Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

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indiemom
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Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by indiemom »

Advice required from experienced parents. :D
I was told during last parents' evening that both DSs are currently at a reading age of 15+ (they were 10 yrs 2 months then). I do not find them doing great in english though, they are predicted 5b-5a by end of Year 6. I thought that good reading age should reflect in creative writing which I don't think they are good at.

I know that they had good spelling age (few years ahead of their age) and that will help them to use correct spellings in their writing probably. But was wondering will higher reading age will help them in any way in secondary school and if so, in which way ?
Snowdrops
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Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by Snowdrops »

My dd had a reading age of 15+ in year 5 at primary

It hasn't seemed to especially benefit her in anyway whilst at grammar school, although it probably helped whilst taking the 11+, for the familiarity with words.
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Daogroupie
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Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by Daogroupie »

Being a good reader is something a dc can do alone. Being a good creative writer is something that has to be taught. You do not wake up one morning and know how to do it! It is very time consuming to teach which is why there is not enough of a focus on it in schools. But actually it can be taught in quite a short amount of time, especially to a good reader. I know of a student this summer who did it in three weeks by listening and learning from others. The result was a top 35 ranking at DAO and in January she will ace the English papers at NCLS, Habs and City. She did not get through the CEM at HBS because she was focusing on advanced comprehension and creative writing and did not sit Latymer but her creative writing is now outstanding. Your good readers can get there too but it will need focus. DG
Amber
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Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by Amber »

Daogroupie wrote:Being a good reader is something a dc can do alone. Being a good creative writer is something that has to be taught. You do not wake up one morning and know how to do it! It is very time consuming to teach which is why there is not enough of a focus on it in schools.
Given the enormously heavy emphasis on what used to be called English and what is now for some reason called Literacy, on the school curriculum, it is surprising if creative writing isn't covered. Personally I think that unless one aspires to be a fiction author it has a limited use and spending some time teaching oracy, which has now all but vanished in both primary and secondary schools, would be far more beneficial to children and society as a whole.

As for a high reading age - some of these tests are just lists of words which children have to read out. This demonstrates nothing more than the ability to decode words, which given that children are phorce phed phonics (I could copyright that) from the age of about 6 months these days ought to be pretty straightforward by the time most of them get to 10.

In secondary school a decent reading age will ensure a child can access the curriculum fully; or rather, if a child is struggling with reading at the start of secondary school it will limit the ability to access the curriculum.
Last edited by Amber on Thu Nov 06, 2014 10:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
equilibro
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Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by equilibro »

Amber wrote:This demonstrates nothing more than the ability to decode words, which given that children are phorce phed phonics ..... from the age of about 6 months these days.
Could you explain this sentence of yours please (not the force fed part) or am I right that its tail has been docked?
Amber
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Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by Amber »

Posting on my phone from the train and yes something happened to it. I will edit it when I get to a proper computer! Sorry
equilibro
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Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by equilibro »

Amber wrote:Posting on my phone from the train and yes something happened to it. I will edit it when I get to a proper computer! Sorry
Thank you for having edited the sentence. Could you now please explain a) why you did not say "..... which given that some children may be phorce phed phonics (my italics) ..... and b) why you assumed that if such a process were occurring it would apply across the whole country.

"Phorce Phed" by the way, can be seen via a simple Google search to have existed at least as early as 2006.
Guest55
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Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by Guest55 »

equilibrio - are you unaware that every child is MADE to learn phonics in order to pass the Year 1 phonics tests?

Many educators including Michael Rosen are very critical of this approach

http://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.co.uk/ ... views.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... ading-test" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Was your final sentence necessary or helpful?
Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by Amber »

equilibro wrote:
Amber wrote:Posting on my phone from the train and yes something happened to it. I will edit it when I get to a proper computer! Sorry
Thank you for having edited the sentence. Could you now please explain a) why you did not say "..... which given that some children may be phorce phed phonics (my italics) ..... and b) why you assumed that if such a process were occurring it would apply across the whole country.

"Phorce Phed" by the way, can be seen via a simple Google search to have existed at least as early as 2006.
It appears to me that your posts are now aimed more at tripping me up than engaging in any kind of meaningful debate; and I see from another thread that I am not the only target of your mischief. That being the case, I shall decline to engage with these questions.
mystery
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Re: Reading age of 15+, how does it help in GS ?

Post by mystery »

My children have been taught some phonics but not particularly well at school. I found it very useful to do more at home and use a good scheme well that the school used in a half-baked kind of way.

Reading tests differ. Some involve comprehension and others don't. The school should be able to give you the name of the test they did on your child so you can at least google for yourself and see what type of test it was.

Reading "attainment" is pretty much a combination of being able to decode the words (lift them off the page) and understand them both singly and as whole text. Powers of deduction for meaning are key too.

All these things working together at speed should be useful at secondary school (if it's a school where they read things!!).

Yes, Michael Rosen is critical of phonics but he is not always entirely logical in his arguments nor familiar with it at its best. His books are great though.

The year 1 phonics check is very basic - a child can get everything right in that test and still not be a perfect decoder later on - my DD is testament to that.

I wouldn't expect a good or voracious reader to automatically write or spell well - that's another phallacy (fallasee).
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