Ordinary Parents Guide to teaching Reading-Grade Level?

[CamilleBethany]

Once you and your child complete this book, what grade level is he/she reading at?

Silly question I know, but I'm just curious! 

 

[alisoncooks]

I've heard 4th grade thrown around, but I don't have any proof of it...

[Steven]

I have also heard the 4th grade level claim. We finished the book in November of DD's kindergarten year. While in theory she may have been able to sound out 4th grade vocabulary words, she was by no means ready to read fourth grade-level books. She did not have the endurance, even though she was by any standards an excellent reader for her age and had a large vocabulary. We focused on text heavy picture books, which were probably meant to be read-alouds. These books often have words that are harder to read, but are still comprehensible to young children, without expecting them to read chapter books. Even when DD started the Magic Tree House books in first grade, she only read one chapter at a sitting. She is now in fourth grade and has all of the Harry Potter books behind her (she finished the last one over the summer after 3rd grade). 

[mathmarm]

I would say that, assuming they have had success with it, that they will be well versed in pretty much all of K-8 phonic skills. I don't have the book in front of me and I can't remember if it covers greek and latin roots, pre- and suffixes appropriately. I do know that the final lesson is reading "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" using the skills that you've learned, so they should be good in the decoding department.

 

But what they have the stamina/endurance and ability to read is a whole different matter entirely. So, I guess that that part would greatly depend on how much reading and on how varied of a level that the child has been doing between starting and finishing OPGTR.

[MeaganS]

I've asked this before and TheYoungerMrsWarde linked me to her website where she tried to break down the reading levels compared to HOP.  I found it to be fairly helpful.

 

My dd is on Lesson 139 and regularly reads books that Scholastic Book Wizard puts at mid-2nd grade to early 3rd grade level, so I tend to agree with her assessment.  Stamina is a whole other issue, but OPGTR will let your kid decode most words.

[reign]

Depends on the kid. I like judging grade level based on the types of books the child is actually reading. My girls have always placed much higher on reading level tests then they are actually able to read. I think my Oldest was about 3rd grade level books when she finished. My five year old was reading about the same level ( slightly higher) but she was reading much faster and finished a lot sooner.

[CamilleBethany]

Thank you so  much for all your responses!

[Danielle1746]

I used it with my daughter for kindergarten last year.  When she was finished, I gave her an reading evaluation I found online (I don't remember what it actually was).  It was simply recognizing/decoding lists of individual words, not reading for comprehension, and she tested at a mid-4th grade level.  She was 5.  She can read very well now, but like others have said, she doesn't always have the stamina to read high level books for very long.  She tries but burns herself out quickly.

 

[Tanikit]

I don't think reading grade levels can be judged purely by whether they can sound out words or not - there is much more to reading than just phonics. From a sounding out perspective I would think most words (excluding perhaps foreign words) should be readable after doing OPGTR.

 

My DD finished it slightly before her K year. She started her K year reading second grade level books to me a couple pages at a time and finished the year reading at a fourth grade level - a chapter at a time based on Sonlight's 4th grade readers - she was also reading some of Harry Potter, but found it too long for her and the print was a little too small. This year in first grade she is reading the rest of Sonlight's grade 4 readers and other books I pick up. Her stamina and ability to enjoy the stories has picked up over time and she also needed the confidence that reading easier books and picture books has given her. None of this had anything to do with the phonics which she had known for a while. Sometime in the K year she started reading a little independently but it is still nowhere near the level she will read to me - its like she needs the company or something and that is also age and personality related.