Year 5 -ds's class are being read 'Percy Jackson'.

[Noellefielding]

It seems quite old to be being read to by the teacher but maybe it's not.
ds has already read the book so is a bit disappointed.
Is it still of real educational value at this age?

My child read all the series as a result of reading this at school (year 4) so I dont think its too old

eVERY single child in the class has started reading this series because the teacher introduced it

the lightning thief? ds1 read them all over the summer ( now yr4) but i don't think he'd mind tbh - it would be a fantastic way of introducing lots of spin-off topics. i'm guessing god features somewhere in yr 5? good way of approaching pshe/ relationships or whatever it's called in ks2 as well - stuff on sn - adhd/ difference with a more grown-up angle to it?

are you sure it's actually being read to them? not take it in turns and discuss etc? i know even in secondary texts are read as a class, out loud (you can't always guarantee everyone will read it otherwise...) it's more 'reading together' rather than 'story time' lol...

god, lol. gods, i meant. as in ancient civilisations and olympus. not, y'know, a bit of RE.

Nothing wrong with being read to in Year 5 or even Year 6 - it's simply another way of experiencing a book and helps the children's concentration skills. They will probably also be doing guided reading in a group and independent quiet reading at various times during the day.

After all, many adults enjoy listening to audiobooks!

It's lovely to be read to at any age. If teacher is a good reader they will hear a good example of how to read aloud with expression. Lucky children. And yes, the series goes with Year 5 /6 themes of Greeks and Classical Civilization.

My DS is a very good reader (assessed as 4A at end of year 4) and he said last term that his favourite part of school was when the teacher read aloud to them. He is also perfectly happy to hear a book again; he came home all excited because they are "doing" Roald Dahl this term, including the teacher reading some aloud. Most of the class have already read some of the Dahl's, part of the lesson was discussing which were their favourites.

My year 10 dd's English teacher is reading to them!

Being read to is one of the greatest pleasures of childhood and a completely different experience to reading to yourself. I would be very pleased with your child's teacher, Noellefielding.

I still read to my Y6 dd, and do not intend to stop. I would expect children to have a story read to them throughout primary school.

Tomorrow my U6 (they are seventeen, going on eighteen, tum tum te tum tum tum) are going to be reading Act II of The Birthday Party in my lesson and I will be reading poetry to the other set...

Note to self: check MN tomorrow evening for posts by outraged parents.

Is what of educational value? Being read to? Of course it is! It is a lovely calming activity to share with a class, regardless of age! Do you not read to your child occasionally?

I did a senior History seminar as part of my undergarduate and our professor read bits of Paradise Lost to us as a special treat at the end of the term - It was lovely, and one of my favourite parts of that stage of my education. Why is listening so frowned upon as a part of learning?

I went to the workshops Greg Doran and John Barton held prior to the RSC's Morte D'Arthur. Most of it consisted of Barton reading his favourite sections from Mallory. The play wasn't bad, but Barton's readings were the highspot of the production, and I'd have gladly swapped the one for more of the other.

It is lovely being read to. I certainly don't think Year 5 is too old. DD is in Year 10 and is being read to.

For young children it is very soothing, and for older ones gives them a different aspect than reading the text themselves.

Educational value? What kind of nonsense is that? Does everything they experience at school required to have 'educational value?'

apols. for appalling grammar in last post.

Thanks for posts. Of course I think it's wonderful to be read to, I read to both dcs often. Less so to ds now he's reading himself.
I'm a little anxious as I think the school is lovely pastorally and creatively but unambitious academically. I mean I don't want to send ds to some kind of vicious competitive school at all, I just wish they would have a little ambition is all. They never talk about aiming high. It's all so creative etc. Wheras I want my son to be able to get some higher education one day so a bit of ambition re literacy and numeracy would be great!

Hi Noellefielding it must be tough trying to find a balance in school. My DS is only just begining so I can't speak as a mother, only as a learner. My ambition to get a higher education (and I finished my doctorate ten years ago) came from loving learning and the subjects I learned.

If you don't feel he's getting enough stretch in school, that may be no bad thing, my mother used to give me more, but also tell me 'don't worry, it will be better when you are at university' which was yet another motivation to make sure I got there.

I think you're children are very lucky to have a creative caring school - am v jealous - my kids went to the oppposite - pushy and competitive - it was a constant battle to maintain their self esteem.

DH and read to each other and we both still read to the kids - sharing a book is a wonderful experience whatever your age. I still remember fondly, the books my teachers read to me.

Thanks, that's interesting, of course I love being read to too, audiobooks are wonderful and I've been an adult for ages!

I think I'm just anxious about the school's academic ambition. I do love the way the school is pastorally gentle; the head and deputy head are both gentle souls. I just feel there is never ever any talk of how kids could achieve more. Both dh and I both feel ds can be terribly lazy (loads of people say 'he's a boy!') and getting him to do written work is like blood from a stone, seriously it's painful getting homework done his writing is shocking!

I just wish he could be pushed a bit harder without losing all the benefits of the gentle approach.

Also a teacher said to me once that being in the middle of the class is tough in some ways. At the moment with G and T being fashionable and special needs being a, rightly, high priority, the children in the middle can just be left to drift up year to year and never get the kind of focussed attention that the two other groups may get.

Plenty of time for academic excellence - no need to show all your cards this early in the game. What's the point of working your butt off and burning out while at primary? Best to cruise along conserve your energy and run the last few laps - when it counts, at lightening speed.
Still v envious of your lovely school - must take a lot of balls for your HT not to get caught up in the fight to the top of the league table.

We were read to at my gorgeous village primary school right the way through till we left. I loved it! It was also a very creative, caring environment and of all the schools I went to (we moved a couple of times so went to 3 primaries then 2 secondaries) it was the one I felt happiest and most valued. Many pupils subsequently went on to Higher Education. Oh, and we didn't get homework either, other than learning spellings and tables!

The other issue about reading aloud is that you can introduce books which some children in the group may not be able to read for themselves but who would really enjoy it. The class teacher and head would do it so the Head would read Watership Down and then when that was finished our teacher read something else. The Head did great voices for the rabbits. It was every day and what a brilliant finish to the day it was!

My mother was born in 1920, and one of her fondest childhood memories is of her head mistress reading the recently published Winnie the Pooh to her class - and laughing so much she had to stop and wipe her glasses before she could carry on.