Need a Reception/ Yr 1 teacher's view pls.....

[runtus]

My DS is in a mixed Reception and Yr 1 class and barring a few minor hiccups seems very happy and settled.

The issue I have is with reading (isn;t it always!)and I'm a bit confused as to why his teachers seem reluctant to push him when he is really REALLY keen and doing well. He is currently on Stage 5 ORT and finds them pretty easy to be honest. He is a real bookwork and loves to learn - so I have on a number of occaisoins asked for more books and for them to be changed as he has read, understood and enjoyed them before the next set class reading/ book change time.

His teachers seem to want to slow him down and when I asked again this morning I had to practically beg, pointing out he only had 2 books this week (which he will happily complete in 1 night); 1 of which was the same as over half term and he also read it with the teacher on Tuesday.........I wrote in his note book he did well with it over the holidays and could he have new ones, yet he still got it back again for the week.

She grudging said yes as that was the case but why am I left feeling like I'm a pushy parent? All I want is for him to have new material to read - at his request.

Am I missing something from a teachers viewpoint? We do other books at home too by the way.

any help greatly appreciated

I would ask to speak to the teacher about it and ask what her reason is for not movign him forward. Sometimes they are staying on a certain level for comprehension. If she doesn't have a good reason for holding him on that level then I would ask that he can be moved onto a higher one.

As for the number of books you get home from school, that is really individual to the school. I would just read more with him at home.

Are books only changed on a particular day? It can take an at least an hour to change a classes worth of bools and update the records so perhaps the teacher/TA are only able to change the books at that freguency. Our school relies on parent helpers to be able to change them more regularly.

I thought the comprehension thing too but I'm not asking for him to becessarily be moved up a level, just a higher frequency of books and changed more often.

When I read the books with him he understands the story and what is going on. He expresses the sentances correctly and gets the humour within the story. I just don't really see how it is helpful to reread books for a week when he understood and read them well the first time??

I have no issue with reading with him at home (we already do) but feel frustrated with the situ at school. We looked so hard for a school that would not make him feel 'odd' for wanting to learn but at the mo I am unsure.

They have parent helpers in at least twice a week and I have said that if they show me which books to use and how to record it, I'll do it myself - even spoke to head about it.............

I fully understand they are super busy and he is not their only concern but it is a small village school (only 111 kids in total) so had hoped for more personalised teacher/pupil relationship.

Looks like we'll be heading to the bookshop and library then. How will it play out a school if he has already read their next book allocation though? Why is it so hard??

My DS' teacher has been getting it badly wrong - it was as though I had to complain every time. Inevitably, the teacher would not be there the following week and the agency teacher would put a level 1 book into his book bag (he is practically a free-reader!). I have not bothered to encourage DS to fill in his reading diary for the last fortnight based on level 1 books; it is just not healthy from DS' point of view as it conveys the message that his teachers rate him as being an early reader rather than an advanced one; he attaches a lot of importance to their opinions. I hope they will get the message - in the meantime it is library and bookshop for us too.

Our year 1s swap their own books as long as parent put in reading record they have read book. So ds can have as many or as few books as needed.

Just picked him up to be told to go to the Library! I give up, we'll just do our own thing and they can give him whatever book they want...........

Why it is so hard I don't know.

I am a year 1 teacher and the children in my class are allowed to change their books as often as they need to - they get the chance to do so daily. Personally, I cannot see any reason why, if he has read and understood each book, why he cannot change it! The only possible reason may be that the school do not have many books per level and are worried that he'll have read all the books before he's ready to move up??

Hello OP. I am a primary HT - I always say to parents that early reading is like building a wall: you need a wide firm foundations otherwise you end up with a flimsy structure (it's better when I do a little drawing to go with it!).

So breadth is really key for young children: reading poetry, non-fiction, traditional stories, comics,etc. If you just keep going 'forwards' (through a reading scheme, for example) all the time then their progress tails off and they stall at about Year 3.

I don't know exactly what the thinking is in your DS' school, of course, but just offering a view based on 20 years+ of teaching primary!

If your child is happy and stretched with 2 books a week, I'm glad your DS's school system works for you. Unfortunatley this is not the case for my DS and he needs more of a challenge.

I do not "expect to change a system" but I also do not feel it unacceptable to expect my child to be treated as an individual with individual needs. When he 1st started his teacher took me to one side and said "we realise ** can already do x,z & z so we are happy to work to his speed and he can have access to the school library as and when necessary". This is now not the case and it concerns me.

I asked the question to gain a teachers view and to make sure I am not missing some educational reason for the change in treatment.

I agree there are plenty of other things/books to read - and we do visit our local library often (at my sons request I might add). Hence he could read before starting school............I'm not simply expecting the teachers to do all the work for me, I am happily and actively involved!

they don't like to rush them
frustrating i know but seems to work
no rush in primary

Is your DS performing as well in class, when reading to the teacher or TA, as he is at home? Does he demonstrate the same fluency, accuracy, comprehension, etc at school, and does he read with god expression and taking note of punctuation? Does he happily read a good dreadth of books - fiction, non fiction, poetry, plays, etc?

Without knowing more it is hard to say why or if the system needs more flexibility.

TBH children often read better at hom than at school, especially when reading in their head. I would encourage him to look at books from the library or other home books instead. He can then demonstrate his own choices and start to build a proper desire for books, rather than just learning to read.

Reading scheme books ont he whole are pretty boring. If he is at stage 5 he should be able to access a good range of books from the library, books that are real stories with developed plots and far more substance.

I know what you mean OP, we had a few book related issues when ds first started last September but they are all sorted now thankfully. At our school they get 2 books which are changed on a Mon, Wed and Fri. I think 6 books a week is pretty good.

But what I have come to realise is that it isn't all about the reading books you get from school, and as kapok said we get him to read any words he can from different sources. He sounds out or reads the things from my shopping list, he tries to read his bed story to us etc. etc.

I treat the school books as something we just do, even if he flies through them and finds them a bit easy, I'd be more worried if he really struggled with reading and wasn't getting the support he needed. If your ds likes to read then carry on as you are, take him to the library and let him read whatever he wants. The school books take half a minute to get through and then he can move on to the books he finds more enjoyable and challenging.

The notes I get back from the teacher etc that reads with him at school all say "read really well, with good expression and fluency" so I would guess he does read as well there as at home.

I haven't tried him on poetry or plays and the like as yet but will look out for some at the library now you have mentioned it - thanks

He happily reads non-fiction material already.

I agree about the reading scheme books, compared to what else is out there they are pretty dull. Just don't really understand the lack of support for his enthusiasm really

your schools must be very different to ours
my two are at different - both 'outstanding- high achieving primaries and our books remain for 3 or four days

my ds is great at reading and on ORT stage2. He is also reading two other reading schemes along side this one

Try to get past the 'stage' thing it's really quite irrelevent

Just read your post Curlybrunette - I have decided to adopt that attitude as well..........don't have 6 books a week from school but hey ho, I can be positive about this.

I really can

irrelevant

(must read more!)

I've not once mentioned stages!

I would agree with most of the posters, just choose books from the library and dont worry about the school schemes.

Encouraging children to read a wide range of books written and presented in different ways is really important for them to develop an awareness of what books are about.

Teachers have a set programme of when and how they do their assessments and dont have time to fit in extra slots to do extra ones to push a child up a level. Also, if children move up the levels too quickly, they become reluctant to read "easier" books and could miss out on stages of grammar or punctuation that are taught through the reading books system.

It is also very easy to encourage children to read "harder books" or books with more words in, but sometimes children just enjoy looking at picture books or baby books and making up their own stories. But, as a parent, because they can read something harder we bypass the earlier easier books.

I would speak to your local librarian and get her to help guide you with appropriate books and get books from there instead.

Schools can also be limited with the range of books they have at certain levels. By moving up levels this issue will be escalated and become worse in later years.

I would also encourage your child to talk about what he has read, how could the story be changed, how did the characters feel - happy sad upset etc. Do the characters remind you of anyone.

What other countries have similar situations.

Pick out specific words to look for.

Use the books to show spellings and punctuation. Find words that sound the same but spelt different.

Look at the presentation. Why is one book better than another.
Ask him what certain words mean.

These are just some examples of how to use the books as a learning tool that will aide sideways learning rather than moving up the scales.

Does the school have a library he could chose from? That could be one way school could support his enthusiasm.

I do agree that rushing through the scheme books is not really how it works, and many schools won't do that ime. And it is also not how schemes ought to be used anyway, if used properly that is.

What schemes does he read? ORT does have parallel books at most levels covering lots of forms for example. I know that even at levels 3 and 4 there are some which are plays. School ought to be ssending home a whole range so that he can develop hsi breadth of reading further.

We live in the local library (well, un til it closes, goodness knows what we'll do then)! DS1 (5 tomorrow, getting at best 1 book a week from school) easily gets through 3 books a day of what he calls "practice reading". he also has a go at chapter books (likes Dino cove, little Tim), fact books, picture books, DH's newspaper, even, on occasion, my professional journals (actually, need to remember to keep them out of range for now; remember my mother being horrified when she found me, age 7, reading the memoirs of a forensic pathologist).
We also (thank you Mumsnet) signed up for Reading chest, which is cheaper than buying books to supplement the library!

I don't really understand why you need more books from school. Most reading scheme books are deathly dull, with basic vocabulary and boring stories. They are used to teach particular strategies, concepts or iron out particular difficulties. It is often easier to do this with books that the children read without struggling, as they are able to concentrate on the objective, rather than de-coding.

Just let your son read additional books at home from the school or local town library, or your own book collection.

I AM NOT a teacher. My son said that he reads to his teacher daily. Since then I stopped worrying about the amount of books they give him at school. It only takes him 5 minutes to finish them anyway! I am sure at school they read other, not leveled books as well. They get to choose from different boxes. Ask his teacher. I always mention how happy I am that he can access so many books. Teachers need a few good words too.

We have bought 50 Thomas and 46 Mr Men books (among others) from thebookpeople and he keeps reading them as if they are new. Let's not talk about our library though..