and pushy or is teacher failing dd?

[Mingnion]

Dd is six. Without sounding braggy, she's bright and could write and do sums and read basic books before beginning school. I like her school and she enjoys it but I don't feel they do enough to encourage the children to learn. For example, dds reading book is about five times easier than the books she reads at home and is rarely swapped more than once per week, though it was stated at the beginning of term it'd be swapped three times per week minimum or more if book was read sooner. We were told they'd have a spelling test every Monday and dd always knows them for the Monday but sometimes the teacher doesn't do the test until Thursday/Friday. I appreciate that if the child knows the spellings it shouldn't matter when the test is but the delay between tests means they're actually only getting six spellings every two weeks or so which I don't think is enough, plus dd feels unmotivated when the test isn't when the teacher said it'll be. After the test there is no record sent home of any mistakes so I cannot praise dd/revise any mistakes. Dd is, at the moment, really enthusiastic about learning. Every night she wants to do half hour of a maths workbook, read to me, research history/geography info on the internet etc. But she comes home from school not really having learned anything. Aibu to think dds teacher should be a bit more on the ball when it comes to reading books/spellings and encourage dds enthusiasm rather than ignore it?

My 'little darling' is desperate to be on gold

By what you are telling us about the school, it actually doesn't sound all that good actually.

Was it "satisfactory" at the last Ofsted inspection? Because sure as anything it will be "requires improvement" at the next one. (I know that is the new satisfactory, but it means they actually have to do something about it now!)

YNBU but I cannot see things improving without moving school.

My older dc went to a primary where they were largely bored by year 4. It seemed an awful waste of time. They got through it by doing lots of extra curricular activities and Kumon.

My youngest is at a different primary and things are a lot different. She does get 3 different books a week and reads to the teacher or TA once a week. It can be done, even with 30 children in a class.

HAHA sorry OP but her friend is a "free reader" at the age of 6?! That 6 year old maybe able to pronounce the words but there's not a fucking hope in hell that it could freely read any book with understanding.

They do guided reading and I personally don't think this is adequate in assessing reading ability

Have you been present during one of your DD's guided reading sessions? Guided reading sessions are children grouped by ability, it gives the teacher or TA the ability to hear all of them and work on the comprehension skills etc. School is for providing the children with skills and giving them the opportunity to practice those skills whilst supervised Teachers barely have time to hear all 30 children read once a week let alone 3 times; so read with her, take her to the library, read the news paper together, watch the news…

There are several companies that produce reading books aimed at school children, they all have their own way of labelling so not all books will correspond to the ORT you are familiar with.

I don't know what kind of knowledge you have literacy wise (as in the current teaching methods) but some children arrive at primary school with prior knowledge and then have to adjust to the learning styles in school ie. phonics etc.

Think you might need a name change, though

I like my name, it suits my selfish narrow minded views quite well.....Oooohh then again I could change it to: selfishgitsupreme

There is a disproportionate amount of super bright and bored children of MNers. My experience of children is that many of them complain they are bored at school, it seems par for the course.

The books that my daughter (age 5) gets are "easy" for in the fact that she can read the words and understand the story. Had a really interesting chat with her teacher who said she doesn't just want the children to "read" the words on the page, she wants them to understand what the characters are thinking/feeling, guess what happens next, understand narrative structure etc. So the book is used as a tool not just to read the words but also ask deeper level questions and these in turn then enhance both her reading and writing. And as someone who used to be a secondary school teacher faced with teenagers who could "read" but not get the nuances of the text, I agree with this approach wholeheartedly. So maybe you should ask your DD teacher if she is taking the same approach.

I'm quite shocked by how many people are being dismissive of the OP. Just because you haven't experienced your child being bored/not being challenged enough in school does not mean that it doesn't happen. Not every teacher/school is able to make provisions for children who are more able. We had the same problem last year with our DS who was 6 at the time and we made the decision to change schools. He is much happier now (not bored!) and has a fantastic teacher who does make an effort and provides him with extension activities and plenty of opportunities develop ideas beyond what the rest of the class are doing. It is also perfectly possible for a 6 yo to be a free reader - DS was too and yes, he understood what the books were about and wrote his own extension stories and even drew maps and pictures of different lands that were described in them. Just because your child does not do these things does not mean that other people's do not.

Me too Bumbleymummy. Because the alternative pov seems to be that every school is perfect for everyone, or everyone needs to suck up sub par teaching, or offer it up because someone else's child needs the teacher more.

Speaking as the mother of several 'free readers' who ate up Nancy Drew at age 6 and were well able to explain the plots, describe motivation of the characters, make inferences about feelings, predict good plot twist vs bad based on clues in the text. They were not hothoused. I had too much on my plate to get around to any of that malarkey. At age 6 I found my quiet DD1 who was well ahead of her peers being placed sitting beside more rambunctious children so that she would keep them on task during class work, help them when they got stuck, even hear their reading. A free TA in other words. BS teaching method imo, and I was paying fees in that school for the privilege.

Unfortunately, a lot of books that are easy to decode have story lines that are too simple to allow much drawing out of understanding of character, narrative structure, etc. For many children nothing kills a love of reading faster than banging on and on about some simple story, trying to draw out far more than the narrative warrants or offers, making it all seem like a chore. Not every child has a heart that will be set on fire by being asked to state the bleeding obvious for weeks on end.

If the teacher is taking the approach described by Citrus, then why would she not mention this at the start of the year when she promised weekly spelling tests on Mondays, and changing of books several times a week?

It is possible for a child who is clearly G&T at age 4 to continue at that level right through. I can think of several children I know who fit that description. It's not always a hare and tortoise story.

she wants them to understand what the characters are thinking/feeling, guess what happens next

When I think of reading I think of the whole thing, comprehension, understanding, I would never think of it as just de coding words. As Maths says though, what sub text is there in biff and wilma, dad caught a fish>

I know G&T child too being stimulated at private school, reading books suited to his needs and abilities etc.

as far as i am aware in private schools you have smaller classes but no TA's? in state we have 30 and one or even two TA's.

Maths I have been embarrassed to aks my DD whats going on in her books, its almost insulting to her but also so confusing as its so easy and obvious.

As a mother of a child who was 'statemented' at the age of 4 and who is now 18 and has his interview at Cambridge next month, I read all these comments with interest.
You have do to do what you feel is in is your child's best interest. The teacher has to do what is required of him/her in relation to a multitude of things including the national curriculum and health and safety etc. Very often these may not be in your child's best interest, but that is how it is.
One piece of advice though and that is don't alienate the class teacher unless you are prepared to remove your child if things don't go your way.
Encourage interest at home in all manner of things from books to news to extra curricular stuff (sports, dance etc) and reassess the situation at the end of year 2. If it still isn't what you want start looking elsewhere or considering alternative options

I agree with OP... My dc teachers have all been brilliantly organised and keen to teach my dc at their level to help them develop.
It's not fair on her dd to just coast when she needs more stimulation

My DS1 was a reader before school. He was a total bookworm and still is. It took a while for the school to suss he was able. Infants was play based to a good healthy degree. Juniors was far more pushy and academic. He's left the school with a 5a grade as expected.

DS 2 and 3 were far more relaxed with reading etc. however they are both a little brighter then DC1 and I know they will put perform him come juniors. I'm really confident the school will help them reach their potential despite a slow/fast start.

It is possible for a child who is clearly G&T at age 4 to continue at that level right through. I can think of several children I know who fit that description. It's not always a hare and tortoise story.

I totally agree. However you must concede that it is also possible for a child starting reception to be streets ahead of its peers in literacy and numeracy to be at the same level as them by Y3. I have seen this happen!

My DD who is G&T started school with exactly the same skills as my DS who has SEN, the same skills as my bang on average children and possibly being G&T DD.

"That 6 year old maybe able to pronounce the words but there's not a fucking hope in hell that it could freely read any book with understanding."

There are plenty of adults that couldn't read "any book" with full understanding.

I'd hazard a guess that it's probably most adults.

However, I'd say that I was pretty much a free reader by 5 and my own 5 year old is heading the same way.

Sure, there were complicated adult books I couldn't fully grasp, but I could pretty much read, and enjoy, any book and I knew that.

The point is that once a child is a free reader it doesn't really matter if the reading books at school are too easy. Just bring them to the library and let them pick some books.

joinyourplayfellows

Calling a child a "free reader" at five is no benefit to that pupil at all. In fact it's just point scoring "my child can…" nonsense. A five year old might be able to read the words on the pages of The Hobbit, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nightime… but they will be doing so without comprehension even if they enjoy doing so.

Not that a child should be discouraged from aiming high and by all means the OP should allow the child to choose whatever book they fancy reading at the library. Discovering reading for pleasure is an advantage for a child. However reading in school is about more than just pronouncing words correctly; age appropriate texts feature so heavily in the teaching of literacy.. which is why OP's child is being given appropriate literature.

Calling a child a "free reader" at five is no benefit to that pupil at all. In fact it's just point scoring "my child can…" nonsense.

Well I've never even heard the term until yesterday, never mind used it. I had no idea there were any points given out for using it.

I'm just remembering when I went from "learning to read" to "being able to read" and knowing that I could tackle anything. And that happened when I was 5.

I read myself The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe instead of a book with pictures and big text. And I never stopped from then on.

Of course I read texts I was likely to understand and enjoy. That remains true to this day. There are plenty of books in the world I still can't understand. And I have a Masters in English Literature.

I don't know what "free reader" means if it doesn't mean that you can just pick up a book and give it a go and read it if you like.

My 5 year old is at that stage. It's hardly some big boast, is it? It's pretty normal IME for reading to click with kids at around this age.

"A five year old might be able to read the words on the pages of The Hobbit, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nightime…"

But why would she need to be reading those particular books, clearly not meant for children of her age, in order to be a free reader?

She's 5, she reads The BFG. the Wishing Chair, and endless books about revolting beasts and ballerinas.

Isn't that free enough?

Joinyourplayfellows

Missing the point entirely. By all means attempt to read the lion the witch and wardrobe at home… there's no educational value to a child reading it as a school book if they can't comprehend the punctuation, the grammar, the intonations, the text patterns… It's about more than reading for enjoyment.

Yes, I obviously am missing the point entirely.

I presumed that a "free reader" referred to a child who could pick their own books, read them, understand them, talk about them and enjoy them.

Someone said that it wasn't possible to be a free reader at 5. Given my interpretation of the term, which I don't think is invalid, I was disagreeing that it wasn't possible.

Then you gave me a ridiculous bollocking about how it wasn't "useful" to use a term about children of a certain age.

Which, TBH, I just find mystifying.

I didn't give anybody a bollocking OP mentioned her child's friend being a 5 year old "free reader" I implied that was bollocks, because it is… even you definition of it says so. A five year old couldn't pick up lord of the rings and have the slightest fucking clue even if they could read the words.

OP - complement the school and work with them. Do plenty of library visits. Discuss plots and characters and do plenty of reading-between-the-lines. Work on inference and deduction one-on-one with your child.

Rightly or wrongly, the curriculum and classes are so overloaded and this can often result in frazzled staff who can no longer give that extra oomph and individual attention to detail. It's a crying shame but this is reality.

I actually have a similar understanding to JoinYourPlayfellows of what 'free reader' means. I would also agree that by your definition most adults wouldn't be considered 'free readers' . What exactly is your definition hippy?

Not a 5 year old