does every school have free readers?

[workshy]

sort of a thread about a thread but not really

DD1 just starting high school, finished primary on a level 6 and was still given specific books by the teachers so never actually a 'free reader' (although these were 'proper books' not reading scheme books)

DD2 going into year 4, level 4c for reading and comprehension, still bringing reading books home

our primary sends home books from several different reading schemes and seems to have a never ending supply of 'pocket tales'

I see threads about DCs being free readers from Yr 1 upwards -do I send my DCs to an odd school?

It is clear from threads about free reading on mn that the criteria varies HUGELY - in some schools there are 11 book levels and once a child has completed lime band they qualify, my dcs school by comparison has 30 levels and some children leave year 6 still on the reading scheme. It sounds a bit bizarre that a child at a high literacy level is still only allowed to read prescribed books, though, OP.

they were good books TBF, she came home with the hobbit and lord of the rings

I sometimes "tell" my year 6's which books to read, otherwise they chose a continuous diet of bloody Horrid Henry and Puppy Patrol books! I tend to steer them into other directions

DD's school has books grouped by level - you have to read every book in a level before you can 'move up'.

They do occasionally break their own rules for bloody awkward children like dd who can patently read but are fussy and will sit on a level for ever rather than read the Michael Morpurgo book where the animal gets the chop books they don't like

OP our school is like yours. There is no escaping the framework. Although DS does get to choose freely which book stays in his drawer for when they have 5 mins spare in class. Likes a bit of Morpurgo - rural upbringing!

My DC school has book levels right up until yr6 but from white level they are allowed to choose their own books from their particular band/box rather than the teacher picking for them so I guess thAt is as close to free reading as they can get!!!

The thing is I guess the reading/book choosing rules are set for the children who aren't keen readers/don't read for pleasure out of school, so they can seem a bit mad if you have dc that are reading loads.

DD's school has a rule that once you've taken a book, you can't change it until you've finished reading it - I had to go in once and ask for special dispensation when she accidentally ended up with the second book in a series which really needed reading in order!

I think if you have dc who are keen readers, all you can do is tell them to put up with the rules & explain that they're there for a reason.

(Admittedly this can be tricky when you have a child who's had to read the same book 5 times through because they're not allowed to swap until they've read a bit to the teacher - but teacher, quite understandably, listens to those who need help . . .)

We have no "free readers" reading books are assigned by teachers for a purpose regardless of how good a reader the child is.