I know I should be a nice middle class parent and enjoy listening to my dd read to me, but...

[Enid]

it has become a flash point at the end of the day.

She has a reading book every day from school (she is 6, in year 1), she is supposed to read it to me and I listen and write comments in her reading book.

The last few weeks have been a real struggle for me as far as her reading goes - obviously I am knackered with small baby and 3 year old, BUT

a) she has started to hate reading and fusses and moans whenever we have to sit and do it
b) she just stares out of the window if she doesnt know a word, then if I tell her what it is she throws a fit
c)she reads REALLY SLOWLY and it took us 50 mins to read 16 pages this evening
d) she reads in a baby lispy voice that drives me mad and I just can't keep my mouth shut about it

I know I should be calmer and more positive but my comment in her reading book tonight was 'Like pulling teeth'.

How on earth can we get back on track with this?

you go into school and say you aren't doing the reading for a while because it is beginning to annoy her .. and you would prefer her to enjoy reading for the sake of reading

then give it a rest for a month .. she's 6 .. how important is homework?

then you can do a sticker chart to encourage her back into it .. or tell her when she wants to you can do it again

she's only 6 . I think we put too much pressure on them sometimes

that's what I think (and did with DS) anyway

of course she's already getting daily exposure to reading through night-time stories .. I do feel that this school pressure is a catch-all for those kids who never ever read

I believe that the single, most motivating factor for children to love reading, is to see mums/dads/whoevers at home with them, read for pleasure themselves.

thank christ someone else is having a problem with this

I was nearly down at the school the other day demanding that dd be assessed for some kind of attention disorder

heaven knows why she thinks she'll guess the word by staring at the curtains

and personally if Biff and Chip had been lost in that fog forever I'd not have minded

Oh the joys of the magic key with chip, biff etc.

If you're bored as a parent try hearing the same book over and over and over....

We've even got them on the overheads so the pc can read them to the children...{{pp goes to bang head against window}}

[controversial]
School reading books are IME really, really boring. Children know this and realise it's not worth the effort of reading to find out what bloody Biff and Chip have done this time. A whole book about Mum's Anorak... I mean, really.

Remember vividly finding this out myself very young - couldn't give a toss what happened to Roger Red-Hat so didn't bother, but couldn't wait to find out if the Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark got better and learnt to fly...

Get her to read any book she enjoys to you and write what it was and how she read on the card.

Mrs B is not, every teacher knows this, is just some schools use schemes (we don't, we have a real book approach) as a way of keeping track of children's learning and then moving them on.

Our school has 'real' books aswell as a few different books from a variety of schemes which are banded into colours which relate to levels.

PP - I do know how useful the colour bands etc are really, esp when it comes to building vocabulary, but as a strategy for a 'gone off reading' 6-yr-old I think real books are a much more interesting alternative till she's back into the swing.

Yes Mrs B, definitly agree.

when DS got back into reading .. through sticker bribery after a few months off .. I asked for factual books .. because those are the ones that hold his attention most .. there seem to be quite a few on oxford reading tree and they seem to be working .. but we do 1 book a week not 1 a night .. and we read it once or twice over that week

oxford reading tree is fun - i would ask to change -those ginn books are from hell sooo tedious just awful !
dont stress its just that scheme i am sure a better scheme would make things better for you all. I wouls stick to evenings mornings are too stressful imo good luck!

bloody hell enid, I always thought you cleaned cars at the local supermarket (not that there is anything wrong with that). I didnt realise you were middle class, do you clean your husbands shoes with phlegm?

I think it's really hard to get this done after school - I know DS is a bit younger, but we do our ordeal by Biff and Chip sitting in bed having a cup of coffee in the morning. Actually, on Sunday, I did the dreaded 'key word recognition' by playing 'pairs' with the words stuck on cards IN THE PUB!

i used to voluntarily teach children to read in our school ( not my own childrens class) because it is the only thing i am good at.
ORT seems boring i am sure but its better than most and when you have to do a book 30 times in a day and you still can laugh at it then that is saying something. I would involve dd2 as well my littles love to join in when the bigs are learning.
I actually 'bought' the ORT scheme and i do swear by it.

Blu .. key words?

lol at in the pub!

Can you listen to her whilst you are cooking or something? I recognise all of the tedium you are feeling.

i like ort
i dont htinnk you can say " AH WELL ITS BORING OS IA M NOT DOING IT" LIFE IS BORING!

I also used to listen to older children read at ds1's school. In so doing, I discovered that it is much easier with someone else's child.

I actually used to 'trade' children with a good friend when our sons started reading. They always did a much better job for the other mummy.

FWIW My DD1 does similar stunts now that I have dd2 (11 weeks). I do think that there is a connection there.

Love the pub idea!

DS's teacher has given us 5 pages of 'key words' which we are supposed to sit down and help them learn. I think they correlate to the Oxford Reading Tree, and they have been put on a chart in little boxes. I did it once on the page with DS, but then he just remebers the order of the words and doesn't actually learn them at all. Hence my frenzy of active-Mummying, photocopying 2 copies of each, sticking to card (a different colour for each of the 5 pages / levels) , cutting up, off to the pub, ordered pizzas and age-appropriate refreshment - and sat DS down to play 'pairs' with his key words. The rule is you have to read the word out loud when you turn it over.

Good child friendly pub in S London - home-made wood oven pizzas! Not far from you, Twiglett. Clue: near the Zandra Rhodes bollards.

Enid - go to the pub!

Blu - lovely idea. And portable!

What is this business that schools force parents to do certain activities with their kids and get parents to write comment..? Seems ridiculous to me. I would read books of my/our choice with my DD and reading should be fun, not some forced and dreaded activity. Enid, I would be worried that your DD will get negative associations with reading as things stand. I would definitely do less of what you´re supposed to do, surely not more than 20 minutes worth?

pmsl!!! at Enid's OP (don't know if was supposed to be funny but brought back so many happy? memories )