School providing e-books and no paper books for Reception

[Mummyoply]

My DS is in reception year and the school provide his reading books via an app and ask that children read them on an electronic device, iPad, phone or e-reader.

I have been purchasing the books, if the library don't have them (which they usually don't). This is too costly and also causes a delay, as by the time we get the book my DS has been moved on to another.

I guess my AIBU is, AIBU to refuse to allow him to read on a device and just provide books of the same level (from the library) so he can read a real book? I have emailed the school and message his teacher directly but had no response from either. I've even drawn a blank from the PTA.

Many jobs involve looking at a screen all day and the government wants to push STEM subjects as they lead to better paid jobs in the future, so in a way they are being trained to tolerate a lot of screen time which may benefit them in the long run. I don't particularly like it either but if that is the form the future economy takes then maybe it has it's pluses.

You are not being unreasonable. Please do what’s best for your child. Reading books from electronic screen is NOT best for this age

Some schools share teachers, especially if in a Trust, so may have a teacher beaming into a number of schools at a time. Again it is mainly to do with funding, but also sharing expertise.

How big a school is it @Mummyoply?

[quote Nix32]@MintJulia It's not that easy. I have approximately 30 books that the children might read in one term - which one I give them depends on their progress, I wouldn't be able to tell you in advance.[/quote]
Yes I do completely understand that, in the same way that I hope my DS's teacher understands that I can't magic a book up in 24hrs, even if I buy it, delivery will still take a few days at least. I did buy his first few books and he'd moved on within days and by the time we got the book he'd jumped 2 ahead.........

@HenceThus this exactly

@ThunderSnowDrop

Tbh I would complain using reasons mentioned in previous posts. However I'd do what was asked but at the minimum level. Longer term I'd just focus on reading being something done primarily outside of school with real books as tbh the school books and methods in our experience were not that engaging.

Thank you, I was trying to avoid complaining officially but I may have to if I keep getting ignored by the school

I think you are making a bigger issue of it than it needs to be. If this is the way the school has decided to do reading books, and you can't get the hard copy easily I don't know what else you can do?

It's just the school reading books, not all books.

You can still enjoy proper books at home and from the library.

And yes I think you would be unreasonable to refuse to engage with e-reading for this purpose.

@PAFMO

I know screens are bad, I'm a teacher. But e-readers aren't screens in the computer-screen way. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer books. But e-readers are a great leveller as books are far more affordable for everyone. I'd prefer some of our parents limit screen time by removing the Xbox or Nintendo rather than the Kindle tbh.

We don't have screens at home, a very old iPad that we occasionally use to find a clip of something but no consoles etc. I have a phone (that I use for mumsnet! ) and that's it. I know screens will come but I will avoid them for as long as I can due to the many valid reasons already mentioned

School reading books were always a very small part of the books we read at home with DC

Out of sheer curiosity, what happens if the family in question simply doesn't have screens at home at all or if, say, the only screens the parents have are phones which they need for work? Would the school provide them?

And what if they are only phones? It seems really undesirable for children to be trying to practise reading from a tiny screen.

@OfstedOffred It's a DFE approved provider which is having a very positive impact on the children. The 3 reading sessions have three different purposes, it's not about learning the book by rote. Please don't discredit something without knowing the details. The vast majority of my time in school is spent teaching phonics and reading; to have it dismissed is really demoralising.

@toomuchlaundry

Why did you contact the PTA?

I assume it is to do with budgets.

Some of our local schools have had their book budgets cut to zero as they were in deficit budget. Complain to your MP

The schools Headteacher attends the PTA meetings and my role is to apply for funding via grants/corporate funding and so I took my idea of funding to purchase real books to the Headteacher via this platform as I wasn't getting a reply any other way.

Contacting local MP is a good idea, I'll see if I can get a response from the school first. I'd rather keep a good relationship with them if possible.

@PAFMO

I know screens are bad, I'm a teacher. But e-readers aren't screens in the computer-screen way. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer books. But e-readers are a great leveller as books are far more affordable for everyone. I'd prefer some of our parents limit screen time by removing the Xbox or Nintendo rather than the Kindle tbh.

I know I may have been lucky, but when my children were learning to read there was no cost to any parent as ordinary books were lent by the school. I remember (as I was a secondary school governor at the time) noticing that the school was actually having to spend more on exam fees than it did on textbooks.

@GreenNewDealNow

Many jobs involve looking at a screen all day and the government wants to push STEM subjects as they lead to better paid jobs in the future, so in a way they are being trained to tolerate a lot of screen time which may benefit them in the long run. I don't particularly like it either but if that is the form the future economy takes then maybe it has it's pluses.

He's 4years old.......

@Mummyoply contacting MP isn’t to complain about the school, but you complain about Government funding for schools.

Did you see my link to the Foyles grant. I know some local schools that have been successful in applications for this grant

Does the school website have copies of the Governor meetings minutes on it. Might show discussion about this decision especially around budget constraints

@okthx

You are not being unreasonable. Please do what’s best for your child. Reading books from electronic screen is NOT best for this age

[quote toomuchlaundry]@Mummyoply contacting MP isn’t to complain about the school, but you complain about Government funding for schools.

Did you see my link to the Foyles grant. I know some local schools that have been successful in applications for this grant

Does the school website have copies of the Governor meetings minutes on it. Might show discussion about this decision especially around budget constraints[/quote]

The schools Headteacher attends the PTA meetings and my role is to apply for funding via grants/corporate funding and so I took my idea of funding to purchase real books to the Headteacher via this platform as I wasn't getting a reply any other way. Perfectly acceptable to use the PTA platform in this capacity.

Yes the school does post governors meeting minutes of their website, they have never discussed this topic and instead spend a lot of time tweaking the schools ethos and values.................

@DePfeffoff

Out of sheer curiosity, what happens if the family in question simply doesn't have screens at home at all or if, say, the only screens the parents have are phones which they need for work? Would the school provide them?

And what if they are only phones? It seems really undesirable for children to be trying to practise reading from a tiny screen.

The school my DS goes to have repeatedly told parents not to 'worry' if they don't have an e-reader or tablet because everyone has a phone so your child can just read on that!

YABU

You will find most things are taught on screens. They’ll have maths work set on screens too.
It’s 2022 and that is just the way life is now.

I love a proper book and I would encourage getting him actual books too but you need to either homeschool and teach in a way that you believe is more effective or go along with what the rest of the school does and accept the world has changed since you’ve been in school.

To be fair governors are strategic not operational so the reading scheme may not come up in meetings.

Is this a standalone school or part of an Academy Trust?

Have you joined the PTA to help with the fundraising?

@AngelicaElizaAndPeggy

This is to ensure that children are reading the exactly correct books op. 'fidelity to the scheme' is the new buzzphrase in phonics pedagogy right now. We've had to bin loads of books that can no longer be sent home since they are older and therefore do not represent 'fidelity to the scheme'. I teach reception and, honestly, the new phonics scheme has been the absolute bane of our lives this year and this issue is one of the massive reasons why. I'm sorry that you haven't heard back from your school but you can bet your bottom dollar they will agree with you. Reading an e-book is not right. Could you ask for a supplementary sharing book instead? One that is just for sharing with a grown up for pleasure?

I could have written this message word for word!

We discussed, and dismissed, ebooks, because it was an extra cost on top of the rest of the scheme and there was no way we weren't going to buy 'real' books.

I'm a governor and our school is going to go this way. Every lost or damaged book is £4.00 to replace and the school just can't afford it. I've been shocked at how limited their budgets are full stop.

We aren't in a deprived area, but there are some families that would struggle to pay for lost books so it's easier to roll out e books all round.

As a pp said, they will have already read said book 3 times and should be 90% fluent, so it's really for a final read through with you.

Personally, I would use the ebook offer for the above and supplement with other reading level appropriate material - The usborne reading book sets are brilliant.

If our school do this I will try get pdfs of the books and print them myself. I do this with DS now so his used to having books printed out to read. I sometimes laminate them if he really enjoys the story. He won't be reading from a device don't want him using devices so young.

I'd prefer proper books, but I also want my children's school to be well resourced and if it means money isn't wasted replacing books, or that the books are better quality then I wouldn't mind.

It's substance over style in my opinion. I buy plenty of books for my children and we use the library all the time, so it's not as if they don't know what a real book is.