AIBU to question teacher?

[DoobzToobznHattrick]

My daughter is in Reception class and is a younger child so will still be 4 when she leaves Reception.
Overall her learning is pretty good, she’s not the best behaved child, but equally she’s certainly not the worst. By behaviour I mean - not always listening, sometimes talking when she shouldn’t be etc....all things that we discuss with her and encourage her to make sure she’s not constantly repeat offending!
This week I had her teacher tell me that we needed to work on her comprehension as although her reading is good her understanding of what’s going on isn’t and she’ll often go off on a tangent and make up stories unrelated. Whilst I’m happy to help in any way with her learning and will of course support her additional needs, what I’m not happy about is the teacher asked a parent volunteer who goes into school to check her comprehension and report back on her findings.
I’ve been a volunteer at the school myself with both reading and other things that are specific to my field of employment but I’ve never been asked to make a judgement call on a child’s learning ability. I’m there to support the teachers and TAs and to help the children. I am asked to note how the child did, any problems with words/sounds they get stuck on etc but never specifically to report back on something.
AIBU to think that surely this should be something the teacher or TA should be supporting her with?
It is a very large class - over 30 and I did ask the mum specifically if she’d read with my LO and how she felt her comprehension was and that’s when I found out she was tasked with checking her comprehension.
Am I being a bit precious or should I address this with the teacher?

[OKBobble]

I used to be a parent volunteer. Some kids can't even read or pronounce the words but it sounds like your DD can. The next stafe is are they merely sating the words out that they see without understanding the actual story. So the teacher is checking that this is the case. It is quite usual and nothing untoward. When she reads to you at the end of each page or couple of pages ask her to tell you in her own words what has just happened and either she will be able to or she won't. It is just a stage of reading and the volunteer is reporting the stage ahe is at, which is the point of having volunteer readers in.

[RB68]

My DD is an August Birthday (15th) and we had sme similar issues in reception - she was also a 31 week preemie (I thought I had planned it all so well lol) Whilst she was signed off at caught up at 1 yr I personally felt until she was around 12 she was always a step behind in a range of things that were about comprehension, applying yourself and thinking about things,. We had the same reading issue at that age but at age 11 she was assessed as reading at 17 and comprehension about the same.

I would say read plenty at home, get hr involved in reading with you (alternate pages and the like) and keep bringing her back to the story and as others have said ask key questions about the story. I would say it was around yr 2 she got it all pulled together.

She won't get detention, punishment or kicked out for reduced comprehension. A bit of focus at home and practive every day for 10 to 15 min will easily bring her up and set her on the path to reading like a bookworm.

The other thing we did was read banal books she loves - bit young yet but the fairy series helped us get her to free reader end yr 3 and at 14 she has a personal reading target of "reading some classics Mum"

[pudcat]

I am asked to note how the child did, any problems with words/sounds they get stuck on etc but never specifically to report back on something. That is reporting back, and so is when parents write in reading record books.
You really shouldn't ask a parent how your child is doing either - that is putting them in a very awkward position.
Comprehension at that age just means simple questions such as "what was the dog called?" "What animal came to tea?" etc

[NewName54321]

By behaviour I mean - not always listening, sometimes talking when she shouldn’t be etc....

Please get her hearing checked. She might not be being naughty.

[youarenotkiddingme]

She's making up stories - that's fantastic!

I understand where you're coming from re volunteer Vs school staff when they are saying she has to reach certain criteria.

I'd support at home and make reading fun and something she enjoys and wants to do.
If the school insist she does all this stuff before 5 (also have Aug born child who sadly also didn't enjoy reading 🙄) then they will need to put in the support.

My ds was way behind with reading age and comprehension until year 8. Then it just suddenly clicked.

[lyralalala]

It makes more sense for the person hearing her reading the most comments on her progress. Also just because the person is in as a parent volunteer doesn't mean it's a bad thing that they are the one listening to the readers - in a good school parent helpers can be utilised to their strengths. For example my DS has extra maths help by a parent volunteer, only because I know them do I know that they were previously a maths teacher.

Though you should be asking the teacher for feedback rather than the parent helper.

[CrohnicallyEarly]

I'm shocked that they aren't listened to by a teacher or TA once a week, even in a large class.

Oh, and if the class size is over 30 I'm pretty sure they should have an extra teacher.

But 30 children, between a TA and teacher is 3 children per day each. It should be fairly easy to pick up children while others are doing free play, at the end of a focussed session, during tidying up time, the TA can listen to a child while the teacher does the register, you can use assembly times to pick up children that need extra support...

I would expect the teacher or TA to listen to a child every other week as an absolute minimum, but every week if they've been identified as needing extra support. Parent volunteers should be an extra to this, not used to meet the basic requirements.

And the parent volunteer shouldn't be discussing anything with you. You shouldn't be asking, and they should be deflecting any questions back to the teacher. If they volunteered the information then I would go to the teacher and say something, it may be that the volunteer needs a reminder.

[Nanny0gg]

I know Barren - she’ll still be 4 when she leaves Reception, bless her!

How's that work?

Late summer born children start in Reception at 4, but how can they leave while still 4? They'll have started at 3!

[Nanny0gg]

Nope! Answered my own question!

As you were!

[user1511042793]

I don’t believe in parent volunteers and thank that out head agrees. I would have issue with this.

[lyralalala]

I don’t believe in parent volunteers and thank that out head agrees

Your school must have a better budget than many. Most schools would struggle without parent volunteers.

And a group of well managed volunteers can be a real asset to a school.

[noeyedeer]

I'm a parent volunteer. I'm also a qualified and experienced teacher. But nice to know that I'm not believed in by some.

I also have an August born reception child (so he'll still be four at the end of term).

As far as reading; I follow the formula of read once to sound out and read again for sense (doesn't have to be the same night). I check he's understood by asking simple questions i.e. what might happen next? What do you think x character feels? What do you think happened there? Retell the story... Etc etc

I'd have no issue with a parent volunteer checking comprehension on an informal basis. As a teacher I'd have provided a list of possible questions for them to ask and feedback on.

[Justonemorepancake]

@Nanny0gg any child born during school summer holidays both starts and leaves reception aged 4.

[LL83]

I am asked to note how the child did, any problems with words/sounds they get stuck on etc

This could be described as "reporting back" the person who reads with child has been asked to keep an eye on it, i am sure if more is needed TA or teacher will get involved.

[CherryPavlova]

I had two August children. Both were still four when they finished reception.

[Nanny0gg]

Yes. I realised that straight after I posted
😳

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

I think noeyedeer is right. The teacher probably asked the parent volunteer to ask the children about the story, to check for understanding in that way. After all, developing reading skill depends on understanding what you’re reading.

[crimsonlake]

I would be interested to know how you know about the behaviour of other children in the class? Yes, I do think you are over reacting especially since you have been a volunteer and should know it is essential to check for comprehension when listening to a child read. Written comments are always made, so yes that is assessing / reporting back to the teacher in order to move a child's reading on. In class the teacher is possibly doing guided reading with your daughters group rather than individual.

[crimsonlake]

On a side note I agree you should also not be interrogating the volunteer about your daughters reading and she should not be discussing it with you either.

[FrenchJunebug]

I don’t believe in parent volunteers and thank that out head agrees

why on earth not? It's nice for the kids and for the parents, and useful for the kids.

[crimsonlake]

Schools rely on and are desperate for parent helpers, that said I do not think you should be allowed to volunteer in your own child's class.

[whyayepetal]

Another thought OP. You probably listen to her reading/share stories with your DD more than anyone else, so you are best placed to see how her comprehension is developing. Do you have a home/school reading diary of some sort where you could comment on what your DD found interesting/challenging etc when reading with you? Could be very simple statements - e.g. DD remembered that the story was about x, and that character y had just found object z. Also things like playing guess what happens next, writing down what DD guessed and talking about what actually happened. I used to do this with my two with library books/dvds/tv programmes too for fun. As they got older, they really enjoyed making up the most unlikely "what happens next" scenario. Both of them ended up studying English at A level (and both were young 'uns in their classes) . Good luck with your DD - it sounds as though she is doing fine

[Dieu]

I think you're being precious. It's highly unlikely that the parent volunteer was asked to do anything other than feed back informally (which I'm sure she was perfectly capable of doing - some of our parent volunteers have helped in classes for years). Not assess her or anything. And you shouldn't have asked the parent volunteer about it either. Talk about putting someone in an awkward position! I'm sure the teacher knows what she's doing, so leave her to it.

[sewingismyhobby]

I offered to volunteer as a reader at my son's primary school and the headmistress almost had a seizure. They don't allow parents anywhere near the kids during school hours. They don't even employ TA's, just the odd special needs assistant. Mind you, they're still using teaching methods from 40 years ago, when I was a child. (Not UK).