To ask the school to send home no more blooming Biff and Chip books

[gaelicsheep]

DS is now on Stage 9 of these bloody things and has gone on reading strike. I've asked to school to read them with him at school if they really must be read, as the darned things continue to be so tedious they are putting DS off reading. We will be reading other things at home with him from now on. He is perfectly capable of reading far more interesting and varied books than this drivel.

If you are a teacher, would you think IBU?

[SunflowersSmile]

My ds loved the magic key ones so much we got the follow on books 'The Time Chronicles'.
He liked the pictures and finding the glasses/ bones etc and spotting the care taker.
There are far worse book knocking around his school.
Awful one called 'The cape of rushes' springs to mind- love story/ odd concepts- sent it back.....

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

The magic key were like the stories we were told never to write at my school :o my teacher always said never end a story with "and them I woke up" or " it was all a dream" as it was a cop out!

I still can't hear those words .....and the magic key began to glow,.....
Aaaahhhh and dd2 to go yet :o

[verytellytubby]

I hate them. Boring bastards.

[verytellytubby]

Poor DS is in year 3 and still reading them. I can't bear it. He finally got diagnosed as dyslexic on Friday so I'm using it as an excuse to not read them anymore. So boring!

[gaelicsheep]

You know what, scrub the whole thread. The little blighter is refusing to read anything. I suppose the question is whether I am can blame that on Biff and Chip (I'd like to) or is he just a little arse. I feel crap and I could cheerfully throttle the little devil right now.

[Happymothersday]

Buy him a Ben 10 comic and refuse to read it to him. Graphic novels are good too. Graphic as in pictures, not content. They were based on comics and are designed to get reluctant boy readers to read.

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

gaelic I know it's hard and frustrating I've been there! I can honestly say if he hates them that much biff and chip probably did kill the enthusiasm for reading anything!!! My dd refused to read anything the whole time we were given them she lost all interest I have spent a fortune on books just to try and find something she would read as she honestly couldn't face it.

Just surround him with things u know he might like and don't pressure him. It takes time but you will get there.

[Happymothersday]

The incredible book eating boy by oliver jeffers is good too. It's got a picture of a boy being sick down the toilet. My boy (6) laughs and laughs!

[gaelicsheep]

It's so frustrating, though. He does read, all the time. Doctor Who is his thing and Power Rangers. He devours the magazines when he gets them ( one every couple of weeks - boy they're expensive!). He loves all manner of books being read to him. But the moment anything becomes linked to school and "work" that's it. Total shutdown. I guarantee I wouldn't have a problem getting him reading today if it wasn't to report back to school. Aaargh.

[Startail]

Cheat, read a page each, act them out doing silly voices and take parts.
If all else fails just sign the book of as read when it hasn't been.

DD1 is dyslexic, she loved Biff and Chip because they were familiar character names in a familiar setting. What she hated were the other ransoms we got where 1/3 of the book described new characters, usually with ridiculous names in fictitious places, also with idiot names, before there was any plot.

I confess several went back 'finished', when truth was anything, but.

[gaelicsheep]

This is one reason why we considered and decided against home ed. We thought he'd be unteachable! But then I think fgs he does read, he CAN pretty much anything you put on front of him. So maybe an unstructured HE approach would have been best?

[gaelicsheep]

Sorry, left hansed typing on phone. Being pinned down by zonked out toddler!

[gaelicsheep]

See for all people said earlier about me not forcing DS to do useless homework, one thing I wouldn't do is cheat. It's tempting, but I don't want him to think dishonesty is OK. Even if it is Biff and Chip prompting it!

[nosleeps]

Gaelicsheep, have a look at this site.
www.schoolbargainbookshop.co.uk/ecommerce/infants-junior/
ORT Stage 9 is equivalent to purple, but some are the bands either side.
You can get the books from the library, or Amazon. You'll get used to what he can read and can go from there, but the school ought to be fine with a no more B&C or any other ORT for that matter.

[nosleeps]

You're right, no need to cheat, make sure you're totally up front with the school.

[gaelicsheep]

Thanks nosleeps, that looks like a useful place for inspiration. :-) IF we can get over the latest hurdle that is.

[gaelicsheep]

UPDATE - no joy. We got another one tonight with a terse note that it is a popular reading scheme used throughout the school and he has to read them. Annoyed much! DS has been "spoken" to and read it tonight without a fight. I guess that told me. Harumph.

[coatonarack]

God, teachers are annoying. And if any teachers write an indignant post in reply to this, can you please explain to OP how they would encourage DS to read in school?

Thanking you.

[missorinoco]

Seeing as you are all suffering with Biff and Chip, which is which? Just suffered through a few Kipper and Floppy books, with Biff and Chip making a side appearance. I presume Biff is the boy, but what on earth does Chip stand for?

If I don't recall them from my childhood does that make me officially old? Peter and Jane ruled the roost when I was wee.

[gaelicsheep]

I had probably already pissed her off by suggesting that DS's 60 second maths homework might have been missing a few pages.

Honestly I don't blame classroom teachers, but I do blame headteachers who should do more to combat this stream of drivel. Perhaps instead of the umpteenth new computer they should buy some more bloody books!

[FierceBadIggi]

I am a teacher. I am not annoying. But please, generalise away if it makes you happy.

[LiegeAndLief]

We had just the same problem at about level 10. Not so much Biff, Chip and Kipper, as at least ds's school does seem to have a good range of different reading schemes, but they were all horribly dull. Actually seemed to be getting much worse the further up the levels we went. If it had all been uninterrupted ORT I think I might have lost the will to live. Also these books were quite long, and ds only had a limited "reading aloud" tolerance, so if we read them all like we were meant to there wasn't any tolerance left for reading something good. I tried to make up for it by reading good books to him instead.

He is a "free reader" now which basically seems to mean he gets to choose from a load of different books, some of which are still on reading schemes but are colours like copper and topaz (I don't know what this means!), but the stories seem to have got a lot better. Thank god. If a child is capable of reading and enjoying some of the easier Roald Dahl, for example, why on earth should they have to plough through such dire books at home?

Really sorry the teacher has come back to you with that

[LiegeAndLief]

Missorinoco, bizarrely Biff is the girl.

[GregBishopsBottomBitch]

Yeah, Biff is a girl, who calls their daughter Biff......well apart from mean parents.

[Pozzled]

"God, teachers are annoying."

Could I just add a 'some' into that sentence, please?

Gaelicsheep's DS's teacher is clearly bloody annoying. Biff, Chip and Kipper have their place but forcing a child to work through a reading scheme they're not interested in makes my blood boil. There are so many absolutely fantastic children's books out there at all levels, no child should be regularly reading something they hate. Certainly not at 6.

OP, I would refuse to read the ORT books. I would find books that interest and motivate your DS and read them with him. And if they're not exactly the right level, you can help him with the harder words. The danger of turning him off reading is far greater than and more important than annoying the teacher.