1st reads

[ellliebelle]

DD has just started stage 1 (first words) from oxford reading tree a school, could anyone suggest a range of books i could buy/borrow that are at a similar level? she is only getting 1 book a week from school which is boring her by day 2 of reading the same book

thanks

Usborne Farm stories and first readers

Songbird phonics
Read Write inc
Floppy's phonics

Dr Seuss very easy ones (red backs I think)
Usborne phonics eg Fat Cat, Frog on a log

Superphonics (Bookpeople usually have them on sale)
Usborne phonics are good too

Also might be worth looking at www.rubyandmax.net - £10 for 15 phonic books - printable from the Internet.

www.oxfordowl.co.uk/Library/Index/?AgeGroup=2&BookType=Phonics

reading chest

As a teacher, I boo and hiss at phonics as the only reading method, so Read, Write Inc makes my skin crawl.

I think reading should be enjoyable, and should also be educational- you should learn from what you read, whether it be information or interactions. RWI does neither of these- a lot of it is just nonsense strung together because it uses the same rhyme.

Personally, I'd ask her teacher. Schools are hard pushed to offer more than one book at a time as they tend to go missing, and in the first few years, it's hard to hear children read frequently enough to know if they can change level.

I'm not an early years teacher, so I can't recommend anything specifically, but I'm sure your DD's teacher won't mind making some suggestions. Oxford reading tree is always a run-of-the-mill classic.

Have you read the RWI books? I can't think of a single one that is 'nonsense strung together'.

RWI starts with these books, which my DD thought were hilarious. Certainly they were 'educational and enjoyable'

On the bus
My Dog Ned
Six Fish
The spell
Black Hat Bob
"Tug, tug"
Chips
The web
Pip's pizza
Stitch the Witch

(Unless you mean the pre-reading 'ditty' books, which I haven't seen....)

I do mean the ditties. 'A ditty a day keeps the SENCO away'. That's how RWI was sold to my school.

Personally, I hated it. I thought it was an absolute waste of money, and I saw no improvement in the children's reading abilities.

Kat - this is very cynical. :)

I can def tell you that a ditty a day doesn't keep the SENCO away.

But can you tell us. What % of your kids get a level 2 or above at KS1?

Has this % really not risen after introducing RWI - or have you not been running the scheme 2 years yet?

As an Early years teacher I boo and hiss whenever I hear that schools are using ORT as early readers.

Songbirds, Usborne phonics, Ladybird, and generally any book your dd wants to read .... I expect that the school simply does not have the resources to change books more often. Is there a library near you?