what colour band books are your dc's reading?

[juliemacc]

Asking out of interest as I get very little feedback from DD as to what she is reading in relation to the rest of the class. She tells me who is naughty and who shouts out but little else really. Book band levels seem to be non-discussable at my childrens school, like politics and salaries; is your childs school the same?

She probably isn't aware of what other children are reading rather than it being a taboo subject, after all there isn't any reason for her to be interested.

How old is she? ds (Y1) still has no idea what level other children are on, or where he 'ranks' in the class - he is quite clueless though!

There was a ORT levels for Y1 thread yesterday that I can find if it's relevent?

Can't imagine she's the least bit interested, or even cares to look tbh. We only know because the first level books are in a different place, and my DD has moved up, so i know by who's parents go to the other place to get them a book in the morning!

TBH, I am not remotely bothered about what my primary school DCs read in relation to others in their class. Comparison is futile. All it does is tell you what other children are reading. I am more interested in what my DCs are reading, and helping them to read happily and to make progress in their own way. We also don't just read school readers; we read anything that interests them.

In fairness to the OP I don't think she is unreasonable to want to know how her DCs reading compares to her peers

Just out of interest, is there some point in a child's education where is DOES become acceptable to wonder how they are doing compared to their peers? When does 'I don't care as long as they are cheerfully going in the door' acceptably morph into 'I'd like to check they are making reasonable age-related progress in order to get some qualifications which, for better or for worse, are the requirements for most forms of employment'?

When your kids are in secondary school, I really doubt whether your sole interest will be that they are having a nice time with their mates.

Good point Acinonyx.

I would say that you can only ever worry about how your children are achieving relative to their own abilities, however old they are.

So, if you have a 16 year old who is self motivated, works hard but struggles to get GCSEs you would probably be prouder of them than a clever 16 year who does no work and doesn't get the A grades they should get.

However, at infant (primary) age, children really do learn at different rates and now they are doing now isn't necessarily a predictor of how they will do later.

I was slow to read, was never the best at maths but at 18 went on to Cambridge. (to do a maths related subject) Others who were further ahead when we were young slowed during secondary school and didn't achieve that much academically.

The more challenging thing is children finding careers that suit their abilities, style and interests.

I'm not asking whether or not you should be more or less proud - I'm asking whether it is acceptable to want to know how they are doing relative to their peers.

And grades at any stage or poor predictors of future 'success' by wahtever means. Some of my most successful friends were relatively mediocre university students who got into professions that really suited them.

''The more challenging thing is children finding careers that suit their abilities, style and interests.'' I completely agree that this is the important overall goal. It isn't rally the way education is set up though, is it?

I just wonder though, whether it is really realistic, or even necessary, for a parent to never know how their kids are doing wrt their peers. What you do (or don't do) with that information is important - but I see this relentless knee-jerk wrap on the knuckles for any parent who dares as the question - and there is something unecessarily rightious about it IMO.

PS Funnily enough I just finished a PHD at Cambridge heavily dependent on maths - but totally bombed out of A level maths at school.

spelling and typing not my strong suits either fwink

even

My DS is very competitive and so he only knows that there are a couple of children above him, he knows what they are reading and how far above him they are. As for those at the same level or below I dont think he really cares.

He is currently on Free-Readers, he is 8.

how are children reading 'above ' him if he is a free reader ?

I would say almost none of dd's classmates (Y1) know which book band the rest of the class are on (I read with them weekly). They are simply not interested.

But when I've been concerned or confused (mostly the latter) about bookbands and dd's reading system, I've always spoken to the teacher who has helped....if you want to know how your DC is doing, OP, why not have a chat the teacher or TA and ask if reading is going ok and what that means? You could even ask what book bands she/he expects a child to be on by the end of that year?