Am I overreacting, or does this seem a bit stupid?

[unicorn]

Nursery class of 3/4 yr olds.

Teacher handed out some letters to a few 'chosen' parents last week (others weren't allowed to see the letters ffs!)inviting them(about 5 or so) to a meeting.

The basic gist of the meeting is that their kids are deemed 'ready' to be stuck on the education treadmill of book schemes (yep in nursery)...and are being given take home books.

The others... well .. nothing.

Now,this aint really sour grapes, as I am nonplussed that ds isn't being hothoused(!)... what I am fuming about is the underhand way the school has done this.. and the effect it has had on the parents.

It has turned a reasonably 'equal' class into a collection of smug parents (they all collected together after the meeting, and subsequently) who will no doubt think their little jonny is a child genius.

What on earth is the point of this exercise?
and should I be bothered or not?

I reiterate it is more abouyt school-parent communication than the book issue, although that too is open for discussion...

Thoughts?

i agree with everyone - crazy way of going about things. But I also think that the majority of the kids NOT taking a book home is wrong too. Getting into the routine of taking a book home every day is a really good routine to get into as soon as possible - plus if they all have book bags, it's much easier to put an able child on a scheme if they really want to.

Parents at dd's school nursery are expected to buy school book bags, just like the rest of their uniform. Parents change the books daily (and mark the reading record) except on Fridays when all the book bags are collected in, the teacher chooses the books and writes a comment in the records.

I was wondering if the problem at your school is £? School nurseries are not particularly well off and all that paint etc is expensive. We are expected to contribute 50p a week at dd's. If money is a problem, offering fundraising help would be a very good idea. I was going to suggest bookstart, too.

But it does rather sound as if you need a more energetic head teacher who would reiterate how important reading is to all - set the expectation. I've no idea how you go about changing that, but talking to the head about it might be a start!

I still can't get over the idea that any three or four year old pre-school, should be given homework, which is surely what bookbags etc are for. Surely this can wait until reception! The nursery my children attended starts at six months, and is to provide a home like environment for children who's parents are not at home. I wanted and expected them to be mostly having fun there. It's not school! Many think that four and a half / five is too early for starting school. I don't like to read the incredibly boring books that school hands out and I'm very glad I wasn't pushed into doing this years ago. The nursery took the children to our local library, and read to them plenty, but nothing beyond that. But then it was an eight to six nursery, so there wouldn't have been much time for any extra reading after that! Sorry, rant over. Just seems extraordinary to me. Oh and both the school (state) nursery, and the one my two went to (private Montesorri) did have a prospectus - consisting of about two sides of A4 paper, so not much detail possible there!

Perhaps it is just to do with the area and local expectations. Here in South London we have many children for whom English is not a first language and where English in not spoken at home, and there may not be many books in a child's home, so trying to get into the routine of taking books home is fairly key for many nurseries/preschools/playgroups. Presumably other towns don't have the same high percentage of non English speakers and there may be an assumption that the children are encountering books at home? But this is more a comment about whether the setting has a policy on taking books home or not. Unicorn's situation is more about should some children be put onto a reading scheme, and if so, what should the other parents be doing (or what tools should they be provided with).

Unicorn, does your nursery know that there are reading schemes that have starting books with no words or very few words. These schemes provide differenciation for kids across the board- no words, few/basic words, then these increase in fluency of phonological and contexual awareness. Books without words are very valuable for early stages of reading.

When you do meet about the reading policy, I would ask about the language policy as well and how that complements the reading policy if there is one. Kids don't just learn about reading by getting books sent home? Is the teacher teaching the whole class about sounds as well or are the books being sent home just for the benefit of the parents? If so, then all children should get a book to share at home with parents.

Tell us how you get on.

Shimmers, these (picture only books) are the books that the 'few' are getting.

I have calmed down a bit, as tbqh I don't want ds on a reading scheme of any description, he isn't ready,(+ I most definately don't want to make books a chore for him)

Having spoken to another similar minded parent we are both wary about this teacher (don't want my ds's nursery yr ruined by her vindictive attitude)

So, am not going in with guns blazing, however, I may request a meeting to discuss teaching methods in nursery, as I am rather unclear.

At the end of the day (!!) I reckon this exercise is to placate parents who raised the issue of their child's reading ability at parents evening.

Thanks for all your thoughts though, it is a bit of a peculiar way of dealing with things isn't it?

Ladymuck - I live in South London (in a Surestart area too). However, as you say, a bit off topic (I still think no schemes or homework at 3/4) although I can see that it might be the nursery responding to parental wishes, still no need to be cloak and dagger about it is there? It's not going to help unicorn think she has a good relationship with this teacher is it?