reading levels/band

[lindseymw]

Now year 4 - Free choice reader since midway though Year 1. I believe lime green was is last reading level before free choice reading?

What's 'free choice?' Joshua doesn't have any coloured bands on his books. As I said earlier, they take him to Key Stage 2 Library and let him pick a book? Would this be free choice reading? They started this around 4 weeks after he started School in Sept (he's in Reception).

 

[Noo]

Now year 4 - Free choice reader since midway though Year 1. I believe lime green was is last reading level before free choice reading?

What's 'free choice?' Joshua doesn't have any coloured bands on his books. As I said earlier, they take him to Key Stage 2 Library and let him pick a book? Would this be free choice reading? They started this around 4 weeks after he started School in Sept (he's in Reception).

He just takes any library book he likes as he has finished the reading scheme

 

[lindseymw]

Now year 4 - Free choice reader since midway though Year 1. I believe lime green was is last reading level before free choice reading?

What's 'free choice?' Joshua doesn't have any coloured bands on his books. As I said earlier, they take him to Key Stage 2 Library and let him pick a book? Would this be free choice reading? They started this around 4 weeks after he started School in Sept (he's in Reception).

He just takes any library book he likes as he has finished the reading scheme

Ah right. I have a feeling they skipped the reading scheme with Joshua. He just bring homes whatever book he wants from the Library (at one point it was a chemistry book designed for Secondary School! I had great fun learning about Chromotography!) He has been put on the Gifted list so it could be why he has never brought a 'coloured band' book home.

 

[BabyJayne]

This has made interesting reading for me as I am struggling to find out a lot about the reading schemes etc.

Madeline is three and is in morning nursery at school. She has recently been taken out of the nursery group and put with reception class for reading, writing and spelling. She is doing fantastically well and loves it (I was worried about pushing her as she isn't 4 until June, and is the only one from her nursery class to be put into the group as she is quite far ahead of the others for the time being). The books she brings home are very simple and repetitive and she is just whizzing through them - I don't think she is on any particular programme though at the moment.

Any teachers out there - should I carry on at home with some harder books that she seems comfortable with, or follow the school's lead? Obviously she is very young, and I don't want to dampen the enthusiasm she has for reading by giving her things that are too hard, and then her losing interest.

Thanks (and sorry if I have hijacked the thread).

 

[lindseymw]

I don't see any reason why you can't try 'harder' books with her if she is enjoying them.

Joshua started reading at the age of three. He never started with "simple" books that had one or two words on the page. The first book he read was "We're going on a Bear Hunt." Now, he currently reads "Book of Knowledge" as he had read his encyclopedia within a few days.

Try the Leapfrog Tag for your DD. This brought Joshua on leaps & bounds. Don't bother with the Tag Junior.

 

[Racheldigger]

Rowan's school uses the Oxford Reading Tree system (Biff, Chip and Kipper), and she has gone through stages 1, 2 and 3 in her first two terms, bringing her first Stage 4 books home after the Easter holidays. I don't know if this is good, bad or indifferent as the teachers won't tell me (I suppose they don't want us parents getting competitive), and there doesn't seem to be a massive amount of difference between the stages.

 

[WW1]

Rowan's school uses the Oxford Reading Tree system (Biff, Chip and Kipper), and she has gone through stages 1, 2 and 3 in her first two terms, bringing her first Stage 4 books home after the Easter holidays. I don't know if this is good, bad or indifferent as the teachers won't tell me (I suppose they don't want us parents getting competitive), and there doesn't seem to be a massive amount of difference between the stages.

This might help

https://www.readingchest.co.uk/book-bands

It shows the Oxford reading tree, book colour and age expectation. What year is your child in? I'd not worry too much about where your LO should be - she's working through the stages well and that is the main thing.

 

[RachA]

That link was really helpful WW1-thank you.

 

[Logan's Mum]

Great link! Really shows how my son has progressed. He is in Reception class (5 years old this coming July), and is on Green

 

[lovejoy]

This is interesting.
I have no idea what these colours mean as my daughter is only 3, but is reading and spelling some small word, cat, dog, cup etc etc. I'm glad she's picking it up soo quickly, as I struggled with reading and spelling at school and to be honest the teaching supporting wasn't really there. So I'm doing my best to keep up with her and prepare her for school.

Any good recommendations on books would be appreciated. DD doesn't start school until next Sept, due to her birthday falling in Nov, I hope she's not too bored in reception class.

 

[Racheldigger]

Cool, thanks for the link, I understand now... the books Rowan's school is using are very old, and they were obviously published before the Reading Tree was re-coloured to the Book Band system, because the Stage 5 books she's bringing home now are yellow, while the link says they should be dark green. She's doing pretty well, then, because she's five and two months, and has reached an age five to six stage: much kudos to her teachers, because she could really only recognise about four words when she started school!

 

[morri]

we don't use banding at all here. We only start primary school at age 6/7 so that is when most kids start reading, some kids maybe able because they learnt at home but they dont teach reading or anything academical in kindergartens(3-6) here.

 

[mixedmama]

I'm a year 1 teacher and we follow the Oxford Reading Tree scheme (Biff, Chip and Kipper books). If you have any questions about ORT book bands/stages feel free to ask.

At this point of the year, my top readers are on stage 8 (only two children in the class) and the lowest stage is stage 2. Average readers are usually on stage 4 or 5 by now, depending on how they've progressed with the books. Higher than stage 5 is an above average reader

 

[mixedmama]

Cool, thanks for the link, I understand now... the books Rowan's school is using are very old, and they were obviously published before the Reading Tree was re-coloured to the Book Band system, because the Stage 5 books she's bringing home now are yellow, while the link says they should be dark green. She's doing pretty well, then, because she's five and two months, and has reached an age five to six stage: much kudos to her teachers, because she could really only recognise about four words when she started school!

She's doing very well! Well done to your DD!

 

[sabby52]

I'm a year 1 teacher and we follow the Oxford Reading Tree scheme (Biff, Chip and Kipper books). If you have any questions about ORT book bands/stages feel free to ask.

At this point of the year, my top readers are on stage 8 (only two children in the class) and the lowest stage is stage 2. Average readers are usually on stage 4 or 5 by now, depending on how they've progressed with the books. Higher than stage 5 is an above average reader

Dec came home with a stage 12 book this week, it didnt have a colour band on it but it was called Hampers great escape, his teacher also gave him a level 13 book (didnt have a colour band either) and told him to read that one as well although it is not his reading book, it is called The First Emperor.

So I am guessing that his reading is fine for his age, I always thought his reading was average but from what you have wrote it seems he is above average