AIBU to think Sparx Reader homework is putting my son off reading?

Totally agree that it is awful, my dc earnt the gold reader pass last year so they could free read. That has been removed apparently so they can't even get to that point.
He's so fed up and demotivated with it.

Sparx reader is dire. Its actually put my daughter off books :(

It’s awful my ds is year 9 has a reading age of 17+ but is also dyslexic so it would take him hours to do the same as someone who isn’t dyslexic. The school after lots of pestering have put the amount he has to do down but the books are terrible. I now do it for him while he sits and reads a proper book (currently reading the hobbit) as I see it as absolutely pointless. He also gets 2 hours each of maths and science. Then there supposed to do another 4 hours of independent learning so 10 hours per week. I think it’s too much!

It’s awful, sucks the joy out of reading.

YANBU! It’s absolute shit and there is precisely zero evidence of any meaningful benefits (ditto much of the crap EdTech so beloved by schools atm). It has completely put my child off reading - the only thing the ridiculous level of screen use demanded by secondary school has given her is a need for glasses 🙁

Both my kids ignored accelerated reader. Sparx was introduced when ds was y9. He has a reading age of 17 and regularly has to be stopped from reading to eat, sleep, pay attention in other lessons etc. he refuses to engage with Sparx. I get nagged by school. He gets nagged by me. He picks up a proper book and I back down.
It's not working for us either.

It’s awful, my DD chose ‘The Princess and the Goblin’ and she couldn’t manage to read it as she hated it, so I ended up reading the bastard book. She used to read for pleasure and then stopped soon as she hit Y7. This year, (Y8), the school have ditched it and asked all the kids to carry a physical book with them which makes a lot more sense to me.

Sparx is awful, it makes me angry kids have to deal with this.

It's worth looking into if the school does a '7 for 7', '8 for 8' type initiative. It's basically 7 books recommended for year 7 etc. My kid's school diary has the list of the books for each that are reading for pleasure. He was year 7 last year and we worked our way through them, reading together. When school called about the lack of progress on sparks reader I informed them of what we were doing and they were fine with this. As long as he was doing some reading. I told them he/we read every night - whether it's the books he likes - graphic novels, Guinness books, history encyclopedias or the school pleasure ones. That's the things he enjoys. He has dyslexia and reading together is something we've always done and don't plan to stop anytime soon. You should push for that if they come at you, we are supposed to be nurturing our kids interests and skills and I'm damn well not bending to some arbitrary reading target that sucks all the joy out of reading for pleasure. Good luck!

My DS is an avid reader and treats sparx reading homework as just that, homework like any other subject, a task to be endured. He doesn’t enjoy it but it is compulsory and earns him positive behaviour points, or negative points and detention if he doesn’t complete it.
He still reads for pleasure and devours physical books.
So just keeps the 2 things in separate boxes in his mind I guess, if your dc is able to do that?

I just don't remember doing much of it as homework.
Homework was usually practicing spellings or writing stories (this was lower secondary in the late 80s).
I was just curious to be honest.

Yes of course that’s happening in class! Homework is meant to be a continuation of the same skills practised in class.

We used to do reading comprehension at school during the lesson time.
We had text books with snippets of novels, poems or non-fiction articles. We read together as a class, did the questions in the lesson, discussed the answers as a class....do they not do this during lesson time these days?
Why is it being done as homework?

It’s definitely misnamed. I agree with a pp that Sparx Comprehension would be more apt. Children (and adults) can be prolific, quick readers without developing the comprehension skills needed at GCSE.

And Sparx is definitely AI that adjusts so using AI to do the homework is completely stupid. If all your child has in school is a supply teacher who isn’t teaching them well that’s even more reason to do homework properly!

DD has it.

I just refer to it as Sparx comprehension. It's not "reader". I make her do one section for homework to tick a box and that's it. Sometimes in life we have to do things because people in positions of authority tell us to. Some challenges are worth making, and some are not. Sparx reader is not a hill I will die on. And this is a lesson for DD in picking her battles.

DD reads widely, is the darling of the English department and no one says anything. That said, her teachers are engaged with the keen students, know they read outside of school (and more complex texts and with better understanding than their age / questions in Sparx reader) and leave her to suit herself.

There is a section (I think) where you can fill in books you are reading "for pleasure" so just complete that. And tick the comprehension box for 5 minutes a week. Job done.

This.

it’s to build reading comprehension skills which they’ll need for GCSE English.

My dc don’t like it either - and both read for pleasure anyway - but it definitely improves reading comprehension and speed so they do see the value in that.

Doesn't Sparx Maths adjust to their ability? If your DC is doing it via AI it's going to keep setting increasingly difficult homework isn't it?

If my DC are stuck on anything they are encouraged to go and speak to a teacher so they can go over it with them.

My son hated Sparx Reader, due to the narrow choice of books. My son doesn't particularly enjoy fiction books, so he disliked most books on offer! I used to help him pick the better ones, that I thought might keep his interest. He did enjoy several adventure type books.

Once he went into Year 10, they stopped using it.

All I can suggest is talking to your son's English teacher but unfortunately I think it will be a case of 'tough'!!

Sparx Reader is awful - I am a teacher that has worked with it. Its only benefit is there is no chasing of homework as it's right there on screen. To be fair most homework is pointless until Key Stage 4 other than reading books and mental maths. But I can't say that and have to keep setting!

My daughter is in Yr9 now, and as they've removed the reading your own books with Gold Reader, I've told her I'll do it for her, and that I'd happily tell the school I was doing so!! They've brought in Yondr pouches for phones at school so they can't access them, so they're actively trying to get them off screens, which I support, yet all their homework is bloody online!!
Sparx Maths and Sparx Science we have no issue with, and I actually think they're pretty good, but Sparx Reader is dreadful 😩

It really annoys my year 8. She has had several detentions because of it. She reads lots of books and I support in not doing the sparks reader.

It’s totally dire. We used it as an experiment. Student voice was overwhelmingly critical. It’s proxy “learning”. The machine just provides “data” for teachers who are too busy to monitor reading habits. They are too busy doing the pointless admin demanded by SLT (in turn driven by Ofsted). Accelerated reader is as bad. There is no large scale study of the efficacy of any of the readiing “solutions”that are sold to overwhelmed staff. The subscriptions feel comforting and they tick a homework box but the reading on a screen and the stupid questions are grim. Just read books. Send a note to the HoD to the effect that it’s putting him off. If the HoD gets pissy ask for the independent research (not sponsored by Sparx) that proves the efficacy of the programme. (There isn’t any). If they talk about reading ages, disengage as reading ages mean nothing. Just read and discuss real books. National Year of Reading innit!!

@AnonMama87 Think of it as "Sparx Comprehension" rather than "Sparx Reader" and reframe it as homework to differentiate it from reading for pleasure. Job done.

We shouldn't be setting online homework at all. And if it's possible for them to complete it online at home by themselves, they should be able to do it online in school by themselves.
Parents need to complain loudly about online homework. It's awful.