Reading books too easy?

[Maxiebaby]

DD (Y1, age 5, 6 in April) finally finished all the ORT stage 6/silver/grey banded books at school and been put up a level by the TA.
First book home was an owls book (ie not one of the easier first core books) and she has read it effortlessly without stumbling or needing to sound out on any word and with great expression/comprehension. Teacher describes her as a 'fluent' reader who will only struggle with the odd word in future.

My question is, is this too easy and the lack of challenge an issue, or is there a benefit for DD in reading at this level of comprehension? Wondering whether to raise with teacher or avoid being pushy mum (again!).

Seems to take about a term to get through a level what with the additional ORT books and non-shceme banded books at each stage, so dont want boredom to set in.

[humptynumpty]

I am teacher and would say that as long as she is enjoying the books, there isn't much harm if they are not really challenging. Does she have good understanding of the stories? Can she answer lots of questions about them before, during and after she has read them?
There are some kids who are excellent at "reading" but just parrot out the words and don't actually take in the story. The taking in part is the hard part to learn.
Personally it bugs me this thing where you have to read every book in the yellow band or whatever before you move on but maybe if that's the procedure in your school you just have to deal with that. Are you reading lots of other books at home of her choice even if they are hard for her, just to keep her interest in reading?
Hope that helps, can expand on sort of questions to ask to reinforce understanding if you like....

[NoahAndTheWhale]

Does your DD seem bored at the moment? Is she Reading other books as well? Does she put expression into her Reading?

My DS is also in year 1 and moving along in his reading - he generally can read almost all the words in his books fluently so is focussing on making his reading "interesting". school Reading books also aren't the be all and end all of reading - much more important to enjoy it.

Do you have a parents evening this term? I would maybe mention it then, or sooner if you feel your DD is becoming bored.

[NoahAndTheWhale]

Sorry about the rogue Reading instead of reading - I think my iPod wants me to be in Reading!

[Hulababy]

DD's school is a bit like this in that theu do have children go through most levels (nce a base was found) and several books at each level, crossing a large range of schemes and book/text types. There were times when DD found some of the books very easy.

However I can see how it has really beenfitted her. She is now in Y3 and reads any books (in DD's school scheme until last term of Y2 for ALL children, although schemes do go very high) of her chosing. She has a very thorough range of vocab and understanding, and can read different types of books (prose, poetry, plays, fiction, non fiction, etc) with ease and fluency, and complete understanding. Some of the children I know whose schools ship quickly through schemes like ORT with little else there really struggle outside the scheme IME.

DD didn't get bored as she loved reading. She would whip through some of her school books and then devour her own books at night time. Seemed like a good compromise.

Obviously if your DD really is getting bored, then do mention it to her teacher and ask if there is anything in particular she should be focusing on in these books, as the text level is low. I did this a couple of times when I felt the books were not of any benefit and alwas got a very good response - sometimes it might be t jump some books, sometimes a focus point given.

[Maxiebaby]

Humpty dumpty, yes DD is enjoying the stories, and yes she does understand them. We spend a lot of time talking about the story itself in addition to purely reading the text. Her comprehension has always been good, even when her actual decoding skills were less strong. But suggestions for what sort of things to ask to develop that would be great...

Noah and the whale, yes she does put lots of expression into her reading, so no problem there either. And yes WE do read lots of other books at home, though DD herself only actually reads little bits as the stories she wants to read are a bit advanced for her to actually read herself. She loves Roald Dahl and Horrid Henry and can manage a page of the latter but it is a struggle so clearly too hard, but she loves the content.

Hulababy - good to hear the slowly but surely strategy seemed to work for your DD. Seeing how DD is suddenly flying with her reading I do think the teaching must have been effective, so maybe the approach does work.

Thanks all for the reassurance that this is not necessarily an issue.
I think that unless we see actual signs of it causing a problem eg boredom, we should leave things as they are, but make sure the teacher is aware how easy she finds the books at the next parents' evening (whenever that is).

Perhaps I should also try to get her reading more non-school books too? Stories that are harder than her school books but not as hard as those Im reading to her. There are only so many hours in the day though and the school books are so long (and so frequently changed) it is hard to do a lot on top.

[Hulababy]

Definitely lots of non school boks. get her reading for pleasure. She will get far more out of that than she will scheme books, esp int he long run.