Help from teachers or those in the know

[Gemma273]

My 5 year old is in p1 (Scotland) and I don't know if I'm being unreasonable or not but how often should a reading book be getting issued? I genuinely think they've only had about 6 the whole year (August start), it's driving me absolutely bonkers as I feel they are too easy but getting no push to move on. I also feel like I'm the only one helping her, I'm in a fortunate position that I've been able to buy various reading books but what if a parent wasn't able to - what happens then?do they just have to remain on the same level and make no progress. I have asked r.e moving up levels and just keep being told" I'll see where they are at?" 😡

What is the norm please?

Not a teacher but DD is in year 1 in England and gets a new book every day or at least every other day. When they got very samey and easy I wrote a note in the reading record and she got moved up several levels the next day. I wasn’t being pushy, just saying it was harder to get DD to read the books twice - as they request the kids do - when they were so short.

I’m not sure how often the teacher reads with them but there are two TAs and a parent reading volunteer so I think the kids get which a lot of being listened to.

Well you'd go to the library. We do have a load of books at home, but at that age the books last ten minutes, so the library was very useful.

One or two a week in P1. I prefer two for children who are managing well and one for children who are really struggling with sounding out/blending. The teacher's response doesn't sound promising at all...

Which Phonics programme are they using? Do you get other homework? Have you had parents’ night?

@AnneLovesGilbert A new book every day/every other day sounds amazing. I wish we could offer that for the interested kids.

I'm a primary teacher in Scotland. This is definitely not normal. At that stage in my school they would be getting one reading book a week and assessed regularly and moving on through the levels as soon as they are able.

I ask my child every single day if they've been doing reading in class and get told no which infuriates me even more - I get them to read a book morning and night because it appears I'm the only one doing something 🤔 they use big cat phonics(currently on red 2b) and I've bought some of the Ruth Mishkins books and they can read to the turquoise level in them with ease.
Again homework is very sporadic, had hardly any of that either because most of the children lost their jotters - again not my issue so why should my child be penalised. Had parents night October time maybe and a report card just recently that said excelling in all areas.

Sorry this was to AnnaandGilbert - Yip I've done this too and nothing happened, that was one of the I'll assess and see comments.

In my area (Aberdeenshire) a lot of the primaries don't really give homework in P1. The reading situation sounds infuriating though. Do you know what literacy is like higher up the school?

I teach older children so I'm not sure but I would say it depends on the length of the book? If they're chapter books then one a month or so might be about right. But if they're more like picture books or reading scheme books then one or two a week seems more normal.

Not a clue unfortunately, wish I did to see if it was a teacher issue or not.

Reception in england here and we have two reading books each week plus they can bring a book for us to read at home together whenever they like.

I wouldn't worry about homework, just keep reading with her. Dd had a book at week at that age so six seems a little low. I wouldn't put too much on her saying if she's done reading or not at school, children seem to forgot/get muddled about what they've been doing really easily. You could always ask her teacher how often they do it though? Dd used to sometimes say she'd done nothing at school, but I knew for a fact she'd been busy doing loads of different things.

Oh no I get told every single thing so it's definitely not pressured into it. Well I've tried to speak to the teacher since before the easter break but unfortunately I don't have half an hour to stand and wait whilst she speaks to the same parents every day about their childs behaviour 🙄 I waited 20 minutes on Wednesday and then gave up, making it my priority next week before I explode.

Oh I didn't mean you pressured them, I just mean that they are 5 so, from experience, aren't always the most accurate in what they say. If you are reading regularly at home they will make good progress naturally, just be careful not to over do it or it could turn it into a chore and put them off reading in general.

DD’s excellent school didn’t give reading books to take home. Not sure what the logic was. We used the library and bought our own

Aldo’s barely any homework to speak of. End of year 6 SATs were very strong. I was glad tbh

Reception teacher here, we change books whenever the child completes a book, often daily!

Please can you move to Scotland, we would both love you 🤣 we obviously so do lots of reading but it just isn't the same, I'm winging it to be honest.

I teach year 1 and we have a new book each week. The children can also pick a book to take home from our library and change it whenever they want. We focus on key words and they get a new one home when they get it right 3 times. These are checked every day.

Phone the office and ask to make an appointment to see the teacher.

E-mail rather than face to face.
Explain your concerns, and say you’ll escalate if it’s not resolved. What you are describing is nonsense, and needs sorting out.
(Not the homework thing though - P1 shouldn’t get homework outside of reading!)

Thanks I most definitely will be, honestly just feel like because DC has good behaviour and just plods along they are left. Can I ask in the event of me being super thick?what would be a reason for not being moved up?
We've read the book sent home several times and to me doesn't seem to be any issues with reading or pronouncing etc. I've also made key words from the book to ensure illustrations in the book aren't being looked at/ guessing the word and able to read these with ease.

You mention reading and pronounciation, but please also make sure that your DC is understanding the book and can talk about it. Comprehension often falls behind reading ability so make sure you ask their opinions on the story and check that they have understood it fully.

Thanks for this, these are things that I need to know, I hadn't been doing this in the first 2 books given but it does have a checklist type thing at the back and I have been doing this ever since and understanding the book is grand so no issues there - sometimes I wish there was and that would be a reasonable explanation as to why DC not being moved up.

Ours have a book at their level from Mon - Fri and it's expected that they read it at least 3 times (same book). The books are handed out on Mondays and given back into school on Friday.
They also get a reading for pleasure book (story book they choose for a grown up to read with them) once a week.