Early reading v continental custom - teachers’ thoughts sought

Both I and DS could read a bit before we started school. Learning early certainly didn't put him off and he's still an avid reader.

However, I do wish that children here could be taught the skills that Polish children are learning before starting school. DiL teaches reception and most of the children have no listening or social skills.

that would open a can of worms if it was introduced in the uk

It’s a can of worms we need to open and soon. Driving all children down a largely academic educational path like cattle is why we are failing many of them.

Interestingly in the 2026 PISA results the UK is one place above Poland!
worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/pisa-scores-by-country
(I do like a bit of data 😂)

Nevertheless:
" In comparisons like the OECD's PISA studies and PIRLS reading assessments, England routinely scores above the OECD average and ranks among the top performers in Western Europe, particularly leading the UK nations in maths, science, and reading performance".

petra

^that would open a can of worms if it was introduced in the uk^
There are a lot of plans in the uk to move towards that system.

Such as?

Shelflife

Your GC will be fine !

I think so too - I wish my son did!

that would open a can of worms if it was introduced in the uk
There are a lot of plans in the uk to move towards that system.

Children in Finland start formal education at 7.
Finland have been the world leaders or near the top for educational excellence.

One of the Scandinavian countries did a lot of research on this about 30 years ago. It showed that children at 7 years old had developed their language and comprehension skills to such an extent that they picked up reading quite quickly and were at the same reading levels as their counterparts in the UK especially. If a child is ready to start reading then they will show that, we tend to force them into learning skills by a certain age, which is counterproductive. The Polish students I taught could all speak 3+ languages well, as well as read in those languages. The English students could barely manage English!

fluttERBY123

Gcs are going to grow up more Polish than English. They should do things the Polish way. My dil is Polish and was amazed at the standard of education here, rating it considerably lower than that in Poland. I am sure there is somewhere you can look up league tables about the performances of European countries' education attainments. That would probably reassure your son.

flutterby it is interesting watching how they "flip" from being Polish to being English. They are now coming to the end of 6 weeks staying with us in England, and this morning the two little girls, aged 4 and 2, manned a toy coffee shop together for nearly two hours entirely in English (if "babycino" counts as an English word!).
I agree about the standard of education. The Polish system sounds quite selective, with kids moving to grammar school, technical school or vocational school. That would open a can of worms if it were reintroduced in the UK!

Your GC will be fine !

MaizieD

Polish, like many other languages, is far easier to learn to read than is English. In Polish the sounds which make up the spoken word usually have only one way to represent them by letters.

Unlike English which often, very often, has more than one way to spell a sound, e,g the /oo/ sound as in in 'boot' can be spelled 'ui' - suit, 'ou' - you, 'ue' - blue, 'ew' ' blew .... or, one letter or combination of letters can spell more than one sound, e.g 'oo' spells /oo/ in boot, but a different sound in 'book' (though this can be dependent on regional accent, before anyone says that they pronounce it the same way in boot and book. .

This makes English far more time consuming to learn to read and spell. So we start teaching it earlier because we have far more to cover to achieve skilled readers.

Do tell your son not to worry, OP. His child will learn fast once teaching reading begins.

Your point about how the predictability of Polish pronunciation versus English is a really important one...I hadn't thought of it and it supports my hunch that my grandson will be reading fluently by Christmas...but he'll be reading in Polish first. Meanwhile my son and DIL do loads of reading with their children in English and we are a very booky family so hopefully the English reading will come along eventually...

Typoswhoops!

If parents read to their children and look at picture/word/story books with them from an early age, most children are infact learning reading skills while this happens even of they don't seem to be able to "read" by themselves.

In your position I don't think I would worry about it so long as the child has access to books at home and is read to.

Learning to read at 7 or earlier- they will learn ! and that is what matters .(Providing they have don't have a learning difficulty) although many children with SEN will learn to read. If they learn to read at 7 they will be fine I feel sure. IMO 4year olds should be having positive play experiences not learning to read!

I agree with MaizieD that a lot of it is about the complexity of the English language, caused by its multiple roots.
I think people are often confused by the fact that some European countries have a later official age for starting school, but the children are in school before that. French children can start in the Maternelle when they are toilet trained. My Spanish grandchildren started at age 3.

Gcs are going to grow up more Polish than English. They should do things the Polish way. My dil is Polish and was amazed at the standard of education here, rating it considerably lower than that in Poland. I am sure there is somewhere you can look up league tables about the performances of European countries' education attainments. That would probably reassure your son.

silverlining48

It’s normal in most of Europe for children to start school at 7. I am not a teacher but have many teacher as friends and believe we start them much too early here.

I think that this is quite ironic in view of the fact that, once their maternity leave is over, mothers put their children into nurseries, some not even a year old... And the nurseries are supposed to provide meaningful developmental experiences for the children in their care. Entering a school at 5 is hardly a completely new experience for many children.

So why is there so much worry about children starting school 'too early' ?

Ex special needs teaching assistant here.
Many children find reading extremely difficult and eventually switch off and avoid it at all costs. It was heartbreaking at "reading time" to hear the collective groan of those who struggled.
I worked with some dreadful teachers who insisted they were heard daily. I would find something they had an interest in and we would "read" together.
The UK is obsessed with grades and hitting levels of learning rather than encouraging a love of learning.
I eventually worked along side a teacher who shared my views. She bought dozens of books from charity shops and children were encouraged to enjoy rather than forced to learn.

It’s normal in most of Europe for children to start school at 7. I am not a teacher but have many teacher as friends and believe we start them much too early here.

Polish, like many other languages, is far easier to learn to read than is English. In Polish the sounds which make up the spoken word usually have only one way to represent them by letters.

Unlike English which often, very often, has more than one way to spell a sound, e,g the /oo/ sound as in in 'boot' can be spelled 'ui' - suit, 'ou' - you, 'ue' - blue, 'ew' ' blew .... or, one letter or combination of letters can spell more than one sound, e.g 'oo' spells /oo/ in boot, but a different sound in 'book' (though this can be dependent on regional accent, before anyone says that they pronounce it the same way in boot and book. .

This makes English far more time consuming to learn to read and spell. So we start teaching it earlier because we have far more to cover to achieve skilled readers.

Do tell your son not to worry, OP. His child will learn fast once teaching reading begins.

Some children will thrive on early reading; others just arent ready and it becomes a burden/sfuggle (pointlesxly) At 7 if no other problems eg dyslexia exist a child will pick it up quickly and progress faater through the reading stages - they will love reading or they wont, and the age they dtatted will make no real difference. The key thing is good teaching of reading; a range of methodology so that children can use different strategies; interesting books to catch the imagination.

To be honest there is plenty that parents can do regardless of what a school does. Read to them; lots of early fun books and trace the words as reading; flashcards games matching to pictures; phonics games and so on. The key is making it fun.

I am not a teacher but the statistics say it all really, the fact they learn how to speak properly is definitely a plus and will stand them in good stead as they learn to read. I am sure the curriculum here is more about learning through play for little ones these days.

Not an ex- primary teacher, but I and my children and grandchildren loved reading from an early age ( 4/5) and books were a really important part of our childhood. So I do feel they are missing out by waiting until 7 ( provided they are not being forced unwillingly at 4)

I learned to read at 4, so did my elder daughter. I think that children do benefit from reading early, if it can be done without forcing them. Reading is fun, and opens up a world which children can choose for themselves, within reason.