Should DD be reading harder books at school?

[TooInvestedinReadingLevels]

DD is in Y1 and as far as I can tell she's in Group 2 of 4 for reading, so doing well, but not top. Last parents evening we were told all children were on the same reading band due to the rules of their phonics scheme. I don't know if this is still the case.

She is on Green Band (L5) and has been for a while. Lately, she's not really wanted to read at home. When she does she often reads in a silly voice or turns the book upside down. Even upside down, she can read it quickly and fluently and retell the story afterwards. They don't seem to be presenting any challenge for her and she seems bored. When she reads at school, we get a variation on the same comment every week- "Very fluent and confident read, great expression, good predictions, great recall, etc." Never any areas to develop.

Over Christmas we bought some books to read to her which I've found out are about L13. I read her a chapter and then I had to do some jobs, but she said she wanted to keep reading herself. She did and I went back to listen 10 minutes later and she was reading fluently, and talked about what happened in the chapter she read at dinner time. She's since read a few other books which are much more challenging than her school books.

I taught Primary school but not Y1 so I am not sure if this is normal practise for a child to be kept on a reading band which is really very easy for them? I taught KS2 and would always try to stretch the child to their full potential.

Overall I know the important thing is she's happy and likes reading but I would hate her to start to lose interest because she's not being stretched.

I've got one DD in Yr 2 and a DS in reception and we've always been told that reading is important by school but that the books at school are to reinforce the sounds they are learning in phonics and aid thier decoding skills while developing fluency and comprehension as the move further through the scheme (they use RWI) and they encourage us to read a wide range of other books outside of school.

So i'd just take her to a library and get her to choose something she wants to read to encourage a love of reading which has seemed to work for my two even if my DS is currently "reading" a dinosaur encyclopedia while my YR2 DD is reading the Ballet Besties series!

We still do school reading books (more so with my DS than DD) but supplement those with stuff they are interested in!

My DS is also in year one and we genuinely never read the book that school sends home. He would much rather read short chapter books or even picture books which have a story to them than the books he brings home. As long as you record that she's read i would just continue to allow her to read what she wants.

Yes, we do go to the library a lot and we read to her every night. We have a LOT of books for all reading levels, I'd say in the region of around 1000 books in total, there's a bookcase in every room, and we do still go to the library. However, in the school week there's an expectation she reads her school book 4 x so it doesn't leave much time for her to read what she wants to read.

Do you think it would be irresponsible of us to just ignore the school book and focus on letting her read what she wants?

I understand reinforcing the phonics she's learning but when she's sat there reading the book upside down in the voice of Gollum I'm not seeing that she's benefitting that much.

The new National Curriculum for phonics says they can only send home official reading books that match the order of phonics in the scheme that the school is using and only requires knowledge of phonics that the school has actually taught so far. That will be why she is getting books at an easier level.

I would just let the teacher know that she is getting reluctant to read these books and is doing silly things like reading them fluently upside down!

Then I'd just explain to dd that the school has to give those books but you can just read them quickly and get onto something more interesting.

Read the school books once or twice a week, focus on any newly introduced phonics sounds for reinforcement. Then get on with reading whatever she is currently enjoying. Put these enjoyment books in her reading record as well as the official school ones so school know you are still focusing on reading daily. Most schools will accept this as a way round the rules about phonic books.

The first step, as always, is just talk to the teacher. Ask her teacher these questions. Give the teacher your thoughts. The person who actually teaches your child should be far more informed on this topic than any of us!

This probably explains why it's different to what I remember from my teaching days. Do you know how long this goes on for? Is it just KS1?

I'm reluctant to bother her teacher outside of parents evenings if this is completely normal practise, as she has enough to do. The above poster has said that a change to the NC is probably why she's being kept on easier books so if this is the case the teacher is following the law and doesn't need to waste time justifying it to parents.

If you need to read 4 times... split that book in 4. A reward for doing it well is reading whatever book she wants (be it easy or hard, boring for you, a non fiction book she can read 2 words in three...)

If she can read it with no problems, and she is decoding the phonics perfectly (not memorising the book), then there is no point in doing it over and over again.
I used to go through the books once with DS and DD, and then I would fill in the reading journal with all the other books that they had read to me. It was never challenged by the teacher because they knew they were fluent readers.

Honestly, you’ll save yourself a ton of stress if you just accept that some of the rules in the national curriculum for phonics are simply mental and learn to ignore the school books. My ds started school able to read. Was sent home books at the appropriate level for a term or so. Then they introduced the new phonics scheme and he started getting stupidly easy books. I questioned it for a bit and then decided it wasn’t worth the stress, and his school books stayed in his school bag and we got on with reading chapter books at home.

This is a big mistake. Never feel like asking your child's teacher about something is 'bothering' them or that them explaining something to you is 'justifying themselves' or 'wasting time'.

Your child's education takes place between you and the school. Any half decent teacher (and wider school) want good communication and support from parents. Any half decent parents will support the school with good communication.

Did you say you used to be a teacher?! Would you have thought this about a parents asking you a simple question? I hope not!

If I had 30 sets of parents come and ask me a question when the answer to the question was, "That's the rules we have to follow based on the National Curriculum," then yes, I would have found that a bit annoying.

As it turns out, there is absolutely no need to take up any of the teacher's time because PPs have explained that this is not unusual and not a problem that can be resolved by the teacher.

It's a mistake to feel that asking a question and raising a concern is wasting the teacher's time. I very much doubt that every child in the class is having the exact same experience of early reading as your DD. By not talking to her about your DD losing interest in school based reading you're preventing teacher from doing what she can to change that. This is bad for both the teacher and your DD.

You mention that your DD is only in group 2 for reading, so there is an option to be moved up a group, for example. The teacher will be tied to the NC of course, but this doesn't mean they can't make changes/offer extension work to help a student feel challenged and engaged. That's literally their job! And most teachers, certainly all the good ones, will be happy to do it.

I'm not going to go into the classroom of a qualified educator of several years experience in Y1 and tell her my daughter is in the wrong reading group. For a start, I have no idea what level the top group is at- maybe they are all reading at a Y5 level for all I know! Anyway, thank you for your time but I don't need to talk to the teacher as I've said, others have been able to answer my question. :)

I think it is just KS1 in the main though it may also apply to children who are struggling and still on a structured phonics reading programme in KS2.

Iirc, KS2 phonics progresses to a bigger emphasis on spelling rather than reading for most KS2 children.

You've got a long way to go through the school system. I would urge you to change your attitude. It's a shame for your DD and the teacher.

You seem to think it's saying nothing or being rude/unpleasant/difficult and it's really not the case. You can have a friendly and polite chat with your child's teacher throughout the year. The vast majority of parents are doing this! If you are socially awkward and can't bring yourself to chat to the teacher in person, pop a comment in the reading record that's what it's there for.

Do feel able to talk to your child's teachers. Work on whatever issue it is that's holding you back.

I have a perfectly good relationship with DD's teacher. She's lovely. When there's an issue that needs addressing, I discuss it with her.

I asked whether the issue that DD is having is an issue that needs to be resolved or an issue which is simply the way the curriculum works. I have been told it is the way that the curriculum works.

There is absolutely no need, or no point, to go into school and argue with the teacher about the requirements of the national curriculum, set by the government.

If you are so keen on talking to your child's teacher every time you have a question that can be resolved by Google or asking on a forum for feedback then please feel free to do it, I'm sure they love answering the same question over and over. I am satisfied with the responses I have received.

Except yours, which hasn't been helpful at all.

I'm glad to hear you have a good relationship. But again you say..."There is absolutely no need, or no point, to go into school and argue with the teacher". I haven't suggested that you going and argue with her. There is a massive middle space between silence/using Mumsnet /Google when concerned and 'arguing' or wanting a teacher to 'justify themselves'. It's called a nice chat! I don't know how your school works, but at all the ones I've worked with the class teacher stands at the gate/door at the end of the day having multiple chats with multiple parents, it's all very polite and friendly. The teachers value hearing about any issues asap, parents appreciate the teacher listening and giving any advice.

As I say, I'd really try and change this mindset that's it's either silence or confrontation. It is possible to have a nice conversation!

I’m a teacher OP@NuffSaidSamis right. Talk to the teacher. Carry on reading a range of other books at home but do talk to the teacher.

I agree with you entirely. I had exactly the same issue. I mentioned it parents evening and was told “but it’s not about the reading, it’s also the comprehension” Her comprehension was absolutely fine. I left it there and let her read whatever she liked at home. Never forced her to read her school book. The second parents evening, I asked again and was told the same thing. I asked if the teacher thought she struggled with comprehension and was told not at all. When I suggested she was given harder reading books at school, the teacher said she was on the hardest one they had for her level. By that, I took it to mean, they didn’t want to do an individual reading program for her, for whatever reason. She never read a school reading book at home ever again, we just signed the reading diary and she read what she wanted at home.

She’s 16 and got 99% for her Nat 5 English exam, sat her Higher English prelim today which she finished in an hour, she is predicted to get an A, on target to win the prize for her year. She’s also had some written work published. Safe to say it did her no harm whatsoever. I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking for a separate meeting to discuss it, as it was clear from the start, asking for her to be pushed and challenged in class was never going to happen. I could make sure she was given the opportunity at home so it seemed pointless to waste the teacher’s time with it. I saved my separate meetings with the teachers for when there was an issue I couldn’t deal or supplement with at home.

Why would I ask a question I now know the answer to?

It sounds as though she has an advanced reading age, as I did. Just have pkenty of books at home (use your local library!) which are more advanced, so she doesn't get bored. I know we used terribly basic dull babyish books at school when I as a child, while at home I was working my way through all the Narnia books, a complete set of Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson.

If all 30 sets of parents are asking the same question then the school should realise that’a on them for not explaining the phonics system to the parents.

Sad to say not all primary teachers are open to nice chats and reasonable conversations. I was in exactly the same situation as the OP and my daughter in Yr 4 had been on the same reading level for several months (she was reading a variety of books at home, but still…) Her actual teacher had not heard her read for the whole time she’d been in his class, though a parent volunteer had. When I I politely approached her class teacher to discuss it, he was very defensive. When my daughter came home the next day, he had put her up by 2-3 levels and the books were too hard for her. I felt he did it to shut me up. He was sacked at the end of school year, so I think his practice was generally pretty poor.

I had a chat with two other parents today and they have the exact same view that the books being brought home are significantly below their child's ability. DD and I have decided that she can read the school book once and the rest of the time she's reading Isadora Moon independently, and Alice in Wonderland with help.