•  On May, 08, 2022
•  Tutoring Primary
•   Blog

Reader Sets in Primary Schools

Reader Sets in Primary Schools are often old or just tatty. They get a lot of use. A confusing point for parents is that each publisher uses their own grading codes. Levels vary between schools depending on the publisher used. And there are other reasons too.

What you can do if the readers are not suitable:  If you believe the readers for your child are too easy, too hard or in other ways a mismatch, you could do your own analysis of a reader.

1. Make lists under certain headings (in tabular form), such as irregular words, sight words  (high frequency words) and even odd words.
2. Note down each word you want to query and the number of times it is used,

so  forming your own opinion about the value of the reader.

1. Then take your findings to the teacher with your opinion that the material is not suitable for your child.
2. Some readers have a sprinkling of uncommon words. It’s hard to understand why such words are included in early and middle primary school. Make a note of them.
3. If the teacher refers to the pictures as prompts for meanings of any unusual words, you can always ask if the child is learning to read the words or the pictures! Too much dependence on pictures does not assist the child to learn to decode. The context in some readers is not local such as pine trees and snow.

And, if the readers are too easy, let your child read through them and then add to their homework with a lesson pack from this site. Try them with your child and compare the rate of progress.

Fair use/dealing claimed on illustrations.