Importance of reading school books

[50shadesofstress]

My DS (Y1) is on the last official reading level at school but we do not seem to have much chance to read his school books at home as we read other things.

He does read EVERY night but generally chooses what he wants to read - mainly Roald Dahl, Horrid Henry, Harry Potter or David Walliams childrens books. I consider that he is improving his reading/understanding all the time by reading these sorts of books.

He does not often read his school book at school as they use the guided reading for assessment but I just wondered if anyone knew whether the fact he is not reading his actual school book at home makes any difference as to him moving up levels.

FWIW - when we do read a school book it is not very challenging for him and can read a full chapter book in one go. I try to ask questions etc to gauge the understanding and he seems to be fine. I do not know his current reading/comprehension level but I believe its around a 3c.

I do know that he must be able to read different types of text etc which he can/does but I guess I just want to make sure I am not holding him back at all by allowing this freedom with his reading.

If your DS is reading Roald Dahl etc fluently at home, quite frankly I'd stuff the school reading books! (Veteran of 2 DCs ploughing through the Oxford bloody Reading Tree here).

The reading levels are totally irrelevant if he is a fluent reader - he is obviously very good at reading if he's on the last reading level and he's only in Y1. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.

My DCs school doesn't have a reading scheme - they just read what they want all the time. As long as he is reading regularly, and more importantly enjoying it, I wouldn't worry. Does he have a record book or anything so that the teacher knows that he is reading?

I agree - he's a free reader so it'll make no difference. My dd is Y1 and ploughing through blue bananas and similar. Although she attempts to read other things, she is not yet fluent and for her a reading scheme tailored to her level is still a good thing.

Thanks, I don't know why but I am having a bit of a wobble, the school mentioned (numerous times) about reading their school books at home every night in a recent school meeting with KS1 and I panicked a bit that we weren't doing that!

He has a reading diary they gave to him last year separate to his school book record. I just let him write a review or whatever about his books if he wants to, he writes about his favourite bits etc. I am not sure if the teacher looks at it, I think I will ask him at parents evening.

Sometimes DS must read his school book to himself at school as I have found the odd comment written by him saying 'X read up to page 10, read brilliantly didn't get stuck on any words'. It makes me laugh!

I'm sure you're not holding him back. The only thing I have realised as a parent is the school books cover poems and plays - which DS would not choose from the library. The school non-fiction ones can have some quite challenging vocabulary & sometimes extracts of olde englishe. DS's school makes everyone follow the scheme up to level 16. DS is yr3 and no-one is off the scheme yet.

I believe they read the plays/non-fiction in guided reading so hopefully this is all covered.

I am not sure if DSs school keep going with a scheme as such, there seems to be an additional level which is colour coded by the school so the children know what to choose but these seem to be Roald Dahl type books and I am guessing non-fiction books as well at the relevant level. This is free reading at his school but I know that is a term that varies from school to school.

I do think schools move in mysterious ways around reading. As well as scheme books they bring home & guided reading, the kids always have a book in their drawer at school for spare 5 mins. Found out this weekend DS is currently reading War Horse. I asked him 50 questions because I thought he was just trying to join in an adult conversation about the film but no I am a doubting mother and he is. And yet school still sees merit in him sticking with ORT.

Perhaps a teacher will enlighten me?

School reading scheme books are so BORING!

As long as your ds is reading well and widely which it sound like he is, I wouldn't worry to much about the school book.

I don't think it would do any harm to sit him down and get him to read the school books to you once or twice a week, just so he's done it (unless he really hates them, but at this stage I wouldn't have thought you'd be in danger of discouraging enthusiasm for reading).

Then you're covered, and he can choose his own books at all other times. tbh I don't think some of the reading scheme books I've seen are that bad, though obviously it depends which ones your school uses, and whether there's a good mix of different types (factual, plays, stories etc). Some of the factual ones I've seen are actually quite educational, I think it's good for children to see books occasionally that they wouldn't necessarily choose for themselves, I know my DC tend to choose the same type of story books from the library week after week.

I could have written your post OP My ds reads anything he can get his hands on, but not the school books. At the moment he is into Enid Blyton and has read all 24 famous five and about 10 secret sevens in the last 3 months. As well as other books in between.
He hates the school books, mainly because he is quite choosy about what he wants to read and can't find ones he likes. To be honest I just don't bother. I do write in his reading record, I write what he has read, and they have never complained. I can't remember the last time he changed his book at school. They seem to be fine with him reading home books, as long as he is reading. He school report has just put his reading at significantly above average.

I am a teacher (but not at the moment) and at this level, I am sure they would have moved off the top of the reading scheme and be free to choose.

I am aware that he isn't reading books that are more challenging themes, but he is also year 4 and I think at this level, enjoyment and fluency are the key things. he will get challenged with other books, and we have lots on our shelves that I will start to send his way once he has got over his Enid fetish!

Thanks everyone, I feel better about all this.

Waving that is probably the best thing to do, he does read the school books about once a week but thats it, TBH he doesn't hate the school books, he just enjoys something with a better story line. Even at the higher levels the reading scheme books have very random stories that I don't really think the children 'get into' as such.

He does read factual books at home but these tend to be facts and figures about sport and stuff and Guiness Book of Records, that sort of thing.

Some schools allow children to be free readers once they are around a level 2 but the scheme at DSs school takes them up to a 3c.

I have seen the criteria to get passed the 3c and it is fairly tough for a child of that age but his school are quite strict with the reading levels so wouldn't just move him up until he is completely fulfilling the criteria, however on saying that sometimes the higher level readers get missed a little bit and if one of the parents says 'DC hasn't moved up for a while, is there anything we can do to help them along' then miraculously the following week they seem to have moved up a level!

That sounds quite common though judging my many threads on MN!

I'd suggest at least reading the scheme books for a short while (5 minutes a time won't kill him!). I do think they are valuable if only to introduce other types of reading (e..g poems, play scripts, non-fiction, different types of fiction). I also find that the books my DS picks for himself are well within his reading capabilities (and also from a fairly limited range) - whereas the school books tend to stretch him a bit more. He only does guided reading once a week at school, so I do feel we need to do more than just him reading for pleasure at home.

I do think that one thing that often gets forgotten in children's reading is speed. I know reading for meaning is the priority, but at some point it is healthy to get up some reading speed. The very best way to do this is to read books that are within your level, and to read lots of them. As adults we often read at different levels, easy books on the beach, more challenging books for interest perhaps academic books for work or whatever. We sometimes expect our dc to always be reading a book at their level or a book which is stretching them.
There is a place for reading books that are comfortably within their level in order to increase confidence and speed.

Which is not to say that they shouldn't be reading challenging books, and a variety of texts too (as redsky says), just that I think it sometimes gets forgotten

If they are reading at a normal reading speed though with any level text then its kind of irrelevant.

I am definitely going to make more of an effort with the school books though, just to ensure he is getting that variety.

On our introduction day our literacy coordinator said we should read school books with our children even if we think they're too easy and concentrate on expression. I think I'd try alternative story development, little quizzes and other forms of entertainment with my daughter if she got sent home with a book that was far too easy. We were also told that some books have no words at all in them. I'm not sure what I'll do if she gets sent home with one of those!

The ones with no words in are for non-readers and they show their comprehension skills by telling the story by looking at the pictures. If she can already read they are unlikely to send her home with these IME. DSs school spent 3 weeks assessing the children with reagrds to reading levels and sent home the correct level books (if any) after that.

DS is good with expression and bold/italic type and exclamation marks etc so its not really that. I am not sure why I am worried, I think I was just worrying about the fact suddenly the school keep saying to everyone to read every night but really I am guessing it is not aimed at the parents/children who read something every night more at those who do nothing.