Stupid school rule?

[upsideup]

DC's school recently introuduced an hour of silent reading per week, dd absolutely loved this (DS doesn't but it has encouraged him to read more). Untill now they have been taking in a book from home, DD10 who spends hours reading for pleasure anyway takes in the book shes reading at home. I dont choose her books and I am also not strict about what she reads, was already aware that some of the books she enjoys were targeted at an age range slightly above hers.
We have had a letter home saying that dd's book this week was rated as 14+ so is not suitable to be read at school and I should send her in with a book suitable for her age so under 10's as teachers are not going to be closely monitoring what books the children are reading. That is ridiculous right?
She had not told us this all week as shes worried shes in trouble with the teacher but her book was taken off her and she was given a random book from the libary by the teacher which is not the sort of thing she likes and was too 'babyish' for her so she spent the whole lesson doing nothing.
To be clear the books she is reading are young teen fiction books, not gory or sexual true crime books, theres maybe mentions of kissing or mild swearing but nothing harmful or frightening for a 10 year old to hear, mine atleast and as its silent reading and not being read aloud surely its nobodies business what shes reading and it should be mine and her dads decision if its suitable or not for her, not the teachers?
We are going stuggle to find a book aimed at under 10s that she enjoys and I also have know idea how to find out what age rating a book has and surely its just a reccomendation to what age group may enjoy the book not a strict rule?
I can see the benefit of quietly reading at school and definately not one of the many parents who complained when the silent reading was introduced but what benefit is forcing her to read a book that she dosnt enjoy and is below her level? Shouldnt she be encouraged to challenge herself and have an enjoyment for reading not punished?

Do your schools do the same? AIBU to want to challenge this stupid rule?

Yanbu , and I am a teacher . I still remember being banned from taking out The hound of the Baskervilles from my local library when I was about ten as the librarian thought it was too scary for me.

Children need to read above there level to challenge and promote deeper thinking. If the school has said that they felt some themes were too adult and then recommend some books that challenged but aren't adult themed, then that would be fair enough but to limit books to age appropriate only is a bit too much like censorship for me.

I would put money on a bet that if your daughter took Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre into school they would not tell you that they are unsuitable. There really is a wealth of literature out there that is not teen fiction that she would enjoy. Or how about Noel Streatfeild books and the Katy series?

upsideup
Don't selectively quote.
'I said It feels a bit like the OP just wants to be told school are awful and going to put her amazing reader off book for life'

Lots of people have explained why books for teens with teen themes are probably not allowed in a primary classroom and you're still insisting it's a stupid rule because they watched a U rated film based on a Victorian novel.

As I've said, by all meand talk to the teacher to see if an arrangement can be found (i would imagine probably not when it's teen books in ks2) however you're better off dropping the 'it's a stupud rule' and the view that 'not allowing my child to read books about substance abuse, racism and suicide is punishing an advanced reader'.

YANBU, she should be encouraged to select her own reading - as you obviously already do - and the school should not be interfering like this. It’s her choice, and as her parent yes, you should be aware not so that you can censor but so that you can talk to her about what she is reading. I’ve been a children’s librarian for 27 years and it never ceases to infuriate me when schools take this high handed attitude. It sets readers back and undermines their confidence 😡

My daughter is the same age and also far ahead in reading. She got hunger games taken off her... which i can sort of see why. Could they allow magazine? She loves the week junior which gives her adult type reading (albeit not in a book format) without any age rating issues. I'm with you though - it seems to be a silly rule to follow so strictly. Contact the teacher and maybe speak with the head if it's appropriate (sorry if it's been suggested above - not read the whole thread.) and if they don't see it as something they will change, then your only option (if you really feel very strongly about it) is to contact a school governor.

I was an advanced reader at school (mainly because we didn't have a TV at home and I had friendship issues at school so lots of free time and a need to escape reality). I was proud of my reading ability so it really annoyed me when teachers told me to read books I thought of as being for younger children and had often read a few years before.

Some books are undoubtedly better read when you are old enough to really understand them, but they aren't really age rated. Which range they are put into in bookstores is a marketing matter, and it's not that unusual for books to be marketed slightly differently as both 9-12 and YA (and sometimes in the adult section too).

I assume the school hasn't given the parents guidelines on suitable books to bring into school in advance of the silent reading scheme? If I was the OP's dd I would totally see having the book I was really enjoying and looking forward to reading removed and replaced by something I didn't want to read. I would have been upset and angry at what I would see as an injustice.

My children always had books on them to read when there was nothing else going on at school, does the OP's dd school ban books being brought in for pleasure or is it just the hours read that is policed? I think they might want to look again at their policy as I can't see that it's really consistently workable.

If I was the OP I think I'd get my dd to give me a list of the next books she is thinking of reading and run them by the teacher so that she can read something that she wants to without being worried it will be removed. My children on the other hand would probably have gone down the hiding the book they wanted to read inside something worthy or childish to avoid trouble.

I see no reason why a 9-12 year old can not read YA fiction. I think I read Candy by Kevin Brooks when I was 11. That was in the school library and featured drugs, abuse, and prostitution. It depends on the child. At 10, I wouldn't want to be reading from the children's section. Jacqueline Wilson at a push...

OP seems to dismiss most suggestions thus far, which is a shame because it rather limits her dc to modern literature written for YA. I was weaned on Jeeves and Wooster, and Just William, most of which I'd read by the time I was 10

Exactly most of which you had read by the age of 10, dd has read most childrens classics already and she has now moved on to modern literature written for YA. She loves the narnia books, the what katie did series, the magic faraway tree books all of which she has read multiple times, shes now beginning to move on and enjoy more grown up modern books.

I constantly found it difficult to find suitable books for son who was an advanced reader but quite babyish in other ways. It took quite a lot of research and browsing in good bookshops. I was quite shocked by the adult nature of some of the books read - as a class - once he got to secondary school. It's an interesting debate.

the colour of magic discworld books never heard of them but from a quick google dosnt look like her thing

Perhaps let her decide?

By the way, i usually read the more adult themed books myself first before I allow her to read them! Loved the maze runner series and that was one of her choices. There are quite a few that have been really good books but that I've set aside away for a bit till she's a bit older.

I’ve skipped through a lot of the thread OP so apologetic goes if these have been recommended.

Brian Jacques - Rewall series.

I loved them at about 10/11 they’re reasonably big books 2-300 pages and characters and stories that arc through the whole series.

butch
I'm involved in buying books in for our school. It's a challenge we find for our able y7 readers.
If you go through publishers (not got yhr info to hand but it's where I started lookinh) it turns out there's lots of advanced reading books but aimed at middle years (y5-8).
It's essentially the opposite of what we get in for our SEND/weak y8-10 readers (which is young adult topics and plots but lower reading ages).

With my primary teacher hat on, I can't imagine interfering with a child's choice of book if they were engaged with, interested in and happy to talk about it.

My feeling is that, unlike in film/TV when someone else has already made a decision about what to prioritise and how to represent things, when we read books we do so at a level that matches where we're at e.g. DD1 read Jacqueline Wilson's The Longest Whale Song when she was 6 and raved about the whale facts and the friendship between two of the characters. I read it and found the storyline upsetting as I had a friend who was seriously ill in hospital after giving birth (another of the main themes in the book). For this reason, I have no problem with an interested Y4 child reading Hunger Games, or my Y5s wanting to read The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Fault in Our Stars or the Geek Girl series. They'll take from it what they're ready to at the time. I would usually mention to a parent that they might want to read the book at the same time so they knew what their child was reading.

As you can probably tell, I'm not overly bothered by age recommendations for books and don't use them to restrict my own DDs' reading. Narnia, Swallows and Amazons (all 12), unabridged classics such as Black Beauty, Little Princess, Railway Children and loads of Noel Streatfeild have been read here before aged 8 but continue to be enjoyed when revisited.

Other books mine have enjoyed at a similar stage include..

Mysterious Benedict Society series
Geek Girl series
Anything by John Green
Wonder
Holes (and others by the author)
The boy in the striped pyjamas
When Hitler stole pink rabbit (3 books)
Rooftoppers and others by Katherine Rundell
Various books by Malorie Blackman
Ruby Redfort
The Last Wild
Tom Hoyle challenge series
A boy called Hope
Moondial
Lottery Boy
Kiss the dust

@upsideup - I suspect that there are books which will come under the 10+ age category on that website, but that wouldn’t be considered unacceptable by your dd’s teacher - you need a constructive chat with the teacher, to find these.

As a previous poster has suggested, maybe have a list of suggestions for her to look over.

I suspect it is the modern teen angst and relationships themes that she is objecting to, so you need to find things that aren’t in that genre of fiction - and there is so, so much out there, it cannot be impossible to find books that would do.

I would second the suggestion of Terry Pratchett’s books - I would suggest starting with the Tiffany Aching series - Wee Free Men is the first - they are funny and exciting, and great books - I can’t imagine the teacher objecting to them.

How about Tamora Pierce's Tortall books? I remember reading these at about that age and still reread them now as an adult.

Animal Farm. I read it first at that age, didn't understand it, but enjoyed it. Because I enjoyed it, I read it again when I was a bit older, anzd again when I was older still. At 12/13 I understood it.

Pride & Prejudice. First read it when I was 8. Skipped huge bits of it, but enjoyed what did read. Read again and again and again throughout my life. No swearing or obvious kissing. Quite a lot of putting women in their place though. That'll be good for her to become aware of.

OP, how about Antonia Forest's books? Start with "Autumn Term".

I still remember being really disappointed by a book I received for prize giving when I was at Primary School. It was so juvenile I had read it by the end of the ceremony and handed it over to the school library. I would be pleased that a pupil was reading no matter whether it was a comic or War and Peace and I certainly would not get bent out of shape about what someone thought was age appropriate for my child.

I would not acquiesce to the class teacher but then I am only a retired Ofsted inspector, so what would I know?

I am not altogether surprised that 10 year olds didn't care for Swallows and Amazons - I think it's become quite dated. In some ways the children are children until they are older than today's children but at the same time, they were given more latitude that today's children would be. It's harder to relate to, but it's not obviously fantasy, and I suspect that they can't quite appreciate it needs to be read as a period piece.

GnotherGnu, I tried my DD on Autumn Term about a year ago when she was ten, and she gave up, found it a hard slog. Tried her with School at the Chalet, and same thing. She finds the older style hard going and the world it's set in too different. However, she only started reading for fun at the end of Y3 / beginning of Y4.

She's currently in Y6 and reading the Secret Series ( usborne.com/browse-books/catalogue/product/1/8520/the-name-of-this-book-is-secret/ ). They're not exactly challenging for an advanced reader but they tell an enjoyable story and they'll keep the teacher off her back as the age rating is given as 10+. There are five in books in the series so might last her to the end of the school year if she keeps them for school. DS is a very proficient reader and he enjoyed the stories at age 10.

Oh, another Usborne series DD really enjoys is Historical House ( usborne.com/browse-books/catalogue/series/1/203/the-historical-house/ ). They're aged 9+. Again, not challenging to an advanced reader, but good stories.

Don't "Neighbours", "East Enders", etc; soap operas on well before the watershed cover substance abuse, sex, murder, etc?

Yes, but they don’t show them in school, @Checklist.

kindle?? then she can read whatever!