To think that reception children should be given reading books in september

[ReallyTired]

Most reception children cannot read and do not know any strageries for decoding new words. My daughter has been given a reading book which is a lovely book, but way beyond her ablity at the moment. I feel strongly that I do not want her to randomly guessing at words.

Sharing books is important at the age of four. Surely its better to share a high quality story book than an Oxford Reading Tree book. I would prefer to help my daughter learn her letter sounds and how to blend before being set loose on the school reading scheme. I feel that children should learn phonics initally before attempting to learn any other strageries for reading. I like synthetic phonics because it starts off very simply and complicated words are introduced later when the child has developed confidence.

My son did Jolly phonics in reception and he loved it. Good phonics teaching is not boring. He got his first reading book after christmas and enjoyed the buzz of sucess. I feel angry that my daughter's teacher is not using the same method.

Then don't read it with her (though she isn't going to learn it off by heart with one reading surely)

All I'm saying is that it is way too early in the term to have decided this teacher is crap and you are going to have to do it all yourself. The teacher needs time to figure out which stage all the children are at. Some will be able to read the book, some won't. It may well be the case that your DD has chosen the book herself, as the teacher hasn't assessed all their levels yet. Just give them more than a couple of days!

I don't understand what the problem is?!

My DC all got books home in Primary 1 (we are in Scotland) ~ some were better at reading than others but I would sit and read the book with them and discuss the story.

Anything that gets them sitting down with a book and getting involved in a story must be better than no book at all. Some words cannot be 'sounded' out and have to be memorised, but the more they read or are read to, the more they will remember and subsequently, the more confident they will become to try reading on their own

YABU

YABU. my dd was given books in reception that i read to her getting her to point out words she knew and discussing the pctures.

ReallyTired - why don't you ask if they have a meeting or leaflet like the one your son had?

It may be announced soon anyway.

I would agree - don't read the book with her if it's too hard. But this isn't just about ReallyTired's DD - it's a school in special measures that doesn't seem to be making a good start with teaching reception children to read. ReallyTired's DD may be okay, but what about all the other children whose parents might not be so clued up?

I think it's worth a gentle mention to the class teacher, and maybe taking further depending on the response.

YA and YANBU

I think at this stage in the term the teacher will not have assessed your child yet so they may not give a book which is tailored to their phonic knowledge. I would also wait for them to send you some information about how to support your child learning phonics at home, but if in the next few weeks you have not heard anything then have a meeting with the teacher to ask them.

That being said to send them home with a book that is part of the phonics scheme but way above their level is IMO a bit thoughtless. A picture only or good story book would have been much better as at least then your child will not be demotivated and daunted by a book they cannot access phonetically and they will be motivated to read that book when it is given at the correct time in the phonics teaching sequence for their ability.

I do stand by that parents should take the time to read with their kids and help them along the way therefore teaching them to read. It shouldn't matter if they are home ed or special measures or private. The parent should be helping with the reading. Yes some parents are illiterate and have no idea and they need help as well.
I did mean it as more of a supporting role. Realistically you could sit with your child and do 10 minutes of reading every night and this could be way more then they get at school.

Plus is phonics teaching really the be all and end all? I was never taught phonics and I read very well. I didn't teach DD1 phonics, school had introduced it by then, and she reads very well as well. Maybe children read well because it is something they do as a family and it is an enjoyable process to learn

It sounds a bit as if you believe your dd will be turned off reading forever if she is given one book a week with pictures that fall short of the standards of the world's greatest illustrators.

I would find that unlikely given that:

a) as dancegirl puts it, this book should only be one in the ocean of the books she shares with you throughout the week

b) your dd may not even share your views as to what makes for an interesting picture

But one thing that may well put her off is if she picks up on your anxiety concerning her reading.

Why not use this book as you would use a picture book you had got from the library- look at the pictures and talk about the story they tell?

And as arethereanyleft points out, we are only at the very start of term. It is far too early to decide that your dd is going to have a rotten experience of this school. Even if your ds did, they are not the same people, are they? It would be a pity if her experience was less positive than it might have been because she picked up on your negative feelings about the school.

Debs - parents don't have to be illiterate to have no idea about and/or no interest in helping their child learn to read. Plenty of children in our school start Reception with no idea which way to turn the pages when reading a book. I agree with your last sentence, but unfortunately the reverse of it is also true, unless the school can intervene effectively.

ReallyTired may well have the skills to be able to use the book her daughter's reading book in a different way, or have other appropriate books at home to use instead. Other children may not be so lucky.

And wouldn't it be a pity if her dd's experience of school was less positive than it might have been because ReallyTired didn't bother to speak up right at the start, when there was still plenty of time to improve things?

Presumably they will be having some kind of parent's evening this week or next where they explain what happens in the reception year?

Maybe they don't have a good library of general books and just want to get children into the swing of taking a book home every week.

If information is not forthcoming, you certainly have a right to understand how they will be teaching reading, because apart from anything else they will be relying on you and other parents (literate or not) to be part of the process.

YABU - they'll be working on the letters and blending so that she begins to read these simple words.

At the other end of the scale, my son could read fluently before he started reception, but was given the first level reading books along with all the others - one of the many reasons I now home educate. There were other things he needed help with, and again, they pitched everything to the average.

Also, how are they going to learn to read if not by practising? Alongside being read to of course.

OP I love you!

You are the parent that teachers in my school dream about.

It is absolutely ridiculous that children are given reading books that they cannot decode before they have even began any phonics learning.

It's something that I want to implement in Reception in my school, but other staff are worried about the backlash from the Biff and Chip obsessed parents!

Some children learn to read early and by themselves with little help. Providing children with books when perhaps the parents don't care about such things, is very important. It may help your child learn to read or encourage it, or she could just enjoy the pictures (I assume there are pictures in them?) or read them with an adult or child who does know how to read. I don't see why you would not want this.

But there is no point in that Littleen. You'd be much better off sending home quality texts with rich written language if it is to share with an adult and not for the child to read.

I'm not really buying into the baseline assessment nonsense either. If you haven't worked out the level that a child is reading at then don't send a book home for them to read. Send books home for them to share. There really is no benefit in sending home a book that is too easy or too hard for a child to read.

OP - have you spoken to the teacher about the book yet and asked her to give you guidance on how she expects you and your DD to be using it?

Is she expecting your DD to read it for herself, or is she simply expecting you to do the reading while you and your DD explore the pictures and have a think about how a story works. She might be surprised at the concerns you have.

My child got a book in nursery, and my DD is just about to start at a nursey and will also be able to choose a book from their library to bring home. I am very happy with this as my children love books and will find this enjoyable. There is no pressure for them to attempt to read it but just to be able to handle a book, hold it the right way flick the pages, talk about the story etc. my children already know this however, there will be lots of children who have never even seen a book before.

Kaekae has said what I wanted to say but I failed miserably.

claydavis If you read what I wrote, I also state that some children may want to read the book themselves. It completely depends on each childs ability how they use a book. I just don't see the harm in being given a book. There will be much worse things happening to them at school than "omg" having a book...

YABU.

Read the story to her with your finger under the words so she can see how the letter combinations link to the word sounds you make. Any time a word/ phrase comes up that there is a picture of in the book, also point to the picture so she can link the word with the object. Also talk about the story.

She will enjoy the story and develop a love of books and reading, and it will help her to build the skills she will need to learn to read independently.

I taught myself to read aged 2 and "learning" phonics when I was in year 1 and already reading proper books was pretty useless. I picked up the skill because my parents read to me every day using this technique.

I don't send "school reading books" home with children until they can read simple words themselves. We encourage parents to share our lovely story books with their children. I just think there's a lot more to be gained from sharing something like "The Gruffalo" rather than Biff & Chip.

yabu! my dd has just started reception and this week alone she is on her 4th book . it is so that as a patent you can sit down and read with your child, listen to their own ideas and give the teachers an idea of what they enjoy and their imagination. out of all the things starting school brings, this was one of the main things as a parent I was looking forward to

"Some children learn to read early and by themselves with little help."

"Read the story to her with your finger under the words so she can see how the letter combinations link to the word sounds you make. Any time a word/ phrase comes up that there is a picture of in the book, also point to the picture so she can link the word with the object. Also talk about the story."

Generally these children where this works come from families where there are lots of books and the parents are interested in reading. Teaching children with direct instruction with synthetic phonics works better for children who aren't surrounded by books. Infact there is evidence that inital teaching by pure synthetic phonics helps all children whether rich or poor.

I seriously doult that reading Biff and Kip will develop a love of reading. I believe that there are better books for developing imagination.