school has surprised me!

[blackeyedsusan]

last week I asked for harder words to read... one (or more) groups have been given spellings!

I also asked for more challenging books as the yellow band books were a "little easy." given that we are reading easy chapter books at home they have put her up one band. I am shocked as we normally play a little game every couple of months where I say the books arer too easy and they ignore me and we carry on doing our own thing in our own happy way. once pmt has passed

ok so she could spell the words first time at home and green band is not a big leap, but i do not know whether she will cope with spelling in a test and at least the green band books are a little harder and we can get something out of it now. she has been asked to practice adding numbers in the teens as she doesn't use the number line to count on. (tends to do these things in her head) well we have practised and introduced a strategy of using number bonds of single digit numbers to check teens+ addition (ie if 2 and 4 =6 then 12+4=16 and 22+4=26 etc) doubt that will go down well! I hope she talks about her strategy at school.

I think I want to push for more, but not until she has had time to try out/prove herself for another month or so. (after all she might go to pieces under test conditions and we have a lot of work to do on handwriting) anyone fancy sitting on me and administering the duct tape for the next month?

(disclaimer, i know she is not doing some of the stuff other really bright children do at this age, though she is the top end of normal and I post mainly because i as fed up of the lack of progress ith reading in school compared to home)

ps, sorry about the lack of capitals, intermittent shift key!

Don't know how much use this will be to all of you with able readers but I thought I suggest alternate school readers that may not be used in your DCs schools, and which you could buy for use at home with your kids. I do think the key with the able readers is to keep them engaged and interested in what they are reading and this is clearly a problem when the 'baby language' of lower level books is a turn off, appropriate level books contain inappropriate content and they've read everything at their current level the school contains.

There is a big range of ORT books which may not be in use in your schools (as they tend to spend thousands of pounds buying in one part of a scheme and then not spend the money on the newer offshoots), such as the ORT Songbirds Phonics by Julia Donaldson. Also non-fiction ORT stages 8-11 Jackdaw anthologies 'Space and Planets', 'Seas and Storms' etc. may offer interest and challenge to younger readers without it necessarily being the inappropriate 'tween' content of higher ORT levels being used in school. Amazon have some terrific multi-pack offers of ORT which make it a good investment. Also the packs I have bought for home use include the teachers notes books which give tips on promoting different aspects of reading.

Collins Big Cat Phonics isn't used in as many schools and is also available on Amazon. I like them and so does DD as they have lovely illustrations and she likes the story-lines and doesn't come across them in school so it is all fresh.

Finally going directly to the publishers/suppliers own sites and looking for their extension/able reader packs may help you find new material at good prices especially for multi-pack sets of fiction and non fiction library resources.

Collins range of Belair Project books are quite good for home study activities. Collins also has a good range of fiction and non-fiction and text books. I like their text books in secondary school and can vouch for their quality. You may find something of interest on their site.

Hope catalogues (Hope Education) also do lots of great resources for creating project work at home though I don't know whether it is possible to buy from them as an individual. You'd need to check their site.

Heinemann books - which you'll find online as Pearson's - also is a great supplier of school books and also has a phonics range covering EYFS and KS1. There is also their Rigby Star range which is attractive in presentation and has a good range of materials. Again, whilst the books may not be particularly challenging reads to the most able they may at least offer new material. (Again not sure how flexible they are supplying individuals rather than schools, or if their material is available via Amazon). www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/Primary/Literacy/AllLiteracyresources/RigbyStarFamily/RigbyStarFamily.aspx I do like their Rigby Star range very much.

Heinemann also do great resources for school libraries and you can often get packs of 4-6 titles on linked themes (fiction and non fiction). This may also be a good way of getting new material to read at home with DCs. I think they are now known as Raintree publishers in the uk. I have often used Heinemann books as both subject text books and to purchase for school library and rate them very highly.

As is often the case simply supplying 'more difficult' is not necessarily the answer when the content is inappropriate or inaccessible to the child. Therefore these alternate schemes may offer more breadth to at least keep things ticking over.

Hope it helps, anyway.

Simpson, has he discovered beast quest yet? Ds just told me he thinks there's about 80 & the author is now also writing avantia books. How someone can write basically the same book 80 times I don't know! Though I have to say if I'm comparing beast quest with rainbow fairies, theyre not that bad! Ds was obsessed with them when he was 7 for about 2 months (reading 4-6 a week) & will still happily read them, when he finds one he hasn't had before at the library.

I rather like the ORT non-fiction (I find out lots from them ). DS only gets them if they are linked in with something they are learning about at school (otherwise it is off scheme). I would be happy if he got loads more of the non-fiction books as it means he is learning things. At home I rather like the old fashioned "stories for 6,7,8,9....year olds). They have really good volcabulary and are great value for money compared to some other almost "brand" books.

Totally agree with you about old fashioned stories. I loved the Chalet school books as a child even though there were vast paragraphs - in French or German - which I never understood! Read them from a about age 8 I think. Still happily read them to this day (all 50-odd of them) as does my mum, who read them as a child. Learned loads of geography and history from them and now, as an adult, love the window into upper middle class Empire society it let me glimpse. As with many series books, the later ones weren't up to par though.

"Now remember girls, no matter how well you do at school, God has no greater role for you than wife and mother"

Ab Fab!

oohh yes we get lots of dd's books from charity shops,she likes enid blyton and the vintage style ladybird books,i will never forget dd's face she she read the real ending to chicken licken.
Imo some books nowadays are far too pc,listening to the old stories never did me any harm

OPP vocabulary

does volcabulary include words like magma and larva and pyroclastic flow?

oh heck. I have finally got around to organising a meeting with dd's teacher about her writing. it will be a difficult-to-pitch-right sort of meeting. I have to get the balance right. i am concerned that she is not writing as well at school as at home. i think that this is to do with the position in which she writes. at home she lies down and her elbows are firm on the floor -> less wobble. hoping not to sound too pushy with respect to her abilities, given that i have had a mini strop about the reading books.

Good luck, what are you going to say?

Can you take some of the writing she does at home to show them?

it went ok. I think the teacher is going to contact the ot department and find out if they can borrow a writing slope to try. her writing is coming on at school, though i think she gets distracted. it is not the one to one that causes the difference in quantity, I think it is the distraction of other things going on.
had opportunity to look at her books but was distracted by ds (runs in the family then). I will get a proper look in february I hope. in the mean time i am going to keep on at home.

she has just done some fantastic writing at home with 3 sentences, which is a lot for her. we are going to have to continue to build up her strength/stamina. it is frustrating when she is including some of the features of good writing, but can not produce enough writing for several features to be in one piece. if you can't write a lot you can not join sentences more than once or use a range of interesting words, or sequence events. we will just have to keep practising.

the teacher was not keen to encourage her to write more. she may not think she can write more. she may think i am "pushy." it may not fit in with the timetable. I think she could do more with encouragement. (ie 2 sentences instead of 1 in school) never mind, we will just keep practising at home so that when it finally all comes together then the skills will be waaiting ready.

I just need you all to sit on me and apply the duct tape if i am tempted to go into school for anything other than stuff to do with ot or general run of the mill stuff until at least January. no mention of maths/spellings/reading

What is a writing slope??

Good that they have suggested this though.

DS also does better writing at home because of the lack of noise of the class room I think, although I would have thought that DD makes enough noise for the other 29 kids!!!

I had to sit on myself this wk and not to the school because DS is upset that he does not have a role in the nativity play. Every day this wk he has said "I know I'm not a sheep, camel, cow etc"

I volunteered in the reception Xmas craft club this eve and one of the mums who is making the costumes (so parents don't have to ) said DS did not want to be anything and they finally persuaded him today to be a mouse!!

So pleased I did not embarrass myself by demanding why he did not have a part

try and pesue the ot simpson. there may be quite a wait.

here

better

pursue doh!

still not spelled it right? oh it is too late...

Does the school finance it???

DD's self referral letter has gone off. Will check tomorrow that they have received it. They said an 8wk waiting time

Hoping because her nursery have expressed concerns and have written a letter which I included (listing massive amounts of stuff she cannot do ) This might bump her up the waiting list

Finance the writing slope I mean, not the OT

8 weeks. think yourself very lucky. 11 months before we got an appointment with ot. physio as quicker.

school might finance the slope/cushion/pencil grips.

11 months!!!!

DD had physio when she was 2 to help her walk so I wonder if its quicker because they have seen her before iyswim.

dd has gone on a trip to find out about Victorians. they seem not to have studied it in class, though perhaps the y2's have. dd has been reading books about victorians for the last few days. I hope it has given her a bit of background to put the things she finds out into context.

the big-headed-show-off part of me wants her to speak up and impress the teacher. the sensible part of me knows it doesn't erally matter!

pass the wet fish mrs s!

LOL I will be the same when DS learns about the Great Fire of London later on in yr2 as he has read about it avidly!!!

I suppose it is sort of wanting recognition for my efforts as a parent

lol

I am totally at the amount of homework DS has this weekend.

But feel I cannot say anything to the school as I have been asking for harder work but not this amount iyswim.

oh yes, been there. ask for harder stuff in a fit of pique, then you have to do all the extra reading and homework with them.

< BANG >

< WAAHHH >

sound of shooting self in the foot

yes exactly!!!

And I have to do awful arty type homework with DD (3) for the nursery show and tell on monday which I hate and am pants at.

Guess what we will be doing all weekend