yet another reading anxiety!!

[JennyPen]

Ok - another reading anxiety!

DD is 5 and in 1st year of primary school. She is presently on stage 3 ORT. At home we also have read at home and she reads stage 3 and 4 with ease.

At school reading books have been painfully slow - 1 a week, sometimes 2 which are read in a jiffy. I mentioned to her teacher a couple of times now that i thought she could pick up the pace a bit but was told she's unconfident and hesitant in speaking up in her reading group so they thought she was well placed.
I mull this over this weekend but i am thinking even if thats the case its the oppisite at home and surely shouldn't stop her reading and learning at a pace to suit her ability?
Also, in her reading group is another child whos mother says struggles with her books - however mine is the oppisite. Is it a case she's waiting for the others all the time in her group to catch up?
As i say, i have mentioned to the teacher i think she could go quicker however am told that if she was in a higher group and not confident enough it may be of detriment to her learning - however there are shyer kids in higher groups(and my dd is actually the opposite of shy)

Any thoughts please - i don't want to have to bang on about it again to the teacher however feel a bit annoyed about her not reaching her full potential. Advice welcome - is it the case the teacher at some point will actually notice her reading is pretty good and move her up a level?

[pedaltothemetal]

I had similar conversations with my ds's teacher who insisted he was struggling with reading, there was no telling her anything new, she knew everything already . I realised it didn't really matter what she thought of his reading, I knew he could read well and he knew he could read well, the recognition from her was not needed.

It was much better that way, as we could get through his school reading books in a minute or two and he could then concentrate on the books he liked to read at a level which suited him.

Just keep supplying her with books which suit her ability at home - her brilliance will eventually shine through at school!

[cazzybabs]

I can't make any comment on your dd but remember reading the words is just one skill of reading, comprehension and expression are others...ORT is just one selection of books that focuses on sight vocab and there is a chance these are home readers and she does other books at school of an equilvent level that she does find hard.

TBH reading is one things parents struggle with. They focus on what level there child is on because they can compare it easily to their friends dcs. But please remember they all get there and the most important thing is confidence and a love of books not what ORT stage they are on.

[JennyPen]

I know it is easy to compare to other children, i see it in the playground - i am trying to focus purely on her potential and i'm not planning on aiming for child genius or anything!! She has very good comprehension and also good expression. They only read the ORT to the teacher and at home we have a few read at home but i always read a story to her at bedtime, fairytales are still her favourite and if she isn't confident in reading she won't so i don't push her and read at least one story to her still every night.

Thank you for your replies, i know what your saying about focusing too much on the levels, i will try not too!! I just worry that she will be left behind and be well behind and not challenged appropriately when she hits next year.

[cazzybabs]

if you are worried about it go and speak to the teacher again..

I am more than happy to explain my reasoning to parents but at the end of the day teachers are only human and we do mistakes.

Alot of my year 1s are still only on ORT stage 3/4 but we mix in alot of other reading scheme books and most of the children leave the end of key stage 2 with significalty above chronologcial age reading ages...

Recpetion and Year 1 are all about slow steady progres makign sure they have all the basic skills, Year 2 is about pushing them on.

The one thing that isn't going to happen by reading easy books is your dd isnot going to fall behind...pushing her on too quickly could make that happen.

[cazzybabs]

sorry I meant KS1 not 2 - ma haivng to touch type as have a non-sleepy toddler on my lap

[boakleesk]

my friends little girl was like this in reception, he ended up going into school to listen to her read whilst her class teacher and another member of staff were just working in the vacinity - it worked well and the child went up a few levels. She was very quiet in class (this has now changed !!!) so it was hard for the staff to see what her Dad was saying. Might be worth a try.

[pedaltothemetal]

So many different approaches to reading. At our school Reception reading is at a painfully slow snail's pace, Year 1 is - hold on tight, we're going to tear though these bloody books as quickly as possible and Year 2 is all about consolidating and taking a breather and after the pace of Year 1 it's very much needed.

One thing that comes across on Mumsnet is that there is no common approach when it comes to teaching reading, there isn't even a common approach within our school. It does make you wonder how a school/teacher comes up with these approaches.

[JennyPen]

Thank you all - totally different approaches to reading. My friends son in another school has a different reading book every night even though she says he struggles a bit with some of the words and has a total lack of interest in sitting down to read, whereas i have the opposite, one book mostly a week which is read with ease even with pictures covered up, retells the story accurately and has great expression. However if she doesn't do that in her group.... parents evening march so i'll wait till then i think.

Thank you cazzybabs - good to have a teachers perspective, i totally take that on board about pushing her too quick. We don't, i just mull over and worry about it. Do many children ever take big spurts and get moved up, or do they mostly stick with the reading group that they started with? i guess i love reading so much i hope my dd does too

[cazzybabs]

Yes they do have spurts and I frequently move children on but equally I have parents saying they read this book really easily and I think hyes but I would like to cerment that confidence and read some similar level books rather than push push push. And I think to my reading habits sometimes it nice to have a book that isn't too hard, especially at the end of the day. But having said all this it is something you clearly feel is not right...l would go and arrange a meeting with her teacher and ask her clearly why your dd is not being moved up, talk about your experiences at home and then ask what you can do to help her.