested or engaged and is simply not bothering as a result. I'd put money on it being the latter as that would explain why we don't get the same behaviour at home.

I am not talking about my school I am talking about the suggested usage of ORT songbirds.

Flounder78 - I had a look at the read at home books and the trunk books in waterstones and I couldn't see a difference in the level, other than that the read at home books are roughly twice as long. Both contain the same key words (listed at the back of the read at home books).

re: your comment about the songbird books I don't think thats the intention (ie for children having trouble with phonics) the trunk stories are not really phonics based (this is my main criticism of the ORT scheme) so the songbird books compliment that - no suggestion on ORT wesbite that thet are intented for children having difficulties - at DD's school they do the songbird books as the first books when they move onto a new level and then progress onto the trunk books.

Surely the point of reading at whatever age is to enjoy the words and story NOT to progress as quickly as possible through stages?

DS1 (9) is in year 5 and has progressed to the stage that he no longer has reading books but chooses for himself books to read, his reading age is 14. However I supported his progression through the stages supplementing that with reading at home and accepted that he got somwthing different fromredaing books to the books read at home and in free reading time.

DS2 (5) in year 1 is completley different and slowly working through Oxford reading Tree.

Please don't let your children think that some books are below them, there are times I like to read an 'intellectual classic' and times I like to read a trashy novel, as long as they are reading they will gain something from it wether it is a cereal box, a magazine ot a challenging reading book.

ORT Level 2 at the stage your son is at does seem like a slow progression. I agree that the point of reading is about enjoying the words and comprehension, however if a child is clearly not progressing well, it is a cause of alarm.

MollieO, when did your DS start the reading scheme? DS1's school uses ORT as one of the schemes it uses, and at the beginning of year 1, the vast bulk of the boys were reading between Stages 6-16. They started at the very beginning of Reception.

By Flounder78 Thu 19-Nov-09 10:25:30
I am not talking about my school I am talking about the suggested usage of ORT songbirds.

Sorry I assumed you had experienced someone using Songbirds this way. But just to be clear Songbirds is NOT a scheme aimed at those children who are experiencing difficulty, it is a stand alone phonics reading scheme.

Mollie I am in exactly the same boat with you. My DD is reading the books she was given in reception. She has been doing well on stage 2 and finished the first set of her books so I was looking forward to stage 3 and couldn't help but feel cross when she came back home with stage 2 truck stories book she read in reception. My dd noticed and said it to me that she had read the book before in reception.
I however asked her who changed the book for her and she said a name of another parent who seems to be changing the books and said the TA was away today-unbelievable. She however changes the books for her even when the TA is available. That mum takes an active role in her class but I am not sure why and whether she is qualified to do what she does. I also bought a pack of 100 first keywords flash card and my DD has been doing very well with them. She can do her spellings for most of the keywords. I do guided reading but I have heard worse of readers than my dd and put her in the middle range of her class. However I was surprised when they selected her for Early Literacy Support reading programme. Another mum with a child who was also selected told me point blank that she had heard my dd read and no way did the deserve to be in the group.

Today I bought a 6pack of ORT stage 3 on Ebay for £10 and will help my child move forward. She also gets a few books published by Franklin Watts from her local library which are in stages and we choose together books. I hate this but I am thinking about being brave and asking them on Monday why they are giving her books she has read before although I have answers already in what they are going to nicely tell me!!. It would have been better if she was given the same stage book but a different title she has never read. Also they write in her comment book all the time that she read well and this term nowhere mentions she struggled or couldnt read. I think they are just holding my child for the sake they selected her for the Early Literacy Programme.

I've had similar comments all term redcarpet and those have been greeted with my every growing exasperation. This week I got a note telling me that his teacher hadn't heard him read a complete sentence (five words) without difficulty. Have to say I thought WTF?

We had parents' evening last night and I said that I wasn't impressed with how things were going. I've been told to stick with it and trust the teacher. I've made it clear that ds's interest in reading is hanging by a thread and if he loses interest again the blame will lay completely with his teacher.

He reads fluently with me so not sure why he apparently isn't doing this at school. She has suggested that I get him to read other books he likes as a 'reward' for plodding through the school stuff.

A big part of me thinks that it shouldn't be like this but I'm at a loss as to what to do.

Ds's teacher wanted him testing for SEN earlier in the term but he was too young (had to be 5.5). Last night she said she had no concerns at all . I suggested that ds had the test anyway as it identifies strengths and weaknesses and will hopefully give the teacher a clue what ds is capable of. I don't think she understands what motivates him and we spent a good chunk of our 10 mins with me explaining aspects of his personality.

Hi redcarpet - really recommend the superphonics books - 20 books available at the book people for £10 should help you to move forward.