biff and chip again (sorry)

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

I posted a few weeks back with regards to my dd being bored with the books and finding them too easy. She did get moved up a level and things got better. The school uses the ORT reading scheme. To start with she was given "traditional tales" and really enjoyed them. The trouble is now she is really not enjoying the biff and chips books. Any other book she is given she will happily read.

We read books from the library all the time and she is progressing well and enjoying the books we get and has a good understanding of the stories she is reading. My question is how the hell do i get her to understand that this is the reading scheme that the school has and like it or not she is gonna have to just do it. some of the books will have these two characters and if she just gets on with it we can go back to a book of her choice. i have tried the firm approach but i feel thats just punishing her for having an opinion :(

I CAN@T STAND the bloody Biff & Chip books. They are utter shite! My 5yo mindee (reception class at school) got bored with them very very quickly and clearly doesn't enjoy reading them. IMO they are far too dumbed down and patronising for bright kids whose first language is English. We read the old ladybird factual books on all sorts from space travel to famous inventors/explorers etc. You might think these are dated (sometimes quite hilariously), but she enjoys them MUCH more and just whizzes through the B&C crap with her reader/teacher at school.

• CAN'T

What stage is she at? Have you got to the magic key adventures yet They do get better... (marginally!) My DD was on them for ages, way beyond the level her older brother had got to as he moved to free reading very early. But when she used to brink the longer stories back from school he would still sit and read them first.

But there is more to reading than just being able to whizz through the books. Yes, they are dire, but do reinforce phonics and sounds.

Perhaps reading them in addition to other books is the way to go.

She does find them pretty easy and she noticed pretty early on that there is no story half the time. My worry is she won't read to the best of her abilities at school and therefore be stuck with the damn things. She is reading one or two levels higher at home quite happily but if she comes across a word in the s hooligan book that she doesn't know she has no inclination to even try. Whereas in the other books she will happily ask for help or break it down cos she actually wants to find out what happens. But the school can't issue books they don't have so what can I do? :(

My ds hated Biff and Chip, too (as did I). In the end, we just stopped reading them. (I don't think they are compatible with a phonics-based approach to learning reading, in any case). We read our own books plus library books.

As I see it, the whole point of a reading scheme is to get a child to learn to read and, ideally, to see reading as an enjoyable activity rather than a chore. Just drop the Biff and Chip stuff if you want to and read your own things at home.

She is level four. Is good at her sounds, understands stories well, answers questions , guesses at what's next etc. There is no problem as far as that goes she just hates the books and she's allowed to like or dislike them like we do with our books :( I feel forcing her is killing it for her and that I can't tell her off for having an opinion on a book :(

She is level four. Or blue band Is good at her sounds, understands stories well, answers questions , guesses at what's next etc. There is no problem as far as that goes she just hates the books and she's allowed to like or dislike them like we do with our books :( I feel forcing her is killing it for her and that I can't tell her off for having an opinion on a book :(

Don't worry about her being "held back" at school if she doesn't do the whole Biff & Chip cr*p. Ds couldn't read when he started reception, but now (end of Y1) he is by far and away the best reader in the class and is even allowed to choose his books from the Y3 collection. This despite (or, in my view, because) he was encouraged by me to choose his own reading materials.

I strongly disagree with the other poster who said the Biff & Chip books allow children to practice interpreting phonics and sounds - they don't and seem to be based on what I think of as the "look and guess" method of reading.

Stop worrying so much! Drop the Biff & Chip. As long as you practice reading with your daughter at home, she'll be fine. She can still read the books at school if her teacher feels that strongly about it.

The stories get better at Level 5 which is when the children find the magic key .... so not long to go!

OP, don't sweat it. Don't force your DC to read B&C. It isn't worth stressing her or yourself out over it. As someone else said upthread, let her choose her own reading material at home. Reading for pleasure should be exactly that, and it should be valuable stress-free bonding time for both of you. Just ditch the B&C at home. Problem solved.

I would persevere with them, even if you just read them once. I now let DS(5) read them in his head and just ask questions to check his comprehension. I think from level 6 they are a bit better. DS finds the Project X and the non fiction books more interesting. Even though they are the same level as his school reading books, I think they are more difficult.

He likes to read Oxford Owl books on the laptop. I ask him to read aloud but leave him to it unless he asks me to sit with him.

My DS got quite bored, he was on the Magic Key ones in his second term of reception and then they just seemed an even longer bore!

Then he started bi-lingual school in Switzerland and I have to read the buggars all over again....in German! (Vilf und Vilma!!!)

Although I agree that your DC should express her opinion, as did my DS vehemently, there is also an element of following a curriculum and getting into the mindset of tackling work that you may not want to do, but may have to do in future.

So I used to say to my DS yes it's boring, but once it's read and the box is ticked you can move onto something else.

The ORT also have factual books as part of their series if I recall? I remember reading some geographical ones and ones about Gems, etc? Can you ask the teacher for a glance at the book library, or to break up the pattern a bit with some factual ORT books?

Another B&C bugbear I have is that they do not in any way spark an interest in or encourage further reading of a subject. My mindee becomes very absorbed in stories from history (kings & queens, wars/battles, inspirational women) and wants to know all about them because they did actuall happen FOR REAL. I love that at the tender age of 5 I can nurture her genuine interest in science/history/feminism/whatever in a totally child-led fashion. She is light years ahead of her peers btw and LOVES learning and reading.

They are fucking awful. We too stopped reading them; life is too short

So many great books around, I love reading with dcs, just not those.

we read all the time at home and she loves it. My concern really is that i dont know how teachers base their judgement of what level they need to be on and if the lack of enthusiasm would transpose to them as a lack of understanding and therefore she doesnt get moved on when in reality she is more than ready and would happily read any other book.

I had a major falling out with school over these books. they are utter crap, DD is a sight reader and hated phonics, she also hated these books. Luckily her teacher in reception was excellent and let DD sit at the side during phonics, reading Famous 5 books.

Another issue with ORT is that you can guess the sentence from the pictures, we were advised to cover up the pictures, which is 90% of the book!!!!!! That was the point I bought all the old Ladybird books which DD read and then she moved onto Enid Blyton...not great literature but grammatically correct, no pictures, and interesting plots, for the most part.

The later ORT are not too terrible..the Magic Key ones are ok. DD used to read about 10 a week as "officially" she had to be seen to read all of them. So she read them as fast as possible to get them out of the way...like nasty medicine.

There are other reading series books, I cannot now remember the names of them, but the school did have them in an old box...
I think there was a Cambridge reading series which was less crap as well.

In the end I bought all the Little Grey Rabbit books, Charlie and Lola books and Winnie the Witch, which DD enjoyed far more.

If your DD is bright she will get the argument that she needs to be seen to read these books and the faster she does this, the faster she can get onto the interesting stuff. This was how I pitched it to DD...plus sweets when she finished a level.

And keep complaining to the teacher that these books are trite and unimaginative and that the artwork is crap, as well as containing historical inaccuracies.

My DS has Biff and Chip books selected for him based on topics or sounds. Whilst I don't agree or understand the selection reading it once isn't a massive problem. He gets frustrated at not being able to choose his own but it's only two a week. He can read what he wants at home.

biff and chip are pretty dire
dd1 recently brought home a really good factual ORT book called Freaky Fish or something - we all enjoyed it.
i don't think there are many of them though, as we asked in her reading diary if we could have more from this range, but have remained in Biff and Chip purgatory since...

migsy gave repeatedly triedto explain once it's done it's done and it does sometimes help and she starts the book but her face just falls after a couple of pages and she gets slower and quieter and fidgety page by page :( I did mention to the teachers last tine we had problems with her finding books too easy and it got changed to another book with the longest sentence had like five words. She can read three library books in the time it takes me to get her to agree to and read the school book :( x

Lol @ Biff and Chip purgatory.

Do you get there with the Magic Key?

I'm not an expert but I'm surprised at advice to cover up the pictures. I thought using picture clues was one of many strategies it is useful to use when learning to read.

not had the magic key ones yet im still hoping someone kills them off lol she seems to like espresso books as she likes scully the dog. we read hide and seek which is level six so hopefully she isnt too far off getting the magic key although i am still nervous how shes gonna respond to any more biff and chip but wait and see i guess just hope she can hang in there at school while we read other stuff at home

OK, so try a different tactic and make them interesting. Allow your DD to make up her own imagined story based on the pictures. The 'alternative' Biff & Chip if you will. Let her take out her frustrations with the idiotic characters/shite plot that way and have a good old laugh at the same time (whilst also encouraging imaginative storytelling etc). Let the stories be as awful/gross/evil as she likes and be mock horrified at her suggestions. She will love it and be much more willing to zip through the real story afterwards. :o