5yr olds - level of reading

Hi everyone,

I have a 5 yr old who goes to an ESF. Her reading skill still is at level 2, when I asked the teacher, she says nothing to worry, but when I asked certain parents, their kids were at level 4 and above even level 18. What should be the average. My child along with a few more students is doing some extra lessons with the teacher, I do get a little worried.We practise everyday.What should I do?

Thanks Cara.

Miss Muffet - my daughter is now in ESF P2 and she is a fab reader (even if i do say so) however what i encouraged her to do was invite her friend over (who wasn't such a good reader) for a playdate and i would encourage her to sit and read with her friend and have her friend read back to her. This has done wonders for her friend.


Kids sometimes learn really wuickly from their peers and i feel that this is an excellent way of helping each other.


And don't worry..........she's 5!

Thanks for the input everyone! I'll try the tips suggested.

If you are planning to stay here long and to leave your child in the esf,don't worry

otherwise if you are going to move soon or to change school I suggest to get a tutor to help her with reading since in other school reading level really changes from school to school but it's def expected to be level 6 or 7 by the end of P1.

First - Relax, because whatever her level she needs to pass through all of the phases and skill aquisitionsat a pace she can cope with. Try to look at some good websites or books on reading aquisition. This will help you to see yourself where she is experiencing difficulty. There are many skills involved in reading from recognising each letter shape and the sound (phoneme) that it makes and then the other phonemes that are made when we put more than letter together with another- like sh, ch, wh, th, or how the magic e on the end of word can change a vowel from it's short sound to it's long sound. hop, hope, hat, hate etc. If she has been identified for extra help then I suspect she will be going over her phonics again, so help with this at home will be really important. When she has grasped these basics she will be able to devote more time to understanding the meaning of the text and start to gain fluency as well. There are also a lot of words that you just need to learn to recognise as you can not sound them out, eg. was Your teacher should be able to tell you what reading scheme they are using at school (Jolly Phonics etc) and you can make sure you are using the same one at home. Sometimes it will all click into place and they will jump several levels in what seems like a matter of weeks. Other times is will take longer and you may even discover some issues but knowing as much as you can about how we learn to read will help you either way. In a class of thirty there will be five or so kids at this time of year on average who will be going over their phonics again, for differing reasons, age, English as a second language, lack of exposure to reading at home and not having practised the phonics the first time around or doing the home reading or being really young etc and some people just take to it slower. Our first child went read at the level of 15 year old at 7, our second has come it much harder, the third picked it up without me even noticing!!!

Just curious - what reading system do the ESF schools use?

I must disagree with July8 - how do you know that a child must be either level 6 or 7 at the end of P1 what utter nonsense. Every child's reading ability is different they will all progress at different levels. My oldest child did not start to read until P2 and then half way through P3 just got it over night and is now a fulent reader. My middle child could read a fairly difficult book from P1 aged 4 and the youngest is very much the same as my oldest just taking his time so I would expect him to be reading by P2 or P3. My children go to ESF and if there is a problem with their reading you will be told as such and they will recieve additonal help. They are very good with this. I have friends who have children in other schools other than ESF and have taken far longer than my children to read and have gone the private tutor route and those at schools other than ESF that have read sooner than my children. Missmuffet your child is in P1 and in the UK he/she would not yet be at school so I would not worry at this stage your child will read when he/she is ready the most important thing for your child at this stage is that they are enjoying the whole school experience, and be rest assured that if there is a problem with your childs reading it would have been identified by now and you would of been informed and extra help recieved. Just remember that all children develop at different stages and so what if his/her class mates are on a higher level they may not be so good at maths he/she will get there in the end. Aquarius30 if you need to find out what level your child is at contact the teacher and don't worry as I am most certain that some of the advice given here in these postings is not correct - I sure your child will be fine.

It makes a big difference to your young child's reading progression if you make time for them to read to you every day. Keep in touch with your child's teacher every few weeks to see what you could be focussing on at home to help. Don't stress keep it fun, if they don't like the book they have bought home from school (and some of them are pretty dry) let them read one of their own or take turns reading a page each (great for helping with expression). Try and practice the key words teachers send home. Get them to read stuff around the house, labels, instructions or signs in the street. Be really encouraging always. Let them see you reading yourself - books, newspapers. Read lots of stories to your child as well. It doesn't sound like it, but it is actually a lot of work for the parents, and it really really does help.

aquarius30 - different schools have different gradings, some use different home readers, some use the Oxford Reading Tree series and some do not so in order to find out what the "levels" are you would need to check with the teacher. The Ladybird books will give you some indication of how of what level your child is at as they do indicate the age on the book, however, as said previously as long as he is enjoying his work and school I would not worry what level his peers are on or your child as they are only P1, he/she will get there in the end.