Summer reading

[flyingsaucer123]

The school wont give out reading books or any work in the summer, does anyone have any ideas about how to keep your child up to standard because apparently they are meant to go down 2 sub levels over the holidays.

Last summer he got behind, while other children had done loads of work and came back to school ahead. They say to get reading books from the library but I find that last summer I did this and it just got frustrating because they were either to hard or two easy (I do this anyway at home, where I will read him a book and if he can read a bit he will). I know the holidays are meant to be relaxing but I cant see anything wrong with doing a reading book every couple of days!

What year is your child in?

dd's school do a summer reading challenge with the libraries. they need to raed and review 6 books over the holiday and then the get a medal and a certifiacte at the end. dd age 6 is really looking forward to it.

I would stick with the library & let him choose. I belong to the camp of 'so long as they're reading something....'. Doesn't matter if it's too easy - that's consolidation .

Our school say the opposite. They strongly recommend doing the library reading challenge as a way of not regressing over the summer. The 2 sub level thing sounds extreme. I heard that some children can go down a reading level if they don't read at all over the summer.

Personally I wouldn't get too bogged down with the difficulty of books. My kids see summer holidays as an opportunity to read fun books like annuals, the Beano and Tintin. They do lots of puzzle books that might have crosswords, codes and so on. We always do a summer diary too. I stick in pictures, photos, tickets etc and the amount written depends on the child's age and how interesting the day has been.

They serve as a great memory to look through and show how much they have learned that year. Our school does a competition and awards the best scrapbooks with a certificate in assembly.

apparently they are meant to go down 2 sub levels over the holidays.

What rot!

What year is your child in and what reading level?

My two nieces always get reading books in the holidays. I don't think it is of any benefit at all and TBH neither of them read for enjoyment. For them reading equals 'work' which is a crying shame.

My DS, in contrast, has never been given anything home for the summer and is an enthusiastic reader.

I don't know if they are actually connected in any way but my experience tells me that children who are allowed to read and make independent reading choices appear to be far more enthusiastic readers.

I don't think it matters what they read but would avoid anything that looks like a school book.

Our school does suggest the library reading challenge, however, as a working mum doing nights and weekends getting to the library is a nightmare. So I joined DD to reading chest - I am lucky though she loves to read any book. We do around 3 books per week.

Dont forget comics! Beano, National Geographic, Dr Who etc.

flyingsaucer123 go down 2 sub levels? In six weeks?

Go to the library.

Get out LOTS of books (we get 15 per child on their child tickets). Read them - some your child can read alone, some out loud to you, some page and page about, some you read all and get them to spot some words they know or talk about the characters and the story or what kind of voices you should do for each character.

Some you won't read, because you don't like them or they are the wrong level. Don't worry, you can change them all next week, or even tomorrow, and get another 15 out..

At my school we have asked children not to take any books home over the holidays - because as a staff we are taking an inventory and reorganising the entire reading scheme during the first week of the holidays and really need all the books to be present to do that. So we have really pushed the library reading scheme.

Use reading chest for KS1/Reception children. It's excellent, and has done wonders for my sons' reading.

We had much longer summer holidays when I was young and I don't remember anyone ever worrying about regressing. The assumption was that the things you would be doing in the holidays would be so valuable that it made you grow as a person and therefore made you better able to cope with the next school year even if you didn't spend the holidays doing exactly the same things as at school.

Funnily enough, I think there may be something in this: the CM always used to comment how much dcs' English language development shot ahead during the summer- during which time they didn't speak a word of English. But their minds grew through having different experiences, and that affected every part of their development.

An education is about so much more than sublevels.

I will have to just go to the library and he can read books at home! it is just a bit frustrating as his reading has really improved and he is now reading well. It would have just taken the pressure off as I could let him just decide when he wanted to read himself and read Roald Dahl to him which he really loves but cant read independently (he is the end of yr 1). The school books are perfect because he is reading at the right level so he can enjoy the stories much more...

It is probably due to organisation and the holidays are quite long. His last teacher did say the average student went down two sub levels, though maybe it does not take them so long to relearn it. There is always talk of the holidays being more spread out but who knows if it will ever happen....

Bloody levels have a lot to answer for! Do more harm than good IMO.

Check if your local library runs the Summer Holiday Reading Challenge, a great many do.

Your child sounds exactly the right age to benefit from this scheme and they get themed poster/stickers etc (circus theme this year) after each 2 books to motivate them along the way to the target of 6 books in the 6 weeks holidays. One year we got a sports bag and one year a medal at the end of it.

If the library don't have any suitable level read alone books, check out the book people for cheap £9.99 sets of reading books of roughly the right level but from a different reading scheme to whatever your school uses because then it isn't like doing homework reading. Ebay can also turn up some cheap sets of reading scheme books too. You don't have to read the library's own books to qualify for the Summer Holiday Reading Challenge, just return the loan books every couple of weeks and claim your stickers or whatever.

I am doubtful that children in general go down 2 whole sublevels in the school holidays but it could be that that some children need to keep practicing more than others as some maybe retain stuff better/longer.

Try not to compare what your dc is like with others and just keep reading.

DD has just turned five and I went to The Works and bought four ORT Biff,Kipper and Chip books for £5.00 for her to read over the holidays. It might be worth taking a trip if you have a Works or other cheap bookshop near to you they may have something your son would like to read.