Teachers, what kind of books do you think a child needs to be reading to not need a reading scheme any longer?

[newtermnewname]

Title says it all.

Thankyou!

However, I'm not sure that "holding them back" on the simpler books would necessarily help though I wish they were allowed to just give up on a book if they can't follow it, and try something else. School seems to have this rule that you must finish every book, whether you are enjoying it or not.
Some children just cheat, and say they've read it, and I don't blame them.

OP, surely a child reading unabridged classics at home for pleasure would be at level 5 for reading.

I'll return to my original question, can teachers give me some titles of books that they would consider to be free reading/not in need of a reading scheme anymore?

newtemename I reckon unabridged classics is about the time the reading schemes should stop! And maybe mrz I'm being unfair, I just know as a child I felt patronized by "kids" books. The joy of reading a classic as a child, is that you get to read it again as a teenager and have a new take on it, and then again as an adult and see it in yet another new light, and then on through your life. Surely that's the joy in reading? And you just don't get that from the carefully designed, kids packaged books - it's the outpouring of someone's soul in a book, that really hooks a reader

choccyp1g - you would have thought so. Whilst i am under no illusion that my 7 year-old fully understood EVERY word of the 25-book-collection that she found for £5 in a charity shop I despair that she has to keep ploughing through the (mostly) God-awful books from school.

If you hadn't already guessed, the reading scheme at my DC's school is a real bug-bear of mine that I would dearly love to see re-thought. But I am only David against Goliath.

Where's everyone gone? has something interesting happened on BB?

I think the point is that a ild can read and should be encouraged to read whatever they want outside of the reading scheme in their own time.

They become "free readers" when they read the last book on the reading scheme which their particular school dictates, and therefore there is no one fits all criteria.

There is no standard rule and we as parents and our children should not be bound by "THE reading scheme". Sure I think a parent has a duty to encourage their children to read the book dictated by their teacher (with challenge to the teacher if truely necessary). But I don't think that parents or children should be constrained by the reading scheme.
My DD3 - Yr1, blue books, ORT stage 4 happily reads her reading scheme book (ORT). She also gets a book out of "a suitable box" each week - which as far as I can see are just "out of date" (in the sense that the school don't use that particular reading scheme any more...I am seeing Ginn books whcih I can remember reading ) books from the same reading band. In addition she will apparently get a "free choice" from the KS1 library which "may be something for parents to share with their children rather than the child reading to you".

So in effect she gets 3 books per week. 2 from the appropriate book band, one of which will be from THE reading scheme. The third is likely to be for me to read to/with her (but I haven't seen this yet). This seems a good balance between the constraints of a potentially dictatorial reading scheme and free choice.

Oh and if that isn't too much for her she will also get to choose from local library which I will guide based on hter reading level but with 3 books a week from school there will be no pressure to read them and we will see how she settles.

/HIJACK/ Mrz - while you are around, someone mentioned you may have linked to a resource that had non scheme books with equivalent ORT levels? Was that you? If so, can you please link it again? Thanks ever so!

/end hijack

Free reading means different things in different schools, or even, in my experience with different teachers in the same school. In yr 1 dd1 finished the awful Ginn reading scheme which only went up to level 7 and was a "free reader". In yr2 they have new Rigby Star books and she has been put back on the scheme at lime level. DD1 initially was upset as she thought the teacher thought she was going backwards, however the books are really interesting - especially the non-fiction ones and she's definitely still progressing. Does anyone know how far the colour levels go up to on Rigby books?

There is nothing on line MagicFingerGoesPop schools buy in a list of levelled books including non scheme books sorry.

We don't have free readers even the secure level 5 readers are allocated books to practise specific skills.

Runoutofideas they go up to Red KS2 (lime brown grey blue red)

www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/demos/aaPrimary/Literacy/DrWhoLodger_May2011/BugClubPlayer.html is red KS2 (level 5n NC) Rigby book available as an e book or paper book.

I have been wondering this. Ds is an ok reader, he got a 3 on his Y2 sats and is in the top literacy group. He loves reading at home but he generally doesn't enjoy the reading scheme books. I know he has a way to go on the scheme because older and better dcs are still on it.
In Y2 he would read his reading book with a bit of cajoling but now he is in Y3 he has to read it by himself for 10 mins a day in school whereas he had been allowed to take in whatever he was reading at home. It is making him bitter.
My thoughts are he can read well enough to manage, he had exceeded the government targets so why can't he spend those 10 mins reading for pleasure like he did in Y2. His teacher says he must read the scheme book to get onto the next level but I would rather foster a love of reading rather than make him get a better score in a reading test.

Why can't you do both olddog?

mrz - enormous hijack but I have been asking on the g&t board about dd's reading in reception. Would be really interested to hear your thoughts on what she should be doing...

mrz Because he has to read the reading scheme book at school. In the infants they were allowed to read a library book or a book from home unless they were doing guided reading or reading their reading scheme book with an adult but now he can't. I think if he hadn't already had that luxury then he would be ok but he is seriously bored by the reading scheme books after 2 weeks of term is seeing reading as a punishment and looking back to Y2 with rose tinted glasses. It would help is the reading scheme books weren't dull as shit but they are. I have tried asking if the PTA could buy some new ones but they buy what the head wants and he wants computers. Millions and millions of computers. I don't think he should be off scheme but this new system is really putting him off. They have to finish the book even if its awful and he accidentally chose a really long boring one and was stuck with it for over a week and was sobbing because he didn't want to finish it. Its difficult to foster a love of reading in that environment.

Once mine are reading ORT 12 or 13 (yr2) I tend to switch them to free readers, partly because the themes in these levels aren't ideally suited to a 6/7 yr old.

My children also read library books every week but it isn't so easy to match to the skills I want to develop. Fortunately my head is willing to invest in quality reading materials with appropriate reading interest.

Interesting thread. My DD was never on a reading scheme as she started reception with a reading and spelling age of 12+. She's now in Y9 and is still excelling at English (top of her year in a highly selective school). So being a 'free reader' from 4 has clearly not impeded her comprehension etc in any way. Am not convinced about them tbh.
DS (Y5) moved through them in the normal way and found them really dull after a while. Now that he's a 'free reader' he's much more likely to pick up his book and read for pleasure than he was with the reading scheme books