How do you know your child's reading level?

[eeyorefan74]

Inspired by another thread about reading at school, which quickly turned into a public school vs. homeschooling debate. What I want to know is how everyone knows their child's reading level? For example, when someone says their 1st grader reads at a 5th grade level, was that determined by a test at school, or just by the particular books he's able to read? Just wondering, as DD is in 1st grade and while we know she's a good reader, I've never been told at what grade level she reads. Over the summer she read constantly- Magic Tree House, American Girl books, Animal Ark, A to Z Mysteries, etc. Is there a test online somewhere to determine a child's reading level?

I'd also be interested in lists of good books for various grade levels, if someone knows of a resource like that. It is hard to find subject matter that's appropriate for her age, while still being challenging enough. Luckily she hasn't mentioned being bored at school yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happened before too long.

 

[budbeerlady]

DD is tested at school. They read books they select from a pile and then take a test on the computer. I don't know how accurate they really are but according to them she is in 3rd grade and reading at a 4.5 grade level. I figure as long as the teacher says she is doing fine that is all that matters to us. She currently reads the American Girl books, loves Dinasour books, etc.

 

[Ellester]

I would guess most people go by testing. We homeschool, but we do have our children independently tested each year (only required every 3 years in our state, but we like to see where extra help might be needed). Last year my oldest dd was 9 and in the 4th grade. The various breakdowns put her between grade levels 5.4 and 7.0 with an average of 6.0, so I would probably say she reads at a 6th grade level. I think the AR program is based grade level so you could probably look at the AR website and find the types of books she reads for a general idea.

As far as book lists, amblesideonline.com, fiveinarow.com and sonlight.com are all homeschooling curriculum sites that have age appropriate book lists. Great, great books. I'm sure there are others out there, you could try a google search. My daughter also likes the Sally and Fairchild Family series books from bethlehembooks.com. There are so many great books out there, but I agree that you do have to be very careful of subject matter. I was a heavy reader from a young age and I can tell you that I read lots of books WAY before I was ready for them (James Michener in the 5th grade? , no way is my dd ready for some of that subject matter!).

 

[Stephres]

My son said they are given paragraphs to read and then answer questions about what they have read. If they answer enough correctly (I don't know how many) they go on to the next section. He told me he was one of the last two to keep reading and answering but I don't know at what grade level he reads. They give him a "lexile" number which corresponds to books at their school library, but I don't pay much attention to it and let him read what he likes at home. The lexile numbers correspond to grade levels, but they overlap so you can't really say for sure.

I don't know if that test is available on-line or not. There is probably something similar out there though.

 

[crisi]

Testing is the best way - there are two parts to testing, reading the material and measuring comprehension. Comprehension often lags behind pure reading level - i.e. a child may be able to 'read' material at a seventh grade level, but only test for comprehension reading at a fifth grade level.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Ask your childs teacher about their Lexile score. Schools test all the time (kids may not even realize it, a lot of time they'll do one on one reading with their teacher) Lexile scores will help you find the right books for the childs reading level.

Check out Lexile.com and this is the lexile fact sheet

 

[pednurse]

My kids are tested at school. They do a variety of tests plus a thing called AR testing over books they've read to see if they are comprehending and retaining what they are reading, not just able to read the words. My daughter is in first grade and reads at a 4th grade level. My son is in 5th grade and reads at a 10th grade level.

 

[LadyShea]

Our school district tests the kids and notifies them and their parents of their reading level to help determine appropriate books from the library. For the AR tests or whatever they must pick from their reading level, according to my niece, and the school library has all books marked with the level

 

[deedeetoo]

I just want to add that these tests are not always consistent. In 2nd grade my dd tested and they said she was reading at 6th grade level. The teacher spent a lot of time with us going over how to find books that were challenging but that did not contain content that was beyond her maturity level.

Then in 3rd grade they tested her and said she was reading right at 3rd grade level. Huh? We talked to the teacher and she said maybe they had made a mistake the year before. Well, no she was actually reading the more difficult books (and understanding them).

That was the last time I took any of these grade level things seriously.

 

[shelly3girls]

One of the things that confuses many parents is the definitely of grade level for different tests. Some tests tell you what grade level child normally scores where your child did on that particular test. So for this type of test your 1st grade child scores 5th grade level. That does not mean he/she is reading on a 5th grade level. It means that they scored as well as an average 5th grader taking that 1st grade level test. This confuses many parents and over inflates what the parent thinks of their child's reading ability.

There are test that will evaluate the actual reading level. As a pp mentioned the lexile range is great as it can direct you to appropriate books. Our school does a DRA evaluation. So a 2nd grader should start at 20 (2.0) and end around 28 (2.8). A child finishing 3rd grade with a DRA level of 5.5 is on a mid-5th grade reading level and should choose appropriate books in that range.

 

[DopeysMommy]

I just want to add that these tests are not always consistent. In 2nd grade my dd tested and they said she was reading at 6th grade level. The teacher spent a lot of time with us going over how to find books that were challenging but that did not contain content that was beyond her maturity level.

Then in 3rd grade they tested her and said she was reading right at 3rd grade level. Huh? We talked to the teacher and she said maybe they had made a mistake the year before. Well, no she was actually reading the more difficult books (and understanding them).

That was the last time I took any of these grade level things seriously.

this is a good example of why these numbers should not be taken as gospel. I work in a library, and often parents want to see books in X lexile/accerated reader level. We don't use those, since they seem pretty arbitrary (and we aren't re-cataloging every book for every new system that comes along). Personally, I think they're more info to make parents nervous or competitive.

My advice? keep your child reading books that are of interest. If reading chapter books, maybe try some classics or junior high level. If too hard, go back to regular chapter books. trial and error, and they might stumble upon some things they really like. But if they're reading, that's plain good.

 

[bubba]

DS was tested last year in senior kindergarten. His teacher sat down with students individually (took ages !) and had them read and answer questions about what they read, so their comprehension level was tested as well. We're having him tested more thoroughly as he tested out top of their scale. best we can figure, he is currently reading at a 6th grade level and comprehending at about a 4.5 or 5. He reads my eldest DS books (in grade 5) and will pick up the newspaper and read it if we let him. It is very difficult to find books that challenge him but are content appropriate. I talk to the librarians all the time - they're great at recommending appropriate reading.

 

[emma'smom]

This is not a way to test a formal reading level, but parents can get a "ballpark" idea by looking at the reading levels of many popular books on the Scholastic Website (www.scholastic.com).

 

[jellybeans0607]

DS was tested last year in senior kindergarten. His teacher sat down with students individually (took ages !) and had them read and answer questions about what they read, so their comprehension level was tested as well. We're having him tested more thoroughly as he tested out top of their scale. best we can figure, he is currently reading at a 6th grade level and comprehending at about a 4.5 or 5. He reads my eldest DS books (in grade 5) and will pick up the newspaper and read it if we let him. It is very difficult to find books that challenge him but are content appropriate. I talk to the librarians all the time - they're great at recommending appropriate reading.

If you're looking for books for him, here is what my 6th grade cousin is reading. http://www.mpcsd.org/Hillview/reading.html She spent time with me over the summer and read The Kite Rider and The Incredible Journey. Both seemed to me to be content appropriate, but I didnt read them.
You're lucky to have a 5yo with such a great attention span. My 8yo can't stick with a book that long yet.


To answer the OP: I've never had my child tested, im not even sure how one would do that. When she was in 2nd grade she did take a test called the Stanford 9. Which they did give me a printout that told me where she fell in her class, but it didnt go into what grade level she is reading at.
Even if i was approached with a test that would tell us, I dont think I would be interested. She loves to read. As long as she loves it and continues to do it, I dont really care what it is. I figure she's only going to read books that interest her, and if they werent at her level they wouldnt interest her.

 

[shane&jakesmom]

They are tested at school,