The Easy Way to Find Your Child’s Reading Level

Are you struggling with finding books for your children that are at their reading level? Are you wanting to start using the McGuffey readers but aren’t sure which reader to put your child in? 

If so, this post is for you! 

In less than five minutes, you’ll be able to tell whether a book is too easy, just right, or so difficult that it’s actually hurting your child’s confidence. 

And it’s only going to take a painless test using two simple methods: 

1. Word recognition 

2. Narration 

Keep in mind, we’re not talking about squeezing children into conventional grade levels, but finding the sweet spot where each child experiences success and builds confidence in both reading and comprehension.  

For real learning, these levels are: 

• Independent 

• Instructional 

And 

• Frustration. 

Let me define each: 

1. Independent. This is the level where a child can pick up something and read it easily to himself, without having to work or stretch at all. 

2. Instructional. This is the level where a child can read most things easily with only a few words that are unfamiliar. He also may have a good idea about what he has just read but would gain even more with some slight prompting. This is where the child is stretched to reach for the higher, more interesting types of literature. 

3. Frustration. This is the level we want to avoid. While we might think forcing a child to read things that are above his comfortability is good for him, it actually deters him from wanting to learn to read at all. All adults tend to avoid things they are not good at, and children are the same way. If our children sit down to read with us and come away feeling like failures, they are going to build up a resistance, both emotionally and mentally, so that their perception of their own abilities will become a reality. 

Most reading struggles aren’t due to flawed children, just materials used at the wrong level. 

Now for the method: 

1. Decide what you are looking for. You may want your child to be able to enjoy some independent reading to build confidence and enjoyment. Or, are you looking to stretch him a bit for some instruction and growth?  

2. Pick a passage of approximately 100 words from the book or McGuffey reader you suspect will be either at independent or instructional level. 

3. Have your child read the passage aloud. Pay attention to how he reads the words. Is he breezing through without two or less pauses? If so, he is at the independent level of word recognition. If he reads most words easily, but gets hung up on around four words, then he is at an instructional level. If he has trouble with 6 words or more, then he is at frustration level, and you will need to find something easier to read, or a McGuffey level that is easier for him.  

4. Check for comprehension using narration. In other words, after he has read the 100-word passage, have him tell back to you what he has read. If he breezes right through it, including being able to share the deeper meaning of the passage, then he is at an independent level. If he is able to share most of it, but needs a prompting here and there, then he is probably at the instructional level. But if he acts as though he has very little comprehension of what he has just read and is having trouble in recalling it, then this is not the level for him. (Remember, we’re testing comprehension, not memory.) 

Note: This surprises many parents, but it IS possible for a child to be able to read the words easily, but not be able to comprehend what he has just read.

This is quite common for children who have learned to read at young ages. They understand the mechanics of reading, just not the inferences. It may be a good idea to keep this child at the independent reading level for a while as you emphasize reading comprehension via oral narration until he can gain more maturity and connect the words on the page with deeper reasoning. 

And here are some more tips: 

1. The McGuffey readers were never formulated for today’s age-level grades. Country schools of the 1800’s were places where children learned at their own pace, often because people started learning to read at lots of different ages. Back then children of any age could start with the primer and then just progress through the different books as they could. The books themselves were not gauged by a school year, but a child simply used a book completely and then went on to another one. Most of the readers are meant to cover more than a year’s worth of lessons. So, don’t feel strange if you find your child needs to begin in the middle of the third reader. This is actually pretty typical. 

2. Don’t be pushing for your children to go higher than they feel happy with in their independent reading. Allow them to read at the level they feel most comfortable. The more comfortable they feel on their own, the more practice they will do without your oversight, which will help them become more successful in the long run. 

Remember, your job is to challenge, not frustrate! 

Please, don’t worry about grade levels. In the end they don’t mean a thing. 

A child who is able to read with confidence will go above and beyond all expectations because he personally experiences the difference literacy makes in his own life.  

Taking time to build this confidence may take some initial work, but you will be working yourself out of a job! 

Next time, we’ll take something that we’ve seen as numbingly boring and show how it can be used in an amazingly interesting way—dictation! 

If you would like to listen to this post as a podcast, please click on the links below:

iTunes: From Frustration to Independence

Spotify: From Frustration to Independence