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.

@Creamegg84

Our school started to do this during covid. I have kids in y3 and Y6. For the past 12 months they have all been given their own ipad and they do ALL of their work and reading on there. It's good that it saves paper etc but parents were not consulted about this at all. The children are now on screens for most of the school day, plus whatever they go on at home. There has not been a good response by parents, and most (myself included) have refused to read the ebooks. They sent out letters every week trying to force us to do it. I think they have given up now and just accepted that parents aren't happy about it. I know many people expressed their approval at the parent consultations.

Yes of course it saves paper. But making the devices ( that normally become obsolete after a few years) uses a lot of resources and there is a lot of waste when people upgrade to the next version. They also need to be charged constantly.

Paper is, after all, a very recyclable and renewable resource.

@Gizacluethen

It's an objection to the use of technology

Then you're just going to hold your child back. We live in an age of technology. It's an important thing to learn how to use and most careers will require skills in it. Most of his subjects will require skills in it. He'll be held back in every subject at school and his entire life until he starts learning to use technology.

I find it really quite funny that people object to ereading because their kids get enough screen watching TV and playing video games. It's like saying you can't afford rent because your TV subscription costs too much. Prioritise. And ereading isn't even the same thing as video games.

You're making a rod for your own back, and it's not the schools responsibility to pander to your nonsensical refusal to let your kid use an ereader.

Ha ha ha

@BlingLoving

I honestly can't understand why everyone is so het about this. The important thing is that the children are READING. Reading books sent home from school is what, 10 minutes a day? That much "screen time" is not going to do them any harm and, if you use a kindle or similar it isn't even the same as actual screen time. One of the issues with reading on a screen is that there's less blinking etc, but in my experience, with children's books, they interact with them very similarly to how they do with real books.

I really really can't get worked up about this. Sometimes I like to imagine the outrage of scholars as scrolls replaced books ... "Oooh, it's not the same if you only have to use one hand... where's the dexterity that you need for a scroll.... if it's on a page it's too easy for your head to stay still....."

My DC didn't get on with reading on a screen til nearer 9/10. I would have struggled if there was an expectation to read on a screen even 10 minutes a day. And of course as they get older it becomes much more than 10 minutes a day.

[quote toomuchlaundry]@MangyInseam they are not teaching them to memorise words, they are teaching them phonics. But buying books to fit the phonics scheme is expensive, and most schools are struggling to replenish their libraries due to funding[/quote]
It can be expensive however - most libraries also have a fair number of these books. They don't have to be the exact same books as the ones used in class - unless what they are really doing is word memorization.

With good phonics instruction children should actually be able to read simple, real books from fairly early on, buddy reading with a parent if not alone. That's one of the big advantages of phonics, you don't have to have such emphasis on controlling exactly what reading materials they use.

It certainly stinks for parents without the time or resources to access books, even from the library, but it might be an option for the OP.

Do the tech executives educate their children this way?
Last I heard it was no tech or lo tech for the early years modern day mini-aristocrats.

No, they absolutely don't, you are right, many won't allow their kids to use it at all. Much less at school.

And the research supports that. There are no real advantages to having computer tech in learning before, approximately, secondary education.

Sod that, their eyesight will be damaged.

@UsernameInTheTown

Sod that, their eyesight will be damaged.

From reading one book on an ereader?

But it's not one book on an e-reader, it's all school reading books on iPads, phones, laptops - this is what the school are promoting. The school have never actually mentioned e-readers and promote reading on iPads and phones.........

Sod that, their eyesight will be damaged.

My eyesight was great. Until after I studied for my finals. With paper books.

Looks as if e-readers (unlike computer screens) are not necessarily any worse for your eyes than paper books link from eye clinic

@Mummyoply

But it's not one book on an e-reader, it's all school reading books on iPads, phones, laptops - this is what the school are promoting. The school have never actually mentioned e-readers and promote reading on iPads and phones.........

Which equates to 10 minutes a day reading on a screen, 5-7 days a week.

If your kid has an eye condition then an e-reader will be hugely beneficial for them. You can change fonts, background colour, you can markup to search for unfamiliar words, add notes, link to further reading, make the text bigger or smaller… if I was you I’d drop the screen time for the Xbox for the e-reader.

[quote Nix32]@OfstedOffred Not mrsz, but . . . English does conform to the structure of phonics. It's simply a series of codes that you need to be able to crack. The issue comes with the complexity of the code. All words are decodable, but you need to know and understand the code. How else do you approach new or complicated longer words other than by using your knowledge of phonics?[/quote]
If all words are decodable why do DC have to learn 'tricky words'?

@SkyrocketAway

I have never understood people who claim that English reading isn't phonetic.

It is phonetic, in that it isn't ideographic, but it's not truly phonetic in the sense that every word is decodable, so if you know "ea" makes and "ee" sound, you should be able to decode words with it in, and yet you get "I read it once, I will read it again".

"The bandage was wound round the wound."

"After seeing the tear in the clothes, I shed a tear"

The same combination of letters don't always make the same sound and it doesn't really make sense. Why is tomb pronounced completely differently to bomb? It doesn't make sense, simply looking at the letters.

"Poem" should be pronounced like "pohm" if you know that "oe" makes an "oh" sound, as in "toe".

That's what I think is meant when people say it's not phonetic, because that is the way many non-linguists understand and use the term.

Of course, what they mean, is the orthography of the language is not phonemic.

I agree with this. And having learnt Spanish where letters have only one sound - it is so much easier!

@Fairislefandango

Looks as if e-readers (unlike computer screens) are not necessarily any worse for your eyes than paper books link from eye clinic

I would agree with that. However, the online reading programme my DD's school used could not be accessed on a Kindle e-reader. Can many/any of them?

Isn't this another way some vulnerable/poor DC will be disadvantaged? They are more likely not to have an e-reader to access these books. They are also less likely to have access to real books, especially if the local library has been shut down.

@UndertheCedartree

Isn't this another way some vulnerable/poor DC will be disadvantaged? They are more likely not to have an e-reader to access these books. They are also less likely to have access to real books, especially if the local library has been shut down.

In Scotland there’s a campaign running to provide all school age children with their own iPad. Some Edinburgh schools have done it, Falkirk has done it for p6-s6 and I think some schools in fife are the same.

@UndertheCedartree

Tricky words are simply useful words in sentence building where the children haven't learnt the phonic sounds yet. Once they do learn the appropriate sounds, the words are no longer tricky!

These words are used in an attempt to make the books slightly less repetitive than they are!

[quote spanieleyes]@UndertheCedartree

Tricky words are simply useful words in sentence building where the children haven't learnt the phonic sounds yet. Once they do learn the appropriate sounds, the words are no longer tricky!

These words are used in an attempt to make the books slightly less repetitive than they are![/quote]
This is true of some 'tricky' words eg me, but this isn't true across the board. Beautiful isn't decode-able from any of the graphemes my DCs' school's scheme teaches.

This is the alphabetic code we use with our school phonics scheme.

The tricky words we teach are more that they are commonly used, introduced before the phonics code in the word has been taught in the sequence. This is because many are used so often and needed in even the most basic of story books for early readers.

So the first 'tricky words' we teach, along with phase 2 of phonics are: I, the, to, go, into, no

@SkankingMopoke

We teach eau as a way of representing the /yoo/ sound, so along with ue and ew and eu etc but I agree, it's not a common way of representing the sound!

spanieleyes And how does that work out when the child then meets words such as bureaucrat or plateau?
The poem 'The Chaos' illustrates the point perfectly.

Because some graphemes represent more than one sound so eau can either be yoo or oa/o- children become quite used to the concept. They start by learning the most common phoneme/grapheme correspondences and then begin to add the alternatives to their knowledge bank. They won't know which alternative is correct without practise and support but they do in the end.

I’m with you op, I would have been very unhappy at this.

I have a Kindle myself to minimise clutter but if I read a book a love I have to have a hard copy. My dc also have Kindles but will not use them, they prefer actual books. They are not behind or out of touch or struggling in this brave new world of technology, they just love reading real books. They do their schoolwork, their homework, socialise with their friends and play games on screens. I think books give them a bit of respite. This would be a hill to die on for me.

@LuaDipa

I’m with you op, I would have been very unhappy at this.

I have a Kindle myself to minimise clutter but if I read a book a love I have to have a hard copy. My dc also have Kindles but will not use them, they prefer actual books. They are not behind or out of touch or struggling in this brave new world of technology, they just love reading real books. They do their schoolwork, their homework, socialise with their friends and play games on screens. I think books give them a bit of respite. This would be a hill to die on for me.

But they don’t have to give up their paper books?