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

[floppsy]

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!!!

Haven't read all posts so sorry if repeat what's been said...

I definitely wouldn't resort to bribery - not a good message about the pleasures of reading.
Have you tried reading alternate pages with her - that way she also gets to hear good intonation etc.
The higher level books maybe at her reading level, but maybe she's struggling with following the story at the same time - after all, would we choose to read the FT or War and Peace at the end of a busy day - she may prefer to read 'real' books such as favourite picture books.
ABOVE ALL speak to her teacher about this - you don't want to be giving her mixed messages, a partnership approach is always better.
(I am a resting primary teacher and have 2 able children, so hope this may help!!)

Hi andif-just said to her on the way home from school about reading alternative pages but she said she's not doing that because the book is for her to read.So i suggested we do it when she goes to bed instead of having a bedtime story she will read her book & she agreed with this so we see how it goes from there.If it doesn't work i will go & speak to her teacher.

Nothing mroe to add really - except to say if her only homework is two books a week I wish dd was at your school! She (also 6.5) get three books a week (between 32 and 40 pages each), numeracy games once a week, a project once a week and 10 spellings each week. We spend probably two to thre houra a week doing homework (20 mins each school night, then half to one hour one day at the weekend (never both - hey we need a break!).

I think it;s far too much but fortunately she enjoys it, is keen to get it done (to please teacer - such a creep). Good job cos apparetnly in year 2 the workload at least doubles

Good Lord! This just confirms that ds1 (still 6, so young for year 2) is getting far too much reading! He has now finished ORT 10, is sometimes getting ORT 11 but is mostly on other reading schemes for variety. Currently, he is getting one/two books most nights! For the weekend, he had two Hans Andersen fairytales (40 pages), 2 more on Monday night and an ORT 11 book last night. As we read the book last night, it is quite possible that he will have another one tonight or if not tonight, certainly tomorrow. We are OK as ds1 is a good reader and doesn't normally mind but he is tired at the end of the day so sometimes makes silly mistakes. TBH, I have more of an issue with it as 80 pages of simplified fairy tale is more than any adult should have to suffer at the end of the day! And I find it difficult to come up with interesting comments and questions for him on the story.

We had this with dd1. When I spoke to the teacher she said she thought dd must want all the books but of course there was no need for her to read them so quickly! Dd was on Worst Witch type stuff and telling me others were changing books every 2 days - Biff and Chip stuff! Turned out to be a simple misunderstanding!

i had the same problem with my ds1 who is now 7, hes very good at reading, but hates to read aloud at home so i let him read most of it to himself and ask him to read a few pages to me and ask for help if hes stuck on any words. if he seems to finish the book too quickly then i will have achat with him about the story, asking him what he liked about it, the names of the characters etc just to check, but without putting him under too much pressure.
it must have worked as hes still top in his class for reading and is reading books that the year 6 & 7 read (hes year 3).
i would encourage her to carry on with her reading, genaeral things like mummy and daddy are so proud of how well you read etc, just to show her that you are proud as i know how hard it can be to keep encouraging them with the amount of homework that the little ones seem to get these days.
i'm sure that you are doing most of these things anyway and try and see it as an acheivenment that your daughter has attained.

I did that too Tinker and my little git of a son told on me! Oh how sharper than a serpents tooth it is and all that- I was truly wounded to be dropped in it so callously. Never again will I write "X enjoyed this book and had no problems reading it" unless every single word has been read. The of reading the reply "X says he hasn't read it all yet- please make time to finish it with him" was excruciating!

Really agree with the taking turns to read a page idea, floppsy. Roisin once very kindly sent me some books based on that idea and I still revert to that with longer books if the boys are struggling to keep going.

scummy you are so funny!!!

I reckon the key is not to pressure her too much, and get her reading books that she wants...

Basically get her to the library to choose her own stuff, and don't worry too much about school reading schemes - she sounds ahead of the game anyway.

Rofl at Scummy's son!

unicorn , that is what I said to ds' teacher. He started choosing harder fiction books from the school library (and up until then he had only chosen non-fiction books for us to share) than his offical reading ones but they were obviously more interesting to him and so he is now allowed to choose a reading book from the next door classroom. Between those and the library copies we must have read most of Nate the Great now !

Just a thought - for those of you with children fed up of Biff and Chip, there are some great non-fiction books around for beginner readers. Check out the kids' non-fiction section in The Book People

At the moment I would particularly recommend:

• Oxford First Encylopaedia - 5 books - £6.99 (list price 23.92) - age 5-8
• Usborne Beginners' Collection - 10 books - £7.99 (list price 39.90) - age 4+ (Knights, Sun, Moon and stars, Romans, Planes, Caterpillars and butterflies, Ancient Greeks, Spiders, Egyptians, Living in space and Elizabeth I)
• Usborne Pocket Science Collection - 24 books - £8.99 (list price 36.00) - age 7+

There are loads more too!

DS2 is a smashing little reader, and when given free choice atm he will read non-fiction rather than fiction.

Thanx for the advice everyone.Dd did read quite alot of it last night & enjoyed it i didn't have to nag her,but got her home from school today as she was up alnight with diarrhoea so we'll get it done today because she got nothing else to do only watch dvd's,so at least she got something from school to do.Scummy-that's what my dd would do to me she is to honest.