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.

To the people saying you can just pop to the library... not in my county you can't. There's only large libraries left and even those are limited hours and designed more to be community hubs with training and activities (that generate money/grant funding) rather than focusing on promoting literacy.

How many books do you have in your house?

A school I worked at gathered reading books in for the holidays as they tended to be lost over the holidays and many were never returned to the school.

Go to the library 📚 if you want books. Leave the poor teachers alone.

@BluebellsGreenbells

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.

This. I’m a teacher and I spend so much time planning lessons and posting homework online and printing things out for kids only for the most disengaged to constantly not do the work/destroy the books/damage the resources/dodge homework. I know if I sent reading books home with those kids (I don’t because I’m secondary) they wouldn’t get read and might even be lost or damaged. There are books at the library and charity shops but the problem isn’t really the books for those children you’re talking about, it’s the attitude to reading and learning. It’s difficult and I spend a lot of time thinking about how to tackle the problem. I try and get my kids to do some reading in form time every day with books they have chosen and many of them refuse and would rather sit there in defiant silence than look at a book. I don’t really know what the answer is.

OP, I suspect that any families with no books/library in the home are the same families who wouldn't bother reading school books if they were sent home. Free or cheap access to books is widely available – it's not availability that's the problem. It's deeper than that – chaotic households, parents who can't read, etc.

Personally I enjoy the break over the holidays from 'having' to get DC to read out loud from set books. When they were little I would just enjoy reading to/with them and now they're older they please themselves what they read.

Sometimes a break from something is a good thing.

The reason our children haven’t got reading books is that half our staff went off with covid.
Brought in by children whose entire families had covid, except the child who hadn’t had a positive lateral flow. Surprise surprise these children DID have covid, passed it on to staff.
So on half the staff we have supervised children, done calendars, Christmas cards, Christmas parties, Christmas decorations, Christmas dinner, zoom assemblies, Christmas jumper day, handing out Christmas cards and all the other tat that primary age children love to do at Christmas, and that lots of parents would complain if they didn’t receive - ON TOP of assessments, English, maths and topic, as well as safeguarding, being social workers, doctors, parents, hairdressers, cleaners and the myriad of other jobs being a teacher entails.
So apologies our reading books didn’t get sent out, perhaps Santa might bring your child a book.
And I now have covid for Christmas, so that’s an extra bonus.

Assuming the school have suitable books, and indeed were open and not having some classes closed because of Covid, then yes.

Wots rong wiv T.V?

We haven't had books sent home since the end of ks1, we have to buy the reading list at the beginning of the year.

Maybe the PTA could arrange an end of term book swap? Bring along one you’ve read (or don’t… not any option for everyone) and take one home to keep.

I am a teacher and I am surprised no books get sent home over holidays. I'm surprised because this sounds like the usual thing at your kids school rather than covid related. I teach lower key stage 2 so I'll be honest I did ensure all kids had the chance to choose a new book, this was easy though because they are old enough to go and get the book themselves, they know their reading stage and can be trusted to put the old one back and choose a new one. No real effort needed from me. However with younger I wouldn't have managed we have two staff just in our yr grp who have been off with covid and the staff as a whole have taken a hit. I have now tested positive for covid and isolating until the 27th, sucks to be a teacher at the moment.
I appreciate the pp who sounded frustrated that kids have been in whose families have covid and I totally agree, as it's why I now have covid. But it's not their fault it is the government who deem it fine for pupils to come into school, when there is covid in their houses. I've even heard of parents being fined for keeping their kids at home and isolating when the adult has it!
The government as ever has a huge amount to answer for and has caused the situation we all find ourselves in.

Buy your children books and/or join the local library.

Why should it be up to the school?

Usually children have to help themselves to books to take home. With no budget for general TAs and working alone all day teachers don't have time to go searching through bookbags.

I hate school sending books home. We have loads of our own and the school ones often get misplaced until I search for the buggers. They now want to charge a fiver if they don't get returned without telling you it's missing 1st too, utter bollocks!!

I think YABU. We had books assigned to read over term breaks and holidays complete with having to write a book report to hand in on first day back at school. I absolutely hated this as the books were always some stupid boring “classic” children’s book. I do love to read and hated having to force myself through books about Dick Whittington and his stupid cat, or the prince and the pauper fuckery. I’d have to force myself to do the school book and write an arse licking report before I could dive back into reading about dragons or spaceships.

My DD hasn't had any reading books for years. They're all online now and she doesn't like it that way. She does bring home library books though but she picks them.

On the whole school reading books aren’t going to encourage a love of reading. They are great for helping develop the reading skills but the love of reading comes from elsewhere.

Perhaps you could talk to the school about creating some sort of book exchange system to help those with no access to books?

If your kid is a keen reader read a book that’s not from school. It’s not like they’re not readily available

I was surprised for all the same reasons as you OP. DC1 has just started reception so I don't know what would have happened in normal times but we were very fortunate for covid not to have impacted last few weeks of term much so I want to say that the norm is not sending them home.

We go library regularly so just picked up a few extra for holidays to make up for it. Definitely reading at much slower pace over the break but did not want to stop completely as we were in a good rhythm and progressing really well.

We didn't allow reading books to go home during the Christmas and Easter holidays as only half of them would be brought back and it was costing the school a fortune to replace them.

We don’t have enough books to send more than one home at a time

Should have added out sucks to be anyone right now as cases are out of control

@MyCatEatsPrawnCrackers

We didn't allow reading books to go home during the Christmas and Easter holidays as only half of them would be brought back and it was costing the school a fortune to replace them.

That's such a sad reason. Our school charges parents for lost books, but appreciate this might not work in a deprived area.

OP, I agree with you. We always make sure our children have school reading books for the holidays - and children chose their own books (within reading bands), plus a non fiction of their choice which could be beyond their reading level, but can be read with a parent. So important for children to be able to chose their own books.