to wonder why school discourages pre-school reading

[katiestar]

I started teaching my 3 eldest DCs to read as soon as they were at a stage to be able to do it.
Recently I went to a literacy evenoing at the school where a literacy expert spoke and she told us not to teach children to read but to leave it to the experts and just to 'enjoy the fruits of the school's labours' by enjoying listening to our DCs read to us.(I found this immensely annoying because I believe it is all the tedious practising of Biff and Chip crap which is actually what taeches them -not what they do at school )
The infants teacher achoed this and said don't try and teach them at home before they start school.
Well actually I believe that the sooner a child can read the better- reading expands the mind , gives huge amounts of pleasure and is a life skill and am hearing my DC4 aged 4 to raed every day (which she is happy to do).
Why are the school saying this ?Also libraries don't provide any books for real beginner readers either .Why is this ?

My contribution to this thread is theoretical and limited as daughter is not yet 2, but ... I have never really "bought" this argument that you mustn't do differently to the school because of confusion. Surely if my child learns to read then there won't be any confusion? it's people who can't read that get confused over reading.

Same analogy with maths - if my child can do long division then the method is unimportant.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I do sometimes feel that parents (and children) are asked to make a lot of sacrifices in the interests of "conformity" (and an easier life for primary school teachers).

I fully intend to teach my child to read as soon as she shows sufficient interest in doing so and my choice of method will be guided solely by how soon it will allow her to pick up a book of her choice and read it with understanding and enjoyment.

Am I wrong?

I haven't read the thread.

I think it's because a child who can already read well is rather a problem. They start on "higher" books and they need to be kept occupied so they don't get bored during the abc stuff.

They need parents to teach the children to read anyway, once school starts as there aren't enough staff with enough time to listen to them during the day.

I don't think there is any other reason.

I wouldn't press a child to read who didn't want to before school but this sounds different anyway.

whats g and t register?

I think several years ago I would have joined this thread with a 'yes, gosh , whats the harm' but I am a bit older now.
I have a friend who goes to bed crying and has nightmares that the other children will catch her up. I sat with the mother of one of DDs nursery friends as she barked "sit down, read your name, look, read it!" and I have attended at least three pre school evenings where mums have stood up and proclaimed how ell their child is doing at reading and asked if they will be placed in sets and allowed to move ahead of the 'other children'.

My eldest DS1 wanted to read and seemed to just absorb it. Ds2 didn't. DD always just wanted to have a go at the writing thing.

But I think the teachers are trying to speak to the pushy mums and the well intentioned but anxious mums and get everyone to unclench.
I suspect that if they get children who can read that is fine. If they get children who can't read that is fine too. But a child who has learnt to hate reading and now has to start with a new method is probably very time consuming.
Equally a very nice pre-prep teacher once
discussed with me in somewhat rueful terms the number of children who turned up with some reading skills but unable to go to the toilet, unable to pull up their socks and unable to put their own coats on.

If you child is interested and you are helping them with a natural love of books then great.Seriously great. I suspect the teachers are not talikng to you

But let us not pretend for a moment that there are not parents who push their children through all sorts of well-intentioned motives and who genuinely believe if they get their kid to ORT level 4 before school starts then they will have achieved something positive - rather than the opposite

I don't think it's necessarily pushy to have a reading child by four or nearly five.

But agree pag that putting on coats and doing up shoes and all that stuff is SO settling for a child.

It's not the reading before school that worries me but the teaching. My son was reading before school and a free reader before the end of rec but I did absolutely bugger all to make this happen. My other 2 are very similar. I simply went over the sounds correctly once or twice when asked and as a book lover have read masses of lovely books to them all.

The worry with the teaching is how it's done,great if you know what you're doing, are patient etc. Sadly not all parents know what they're doing,aren't patient etc. I had several kids over the years with well meaning parents who hadn't taught their kids correctly and had taken any joy out of reading their kids once had. They were very reluctant readers and several struggled.

I think pre-school readers just do it, they don't need to be taught. No 3 or 4 year old NEEDS to learn to read before school,great if they can but they don't need to. If they're early readers they do it naturally, if they're being taught at 3 they simply aren't ready. I never had to teach my son at all.

My son didn't gain anything from reading early. I read him masses of books that expanded his mind,give him pleasure and still do. He was getting that regardless of being able to read. Great he can read anything he wants to- woopy do-he is still the same boy in school absorbing the same things. All his class mates will be the same in the next few months so what's the big deal or hurry?

The most important thing is the fact he loves books. He said just yesterday"mummy I love books better than anything"that made me more proud than his reading ability. It will stand him in good stead for the rest of his life and will keep him on his journey as a free reader as the more you love books,the more you read,the more you keep your reading skills well oiled. I did that. Instead of killing any desire to read I gave him a love of books for life

MIFLAW I wouldn't say you were wrong but perhaps a little naive. I once witnessed an 8 year old sobbing as his dad shouted at him because he wasn't doing his sums "right". His dad was trying to impose "his" method, whilst his son had got to grips with the school's. This was obviously an extreme case but there are studies that suggest that children excel emotionally (not just academically) if there is harmony in the technical teaching methods.

Unless you are going to home school it is important that you find out how your primary school tackles the basics (and they often all do it differently - I am entirely befuddled by the bear words scheme my DD's best friend uses!) I don't think this is a scarifice - I think it helps your children see education as a holistic thing that is not just confined to school.

Forgot to say I think 3 and 4 year olds shouldn't be experiencing forced teaching of any kind,struggling to master skills is too much for such young self esteem.

They should be playing, enjoying life and experiencing the world in a care free way.

Other countries formally teach children far later and have far better literacy levels.

My DM taught me to read at 3 (summer born so went to school at 4)

I distinctly remember being bored to tears in reception as all the other children learnt letter sounds

oh sherby - me too

I had loads of big sisters who taught me all sorts of stuff. I very clearly remember my teacher in my first school making me stand on a desk for trying to help my friend with her sums and .

"look at Miss Pagwatch. She thinks she is so much better than all of you ..."

I do think things are different now, especially in areas with high pre-school attendance. All of the children from DD's nursery are starting school able to read a little. We do live in yummy mummy ville so the recetion class DD will go into is estimated to have 80% of the children who are starting reading at some level. This reassures me that she won't be made to do letter sounds.

I do know I sound like the worst kind of middle-class pushy parent. I am blaming teacher anxiety combined with precocious pre-schooler! She loves it though, so I will do all I can to help her develop - even for the selfish reason that soon she will be able to read those blasted Apple Tree Farm books to herself!!

i learnt to read as a combination of following the words when being read to and reading my older sisters' books. i was 3 when i started.
my mum got called into school by my teacher because i refused to join in when the other kids were doing the phonemes. (my mum sided with me) and after that i was left to get on with it.
i think i read every book in the school library and i loved it.
now i work in a bookshop and regularly get asked advice on this - i still point them to the ladybird key words because most of our words do not follow the phonics rules! but so far my favourite one is letterland - i finally understand phonics because of that!
there's no harm in the child learning to read before going to school as long as the school recognises the fact and allows them to read at their own level in the classroom.

I may live to regret this remark but I cannot EVER imagine being in a situation where I would shout at a child for not getting academic work "right".

Poor boy.

As for poor Pagwatch's teacher - I think I'd be visiting the school and having words ...

I know - it was really upsetting to watch. But, I have been known to get frustrated with DD's writing in birthday cards (not my proudest moment) so maybe it comes to us all, though hopefully not that extreme!

I think it's reasonable to be cross with a child for not trying.

Does that give us a sufficient get out clause?

Milamae -Out of interest what does teaching them to read incorrectly actually mean?
My DCs have learned by memeorising books and then matching the words they hear to the words on the page and then sometimes guessing at unfamiliar words by their initial letter and context.Progressing naturally to to sounding words out .
I am not sure reading is something that is taught as much as learned IYSWIM.

I think there is some confusion as to why reading is regarded as school domain anyway.Everybody has to read words everyday of their lives for very mundane non-academic things.
School don't tell you not to teach football or tennis incase you don't follow the same method,Why reading which is far more essential to everyday life ?

That was how mine learnt along with memory of words(ds has an amazing memory).

I found with some of my kids their parents had sometimes taught them letter names( which they could recite beautifully and focused on far too much )and sometimes the phonics with a nice juicy 'u' on the end of several sounds. Both often really needlessly hindered them to sound out. It dragged the whole process out far too long and affected confidence.

Phonics isn't the be all and end all of reading but it is very important and needs to be taught properly.

Interesting that a lot of the people who have taught their children to read before school are in education..

The teacher in a local primary school admitted that in our area, reception year is basically a repeat of what most kids have already learned in pre-school.

I'm not in education. We just like reading.

My DS can read (is 4.9 and starting reception in September). His nursery (Early Years Learning and all that stuff) did some basic phonics with him, his dad did a bit more but he basically taught himself. I would be very interested to know how the more beancountery educationalists think you can stop a child learning to read when the child wants to do so.

They can certainly stop them being interested, by making them read books they find too easy and boring, because that's what the class is on, or not letting them read books "because then what will he read in Y1?" and so on.

I mean, not all teachers. But they are so hard pressed. It must be hard dealing with a wide range of ability, and the NC squashes it all to a certain level.