To think that DS' teacher is not helping

[onehellofaride]

Awaiting being told that I am BU in which case I will leave it.

DS is yr3 and brings a reading book home. He reads it to us easily with fluency and expression taking into account punctuation. In addition he reads a lot at home think Horrid Henry, Beast Quest and Enid Blyton. At parents evening I couldn't make it as I was at work so DH went. He raised that he thought DS' reading books were too easy for him. His teacher said that they had assessed his reading level and thought that he was reading at the correct level as he had a tendency to rush when he was reading to them. Fine. A couple of weeks later he began bringing home books which he had brought home previously in yr2 some of which he had not particularly enjoyed then. I wrote a letter to his teacher asking why he was bring home books he had read in yr2 and she wrote a long letter back saying that he was reading at the correct level and it was good for him. I hadn't mentioned the level he was reading at merely the repeated books. He has contined to bring home several books he read last year and I completely agree that it assists fluency however many of these books he didn't like the first time. DS loves reading but the result is that he is losing enthusiasm for it which in a 7 year old boy is sad.

He also brings home spellings every week for a test. He learns these every week prior to the test but there have been 2 occasions now where I know full well he has not known those spellings. We have tested him and he was still getting the majority wrong the night before. He has then been coming home with 10 out of 10 in his book and said that the teacher writes them on the board and another pupil marks them. I have asked for his spelling book so that I can see what he has written as I feel the marking might not be accurate but his teacher has said that he cannot bring it home.

Please tell me AIBU to be a bit pissed off?

[holeinmyheart]

Gosh I was quite impressed by your attention to detail. I don't think you are being unreasonable even though I know that his teacher will have a million and one things to do and may be inefficient, her actions are causing a little boy to lose interest.
The only thing to do is to stop writing to her and speak to her about your concerns. You have every right to defend and protect your child.
However, he will live, what ever happens. A good home is the best thing that you can provide for him. He can quickly read the easy books and get on with some thing that interests him.
You may well be cleverer and better educated than his teacher.
You have to speak to her face to face. Horrible as it may be for you, I am afraid it is the only way. Xx

[Thebodynowchillingsothere]

He's a 7 year old boy who loves reading. Bloody brilliant. You have no problem op except perhaps with the teacher but your ds will move on.

My advice would be don't worry about her and keep practising the spellings with him.

[tobysmum77]

well presumably he 'rushes' because they are too easy.

Seriously I just wouldn't read them and just write in diary 'had this one in year 2, read horrid Henry'

[NotCitrus]

If he's rushing, presumably he's not showing he can read out loud with expression to make it interesting for the audience, and that's what they want? I'd love to rush through many of the books I read to my kids...

If you encourage him to do different voices and lots of expression, he may find it more interesting too.

I'd just mention to the teacher that he's not known spellings before tests so you're surprised he says he gets 10/10 - is she sure he's not just copying or something?

[AsBrightAsAJewel]

You talk a lot about his fluency and expression, but how is his comprehension? Hopefully it matches his level of decoding and he can discuss plot, characters, setting, infer meanings, explain the definitions of all the words, discuss social context, predict what might happen next, explain characters' motivations and personality, invent new endings, etc.

I agree with NoCitrus - I'd be asking the teacher to check the spellings aren't copied, are accurately marked or not being corrected by his friend so he can get a good score. It is very normal procedure for another child to mark the test by checking the correct answers written on the board by the teacher. The reason teachers don't send books home is because you can guarantee that a good number of them will never be seen in school again. It wastes valuable time at the start of a lesson retrieving missing books from book bags or backpacks, finding paper to replace missing books for that day's work and chasing parents to return them.

[skylark2]

What tobysmum said.

"DS has brought this book home before, he didn't like it then and still doesn't. We read x instead."

[Discopanda]

If you set up a meeting with the teacher maybe could show you the spelling book then? YANBU, you're being a very attentive parent and it's great that you take an active interest in your child's education.

[onehellofaride]

Thank you for the responses I will arrange to meet with his teacher. I seem to have managed to make two identical threads