AIBU school library

[QuickThinkOfAName]

Old timer but name changed as I don't want to be linked as the situation is quite unique. Cancel the cheque spangran etc.

I just want to know if i'm being unreasonable. DD is 6 and just started year 2 in an infant school (so this is her last year here).

Not a stealth boast honest but she learnt to read when she was 3 so when she started school she was labelled a 'free reader' so instead of being given 'green' 'red' or 'rainbow' coloured books to read at home she could choose whatever she liked from the library. Fine in reception. Now however she's 6 and frankly there are only 2 fiction books in there that I've seen that are in an way challenging (and I don't even think they should be in the library as they're adult books!)

I've spoken to his teacher before (deputy head, highly experienced etc) and I said i was concerned she was being left to choose her own books and thought she needed guidance to make sure she was being challenged/getting the right level. And she said, well that's her challenge isn't it, to make sure she gets the right book.

I feel like I'm going mad as it's like banging my head against a wall! I don't have a problem with her being given 'a choice' etc but she's effectively been put in charge of her own reading education.

• Just because she has the reading age of an 11 year old or whatever, doesn't mean she has the emotional intelligence of one, she's 6! I don't think she should be responsible for her reading education.
• It's a different life skill being taught to choose appropriately and being able to read. I'd be happy if she had free roam of the library to choose AS WELL as being given something level appropriate.
• There's just not much in there for her level. I appreciate they're not going to have much but I've asked for what sort of level she's at so we can get stuff for her at home and they've been very dismissive.

Am I BU? She is an experienced teacher but I just feel a bit like because she's ticked all the boxes of skills to be learned they're just letting her coast. (Apologies this is a massive post...)

sure I read hitchhiker when I was about 10. Never did me any harm.

Seriously it’s just a shame the school aren’t being more helpful. I appreciate it’s always about cost but helping the parents do stuff at home should be the least they could do if they can’t support her at school.

She's six!

As the parent of an advanced reader, this is just something the school can’t cover. We use community libraries to get appropriate books. Dd checks out a book at school for the practice of checking out a book and returning it independently, but her reading material comes with our help.

Also wanted to add that the ages of 6-7 were the hardest. You really have to control for content and there just isn’t that much out there.

Do you know her cloudtree?! If not I’d suggest it’s up to her parents as the people who know her best. My dc was watching dr who aged six. (Preparing myself for the shocked emojis) But they was fine. They have a good understanding of what’s real and what’s not. And if we had any doubts of course we would have stopped.

This isn't much of an issue. Just go to the local library once a week and choose lots of things with her. If she reads to you occasionally you'll know what level she's at. You can buy cheap books in charity shops too. You need to get into the habit of not depending on the school to educate your child. Being realistic. I learned this very very early.

Well that sounds like a remarkably shit school. Just be glad that she will be moving next year. Re what she should be reading try classic children's books. The quality of the writing will be more suitable for her without the content being inappropriate. Swallow and amazons, Robinson crusoe, slice in wonderland etc.

At least you know where to donate all your old books to!

I think this is really unusual. My dds primary library is chokka with books, no resources from school, but with 30 families per year group donating all their old books, it doesn't take long to fill up.

It's lazy of the school not to guide her to an appropriate book. Even dd9, now year 5, still get guided to a particular set of appropriate books, and they've all been free reading for years.

She loved Kate Di cameo around your dds age, Edward Tulane. Also, nothing wrong with first four harry potters at all.

Do you know her cloudtree?! If not I’d suggest it’s up to her parents as the people who know her best.

No of course I don't know her. But anyone who thinks a book which references a triple breasted whore and her erogenous zones and uses four letter swear words is suitable for a six year old is clearly an absolute fuckwit and so I was assuming that the OP might not have read it and just assumed it was for children.

Other suggestions

Momo
The never-ending story
letter for the king
time travelling with a hamster
Wonder
Wonderstruck
The marvels

The hobbit
The iron man
the iron woman
The mouse and his child
city of ember
Narnia series

Oh cloudtree. Glad to see all that reading has led to you having such a wide vocabulary

What books is she choosing from the school library, that she’s not engaging with? I’m wondering whether part of the issue might be a poorly stocked library, rather than just lack of guidance.

This might be worth a look for ideas.

www.badgerlearning.co.uk/banded-reading-boxes.html?product_list_limit=48

Particularly this set.
www.badgerlearning.co.uk/age-5-7-suitable-books-for-super-confident-readers-in-ks1-brown-to-lime.html

Maisy is right though. Once children can decode accurately, challenge comes from elsewhere. Sometimes, that’s from vocabulary and sentence structure, sometimes it’s from content and themes with what looks like much simpler text. I wouldn’t rule out books just because they can be read in under 2 hours.

Oh cloudtree. Glad to see all that reading has led to you having such a wide vocabulary grin

'Twas probably the hitchhikers that did it.

If the books suitable for your DD aren't in the library,how do you expect school to source and provide them?

There is very very little funding available in schools to purchase books other than maybe class texts. If the library is staffed by parent volunteers then maybe they need to try and source books and / or funding. It's likely not to be top of the school / SLT/ English lead to do list.

I've done this in my dc school and it took months, had to apply for funding, grants, schemes through work, trawler charity shops etc but it was very rewarding.

However, if you take on the task,you would have to balance what you would want for yourself with what is suitable for the age range of primary school pupils regarding content.

Free readers at DC school pick their own books, so it may be yourdd will pick nookssheviews as maybe light entertainment and the more heavyweight books are seen as not school linked books.

Why don't you just join your own local library and help your DD to chose books from there?

Because she’s already doing that and the school don’t count books brought in from home.

Speak to the school and say that in view of the lack of age appropriate reading material you would like her to be able to bring in suitable books form home. I'm sure it probably is the case that in general the children have to have a book from the school library but if the school library genuinely doesn't have anything appropriate I would be surprised if they object. I don't see what harm it could possibly do (unless she takes in her copy of Hitchhikers and starts reading aloud to the teachers )

Both of mine were advanced readers and we had a couple of instances where they picked up things that were not right for them. One of the Michael Morpurgo books had a child whose family had been massacred and it just wasn't right for DS1 at age 5 so we stopped that one pretty quickly. It is tricky when their reading age is advanced but their life exposure and emotional maturity clearly isn't at the same level.

I re-read Hitchiker's recently. It is NOT suitable for a six year old.

I was like your daughter. By y1 had read the entire library at my infant school and was being left to coast. My parents let me read whatever I chose, and didn't read it first (weren't big readers, I came as a surprise to them tbh) and let's just say I learnt things no 6 year old should learn from books

Be careful not to overestimate how much she can process just because she may be able to read it.

Could you ask your librarians about getting online books and get her an e-reader? I can have loads of books from the library on my kobo and change them regularly. Just gut save you going physically to the library.

I can't imagine for a moment that a state primary has much funding for new books or a professional librarian. Most primary libraries are 'staffed' by a TA given an hour a week, zero budget and zero training.
It's not ideal, but realistically, I'd take her to the public library myself( where you'll also probably struggle to find a professional librarian) and prepare to spend a bit of time properly choosing suitable books. It is a good skill to acquire. Fiction is usually divided into loose age categories in the public library.

I would say Harry Potter (written for children) is probably far more suitable than HGTTG (written for adults). My Eldest and youngest both read the HP series in Y2. Middle didn't get into it until Y5. Other favourites are David Walliams, Michael Morpurgo, Roald Dahl... I have found with my children that if it is too challenging, or covers subjects they can't deal with, they very quickly lose interest.

I let them choose whatever they like to read (while obviously trying to keep an eye on suitability). Given that they are able readers I'd rather they love reading and read as much as possible then worry about improving their reading skills. I think as long as they keep reading and talking about what they read, their skills improve naturally anyway.

Does she have to read her reading book in school? I just wouldn't bother with them at home. When middle was trapped in the reading scheme it just put him right off because he found the books so boring, I just made sure he had access to plenty of good books at home.

Obviously the library not having suitable books is a problem. But it seems to me that’s a much more difficult problem to solve than getting the school to accept her using her own books instead.

Could you politely open a dialogue that is essentially: are you going to provide suitable reading material? If yes, then excellent, what will it be and when will it arrive? If no, then we need you to accept our daughter bringing her own in.

I really enjoyed Sherlock Holmes from about aged 8, but I was probably “too young” for it. I still enjoyed it then and enjoy it today. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not following the underlying themes in books on first reading: part of the joy of rereading is spotting what you missed when you were younger.

Hitchhikers isn’t suitable for a six year old and she can’t be understanding or engaging with at least half of it which seems to be what you were worried about in your op?

I think this is a case of mum has seen the movie which is quite family friendly so thinks the book is for all ages. It's really not. Nevermind the language and innuendo; it deals with themes which are far too advanced for a child of that age to grasp.

OP, it seems like you feel she is gifted so she should be reading grown up books... But what about her reading comprehension? She might be able to process the indicidual words in a book like that, but can she give in depth analysis of the text?

A 6 year old child could give you an analysis of captain underpants. They could answer questions on it and identify friendship as an important theme (just one example). They could explain to you what George and Harold might do next, they could guess what the bad guy is going to do or where they are going to be.

Can your daughter comprehend what she is reading, process it and discuss it? It's not just about her speeding through as many books as possible.

I’d just let her choose what she wants from the library and from your local library too. They likely have a pretty spikey profile regarding what level they are at. While phonic knowledge and understanding of the text may mean they CAN read books for older children they can’t really be allowing her to read books for much much older children as the themes wouldn’t be appropriate and she won’t have the life experience necessary to understand some of the subtext.
Any reading that they enjoy is worthwhile imo. You can create the challenge by asking them challenging questions about what they’ve read.