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?

That is a huge issue, it explains a lot about the literacy threads I read on here. It is very concerning as that is a very cheap spend for a huge payout.

Miss. Little stripitout has a kindle, i read books on my kindle fire tablet can i bring that in?
Miss can i bring my ipad in? , i read books on that.
Miss I can't find my ipad, I'm sure I left it here. Someone must have taken it.

.....
That's why there's a blanket ban.

Miss, X has got my kindle-it’s mine. After CT spending her whole lunchtime investigating whose kindle it is, what the password is, what identifying features it has etc etc, the kindle is finally returned to its rightful owner. 9pm, ‘Miss’ gets a livid email from the owner’s mum cc-ing in all of SLT, saying that in the period of being with X, 10 very rude books have been purchased which Y has read the interesting parts of.

waterford county but maybe the Waterford city one is open on a Saturday I don’t know.

On further investigation the Waterford city one is open on Saturday yes ☺️ only 15/20mins away do not too bad if needed!

Charity shops easier than library. Our library is only open twice a week 10-2, and even then it’s appointment only. We have never been.

Charity shops kids books are often 50p. I’m not even in uk so foreign language in local shops, so for English I just stock up in charity shops on annual visit and it covered most our books for the year, with just a few Amazon top ups. I just return old ones to charity or other friends with younger children when we have finished.

So I would just go to charity shop and get a supply for school

This is one of those cases where what works for you and you daughter just doesn't work when multiplied across 30 children. This is one of the problems with life these days that everyone is focussed on themselves and not willing to consider the bigger picture.

Who says the school library "is crap?"
Have you checked this out for yourself or are you taking your child's word for it?

😅 sure all libraries are identical - I was using your 20 as an example

Mainly glad my DC go to a school where I don’t have to assume stuff will get nicked / damaged by other DC, and the teachers would prefer reading happens than a moral panic over the format

There must be a local issue because there is a union and council agreement. I have noticed a lot of recruitment advertising on public jobs for libraries so hopefully it will return to typical opening hours

It's nothing to do with morals😂😂. It's to do with how learning tales place differently on different formats.

Digital is a wonderful accessible friendly format for plenty of kinetic learning. Reading is a different skill. The sensory addition of a book helps reinforce a behaviour the images being on a page is taken in differently by our brain. Our recall is likely to be greatly improved.

It also as others have pointed out ensures the teacher can easily see how the learners are getting on. The reality is ridiculous to expect a teacher to supervise 30 individual devices that are not centrally controlled like class iPads

There's no moral issue

Well it’s pretty clear neither of you have any exposure to a kids kindle account

You assume that all parents set up their children's devices with adequate parental controls.

I'd say that's a pretty naive and unrealistic assumption, given the number of parents here on MN who say they allow their children to have age-restricted apps when they are several years below the required age, and the number of children who manage to make online purchases using a parent's credit or debit card.

I would echo other posters and get a range of books from a charity shop.
Limiting digital devices in my view is better. Kids eyes are on screens all the time and the more time off them the better. The increase in screen time in recent years has had an impact on kids sight and the development of myopia.

Setting up a Kindle Fire is quite hard so your child can do educational stuff but not get marketed to is quite a challenge ime. In my opinion, they have deliberately made it so.

I know a more basic device is available but then DC "needs" a tablet as well.

Makes me nostalgic for the days of the Penguin Book Club!

@Stripitout
@Phineyj I assume people are referring to an actual kindle?

A kindle fire is simply a branded tablet with a built in kindle app. So very very different.

But lots of children have a kindle fire or other tablet. So you’re asking schools to say Kindles are ok but other devices aren’t. There’d be so many parents complaining because some children could bring in kindles but other devices were alllowed. Then there’d be other parents complaining e-readers were allowed at all and other parents feeling guilty that couldn’t afford an e-reader etc etc.

It's always been the same at our secondary school too. Our kindles are simply the e-readers but the teachers can't be checking every single one every day. Also more likely to get damaged than a book. Same issue with watches now. No smart watches allowed, no phones, no Bluetooth AirPods etc, they all have to go in a school specified lockable pouch.

How often does your child have to read at school? My child just has a school reading book that lives in her bag and she produces when required at school.

Then what she is actually reading we keep at home.

Also there is a school library kids can use at lunch time,

Well, it’s a 3 mile walk across farmland footpaths that are frequently impassable in the winter, or a similar length cycle that has a couple of miles on a single track road with poor visibility. As a confident cyclist I’ll happily cycle but wouldn’t let a primary child cycle. Nor would I let a child walk the footpath by themselves, either.

As a child during the summer holidays I would walk to the library get out 5 books - by the next day I went back and swapped them for a new 5 books as Id finished them

A truely avid reader is very unlikely to only read 20 books in a week (hence why kindles work amazingly

I am on the side of the school, but was concerned that people were conflating kindle with kindle fire

I mean presumably you'd be pissed off if the kindle got stood on, lost, orotherwise broken? And if your child brings one, then the other 29 (or more) children in the class also get to bring one? You can't imagine why that's a problem for school staff?

A truely avid reader is very unlikely to only read 20 books in a week (hence why kindles work amazingly

But she only needs to have an actual book for reading time at school. She won't get through 20 books in a week in that time. At home she can use her Kindle.

(And I don't see how even the most avid reader can get through twenty books in a week, unless they are doing nothing except read, and the books aren't very long or challenging.)

@cantkeepawayforever Couldn't agree more.

I personally think there is a difference reading a book on a kindle. I love both but I've noticed I find it harder work to read a real book lately. I think a kindle could be OK for year 5/6 but I think the physical act of turning the pages and having the book as an object to cherish is important in this age of technology, especially for younger children. If I had read all my books on a kindle as a child I wouldn't have my collection of much loved books now.

It also does put pressure on parents to buy a kindle when their child was happy with paper books before.

I agree. Although I read a lot, I've given up on Kindle as it tempts me to skim. I also really, really hate being told "27 readers have underlined this" or "57 minutes left to read this book" business. It's not a competition!