how often does your reception/yr 1 child get read to at school?

[thisisyesterday]

according to ds1's reading book, 3 times this year!!!!

how about yours?

I am definitely not one for teacher bashing (I think they do a fantastic job) but this is one area I have an issue with - communication. This is just my experience and I accept it is not always the case.

My DS is a summer born just reaching the end of reception. As far as I know he is at the accepted level for reading but he is a reluctant reader so I can't be sure.

When he started YR he was given a reading diary and in the front is a very committed parragraph about how the school will always write in the diary when someone has read with him. It has been written in 4 times since October.

When I brought this up with his teacher she laughed and said they didn't have time to write in it every time but rest assured he is being heard read at least once a week.

Fine, I understand the time issues but why make that promise if it's not possible. If they had said we will write in it whenever we can, ok. She seemed to think I was being unreasonable to expect it to be written in but when I pointed out the parragraph printed in the front she just said it was an unrealistic target. Why oh why then don't they remove it.

I have raised it with the head of reception and she said she or her TA do always write in the book if a child is heard reading, every time.

Mixed messages and variable standards, just what I am looking for in a school!!

My 5yr old reads to his teacher or the TA twice a week. Obviously we are lucky. He reads to us every other night when it's bedtime.

Thisyesterday - if you are doing it over the hols ask at your library. Some libraries have children's librarians who can show you the reading ranges. If your local library is lacking - then the central one may have a good children's range. And in the hols they might be doing a reward scheme for reading.

My Y1 DD says she reads every day except Friday at school. I think that she has 2 days when she is listened to reading a book and the other days they read a page each from a book round the class. She reads to me every week day night and I really think that makes a difference.

She has a reading log book but it is not filled in by the school. It's only filled in by the parents.

seeker, the teacher doesn't have to do it. they have 2 ta's and plenty of willing parent helpers.

i DO read with him, but tbh I haven't done as much as I could, i will admit that becuase quite frankly, that's what i send him to school for!!!
i would have imagined that learning to read and write would be the main focus of reception.
if i wanted to HE i would. i don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to teach him to read is it??

obviously now I have found out they aren't, and he is a bit behind I will of course do my best to read a lot more with him

pancakeflipper, yes our local library is great, and my mum works there so sure she can help out! have just remembered that we have a set of usborne phonics readers that a friend bought ds1, so will be using those to start with as they're fairly easy for him to read

Once a day. Mum helpers volunteer every afternoon to make sure every child is heard everyday.

Mums do it at home everyday and sign the book or they get told off.

thisisyesterday - the school will teach him to read by teaching him phonics and proving activities based around letters and sounds, and word making. He will hopefully do some group reading within school, and will listen to stories most days - again something that is important in learning to read.

but as seeker says - readin needs loads of practise. And there is not time to do this at school. It needs to be done 1:1, short and often. Which is why regular reading at home is so important. He will get to practise all those things he learns in school in phonics, etc.

Reading at home doesn't need to take too much time - 5 minutes a day is all that is required. And it can be ANY book, not just reading books. Share a bedtime story. let him read some of the words, initially picking out letters and words he knows and then build up so he reads one page and then you do.

DD is now 8 and just finished Y3. She reads very well and very confidently. She usually reads in her head, but i still read to her a couple of times a week and I still hear her read to me a couple of times a week - even if it is just one page.

It really does make a vast difference.

i understand t his hulababy, but if they aren't reading with him at school then i am basically picking up the slack aren't i

i am not just reinforcing what he is being taught, i'm the one having to do it every day

i know i probably sound awful here, and i really do NOT begrudge him 5 mins a day, and we do already do it when we remember. but i also have a 2.5yr old and a 1yr old and pretty much every minute of the day after we get home at 3.30 is busy with making dinner, changing nappies, having baths, and letting them actually play!
until the last few weeks he has been fairly reluctant to read at all, tho we have been encouraging him. this is why i feel it's important that school do it regularly too, because he will read for them whereas when he gets home he is tired, hungry and just wants to play!

'They only spend 5 minutes reading with them at a time so I don't understand why they can't read with them once a day.'

Sorry seriously just laughed out loud when I read this! What do you think the rest of the class would be doing while the teacher gives each of them the time to be read to? When do they do Maths or Writing or Art or Science or ICT or History or Geography? If the teacher was commited to doing this, it would just be an exercise on keeping the parents happy rather than teaching the children anything!

oh and i don't expect the teacher or ta or whoever to even do it every day. once a week would be nice!

so 4 hours over a whole week... is that really too much to ask?

there are people here whose children ARE read to every day, or at least more than once a week

so why the disbelief? if other schools can do it why can't ours?

3 times since he started in september? would YOU be happy with that?

I would not be at all happy with 3 times in one school year for reception. How did they manage to assess him for the end of year report on that tiny snapshot?

As they expect parents to pick up so much slack did they give you guidance on how to teach your child?

i will ask the teacher on monday if they read to them m ore often and perhaps just aren't writing it down?

thisisyesterday - DD was listened to every day yes, but there are only 15 in her class and there was a TA in full time too in reception. And in Y1/2 there were often students in who would hear some too, or sometimes a volunteer. Much easier in such a smalll class, and with longer hours too. But we did have to hear our child nightly as well - it was expected and we had to record it too.

As I sad before I work in a Y1 class and we hear children once a week, but as part of a group - and sometimesnot all children are heard. That is 30children with a teache or TA. But with all the other curriculum requirements it really an sometimes be hard to fit it in. There is always something that comes into play.

How is his phonics sessions? Are they do regulalry? becase within school they are more important I think than actul reading - the reading practise, using the skills he learns at school, can be done at home.

Did you ask the teacher? My students (small class) get guided reading groups everyday and I read individually with/confer with kids 1:1 2x per week - those really struggling, I meet with every morning.
I never write this in a book. We have them but I don't use them as I found they weren't looked at or used for any good purpose. I let parents know what I do in terms of reading and have an open door policy - they can come see my classroom anytime (just quietly so not to let their child know and distract the children) I do not have TA's.
I also don't work in a British school. But I think it's possible to read with them at least once per week. I used to teach in a city with 35 kids and saw guided reading groups 2x per week and 1:1 at least once per week.

But yes - 3 times a year would not be acceptable. I would be suprised it that is it though; I don't know any school who hears children read so infrequently.

Our teacher doesn't write in the book - parents do. They will address any concerns from our comments. We can chat if any concerns but it's been obvious on how my ES has progressed.

am def going to ask her

you know, i wouldn't even have been worried except another mum goes in quite regularly to help out and said she has upped her reading at home because they don't read to them that often

and then his report said he was below average.

BUT, he has come on a lot because as I say, a few weeks back he was still fairly reluctant and was struggling to sound things out, but now he can actually read a lot of words, and tried really hard to sound them out too.

I will def ask them how often they're read to tho and how she feels he is coming on and what else they do and also what else we can do with him over the holidays to help him along

i've never put pressure on him to do it if he really doesn't want to because i don't want him to start resenting it and make him not enjoy reading. his dad and I are both avid readers and our house is packed with books so i think we'd both be a bit sad if he didn't share our love eventually!!!
I think we've been doing too much reading TO him maybe and not enough getting him to read himself