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Original poster

Do you think its to much reading for 6yr old?

38 replies

floppsy · 11/05/2005 12:45

My dd1 is 6.5yrs old & is a very good reader.She is on level 8 at the moment but don't know if it's too much.The book's are 40 pages long & she has a book on a tuesday which she has to read by friday & another one on friday to read by tuesday.Dh seems to think this is too much for a 6yr old as all the others in her class are on level 6,it's obvious that she's able to do it or she wouldn't be on this level,however i can't get her to read it for me.If she read a bit each night it wouldn't be to much but when she throws a tantrum that she don't want to read it,it's left until the night before it's due & it's to much.She read's for the techers without a fuss but she won't for me.Do you think i'm being to fussy or should i speak with her teacher as i don't want her to fall behind if she capable of doing it.PLEASE HELP!!!

OP posts:

starlover · 11/05/2005 12:50

if she doesn't want to do it then I wouldn't make her.
if she really enjoys reading then fine, but forcing her to read will eventually make her resent it.
I think the school should realise that if she is on a higher level, longer book, then she needs a little longer to read it.

I personally would just encourage her by getting her to choose which books she reads to you... just to get her going, then she may be more amenable to reading her school books with you!

charliecat · 11/05/2005 12:51

Not to much if shes capable...would bribery work...no tv till youve read to page 10...and when yourve read to page 10 you can have a jelly babie? Something like that?

LIZS · 11/05/2005 12:55

ds was at that level of ORT at the same age. He has just turned 7 and got really bored of ORT at stage 11 so is now on simple Chapter Books to keep him interested instead.

Could you explain to the teacher that she is a bit demotivated at the moment and ask what she would suggest, I suspect it is quite common. Perhaps she could have a word with your dd about doing, say 10 pages a night, or just giving her just one a week for a while. Or there may be alternative books at that level which are shorter or differently laid out from one of the other "branches" or a different scheme.

hth

Original poster

floppsy · 11/05/2005 12:56

That's what dh said.I think the school books are a little bit boring because she will sit with me & read a disney book,but the minute i say it's time for her school book she goes off on one.I don't want her to resent it as she do like it,but i find she always wants to do educational things rather than play like a 6yr old should,she is either reading,writing or doing sums.I try to encourage her to play but she says she enjoys doing that.

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serenity · 11/05/2005 13:03

DS1 gets books like this, and I think we'd never get through them if I made him read them to me! I figure if he is reading up to this standard then he can read them himself, usually in bed. He has to do a little book review on them which we do together (whats the story about, who is in it, what is your favourite bit) so I know he understands what he is reading. DS has just turned 7 btw (yr2). he does only get one a week though, two seems quite a lot. Do they get annoyed if you don't get it done in time?

Tinker · 11/05/2005 13:05

ORT books are incredibly boring though. Does she have to read it all? If you've heard her read and it is fine, I wouldn't worry if she doesn't finish it. An adult wouldn't be forced to finish a book they found boring

KBear · 11/05/2005 13:06

If your DD can read this level but is bored with reading such a long book, why not take turns reading a page with her. You'll get through it quicker, you already know she CAN read it but maybe is too tired after school to do so much reading and she is obviously still reading along while you read out loud to her. Might end the battle for you.

kid · 11/05/2005 13:09

As she is on longer books than the rest of the class, couldn't she keep the same book for the whole week and just change it on the Friday or Tuesday (not both). Then you can space out the reading a bit more.

starlover · 11/05/2005 13:09

Floppsy... do you think the school would let her read something else?
When I was at school I got through all the graded books by the time I was about 8, and from then on was allowed to choose from the school library...

Perhaps that would encourage her?
I shouldn't worry about her wanting to read and write etc rather than "play"... if that;'s what she enjoys doing then that's great!

Wills · 11/05/2005 13:15

My dd is 5 but has already managed to master the sense that tells her mummy and daddy want her to do something therefore its time to dig her heals in . I've been very nervous about homework etc but have tried to be outwardly very relaxed. To my enormous please dd1 has realised that she can extent our interaction at bedtime by her reading to us. She reads a book of her choice first and then we read the next one to her. If she picks a particularly long one to read and she tires early on then we start the "you read one page, I'll read the next" and this normally keeps her going to the end of the book. She's on Level 4 yet some of her books are 30 to 35 pages long, but of course bigger text. Hope this helps in some way.

Carla · 11/05/2005 13:16

I'd speak to her teacher if I were you. She's obviously doing well in her reading, so what's the point in pushing her if she's not interested in reading with you?

Wills · 11/05/2005 13:19

forgot to add. Often she's encouraged to by us to read her own books i.e. ones that we've borrowed from the library etc. We have a school log book that has to be filled in everyday and I always record what she's read regardless of whether the book came from school or not. To me its more important at this age to install the love of reading than what she reads. My younger brother was a very reluctant reader, extremely slow, until my mother started encouraging him to read comics. He found these far more exciting and very quickly picked up speed until eventually overtaking the majority of his class. He's still an ardent reader buying at least one new book a month and I haven't seen him near a comic in years!

Original poster

floppsy · 11/05/2005 13:23

Don't know if they get annoyed if she doesn't do it as she always gets it done even if it means finishing it off on the morning its due.Dd don't like me to ask her teacher questions as she is a miss goody too shoes at school & thinks she will get in trouble if i talk to her teacher(although i tell her she won't)i think i'll see how she gets on this week & if i think it is to much i'll ask can she just have one a week.Will try to take it in turns with her that may help her.Don't know how the school expect children to read this much,they don't do much reading in school anymore,they leave it to the parents as they say we need to help them with their education,which is fine but what if you got a few children of school age how can you get through all of them.Thanx everyone for the advice it been a huge help.

OP posts:

Miaou · 11/05/2005 13:30

Hi Flopsy, my dd2 is the same age and is also on Stage 8 (or 9), but is given 10 pages per night to read, over 3 or 4 nights, then has the workbook pages to do the following week. In fact this means she only has one new book per fortnight. Assuming that your dd is also on ORT, she must be doing all her workbook at school, so she is spending a large part of each day (at school and at home) on a series of books that she is not enjoying! No wonder she's fed up.

I think the suggestion of getting the teacher to set her a certain number of pages per night is more sensible - I'm surprised that they don't get "set" homework each night, really - asking a 6 year old to "space out" their homework is a bit much.

Tbh we have the opposite problem with dd2 - she enjoys the stories so much that she begs to read it all in one go, and wants to move on faster than the teacher will let her!

Original poster

floppsy · 11/05/2005 13:36

Hi miaou,they don't have any other homework except the reading books which i find strange,because i would have thought it would be better to have one book per week & other homework aswell.This must be focused on alot in school because she doesn't usually get fed up of school work as she likes it & she is writing all the time.When i've been to parents evening they just tell me she is very clever & to be proud of her as she does everything they ask her(which i find hard to believe as i have to ask her a million times)

OP posts:

beachyhead · 11/05/2005 13:37

We are on Stage 8 now and my dd has just turned 8, so we are a bit behind the rest of the class. Yr 3. She gets these books and we read about 6/7 pages a night and take about a week on each one. There is no pressure from the school to read more quickly. We read, after ds (4) has gone to bed, and if she is tired, I read half a page and she does too - that way she gets the meaning of the book more easily - otherwise she can lose the track quite quickly........How about one long book and one short book a week? Just pace it out yourselves.....

batters · 11/05/2005 13:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

floppsy · 11/05/2005 13:42

Hi beachy-we had a letter from the school saying all year 1 will now be havin reading books on a tuesday & friday so i thought they had to read by these days to get a new book.I suppose if she hasn't finished it she can't take it back so they wouldn't give her a new one.The trouble is if i say she don't have to take it back until she finished it,she will start saying the others have taken their books back & that upsets her as she don't like anyone to be better than her,but she doesn't realise she is on a higher level.

OP posts:

Tinker · 11/05/2005 13:44

Can't you just write that you've heard it read and you had no problems/had problems without stating whether book was finished or not?. I would. In fact, I do.

kid · 11/05/2005 13:45

My DD is 6 (year 1) and she loves reading. She takes her book to bed with her and wakes up in the morning still holding it!

She loves reading all books and even if she can't read a book properly, she just makes the words up. As long as they start with the same letter she is happy, even though the story doesn't actually make sense!

If she is happy, I am happy!

Listmaker · 11/05/2005 13:46

My dd was doing brilliantly at reading until a year ago (ahe's 7.5) and has absolutely REFUSED to read anything to me out loud at home since!! Luckily her school has a more relaxed system but we have not brought a home reader book home ALL YEAR. But I know she can read and as someone else said I just wanted her to do it for her own pleasure. So I tried not to pressure her and have left it. Now she has started reading to herself a bit (secretly!!).

Anyway she had to read to her teacher as part of her SATs and was told she was on the top level of books in the school (only infants school - she's not a genius!!).

So don't worry. If she can do it to that level then she's fine and as you say she should be reading for pleasure now. My dd just got really bored with the books at that level. I read lots to her and her sister so they are used to Harry Potter, Jaqueline Wilson and Roal Dahl not those silly stories!!!

My brother was just like someone else's here - wouldn't read much etc but my Mum got him football comics etc and he now reads more than me and has a brilliant way with the written word - much better than me and I read all the time!!

roisin · 11/05/2005 13:48

We are fortunate in that dss's school have a range of reading schemes, so there isn't really time to get 'fed up' with one.

Having said that I've always insisted the boys do 10 mins reading aloud from their school book to us every night - non-negotiable. Very early on they realised it was compulsory, and they just accepted that if they got on and did it quickly, there would be more time for 'free choice' reading or playing games or whatever.

DS2 (6) actually has very long school books now, but always insists on reading to the end of the book. Now I usually listen to the first 10 pages or so, and then let him carry on and read the rest to himself.
He gets a new book every day at school if he's finished the one he has.

Original poster

floppsy · 11/05/2005 13:54

Tinker-i don't like doing that incase they ask her a question on the book & she didn't know.She's a sensitive child & would be really upset,i had to see the teacher before when she was takin words home to learn(before she could read)as she didn't like getting a cross if she got it wrong & if she didn't know them i had a hell of a job of getting her to take them back,so the teacher agreed to just underline the word if it was wrong.I know it sounds silly but she really likes school & i have no probs getting her their,but if she starts worrying that shes not reading the book she'll start performing.

OP posts:

Tinker · 11/05/2005 13:57

Then I'd write a letter for teh teacher floppsy so you're not upsetting your daughter (mine hates me contacting teh school as well) and explain your concerns. I really, really wouldn't worry about whether the book is finished or how long it takes to finish it. You could request that the teacher makes this clear to your daughter as well.

Original poster

floppsy · 11/05/2005 14:00

yes will do & thank you all for your help.Be going to get her from school shortly so check my post when i get back.

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