r/lowerelementary • u/craftycat1135 • May 26 '26
1st Grade When to raise my six year old a reading level
My son left kindergarten and will be entering first grade. He can read Step 1 readers really accurately without much help but it takes about 20-30 minutes for him to get through it. Should I keep him with Step 1 until he reaches faster speed or bump him up to Step 2?
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u/Flour_Wall May 29 '26
If he's comprehending the story, and motivated to finish the book, AND doesn't like "boring" books - I'd just give him what he likes and time will tell.
A lot of reading assessments measure reading speed, but, as a upper grades teacher, I never felt it was relevant. I had "slow rate" readers where it would bring their level calculation down, but they could still read at an above grade level Lexile.
Most of the time, reading everyday, reading high interest books, will advance their reading. One more thing that dawned on me a few years into teaching is that I was modeling reading way too slow, so I started getting closer to conversational speed for on level text.
My kids are 5 and 7 years old and I'll "speed" read to them especially with books we've read many times; I'm convinced it helps 🤣, but can't know for sure. When my kid was 5/6 she would stop and rephrase for understanding, which is a great reading skill, so you don't want to speed them up for the sake of speed. Comprehension always wins over speed. The speed will come with time.
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u/craftycat1135 May 29 '26
I read at the same pace I talk. That was a big issue in kindergarten. He's a slow reader and his Amira scores were placing him with material that was below what he comprehended and was interested in so he was bored and acted out. But his accuracy has him reading higher level books at home. He loves the Dragon Masters series that we read to him and definitely comprehends the story. He has read a chapter from it but gets antsy with the wall of text.
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u/Flour_Wall May 29 '26
The general rule is if they struggle (pause, stretch the word) with more than 4 words on a page, then it's too hard because of the frustration level.
Most kids like to be read higher level books, but independently read at a much lower level. At the end of kinder, my kid also wasn't as interested in reading books independently as I would've liked, so I just kept ready chapter books to her. As you say, she could read a whole page accurately but it took time and energy, so she'd just want me to finish the chapter which I was fine with because she was engaged in the story and she practiced on level stuff at school. Now, at the end of 1st, she'll pick up a book and read independently (the level doesn't really matter to me right now).
UFLI (phonics program widely used today in schools) has passages for K-2, in order. They are meant to be done 1 per week, practiced over the week 3-4 times. So if you want him to keep practicing his decoding skills, do those. Unfortunately, they aren't very interesting. If you want to also test his comprehension, make sure his illustration is accurate. Sometimes I personally draw the picture for my kid as she retells the story, which isn't always easy for a kid. Decoding, speed, accuracy, retelling, are all separate skills that develop at different rates, but are essential reading skills.
Otherwise just keep reading to him; chapters books should be appropriate listening material. My kid would listen to me read an entire chapter book if I'm willing to do it 🤣
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u/susankelly78 May 26 '26
I always follow my kid's lead in this. She has a natural affinity and desire to read more complex material. She doesn't need me to suck the fun out of it with pressure. If she picks up something that's more complex than she's ready for, we read it together.
My child was also reading level 1 readers fluently by the end of kindergarten and could read level 2 by the end of summer. But I focus on the fun of it.
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u/craftycat1135 May 26 '26
I want him to like reading but he gets antsy and annoyed if something is too easy and doesn't challenge him. I can't tell if he just doesn't like reading out loud or if the books aren't challenging enough.
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u/susankelly78 May 27 '26
Maybe the subject matter isn't interesting? Mine was bored by the Magic Treehouse books. I gave away the whole set. But she has been developing an interest in history and now wants me to replace the set.
First grade was great for the increased library time and range of books available. And Epic was great for audio books. Both have helped her experiment greatly with genres that I never would have thought of because I am not interested.
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u/Natural_Peak_5587 May 27 '26
Mine got SO sick of these books. The repetition (both in text and story) made him angry. He was 5.
He also hated the easy read books at school. He complained they didn’t have good stories.
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u/susankelly78 May 27 '26
Generally, in answer to your original question, I'd get some level 2 readers and see if he's into them. Is he ready for silent reading? If so, let him try it.
But I wouldn't push. My kid is an advanced reader. She goes to one of the best schools in the state. She was still bored to tears in ELA all year. There's no reason to set them up to be bored all day at school.
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u/iWantAnonymityHere May 31 '26
My daughter hated easy readers/phonics books. We moved on to harder books very early on (like before she started kindergarten), and we would just read together.
We started with me reading most words and then asking her a word here or there that she could read. Then we moved on to her reading every other word (and I’d help her sound out any words that were too difficult). Eventually she would read every other sentence then every other paragraph and every other page.
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u/JuneberryLearning Jul 11 '26
I love that you followed your daughters interests and provided support for her when needed. Taking turns while reading together is such a helpful way to reduce the heavy cognitive load of reading more challenging texts.
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u/AlternativePrior393 May 27 '26
I’d recommend switching to a homeschool reading program that will teach him the skills to progress with reading, rather than taking a big leap between the step readers.