School and kindles

[Stripitout]

DD 9 has a kindle. Books are generally cheaper , you don’t have to wait to go to the shops or order from Amazon, she has a lot of books and finishes around 1 a week.

They have to take a book to school everyday for reading - school library is crap and she’s read most of her age and older books.

The school will not allow any electronic devices. I’ve explained she can’t take photos, message, go on the internet with it but they will not allow her to take it to school. It means I have to keep buying print copies of books for her to read just at school, if she’s really enjoying a book on her kindle she has to swap and change with a print book for school (I’m not buying duplicate copies)

it seems so short sighted of the school. AIBU?

@cantkeepawayforever describes how these books are often used.

Same in secondary tutor times. I've got 31 year 12s. I need to quickly scan what they're up to. I do let them read on phones (if they're trustworthy) but they are allowed to use phones with teachers' permission.

Under 16s, absolutely not. Small gains for a few individuals against lots of potential problems. Anyone who didn't want to read wouls simply say "the battery's flat Miss".

My own DC is no reader but can always produce a book and has actually read a bit at secondary due to the emphasis they place on it.

Anyway, OP, this is probably not the hill to die on. At least DC likes reading. Maybe anyone stuck for an Xmas gift for her could be asked to take her to a 2nd hand book shop? Could be fun.

Our state primary has iPads, they’re more expensive than Kindles.

Is there a family member nearby who could take her to the library on a Saturday whilst you’re busy?

I know you don't want posts about libraries but... you have a choice. Buy new, buy second hand, or borrow.

Libraries are great - you can usually borrow several books (six at my local library) and you have month to return them - but you can renew online if you aren't ready to return. So it's not like you have to go every week.

Basically you don't want to make the library idea work for you - and that's fine. But it's a choice that you are making. If you'd rather buy new because it's easier for you, that's fine. But if you have an issue with 'keeping track of library books' (paraphrased) then you can't blame the school for not wanting to have the responsibility of making sure every child keeps track of their (much more expensive) kindle.

I’m a teacher, and my school too has set times for children to read in school. We too insist on printed books. The reason given for this decision was nothing to do with potential for loss or damage of expensive equipment but it was based on the educational benefits of reading in print instead of screen-based reading. It’s not my area of educational expertise and I believe the research isn’t wholly conclusive. But research has identified at least some benefits to building children’s literacy, their ability to comprehend complex texts, their ability to use an index and their writing skills, if they read printed books.

As your DD is already an avid reader, maybe she doesn’t need this, but a school will want to apply the same rule to all.

OP any chance the teacher could organise a book swap/loan session for classmates who wanted to exchange books on a loan basis, could enable the whole class to access more titles without buying more ?

Libraries are usually open on Saturday mornings. You could move the cleaning and odd jobs to Sunday and use part of the Saturday to visit the library, bookshops and other interesting destinations with your child. It is reasonable also to take some time for yourself, but how many parents do you think get a whole day to lie on the sofa?

You might as well all stop telling the OP to go to the library because she obviously isn't going to do that.
She's said the library is only open for four hours, her daughter goes to a tutor on Saturday morning and it's not possible to fit the library visit in.
Yet still, post after post saying go to the library.

So that leaves the other options of buying second hand or buying new. OP doesn't seem to want to do that either because she wants to send her child in with a Kindle even though the school have said no.

There are no other options. So what are you going to do OP?

I'm going to mention the library but only to agree with you that's it's an impractical suggestion for all the reasons you've said

A charity shop would be my solution, buy 5 or 6 at a time and take the old ones back every visit

You might not complain to the school if your child's property was damaged but you must know that lots of parents would so totally understandable that devices are banned

@MyOtherCarisAVauxhallZafira, my house is full of books and I have been an avid reader all my life. I also have a kindle. My mother, who is in her eighties and also an avid reader, reads physical books and her kindle, too. It doesn't have to be either/or. I find kindles especially useful when travelling. I can see both points of view, but actually think the school is being short-sighted over this issue. Surely it would be possible for the school to have some sort of vetting system in place to make sure that the books on the kindle were suitable and there could be a form, signed by the parent, to say that bringing a kindle to school is the responsibility of the child to look after it. If it is lost or damaged, the school bears no responsibility. Being allowed to use a kindle ìn school goes far beyond this one child. They have their uses for many children and can be a lifesaver. I have known a dyslexic child who was allowed to take a kindle to school. It made a huge difference to her reading confidence as she could choose the background colour and font to suit her. Similarly, a child with bad vision problems can adapt the font so that it is large enough. However, @Stripitout, there have been good suggestions about obtaining physical books cheaply. Even if you do not have the time to visit to visit your local library on a regular basis, it could be a special activity for school holidays. It is a good idea for your DD to enjoy reading actual books as well as her kindle. School holidays and half terms are also a good time to trawl your local charity shops as you can pick up children's books very cheaply there.

Excellent idea.

My children use the school library for books to read on school - usually non fiction about the solar system or rocks or something! Then they have the books I buy them at home.

Can't she just take randoms from the school.library for school reading time? Try different genre from what she's used to?

Well OP you can’t send a Kindle in for your dd, it’s been explained why. Doesn’t matter if you don’t agree.

so your options - find time on a Saturday every few weeks to go to the library, pay more for paper books, tell your dd she has to pick from the school library books.

I think it might be worth raising with the school the lack of books in the school library. Rather than arranging a book swap, better for the school to appeal to families to donate books in decent quality to the school library. to increase the selection.

a local secondary school set up an Amazon wish list of books and sent the wish list out to all parents in the newsletter. Most books were bought and they also got a number of Amazon gift cards bought for more books. I was surprised but often parents would happily buy books for school if it’s made easy for them to do so. Might be worth emailing your school’s literacy lead and suggesting it.

She said that the library is open for four hours, that her daughter has a tutor until 10am and that it's not close by, and that they have to collect the food shop.

That doesn't mean it's not doable. As I said, it doesn't have to be every week. So it could be once a month they go straight to the library after the tutor (assuming the four hours are in the morning which it sounds like based on it not being close by), borrow enough books to keep her going for a month, get the food shop from a different shop to usual, and the chores get done later or on Sunday. If she wanted to make it work, it absolutely sounds like she could. She doesn't want to. She wants to make it the schools fault/responsibility.

I work in literacy for adults and voluntary in children's school I disagree. We don't encourage them at all.

Digital engagement with text does not produce the same comprehension as has been proven time and time again.

Engagement with physical books is very important and should always been prioritised. My children have kindles but they have hundreds of books also and they engage completely differently with them.

The physical experience brings about sensory experience. The feel, texture, the smell the weight. I fully support my school in encouraging books.

If you have a class WhatsApp group maybe ask if anyone wants to do a book swap

If parents are putting books onto the Kindle, the appropriateness is for them to determine.

So a child downloads something inappropriate. Parents aren't bothered or don't check. Child takes Kindle to school and shows this inappropriate book to another child. That child tells his/her parents. Those parents complain to school because it happened in school hours. Depending on how inappropriate it was, it could actually be a safeguarding isue. Hours of staff time taken up dealing with it.

Surely it would be possible for the school to have some sort of vetting system in place to make sure that the books on the kindle were suitable

Kindles store hundreds of books. Who in the school has time to go through all the books on all the Kindles, looking up the titles they don't know to check their suitability, every time the Kindles are used in school?

Our library lets you borrow 20 books at a time. If the books are only read at school you’d only need to go once a term (with online renewal).

Children spend too much time on electronics as it is.

I agree with you, it's the 21st century and if a child is a reader, I'd be encouraging it whether it's paper or an e reader. But it's probably not worth the fight. These environments rarely manage to poke their heads out from "the rules" so you'll spend less effort just finding a way to provide "school " reading books. Annoying if your daughter is in the middle of a book she's enjoying.

Can you set up or ask school if they can set up a book swap? That way you only have to buy a few books to start with then swap them.

A Kindle is just words. Like a book. The fact that a Kindle is electronic doesn’t change anything. The danger of too much screen time is the addictive nature of things like social media and the fact that computer games/TV programmes provide an instant dopamine hit, leading to reduced concentration spans. The value of reading a book isn’t diminished because the words happen to be on a screen and not on paper.
And your children might spend too much time on electronics, but mine don’t. Bar reading on their Kindle and alongside their extra curriculars and playing out with friends they barely have any screen time.

You don’t have to go to the library every week though do you. Once every 6-8 weeks or so and renew them online in the meantime.

Or just keep buying books. They’re not going to let her bring her kindle. For good reason.

My children spend one hour a day on electronics how is that to much?

Then collecting the food shop

I don’t understand why any busy person would do this as a weekly chore even if it is click and collect. Get it delivered, which will free up time to do whatever (I won’t mention the “L” word).