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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

Reading homework - specified to only be done in the morning

26 replies

FrayedHem · 13/09/2017 22:21

DS2 is in YR6. Daily reading homework, child to read aloud to an adult and the child to record a brief written summary of what they have read (a couple of lines) and adult to sign as such. All fine.

But the teacher has stipulated the reading must be done in the morning before school and not after school. DS2 doesn't want to disobey the rule, but I have to say it doesn't work particularly well for us (3 other children, 2 have ASD and 1 is a toddler so school mornings are full on) and I'm struggling to see the logic as to why it has to be mornings.

Any other schools have this type of rule?

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PebblesFlintstone · 13/09/2017 22:23

I'm a teacher. That is ridiculous. I would just sign the book if he's read and not mention it unless the teacher makes an issue of it with your DS.

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user789653241 · 13/09/2017 22:38

Just do it when convenient and sign. I think it's ridiculous for teacher to dictate family life.
If your ds is bothered by it, I would challenge the teacher for the reason why. I can't see no logic there.

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ladyvimes · 13/09/2017 22:41

Sounds daft. Don't worry too much about it. Most year 6 children don't need to be heard reading aloud anyway. Encourage your child to read for 20 mins a day if you can as reading regularly is very beneficial but it is fine for it to be done any time of day and for the child to do it alone!

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isittheholidaysyet · 13/09/2017 22:45

Ridiculous.
Do it the evening, date it with the morning date.
If child gets into trouble, speak with teacher.

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Gileswithachainsaw · 13/09/2017 22:47

Erm read when you have time to read.

Ffs mornings are often a blur for most people.

Wtf

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Fruitboxjury · 13/09/2017 22:51

Ridiculous. Reading is meant to be fun, not a chore. I can see the logic in doing it at the same time everyday so it becomes a routine, but it's not for the teacher to dictate when that time is.

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FrayedHem · 13/09/2017 22:53

Thanks for the replies.

I have no problem with flouting the rules, but DS2 very much does. Any suggestion of fudging the dates got him all kinds of upset. I'm really hoping it's some kind of misunderstanding on his part; although he's always been reliable, he can be very literal so may have misinterpreted a joke.

I'm going to check with some other parents and see what their children have said. I had a lot of issues with this teacher over DS1 and we can only communicate via the Head(!) so I will see what I can find out from other sources first.

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Threenme · 13/09/2017 22:55

He must have misheard op! There is no way any teacher could possibly impose this rule. A it's daft! B if you've got a parent that reads you do not care when!

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PebblesFlintstone · 13/09/2017 22:59

I really can't see any teacher having the time to question all 30 children about the time they read. If it does become an issue, ask the teacher to point you to which school policy states that the children read at home only in the mornings. There won't be one.

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Pumpkintopf · 13/09/2017 23:11

Agree with pp this seems ridiculously prescriptive assuming there's no valid reason!!

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MiaowTheCat · 14/09/2017 07:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PicInAttic · 14/09/2017 20:55

I wonder if teacher has suggested to a child who's said they can't fit reading in at night to do it in morning and your child has misunderstood/misheard.

Can't imagine any teacher caring when you read - we usually just want the reading to be done regularly!

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Believeitornot · 14/09/2017 20:56

Maybe the teacher said mornings are better?

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MsPassepartout · 14/09/2017 21:15

No rules about what time of day we should do reading at our school. I would wonder if he's misunderstood something the teacher said, it seems odd that the teacher would insist on reading being done at a particular time of day.

We'd really struggle to fit reading in on the mornings, mornings are usually very busy for us. We do reading as part of the evening routine and that works well for us.

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Tilapia · 14/09/2017 21:24

Maybe the teacher has seen some research about kids being too tired to concentrate properly in the evening and more alert in the morning. It wouldn't work for me either OP. Mornings are manic enough there already!

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Lindy2 · 14/09/2017 21:36

We read every bedtime. There's no chance that reading would get done in the morning - not if we actually wanted to all get to school on time. Reading is reading regardless of when it actually takes place.

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TheCelestialFox · 14/09/2017 21:52

Why do they have to read aloud to a parent in Year 6?!

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user789653241 · 14/09/2017 22:02

Because reading to themselves and reading aloud is different skill.
Our school ask parents to listen to children read all way through primary, including yr6.

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FrayedHem · 14/09/2017 22:27

I checked with another parent and their child hadn't said anything about morning reading. I talked it through with DS2 again, and he concluded it was unlikely the teacher would have said that, but he forgot to check what the requirements were.

Not having the reading record with you &/or not having read means getting sent to the reflection room. He is really worried about this, and I think it is more likely the teacher said they can't use the quiet reading time in school in the morning to count as their daily read. He still wants to read and fill his record in before and after school until he's checked with his teacher, but I've said once is enough and for the teacher to contact us if there is an issue. I'm not stopping him reading for fun btw, but he is getting over-wrought and I don't really want to feed it IYKWIM.

So it's a DS2 issue, not a school issue. I'd assumed it would be the 2 with ASD who would be struggling, but they are really happy and coping well.

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Fruitboxjury · 15/09/2017 07:19

You say it's a ds issue and not a school issue but it sounds like he has been made to feel incredibly anxious about reading and the possible negative consequences of not doing so - hence he's now trying to do twice a day to avoid retribution of some sort. That sounds massively like a school issue to me and i would be really upset, they should be encouraging reading as a positive thing, it shouldn't be the case that he's this worried about it?

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user789653241 · 15/09/2017 07:40

Getting sent to reflection for not reading? That sound OTT to me.
Ds's school state reading and recording daily as a homework, but there's no punishment or prize for doing/not doing so.

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FrayedHem · 15/09/2017 10:42

I know the Yr5's have the same reflection room consequence iro the reading record. The school is Ofsted Inadequate, poor SATs etc and looking at the 2017 results on the school website, KS2 still well under-performed (KS1 had a a huge improvement). So I think the reading is counted as homework as they have to write about what they had read.

I do need to do something to help him deal better with pressure as he's Yr6 and secondary school is looming, which is why I'm looking at it as a DS2 issue, rather than a school issue. Yesterday he didn't complete some work as they were sharing computers and the other child wasn't sharing as they were supposed to. He didn't feel able to assert himself as he wanted to be kind, but was in a terrible state about not having done the work.

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Threenme · 16/09/2017 03:51

Op pls don't treat it as s ds issue treat it as what it is; school is under pressure and passing it down to kids. Yes they should expect high standards but what about all the poor little buggers with crap parents who won't read at home etc! Are they destined to spend their life in reflection?

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FrayedHem · 16/09/2017 16:28

I'm no fan of the school by any means, and I had a lot of issues with them last year with DS1 (He has ASD and has an EHCP etc but we still had a whole host of problems with them). It took multiple meetings and escalating to the LA to get even the most basic things sorted.

But I see this as something I need to help DS2 with - he won't ask the teacher for clarification, is worried he is going to fail at something he is unlikely to fail at, plus the other stuff with shared work. It's more important for me to help improve those skills, as he will struggle a lot at secondary where there will be far more demands.

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user789653241 · 16/09/2017 16:51

When my ds couldn't finish his work during lesson, he would ask the teacher to bring it home to finish it, and it's normally allowed.
And can't you ask the teacher to pair him up with more reliable partner, who wouldn't take advantage of your ds's kind nature?

I do agree, he need to be able to ask the teacher when he needs to. But even my relatively confident ds sometimes hesitate to ask the teacher, depending on circumstances.
Maybe you can ask the teacher to come to him to check if he needs any help at first? And he may get a little more at ease to talk to the teacher if feels more confident and feel the teacher is approachable?