Teaching your children to read - your job or the teachers?

[clarlce]

Apparently, according to Ms Frost, 33% of parents NEVER read to their children.

What lengths should parents go in supporting their children in learning to read?

I volunteer as a reading assistant in my local primary school and the variation in the level of ability, in one year group, is significant and would certainly make it extremely difficult for a teacher to accommodate all those differing abilities.

From my point of view i cannot understand why any parent would want to hold their child back, especially as the benefit of a one-to-one session with mum or dad can have about the same impact as weeks of school.

I am not just talking about reading to your children before bed etc. but actively, imaginatively teaching them how to read as a teacher might.
Is it a parents responsibility to make the teachers and, of course, the child's life easier?

Sorry, afraid I haven't got a clever third way, Past; that part of my post was in reply to camicaze's post suggesting that parents who do not follow a formal reading routine fall into two categories: those who believe that putting in hard work to help their children makes no difference or those who think it's not worth the effort .

I think there is a third type of parent, one who wants to put in hard work and who thinks it is worth while, but who has a different idea as to what type of input is required for this particular child. Mainly parents who are into lateral extension of their children because they believe that will enhance their learning.

My brother, who is very mathematically minded, could have spent his time doing more maths worksheets with his 10yo. Instead he taught him how to compose classical music in parts and downloaded a computer programme for this. There is no doubt this helped the boy's maths skills too, and my brother knew it would. But for his son, it was an exciting chance to try something new that the school didn't offer, so he worked harder at it and learned more than he would from doing more of the same.

My parents went on a course in navigation with other brother-again, very useful for maths skills, just not an exact replica of what they do at school. But something that caught his imagination and made him work hard.

I don't see this as lazy parenting: I think it's intelligent parenting.

And it is not just academic parents who can offer this: parents who are good at DIY and care to involve their children can stretch them in all sorts of mathematical and verbal skills. Cookery is another brilliant way of enhancing learning; if you are constantly reworking recipes to fit a family of a different size, or helping to work out the budget, you will get good at mental maths.

What I hate is the idea so prevalent in this country that if it doesn't look exactly like school work it is not "real" learning. I have great respect for dcs' schools and I think they also see me as a parent supportive of my children's learning. But we complement each other: we don't have to look exactly the same!

What I hate is the idea so prevalent in this country that if it doesn't look exactly like school work it is not "real" learning. I totally agree cory which is why I'm reluctant to suggest reading schemes and worksheets/workbooks to parents. They aren't necessary!

Agree. I did. Years of home education with nkt a workbook in sight

I asked my DS (Y1) what sort of books or what he would like to read about this summer - he said: Floppy books! They don't do them at his school but he loves them.

Cory/ mrz:

you both make good points. And I see where you're going with teaching skills laterally now Cory.

In my case I wasn't ever after worksheets, I was just interested in getting my girls books other that ORT Kipper stories - which they both find boring after 1 or 2 weeks.

3 weeks of endlessly reading Big Panda/ Little Panda 10 minutes a night with DD2 nearly killed us all and was the final straw for us. We just had to do something else. Mumsnetters suggested all sorts of other books/ reading sites and we've never looked back. Including reading to the girls our favourite stories when we were their age.

It's more about sharing and enjoying good stories now together as a family - and improving reading skills for our DDs is just a great side benefit.

the school has to be responsible because there will always be some parents who can't or won't support their DC.

Personally, I reckon that the teacher is responsible for the active teaching of how to read and that paretns are there to supprot them. More importantly I think a parent's job is to help children enjoy books: Snuggling up to discover a story inside pages of paper, hearing about characters and places more fantastic than in everyday life.... etc. So i guess parents have a responsibilty to motivate reading and encourage.

When I started school I could already read - my Mum had taught me when I was 3. It never caused the teachers any problem - they just let me read more advanced books than my peers. I sat and read quietly while they went through the Ladybird stages.

The trouble now, it appears, is the lack of flexibility in teaching systems - it should NOT be a problem if a child can already read, there should be the facility to accommodate them so that they don't become bored.

mumblecrumble I feel that your point about snuggling up to discover the magic inside a book is the most important gift a parent can give. If a child knows that what amazing motivation to learn to read.

Thumbwitch I'm not sure why any teacher should find a child who is able to read a problem(personally I see it as a bonus) but I do think that some parents see phonics teaching as a retrograde step for such children whereas the focus then moves to spelling skills.

I'm not sure about teaching them to read, but giving them a text rich environment from the off surely is a parent's job? Lighting the spark, as it were. Then being involved and supporting the teacher from home.

Interesting point about the phonics being seen as a retrograde step. Ds was reading preschool and a couple of friends with children in Ds's school class asked what would the school do with him in phonics. Ds had all the phonics lessons with the class and they were great for spelling. It never crossed my mind about querying lessons teacher knows best.

iggly2,

Was exactly the same for DS. He was a fluent reader on arrival at school, but did phonics with his class. The teacher had no problem at all differentiating the tasks so that his work was about using phonics to encode (spell) words while the others were using phonics principally to decode (read) words. He's still an excellent speller.

My DS starts school this September. I've tried to teach him some letters and sounds and he is a little bit interested. But when we're actually reading books together he HATES it if I follow the words with my finger, or ask him to find a certain letter on the page.

I have felt so guilty about this because he really really loves books and me reading to him. He also likes to 'pretend' read to himself, making up the story or remembering it.

I have now, very confidently, decided to leave the actual learning of reading to school. We're enjoying our holiday together learning lots of other sorts of real life things.

I'm not actually that keen on the idea of him going to school and wish I had the confidence to home school. So the idea that they will teach him to read there is what stops me getting depressed about it.

responsibility of both.

Parents should provide children with the social skills needed for them to cope with school and a love of books and stories by reading to them. Then support the school when they start to read.
Obviously if a child naturally picks up reading and they are very keen to learn, say alongside an older sibling learning to read, or just very bright, alls well. However a parent shouldn't feel they have to 'teach' the child to read.

I don't remember actually "teaching" any of my children to read before they started school, but they all could! I put it down to sharing books regularly and just talking about things and pointing out signs, etc... In particular, my DS2 was put straight on to level 4 when they gave out the reading books when he was 4 in Foundation stage. However, he was classed as gifted and talented, even at that age...he was a "Free Reader" by the time he reached year 2 !! He passed all his SATs this year with level 5! Hope he can keep it up in Senior school

In our school & IME a child that starts ahead tends to stay ahead so I think familiarising a child with letters/sounds/reading etc in a gentle way before school is a good thing. Subtly reinforcing what's learnt in Reception as the year progresses is also a good idea IMO. What's believed consciously and subconsciously about a child early on can be powerful, children that are seen as 'intelligent' have an advantage.

Children can get incrementally 'smarter', practice makes neural connections stronger. Top sets in our secondary school are made up largely of those whose parents have inculcated a work ethic in children early on and who reviewed what was learnt, yes even from reception.

Nooka one problem is our school system means a tracking mentality can make it harder for some children to go beyond expectations set for them.

I'm afraid I don't agree Cortina.
I've taught reception for many years but recently moved into Y2 of the same school therefore my pupils last year were also taught by me in reception so I know their starting points.
Without exception the most able children entered school not knowing letters/sounds, unable to read etc. In fact my two most able children in Y2 weren't reading after a term in school and weren't showing any interest in writing. By the end of reception it suddenly clicked and they flew and have not looked back.

My youngest son absolutely refused to have anything to do with reading or writing before or during his Reception year and was unable to read or write anything other than the simplest words or phrases by the end of his Reception year ( although he quite liked the mathematical aspects!) He was very definitely "bottom group" when he started year 1. However by Christmas year 1 he had suddenly developed an interest in books ( reading rather than being read to!) and stormed ahead working his way quickly through reading stages ( and class groups). He was straight level 3's at the end of year 2 and level 5's by the end of year 6. No decent teacher "writes off" a child the way Cortina suggests.

Mrz, very encouraging to read. When I say the child that starts ahead tends to stay ahead, I should add I mean a child that's ahead by end of KS1 (rather than specifically reception) that tends to stay ahead. Again this is only my experience and observation.

I don't think any teacher willing writes a child off but I do think anything you can do to help your child especially when they're in a large class with an overstretched teacher is a bonus. I also think that what's believed about a child on a subconscious level can influence a child's confidence and future learning disposition.

A child that does not achieve an above average level at the end of KS1 will not be 'expected' to get a level 5 at KS2. I do think the tracking system and set up of some schools mean that it can hard for a child to go above and beyond expectations set for them. Of course a good teacher will monitor progress thoughtfully and every teacher will be delighted when a child dramatically improves beyond expectations.

Again I disagree Cortina we expect every child to achieve regardless of where they were in the previous KS and often have children who were "average" in KS1 reach level 5 in KS2 .

Cortina - we looked up the statistics on this in another thread months ago.

Statisitcally the correlation between a level 2 at KS1 and a level 4 at KS2 wasn't that strong. I can't remember the exact figures - but I think around 60%?

So whatever your personal experience is - it's not true of the general UK population.

If a child who is a level 3 in year 2 reaches level 5 in year 6, they will only have made average progress-which these days is simply not good enough! To show added value, teachers must aim to ensure that children make MORE than 12 points progress in each of the 3 areas ( reading, writing and maths). This year I had one child in my class who was straight level 3's in year 2 and straight level 5's in year 6 but "only" made 32 points progress. A second child was level 1 in year 2 and level 3/4 in year 6 but overall he made 48 points progress. Despite not getting level 5's his progress was MUCH greater than the child that did!

Here are the stats from the previous thread (link no longer working is national strategies website no longer exists):

Only 68.8% of level 3 kids made a level 5. The other 30.9% only achieved a level 4. ( and 0.3% stayed a level 3!)

In fact you were most likely to make poor progress (1 sublevel instead of 2 ) if you achieved a level 3 at KS1

The kids who achieved a level 1 at KS1 are the group most likely to make 3 or more levels of progress. (38.7% of them)

And the kids who achieved a level 3 at KS1 are the group most likely to make only 1 level of progress (30.9%)

Spanieleyes to my mind this shows exactly that we 'expect' those who started ahead to end ahead of others as far as levels are concerned & points to possible limitations. In 2006 the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) said that children who were 'bright' & excelled in KS2 should achieve at least 3 A's at A level and secondary school heads should be held accountable if they don't make it.

No Cortina, It shows that all children are expected to make progress, regardless of their level.

Would you prefer that the level 3s made no progress until everyone else caught up with them?

Would you prefer that the kids that 'started ahead' failed later?