To think schools should send reading books home over the holidays?

[DeepaBeesKit]

My kids school hasnt sent any reading book or library book home at all for the holidays. AIBU to think this is daft because
a) it sends the message that reading is hard/not enjoyable and one needs a "break" from it
b) its likely to widen the gaps between children with engaged parents who'll ensure their kids keep reading/enjoying books any way, and the kids for whom the reading book from school was the only book in the house.
c) it's a shame for a keen reader who'd happily get stuck into a book over the winter holidays when the weather is crap outside.

How many books do you think would have been returned after the holidays?
“Sorry Miss I’ve lost it x 50”

Our school sent books home. I would’ve been surprised if they hadn’t.

Ours do!

You can also buy paper versions of the reading programme our school follow on Amazon- that’s what I did in lockdowns!

@CallmeHendricksGingleBells

Yeah, coz this thread is just what schools/teachers need to read at the moment. How about you do you? If you want your child to read during the holidays, provide them with some books. No need for you to worry about other people.

Seriously?? 100% this! ⬆️

Speaking as a completely bloody exhausted, stressed out teacher, who has spent the last few days of Christmas term juggling 3billion 'normal' things I won't bore you with, as well as trying to make everything 'special' for 60 kids to make up for the things they can't do due to Covid, praying to God I don't come down with it myself (as over 3/4 of the rest of the staff & about 20% of the kids have) & trying to organise everything Christmas for my OWN children/family!!

Believe me, making sure every child had a bloody reading book in their bag on the last day was very much NOT my priority!!

FFS.

I expect if they'd have asked they would have been 'allowed' to take some books?

School reading books are naff. If anything is going to deter a child from reading, it’s those books. They’re so drab and often as old as me. Library books fair enough but I’m not miffed to miss out on the shitty reading books. Parents can always visit a library themselves if reading matters to them over Christmas or just buy their DC some books for Christmas. My DC still read during the holidays but actually decent literature, not the crappy school reading books.

Haven’t you got books at home they can read?

If it's your school policy then maybe it's in place for a reason.
Maybe they've had enough of chasing parents to return school property and with funding limited don't want to take the risk of losing so many books.

Unfortunately OP, you are not going to be able to solve the problem of disengaged parents yourself. Even if school sends them home, it's still up to the parents to ensure they are read. So sending books home doesn't mean they will be read if the parents aren't interested.

But you could give those kids armfuls of books and the parents still wouldn’t read with them. This is why the gap widens - it’s not the books it’s the attitude.

Books tend to get lost over the holidays especially long holidays like the summer or Christmas ones where most people’s houses are in chaos.

@DeepaBeesKit

library

I'm mindful of the kids in homes where no one will take them.

Then set up a book borrowing/ lending place in the school where children and families with lots of books can donate books. Children can either borrow books and return them or keep them permanently. Some parents will abuse the system, you will just have to grit your teeth over them, but many will enjoy using it.

Agree with blustery

Unfortunately OP, you are not going to be able to solve the problem of disengaged parents yourself. Even if school sends them home, it's still up to the parents to ensure they are read. So sending books home doesn't mean they will be read if the parents aren't interested.

DS has loads of books, we're both teachers & DH taught DS. It's a nightmare getting him to read & an ongoing problem.

Just sending a book home won't solve the problem.

People on low incomes can access books from the library or charity shop.

If the teacher is replacing books in bags 3x a week, I’m guessing they are KS1. Probably R/YR1.

So just for 1 class to have 3 books a week for the 2 week holidays you are looking at 180 books. Many of which won’t come back and even more of which won’t be looked at. You’d need an extremely well stocked set of early reading books to ensure every child had 6 books matched to their ability. It might be easier further up the school where the books are longer children will need fewer.

In a household where there are few books it’s unlikely that books not being sent home over Christmas is going to be the thing that makes a big difference to attainment. And I suspect it will have minimal impact on closing the gap.

My kids never read the school reading books anyway!

DS2 just reads his own books and school know this and are fine with it. DS1 (10) just won't read fiction and never has done - he's been recently diagnosed as dyslexic and for whatever reason will read non-fiction only. I'd rather he read something than nothing.

Our school will send them, but the kids whose parents will read with them already have books. The kids who have parents with no books are also the kids who will have a bag full of Christmas crafts and cards in their bags when they return. It makes me sad to empty them but there isn't much point in sending books home that will just get lost or damaged. And our phonics readers cost £4000 for enough for each child to have 2, so if half don't come back, it is a huge cost we can't afford to bear.

Ours does. In fact my youngest brought home 4.

We do, but no additional ones to they'd have normally over a week say/weekend. So one reading book at their level and one 'share with a grown up' free choice book.

We simply don't have the amount of books necessary to send several home.

Children also have the same access to the e-libraries that we subscribe to throughout the year, inc holidays. These have 100s of books to choose from, but are digital format.

Some kids do need a break from reading/school. Give your kid a book if you want them to read

When I was a teacher we never sent books home over the longer holidays, mostly because we never got them all back and we just couldn't afford to keep replacing them.

Christmas, Easter and summer holidays usually entail a lot of upheaval in many houses (visiting family, new toys, trips/events etc) and so school reading books are easily lost and also aren't top priority for many families.

Also we didn't send books in the holidays because we genuinely want the children to have a break without the expectation of doing homework. For some children, especially where reading was a struggle, sending them home with a book (and expecting them to read it) would have set them up for a miserable time over the holidays, and we want to foster positive connections to reading, not obligation and stress. If any child, or parent, asked for a book to take home over the holidays then we would happily let them take one of their choosing, but there was no obligation regarding reading it.

Children whose parents are bothered about reading will either have books available at home or will facilitate their child accessing books. Those whose parents aren't bothered won't, but then they are equally as unlikely to then be bothered to spend time reading a book song home from school with their child anyway, so just sending a book home wouldn't mean it was actually read.

Our school has sent books home 🤷🏼‍♀️

Meh couldn’t get to bothered over it

Libraries are still open.

Our school sent them home plus lots of books on Xmas list.

Most schools do... We do and my son's does. To be honest, you could always pop into a local library?

Have you any idea what it's like in schools at the moment? And yet another school bashing thread.