To rebel against reading diary

[Stirling84]

I think I am being unreasonable - but I've cracked.

DS is meant to record pages read. He reads every night but rarely logs more than one session a week. So we have about ten pages of nearly empty grids and 'sad face' comments from teacher.

sigh

Year 4? It's still the parent's job to fill on the reading diary in our school!

Mrsterry - not clear how a reading log prevents teachers getting to know kids' reading habits. I'd presume the log is a basis for the teacher to get to know what they like and encourage them to try knew things.

And it would be great if we could rely on parents, but sadly many are not invested in their children's literacy. Schools would be failing kids if they relied on parents.

"Hey, dS- what page is your bookmark in? 47? OK, I'll just write that in your diary while you do your teeth"
Sorted.

I hate the page number recording, ours also have to say what happened every damn day.

Monday Harry Potter Book1 Ch1, Harry is treated badly by relatives
Tuesday HP B1 C2 Snake goes sssssssssssss at cousin
Wednesday HP B1 C3 Letters from owls
Always with pages numbers added.

Come Thursday, child sees this much anticipated book as a chore.

theycallmemellojello it's not a clever way, it's not a subtle way and it's terrible psychology. I actually think if we treated books like sweets, we would have more luck. "OK you've been great this week, maybe we could go to the library as a treat. You're only allowed two books form the library; OK three since you did chores this week". Not adding a chore to a treat so the whole thing, reading, becomes a chore.

but sadly many are not invested in their children's literacy

^ Exactly that is my point so why pick on the ones that do support their dc, and whose dc obv read.

I fill in DS reading record...I told his teacher it often isn't filled in as he forgets to bring it home..She said it is obvious who reads at home, this was also said by his teacher in year 1 that they know who reads at home and who doesn't..So I can assume they do know without a reading record..

Maybe the problem is - its obvious to some teachers.

Others have a blind spot over this.

DD (7) reads every night avidly. Tbh I often forget or CBA to fill in her reading journal

So when I do remember (which is usually once a week) I just write a note to say DD has read every night this week & if she has finished a book then I put that in too.

Ours lose playtime if they do not fill it in. Not just date and page number, but daily summary of content. The daily bedtime reading is now no longer wanted and reading is slowly becoming a terrible chore because this dreaded record thingy is attached to it.

I imagine it would be a good way to diet.

Monday: 50 g of vanilla ice cream, took 5 minutes to eat, bit too cold at first, but lovely creamy finish.

Tuesday: 2 chunks of chocolate, perhaps too bitter, but melted beautifully, took 15 minutes to eat.

Wednesday: brie, very ripe and delicious, terrible aftertaste, 2 minutes to finish.

Thursday: a snack? Oh noooo!

Limbo - but it might not be obvious who is not invested. Yes books read and literacy correlate broadly, but it's not a one to one correlation. And frankly, I'd have thought that a good way of finding out who is invested in literacy is seeing who can be arsed to jot down page numbers. I don't see why making a note of page numbers turns reading into a chore. It's something that takes a second and can easily become a habit.

@reni

bertrand he doesn't do bookmarks. He does the light falling through the crack in the door. .

Of course I don't want to fight teacher - which is why I sent such a convoluted letter, explaining DS reading habits and emphasising how we appreciate their efforts. But also kind of semaphoring that the reading log is destined to stay neglected.

I'm not against logging per se - but the system is all irritation at the moment. Being a recent fan of YouFood - I am seriously considering regularly photographing the stash under DSs pillow in lieu of a reading record!

Last year his teacher predicted that he was destined to be an author when he grows up

I wonder They - if any sort of handover is done from teacher to teacher year to year? A hand over and chat - a look at past results and perhaps a mention of any glaring weak spots or strong points?

If not perhaps they should because it takes a while to get a grasp of what each child can do. Makes sense to me to hit the year with a heads up.

Of course each child can change, can fall behind, can start to excel.

The photographing thing sounds a GREAT idea - OOOO lightbulb

What about a Goodreads account. Finishes a book, you can scan the barcode which updates the Goodreads account. Email the teacher the Goodreads link - done

(the lightbulb in bold was supposed to be referring to a lightbulb moment instead of an imaginary poster called lightbulb in case that wasn't clear!!)

Op you can tell how bitter I am about the whole thing - its an inflamed irritation to me right now.

AFAIAC I do enough work tracking and researching great books for her to read, charity shops, on here, reviews on amazon, reading lists, buying them,
READING THEM TOO HER, listening to her read, taking her to the theatre, writers mussums, houses...

I do enough, more than enough. This shows in my child, they can take their f888g record...

Ours lose playtime if they do not fill it in. That is dreadful. Really dreadful. My hyperactive child would get punished over and over again because without playtime, she's less manageable. You are punishing lack of recording reading with losing exercise. The world has gone properly bonkers.

reni2 You jest, but myfitnesspal and other sites are specifically about creating those diaries, and they do stop you eating.

I'm now going YABU, as your disciplining for cutlery use and music practice... but the reading stuff still seems fine.

My heart just sank at the summary part! I've actually never known any literacy/reading endeavour to get non-readers to read more apart from out and out bribery e.g.prizes. Reading records seem designed to remove all joy from it. Also as an English teacher I couldn't care less if kids read Shoot magazine, the Lord of the Rings, Diary of a Wimpy Kid or the best way to apply eyeshadow. It's all reading.

Indeed, MrsTP. This does of course ensure compliance, because losing playtime is the worst punishment for a 7yo. But it does kill any love of reading.

As a teacher of similar aged children I hate the homework/ reading diary! As a mum I know some nights are hectic, others quieter and easier for homework - I also give the children a week for homework as so many parents have asked for it over the weekend. Anything to encourage it!! I would be perfectly happy with a note in the book explaining child's reading habits and agreeing to only note any difficulties as something out of the ordinary to be addressed by the teacher. One less checking up job for teacher, keeps bosses happy and doesn't demoralise child. Might be worth asking about.

Y4 here too, I listen to my DD read, I fill in the reading diary (Mr Majeika, read up to page blah) and then write completed when it's finished. DD has to write a short report on the book on completion (can be just a couple of sentences) and they don't like to change the book without the parent's confirmation (of completion).

We have certificates and medals for x number of books read plus a related task completed. I have to say that it has worked amazingly with at least three extremely reluctant readers and they are now burning with competitive enthusiasm. But they have needed support in school to complete each level.