[lovingmother]

The bench mark for the end of year 1 in Canberra is 15 so your child is fine.

[LiveLife]

year 1 has been capped at level 20 this yr for our school. Dh is also a year 1 teacher and had half of his class above level 20 last year.

But the school wants to cap it this year and extend sidewards instead of upwards to ensure that their comprehension is good too.

some teachers don't really benchmark correctly unfortunately..my friend was telling me that her son can read fluently and fast and was benchmarked at level 22 yet she tests him herself and he doesn't understand certain words and has problems re-capping the story.

our school is being really careful with benchmarking this year. ds not on has readers now but a list of activities to go with..like i said sidewards rather than upwards! extra work but I can really see the benefit. His comprehension has increased so much. They are also careful to give his high readers, instead giving him a variety of readers...his highest is level 16 but he brings back level 13, 14, 15 etc as well. He can probably read much higher but his comprehension isn't there.

Readers is giving your kids the opportunity to show off their skills to the parents, making them confident lil readers.

the fact that your teacher and your school FAIL TO COMPREHEND that some kids can read above level 20 in yr 1 with good comprehension should not be allowed to impact on those advanced students accessing appropriate reading resources. Some of our kids have comprehensive IQ and achievement testing to proove their abilities (far more sophisticated than a PM level test). I suggest your teacher and your school get some asisstance COMPREHENDING these kids.

[baddmammajamma]

year 1 has been capped at level 20 this yr for our school. Dh is also a year 1 teacher and had half of his class above level 20 last year.

But the school wants to cap it this year and extend sidewards instead of upwards to ensure that their comprehension is good too.

some teachers don't really benchmark correctly unfortunately..my friend was telling me that her son can read fluently and fast and was benchmarked at level 22 yet she tests him herself and he doesn't understand certain words and has problems re-capping the story.

our school is being really careful with benchmarking this year. ds not on has readers now but a list of activities to go with..like i said sidewards rather than upwards! extra work but I can really see the benefit. His comprehension has increased so much. They are also careful to give his high readers, instead giving him a variety of readers...his highest is level 16 but he brings back level 13, 14, 15 etc as well. He can probably read much higher but his comprehension isn't there.

Readers is giving your kids the opportunity to show off their skills to the parents, making them confident lil readers.

Comprehension is critical, but as LiveLife points out, a child can certainly be reading (de-coding) AND comprehending way above level 20 in Grade One.

My daughter (who has had both IQ testing & individual achievement test in reading) was beyond level 30 when she started kindergarten/prep. She had a handful of classmates who were in the mid-20s upon starting school as well.

Thank goodness our school knows how to extend sideways AND upward. I would have been livid had my daughter been forced to do level 20 readers in Grade One "just because." Frankly, alarm bells would be ringing in my head.

[Guest_jaderuby_*]

I'm in NSW. Our targets are at the end of:
Kindy - Level 5
Year 1 - Level 16
Year 2 - Level 24
But they will not be put onto those levels unless they can comprehend what they are reading. With the PM kits, there is a list of comprehension questions for each book (level). They will not be 'Independent' (or going up) on any level unless the comprehension is correct.

There is also 'Instructional' Level where they may be able to read a bit higher, but don't quite have the comprehension or full accuracy, and hence need some more help.

This is similar to our school. The children are not moved up a level until they have mastered both the reading and the comprehension at each level.

[Milly Molly Mand...]

Just another thing I love about very small schools. Our kindys to year two do reading groups together and they are put with similar abilities not just years, so it is not unusual to have kindy kids reading with the year twos if needs be. They are put on levels according to their ability not just some benchmark that someone has decided on. I would be furious if my year 1 child was limited to a 20.

[Guest_holy_j_*]

It's not just a matter of you are in year x so you can't read above y.


a year 3 child reading to level 10, this is an issue that should have been addressed prior to year 3.

a year 1 child reading at level 30, is certainly not limited to level 20, they are limited to level 20 readers.

a) there's nothing wrong with reading for the sake of it, for enjorying the story even if said child is capable fo reading at level 500 and

b)reading resources are not limited to the classroom readers. It takes my kids a few minutes to read their stories, not a big deal, and no they are not bored by them either fiction or non fiction. If your child is bright, approach the teacher and ask if they can read something else, the teachers in my kid's class have always said, the point of readers is to get them reading, if they don't want to do it, get them reading something they do enjoy every night.

Not seeing the big deal here. My 8 year old son is currently half way through the guiness book of amazing nature, yet strangely he can still do his weekly reader without an issue. try and foster a love of reading for the sake of reading and not just for achievement.

[mum850]

It's not just a matter of you are in year x so you can't read above y.


a year 3 child reading to level 10, this is an issue that should have been addressed prior to year 3.

a year 1 child reading at level 30, is certainly not limited to level 20, they are limited to level 20 readers.

a) there's nothing wrong with reading for the sake of it, for enjorying the story even if said child is capable fo reading at level 500 and

b)reading resources are not limited to the classroom readers. It takes my kids a few minutes to read their stories, not a big deal, and no they are not bored by them either fiction or non fiction. If your child is bright, approach the teacher and ask if they can read something else, the teachers in my kid's class have always said, the point of readers is to get them reading, if they don't want to do it, get them reading something they do enjoy every night.

Not seeing the big deal here. My 8 year old son is currently half way through the guiness book of amazing nature, yet strangely he can still do his weekly reader without an issue. try and foster a love of reading for the sake of reading and not just for achievement.

The school has been trying to address things with this kid ever since prep. He has a learning problem I imagine, though I am not privy to the details. They have been trying their best.
Yes my kids do read for pleasure, my kids were spending hours reading each day from the age of 5. WHy should they read level 20 readers because of a rule imposed by the school? One kid never had to read readers at school and one was off readers in prep. So I am not sure how making my second child, who was reading Harry Potter every DAY for hours for pleasure in year one , read level 20 readers which are often DIRE, would 'foster a love of reading" rather than choosing their own fabulous books which she loves, whenever she wants.

It's not about competition. I don't understand your point? ON the one hand you seem to be saying yes it's good that readers are limited to level 20 in year one as a blanket rule. But you also say, if they don't' enjoy it, get them reading something they do enjoy very night. That is exactly what is happening, except they don't' have to read level 20 readers as well. How does forcing a kid to read a book way below their interest and comprehension level, foster a love of reading more than letting a free reader read books of their choice? I know which one would foster my love of reading more.

[baddmammajamma]

Not seeing the big deal here. My 8 year old son is currently half way through the guiness book of amazing nature, yet strangely he can still do his weekly reader without an issue. try and foster a love of reading for the sake of reading and not just for achievement.

Yes, some kids are happy to do what is asked of them with no problems whatsoever (I was that type of student); at the same time, some kids are totally demotivated (and their love of learning is sapped) by being forced to work at a level or pace that is well below their natural abilities.

I've hung around enough G&T forums to know that the latter is a real issue for many gifted kids (and kids who might not necessarily be gifted by want to be challenged). At lot of level 20 readers are as boring as batsh*t.

How does forcing a kid to read a book way below their interest and comprehension level, foster a love of reading more than letting a free reader read books of their choice? I know which one would foster my love of reading more.

This.

This post has been edited by baddmammajamma: 04/03/2012, 11:55 AM

[Sal78]

I totally disagree with this and I would remove my children from this school if this were my school. NOt because of the stupid readers but because this shows that the school will impose a blanket rule rather than consider individual differences.

I know kids who entered FYOS reading novels and were off readers well before grade one. (>30). There are genuinely gifted readers who read novels for hours for pleasure in prep. But they have to be on level 20 in year one because the school said so, because everyone else is? Rubbish.

WHen I was at primary school, I was a very advanced reader. I was prohibited from reading any school books for a year because "I was getting too far ahead" This is the same sort of thing.

Do the teachers support this????

its just because there is the year 1 to consider and not just individuals. the higher readers will get more difficult activities. theres nothing to say they cant read novels at home either.

in all honesty, we werent sure it was a good idea at first but now that its almost end of term 1, year 1 as a whole has really benefitted and kids are thriving.

i think its working

[Julie3Girls]

Makes me so glad our school has taken the focus away from reading groups and reading levels.

Yes, they still get benchmarked, and sent home readers from an appropriate level. Usually from a box containing a range of levels eg when on level 18, DD could get her books from the 15-20 box. Some books were more of a challenge, some were easier.
They still have a bit of one on one reading time at school.

But their day to day literacy work has moved away from the ideas of levels and reading groups. Instead doing accelerated literacy where they study a book indepth. Looking at all aspects of the book - the illustrations, the language used. Discussing the story. Their spelling comes from the book. Writing tasks are based around it.