to complain to the school about the way they band books?

[littleducks]

DD is in yr 1, her school teachs phonics reasonably well.

She spent reception on red/pink band, she could read slightly better at home.

She has since the beginning of term been moved a couple of times, since last week she is up to green band. The only problem is that she brings home the same books sometimes she had a yr ago with a different colour sticker on! I asked the TA who seemed surprised but said maybe they wanted to repeat things to reinforce them.

I previously sent back a book saying it was 'too easy' as it had a word per page, when all other books in the band were two sentences a page. The teacher said it was a mistake and it would be changed. The books seem really varible, but I didnt want to make a fuss.

Tonight dd brought home 'The Spell Shell' which seemed hard, and not decodable at dd's level. So I searched the OUP banding chart and it is placed as a white band (band 10) book.

Am I missing something here? I had put past discrepancies down to the change to phonics as a teaching method whereas the books are often as old as me (Ginn/ORT etc) but this seems really wrong.

It's not all about reading the words

Some books have a more complicated plot/story line even if the words are easier.

It's amazing how many 'good readers' can read the words in a book but when you ask them to tell you the story in their own words, you get a blank look because they haven't understood it.

Therefore the books within each level will vary.

I understand that, in fact that is the problem with the shell book tonight. The words aren't that difficult to decode (a little harder than I would expect) but the vocab is beyond her and its poetry, so she had no idea what it meant.

If the books have the wrong stickers on it's annoying and frustrating for your child. I would ask school why the book had the wrong sticker on. If they needed help putting it straight I would offer to help. If they told me to butt out I'd get pretty annoyed to be honest.

Ok, I mentioned to the teacher who says it is perfectly normal for a green level book, as is the other book that has about as many words as this book has pages

She suggested I read it through first and then let dd read it.

I mention that the people who publish the book (OUP) market it as a white level book and se said that white books are all chapter books in this school, at which point I was shocked and probably looked like a goldfish.....surely poems can be just as 'hard' to read as chapter books and the length of a book is totally irrelevant it is the complexity of the language I am sure I read the Rime of the Ancient Mariner at GCSE level and that was a poem with pictures!

Buy a copy of the Ancient Mariner. Put a green sticker on and slip it into the book box when no-one is looking.

If that stays there for more than a week, or even better gets taken home and put back without comment, buy a copy of the Karma Sutra.

My DS has told me that they go to the library and choose the books so often ends up with the wrong level.He has a homework book so I wrote in that.Also lately he has the same books for ages and no guided reading at school for 3 weeks.Not impressed.

Sounds like they are very lax in their banding. Many primary schools use the same banding system and yours sounds like it uses the same as we do. There should not be the same books banded differently (unless it's a play script of a story, which can happen). Which ORT white band book was it?

I have to band books sometimes and it can be a time consuming nightmare if it's a book not in a reading scheme as you basically have to look through each one and see what criteria it matches most closely, so I have been known to be out by one level with these ones.

But to have a white band book banded as green is just mad - there is a 5 level difference!

The teacher has 30 children to deal with. There may be up to 500 books, all from different schemes, that have been mixed up over the years. The school should set aside part of an INSET day to sort them out but they probably won't. Therefore the teacher doesn't have time to check all the books and all the lists to ensure your DD is always getting the right book. Just sit with her, go through the book, read any bits she can't if she's struggling and then read a real book with her.

I'm a teacher and while I think banded books have some very small value the obsession parents have with them is beyond me. IME teachers only give out banded books to appease the parents. There are literally millions of books in the world, buy a batch from the charity shop for 50p. In the meantime touching and looking at a book that is a little too easy/too hard is not going to do your DD any harm. If she thinks her reading is "rubbish" just reassure her the book is difficult and that's she's doing very well. Forget the bloody fecking bands!!!

5 levels too hard is a lot more than a little too hard. Giving a child a book that is way above their ability can squash any confidence that has been built up.

Sometimes it's about building up confidence. Your dd may not come across as confident as she will at home.

So, if a book 5 levels too hard comes home, say "Oh DD, this one seems very hard, I'll read it with you and you say the words you know," fly through it, put a note in it to say you think it was a bit hard, or put it in the reading record if she has one, then read a real fecking book!

There seems to be such a formulaic approach to education here (in comparison to Ireland). Everyone seems hell-bent on following one exact approach which seems very strange to me. Banded books are used a little bit in Ireland but most children are expected to choose their own books from the library and read those as they are more likely to expand vocabulary and, more importantly, they're more likely to foster an interest in reading. Banding etc is there as an aid to learning, not the be all and end all. Children who are read to and who are exposed to books will learn to read regardless of how many banded books cross their vision.