To despise reading records past infant school?

[RoseDeWittBukater]

They are honestly really doing my head in. I can see the merit when children are still learning, of course.
DS1, however, is 9. He reads alone, independently, every night. He's made his way through 4 Harry Potter books, 3 diary of a wimpy kids and a few horrible histories since Christmas. I don't need to read to him, or have him read to me. I certainly didn't have to read with my mum in year 4! Every week though, DS 'has' to fill the bloody thing out and I 'have' to sign to agree that he's read to me.
AIBU to think teachers should use discretion on when to dispense with them?

At my dcs school every child, including year 6, has to read aloud and have their diary signed every day. If that's not done they have to stay in at break time to read.
Its driving me mad already and dc are only in year 2 and reception. Sometimes we're busy, or they're tired or they just don't want to. It's killing their love of reading already.

There are many, many children who don't have parents read to them, who don't have parents who listen to them read, and many who leave primary school very "behind" on their reading age. I think it's good that schools focus on making sure reading is a priority at home for everyone.

Tbh I get fed up of filling for reception age ds, but see they have to be done.

But Yanbu. Dds reading level was far above her age. By 8 She didn't want to read to me, she just wanted to sit a read in her own.

Tbh as she loves reading I just used to sign it anyway.

But I really think it should be on ability. If a child is struggling and has to be listened to fair enough. But a lot of kids don't need this level of hovering.

Surely you recognise that only making the children who need it do it just singles them out as poor readers? Which the school and parents should be aware of but its no business of anyone else. What if parents and school disagree on whether a child needs them?

PPwith reception and Y2 kid yabu if it's only weekly! Daily then yes I get your point.

Dd is in Y3 - She reads a chapter of whatever book she has from school and I sign to say she's read it. She never reads aloud to me anymore as she finds it too slow compared to how fast she reads in her head. She reads whatever books she likes in addition to her 'school' reading.
I find it unnecessary too but they get house points for having read every day so she she still wants her reading record signed to get the points.

YANBU. Children who read anyway will do so regardless of their reading record, or they will lie about the reading they have done if they read the "wrong" books. Children and families that don't read will just lie anyway. I think the content of most reading records are wildly inaccurate and serve no purpose for teachers.

YABVU
Just because he's a fluent, independent reader doesn't mean he won't benefit from reading with an adult!
They can still learn so much from discussing texts and themes.

Reading the words on the page isn't the be all and end all of reading and the attitude of some parents really irritates me. Reading with your child is THE most important thing you can do with your child even when they're a free reader.

Agree with wombat

Reading is so much more than looking at the words. It's about understanding, interpretation etc as well. If they are reading alone and don't understand a certain word that is central to the story then how can they enjoy that story to its maximum potential?

I was reading alone from being about 6 yo; doesn't mean I necessarily understood!

Just because I don't read with him doesn't mean we don't discuss what he reads. Honestly, as PP said, it is killing the love of reading. We are supposed to do it "at least" three times a week. As well as:
A project every half term
Spelling every week
Times tables every week
Mental maths every week
Comprehension every week.

At some point we'd like to sleep

I'm really on the fence about this because I read with my two until the end of primary and to them until early this year (they are 13 and 15). Reading together and sharing books is massively valuable.

But at the same time the reading records are a pain. There is never enough room to write anything relevant, so you end up mechanically writing the same stuff over and over. It becomes meaningless. I really am opposed to imposing consequences on the children (such as missed play time) for something they have no control over (the parent completing the record). That's just punishing those who are already disadvantaged.

My DS regulary forgets it..He has a sensible teacher who knows he reads constantly so doesn't make it an issue..We have bigger issues that do need dealing with.

I agree I am not sure what teachers gain from them as I know people who spread out what the child read over the weekend to each day to get the child credits...

I do think it is useful to listen to them read...I find it surprising the words they don't understand just read...It also helps them to discuss the book.

I love reading, but having to keep a log of everything I read would turn it into a chore. My children had compulsory reading records all the way to the end of primary school. By Year 6, it had put all of them off reading for pleasure. Thankfully the effect was temporary, and they all started reading for fun again by the end of Year 7. Sadly, not all children do.

YANBU at all - we came to an 'understanding' with my dcs' Junior school, as they all loved reading, and read avidly, but hated the whole "write it down now" thing afterwards. I didn't want it turning into a chore, nor did I want their 'bags packed ready for school' anywhere else other than in the hall ready to go in the morning, not up in their rooms where tehy would be doing a few chapters reading each night. All but the NQT were quite happy with it, as they were experienced enough to know that all my dc were reading a LOT and a big range of stuff and were able to discuss it, or bring it in to other learning.

"I can see the merit when children are still learning, of course. DS1, however, is 9."

Isn't he still learning though? Even at 9?

The reading diary is a pain when school expect the child to complete it. I don't know if our school were expecting that, but it's always me who completes it and signs. They get goals for each time they read. DS only gets one book a week, and we read the whole thing on the night we get it. Every other night we read one of DS's own books.

I just write down what dd has read, I don't get her to read it to me.

I think once a child has finished with reading scheme books and is a 'free reader' then there is no need to have a reading diary- as far as I am concerned the diary is keep track of where they are in the reading scheme, and whether they are on the right level, need more practice, could skip a few books, that sort of thing.

If you absolutely have to keep a record of free readers, it should be enough for the child to write which books they are reading (not necessarily which pages they read on which night) and parent just to sign when the book is finished.

And I agree with parents who don't force their child to read aloud to them. I HATED reading aloud, still don't especially like it, but loved reading to myself. I would often read one of my mum's books after she had read it, and we would discuss it. Or I would get non fiction books out of the library and tell my mum about parts of it. Much better to go with the child's interest than to risk making reading a chore.

"AIBU to think teachers should use discretion on when to dispense with them?"

They have. There's no national requirement to use them so it'll be the teachers in your school who have decided the general approach, and who actually implement it vary it in the classroom.

Reading every day was considered the single most important homework by our primary teachers.

They expected the reading record to be filled in by parents in KS1, with the DC taking over as they became ready in year 3. It didn't have to be more than noting where they had read to. But being able to write what they were liking/disliking about about the book they'd chosen to read was never particularly onerous for any of mine (2 of them are dyslexic).

Once a child can read well, perhaps it would be good to have more guidance from the school of what to talk about with the child. For example, have they been learning about punctuation, structure of a story, characters or paragraphs in English recently?