to be confused as to why reading a book above a childs assessed level...

[SundaysGirl]

Can in any way negatively impact their learning?

Received letter from school today saying children were not allowed to take a book a level above what they have been assessed for home reading as as this is not supporting the teachers in school.

My child takes one book at his level and one at the level above. He enjoys the challenge and has learnt plenty of new words this way. Been doing it for the last couple of years.

I'm pretty annoyed at the tone of the letter which actually implied that letting children take these books goes against the things they are being taught such as courage, kindness and trust at school which I take great exception to.

AIBU to go into school tomorrow and complain about the tone of this letter as well as the lack of discussion regarding this issue?

Also AIBU to think there is no way reading a book above your level can in any way negatively impact learning? Be good to hear from any teachers I just can't for the life of me see why children having a challenge in addition to their standard work is negative in any way.

[SundaysGirl]

Sorry sorry cooking dinner (and burning pancakes really badly I might add :-S) Will be back to answer questions....

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

Spatsky - very true

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

Hopandskip
I agree

What I'm wondering (and I don't know if this happens or is just apocryphal), is whether pushy parents who are level-obsessed are encouraging their children to take books from a higher level (again, I'm talking about reading scheme books).

Never heard of the above, but I have heard of parents who are competitive about reading levels.

The letter is still rather odd

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

.... Oh , and if individual parents are doing things which are detrimental to their child, then the school should approach them, not sent a moralistic letter

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

send

[imperialstateknickers]

I wonder if this is one of those letters sent out to a whole class but actually aimed at one or two individuals? I know one of our heads had a thing about doing this to avoid confronting a parent with a big mouth, a lot of attitude and a husband on the Governors.

[ImaginateMum]

What is the book choosing process supposed to be? If children are told to choose one level and being egged on by their parents to choose another, than maybe that gets a bit chaotic, I don't know.

That said, I keep telling DS to choose a couple of levels down. He doesn't fancy any of the level 16 ones and I thought loads of the level 14s looked really good, which he hasn't read - so it seemed to make sense. So maybe I am breaking trust too!

[HappyTurquoise]

I'd recommend doing both the school reading scheme and 'real' books from home and library. It helps the school if they stick to the reading scheme because they have to assess their reading by how many of a certain set of words they know. If they skip levels, they could miss out a word or two which would mean they can't 'achieve' that level. Although I can understand their desire to want to tick that box and move on, I think children learn in fits and bursts and are more likely to demonstrate what they are capable of if they are truly interested in something.

Get them a good quality magazine on a subject they love (tennis? football? crafts?) and have them read it to you. Write in the reading diary how fluid their reading is, and all the words they know and can pronounce fluently. Do the same with books from home which are well above the reading scheme level. It is pretty difficult for a teacher to justify sending your child home with Kipper and Biff (or whatever) if they have read every day from a selection of Jacqueline Wilson, Roahl Dahl, Michael Murpurgo, JK Rowling, C.S. Lewis, Tolkein, Enid Blyton and so on over a month. (Write the name of the book from school and sign that that's been read also, but put detailed notes in for the books from home.) Write in great detail every day the jokes they get, the new words they learned and so on. If they're not quite ready for a free choice from any book in the library, Jeremy Strong, easier Enid Blyton, Murpurgo, Dahl, Anne Fine, and the Captain Underpants series are good to supplement the reading scheme diet.

[BitOutOfPractice]

I suspect that the letter has been sent out to all parents but is in fact aimed at one or two parents who are sending really inappropriate books in.

Bit like the letters about packed lunches being healthy. They are aimed at the parents who send in two packs of monster munch and a mars bar but are sent out to everyone. Of course the monster munch parents take not one blind bit of notice because they don't give a fuck. The parents who already send in a decent lunch obsess about the odd cookie they send in and feel affronted by the tone of the letter

I bet it's that :o

[HappyTurquoise]

You're probably right there, BitOutOfPractice!

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

yes, BitOutOf Practice!

[socharlotte]

If the teachers have told the children they are only allowed to take books from the level thay are currently on but don't physically oversee this, then the children are breaching the 'gems of 'trust' and 'respect' I would say.
very OTT though!

[simplesusan]

I too think it might be aimed at one or two parents letting their child read inappropriate books. Can't think what they may be.

[lovebunny]

why not follow the school rule as far as school is concerned, and get him what the hell books you like at home? ignore them! there is a ridiculous mystification of the process of learning to read. reading is a brain function, if you give it opportunities it will happen. my daughter was recognising words from nine months and reading properly just before two and a half. writing is much more challenging.

my brother seemed to be slow learning to read, at school. he then asked his mum for an book about dinosaurs. there were pictures, but it was a book for older children and adults. and surprise surprise, he could read it. he was seven. it was the first time he'd had anything he really wanted to read.

my cousin was 'investigated' because she wasn't speaking, at three years old. when she was visited at home, cousin walked into the room, picked up a book, read a bit aloud, threw it down and left. fortunately whoever was checking up on her had good sense and realised that not only could she speak, she could read, and just didn't find anyone nearby worthy of her conversation!

[Anniegetyourgun]

I think BitOutOfPractice has nailed it. I can just imagine my dad insisting we get out books two levels higher than the school thought we should have, just because. And me doing it, because I was an arrogant little so-and-so, and my sister getting very upset because she expected to be told off at school if she did and told off at home if she didn't. (My bro would have been reading the senior books already anyway, regardless of what anyone told him.)

The school called me in once because DS4 was one of those monster munch and mars bar children . In my defence, his dad packed the lunchbox every day (terrific advert for SAHDs he was) so I didn't even know what was in it until the school complained. I don't see anything wrong with the odd chocolate biscuit, but I had kind of assumed a cheese sandwich, a banana and/or a few slices of carrot would have featured somewhere.

[redwhiteandblueeyedsusan]

I would get arsey and politely ask for clarification.

dear head teacher, please could you send further information about reading. I would like to further understand how childen learn to read. please could you direct me to the peer reviewed reseach you are basing your advice on so that I can do further research into reading. yours sincerely mrs sunday.


then I would ignore completely and do my own thing anyway, after all they do not have the poewert to lock up everry book in the world.

depending on what mood I was in I would write everysingle book my child has read in the reading record ( on the basis that ous said parents write in when they read at home... but did not specify to only write in if it was the school book!) or just read anyway and not tell school.

[Dancergirl]

Oh for goodness sake, all this fuss over reading levels!

What most parents don't seem to get is that the school 'reading book' should be just a drop in the ocean of their overall reading. If you go to the library/bookshop regularly and choose a wide variety of books, he'll be fine.

It's up to the school to manage the reading scheme. But dc should be reading widely and that's largely up to parents to encourage.

[ReallyTired]

The reading books belong to the school. If they say your child can borrow the books in the blue box and your child takes a book out the green box then you are borrowing a book without permission. It is irrelevent that you think your little darling is on the wrong reading level.

If you want more advanced books then there is a the library, plenty of ebooks on the web or you can buy your own.

[Quadrangle]

I'm not sure what there is to complain about. You are telling your child to take out two books when he is supposed to take one and they are asking you not do this as the level above are supposed to be for the children who are assessed at that level to read from. That's how a reading scheme works, but as others have said, you need to provide lots of books of various types from the library in addition to this so he has a broad range. If your child's teacher asks him to go and get a maths text book then he should be taking that one only and not one from the next level up.

[GhostShip]

I've been a really good reader from being a child because I constantly challenged myself with higher level books. I remember sneakily reading my mums Mills and Boom at the age of 5/6. Utter crap but I was supposed to be reading Biff Chip and Kipper...

I think challenging children is a good thing. If they want to try to read a higher level what harm can it do? Genuine question.

[MamaBear17]

My hubby is primary school teacher and he said that basically it is because if they take a book home that is too difficult they will struggle and then become disenchanted with reading. The school try and keep them reading at a level that challenges them but isn't too difficult so that the child understands enough of what they are reading to enjoy it and gain a sense of satisfaction and achievement.

I asked him because on the surface it seems completely mad to me too, but I guess if you are trying to motivate a class of 30 to enjoy reading it makes sense.

[ReallyTired]

I think that taking books from a higher reading level is selfish as it reduces the choice of books for children on that reading level. I think its fair enough to challenge a child, but wy do you need to take a book without permission. Its hardly showing your child an example of respecting other people's property.

If you want to challenge your child with harder books there are plenty of places you can get them from.

[SelfishCrocodile]

I'm a primary school teacher and I can't understand what the school is making such a fuss about, as long as they do their reading from the school scheme then I don't think it matters what else they read, if it encourages them. Any reading is good as far as I'm concerned, as long as they are not put off by it. It doesn't matter if they can't read one word of the book they choose, most childrens books have pictures so they can connect the sounds they are familiar with and are still getting something important particularly if you read it with them and talk about it. I would comply with school policy as far as school books go but then do your own thing at home.

[youarewinning]

I think the school are right in what they're saying although the tone of the letter is maybe a little strong.

I would guess the tone of we trust your children to read at the level given is aimed at those parents who believe the school are wrong in their assessment and insist little Johnnie bring home a higher level book and that he finds it sssssoooooooooooo easy!

My DS is an able reader - as in at the level expected for his year but as youngest his reading age is slightly above his actual age iyswim? He is though poor at literacy and comphrehension is average. He is not a confident reader. The school recommended he reads books a level lower than his reading level to instill confidence and fluency. My teacher friend also said this was often beneficial.

So he always had 3 books. Reading book below his level, reading book at his level and a non fiction book from the library to share as he enjoyed reading these and was to encourage him to see the benefits!!!

[TheEnglishWomanInTheAttic]

Ghostship are Mills and Boon higher level than Biff Chip and Kipper do you think?

I agree books that are too challenging will dishearten and put off some children (they would my DD) but others will benefit from them - also agree that unless the school is exceptionally well supplied with books it is a little greedy to take a book from another level as well as your own just because it may leave another child bookless, and that it would be even more enjoyable for the child who enjoys being challenged to read something not on the reading scheme as an "extra", from the library or home.

We live abroad and there are no reading schemes in state schools, the children learn phonics and after 6 months or so also 15 spellings a week, and parents are instructed to listen to children read for 10 mins per day but what they read is left 100% to us (although in the first term of school they suggest just writing down words for them to read rather than books). Seems to work fine without a reading scheme, most of the children read fairly fluently after a year of school (they start school at 6) without having used a reading scheme...