chip biff and kipper and floppy

[edgarcat]

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

Hate to say it Tinker but I think you're in the minority.
Suedonim - Not the sodding red hats, blue hats etc!!! To think I actually used to reach kids to read with them!!! Awful pictures!!

Oh, I realise that they are good at what they do just find my face contorted in agonised ennui when my daughter is reading them. Mind you, that may just be the pace of her reading!

I'm with you edgarcat. These stories (we're on level 6 I think, just read Robin Hood!) have really captured my dd's imagination and she just loves reading them. Her enthusiasm for reading just keeps growing. Also, her younger brother loves the books and when the latest book comes home the kids fight over it! The stories are exciting and funny which, considering the limited vocab is a real achievement.

Yup, that's the ones, Lara2! DS1 was left with an abiding fear of trolls after reading the one about the monster under the mountain.

Agree with Edgarcat, the books are funny especially the pictures.
Stage 2 is simple text but actually tells a story that Dd loves.
I would have rather have had these than the "Wide Range Readers" I remember.

I don't find them funny!!!!!!!!!

here's a bit of inside info for you. When they first came out there was a lot of protest as the family are basically a white middle class family with 2.4 children and a dog. So as the series went on, they commisioned loads of extras to balance it a bit, and so Nadim, Aneena etc arrived on the scene. As a teacher I love them, but it gets very boring to hear the same story 50 times over ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
We always make finding the glasses a bit of a game.

Timker, I'm with you! I couldn't wait for my son to finish them. The first few were OK but he (and I) quickly became tired of them. In fact I am now having a real problem with him saying that he hates reading and that it is boring which is a shame because he is a good reader. Does anyone have any recommendations of other books we could try to get him interested in? He is 6 and into silly humour and around a reading level of stage 10. I have found some books in the library which are takes on classic stories i.e. The Emperor's New Underwear and Snow White and the 7 Aliens. He has enjoyed these but I need more ideas.

Sorry, that should have been Tinker of course.

Eli try phoning for this free guide Great Books for Boys" Tel: 020 7840 8400.
ay give you some ideas!

Whoops should have been may!

Message withdrawn

Just to have my say... after reading/listening to the coloured hat series, Floppy and his mates were light relief, sadly I'm back with those jolly old redhats etc for the 2nd time, eagerly looking forward to the 3rd, not!

Eli, my son at 6 also found the series intolerable and was hating reading. The teachers response was, sorry he needs to complete the scheme in order to ensure he aquires all the vocabulary. I spoke to a very helpful librarian at the local library who helped me dig out and order from other libraries lots of books right up his tree (not Oxfords). There was a factual series about animals and transport amongst other things. As his ability developed he was able to move onto fictional stories aimed at a brighter mind. He is now an avid reader, for the last 2 years I have used the library books as a reward for reading his school book.

Is there a list somewhere of the vocabulary that they are 'supposed' to know at certain ages? I remember when I was at school we had a sheet with about 100 words on that you were tested on to establish your reading age - the last word was 'idiosyncracy'. Since my mum was a teacher, she used to test us out of curiosity. Think I just learned the sheet. Maybe I could do that with my daughter and avoid the dreaded ORT!!!!!

And Batters, I've never noticed the glasses either. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong.

Agree that it's very off-putting when they have boring books. Sometimes we just look at each other when it's time to read her book and say 'Nah'. She reads other books of an equivalent level so know she does like books, just not these.

Message withdrawn

Smartie and Britabroad, Thanks for your useful suggestions. I shall follow them up. Tinker, we also sometimes do something else instead but I feel i am then prolonging the process of escaping the tree!

it makes me a bit sad to hear that some of you are in schools where you "have" to read all the books ina certain order. I am a teacher and we had a wide selection of books from different reading schemes (and some "real" books that don't belong to a scheme) We colour coded them so that all the books with yellow sticker were at the same level. That allowed kids with different reading tastes to choose for themselves something they liked. Some kids adore Biff et al. Others hate them and feel very safe with Roger red hat (which is unbelievably repetitive) Others like factual books, not fiction. I am soory that some schools are so inflexible. Seems a shame.

BTW, there isn'e one set list of vocab they should know. Each scheme introduces slightly different words at different times (although most lists will overlap)

DS1 did Letterland and then went onto Jolly Phonics when the school decided to change over - most confusing for the children! They used the Ginn books at that point. DS2 has been on Oxford Learning Tree from the start and I much prefer these ones. He loves the books and I quite like them too. They go through the Kipper books in class and then send them home to read too but also have 'free choice' reading books from the Oxford range. We've just had The Fabulous Four at the Seaside all about a trip to Robin Hood's Bay. Our trip to RH Bay last year was more eventful though as we ended up with a trip to casualty after DS2 slipped on the rocks and cut his hand!

I quite like these books but find DS's pace of reading the hardest thing to deal with. He got sent to bed the other night when he wouldn't even try to read so I had to read the book myself to see what happened. I too groan when I see that a book has 24 pages.

New message

whats the relevance of the plays? ds1 has started brining thme home as well a s a reading book
Also Popsy what is a magpies activity sheet "super words"?
hte words on it are like, ground, counrty, every etc

Oh no, there's not plays as well! Thought we'd seen the back of these.

look!

tinker you old grouch!

have you been sptotting the glasses?