We are bored, ORT, Would you ask?

[strictlovingmum]

Hi,

DD y2 currently on ORT gold books which she reads with ease, she had finished y1 on the same level and proceeded into y2 on the same reading level, but she's bored of it I am too.
Should I put note in her reading record and ask for her to be moved higher?
Or do nothing for the time being, seeing it is still very early on into the year 2?
Same is with DD's maths homework, she complained "the work is too easy"
"we did this in y1"
TIA
I am not very good with approaching teacher, they always seem to be busy and in general I don't like to come a cross as attention demanding parent, but as I said we are very bored of Chip, Biff and Hamid, it is killing us.

I'd put a note in her reading record and if they don't give her something more challenging for her to read, then i'd choose your own books for her to read.

I have had this problem in the past with my own DD but it seems that the school just wants them to ready all the ORT books, no matter how boring they are!

I feel your pain have been battling books since reception (dd just started yr 1) I would definately speak to teacher and write in reading record. It may well be that the Painful slow unenthusiastic reading due to boredom is transposing as not progressing etc. you need to
Make teacher aware of this as if your dd looses interest then progress will halt :( they can always give a higher level alongside the current level.

I would put a comment into her book but please keep in mind that the teacher may still assessing the 30 children.

DD is still on her reading level from Reception despite making huge progress. But she only reads today for the second time with her teacher so I just wait and see.

If there is no change in her books soon I would make a note.

Do you have to comment in the reading diary.

I'd start writing "DD found this text quite easy".

My DD really likes the ORT books

I reached an agreement via the home/school book with dd's teacher that we would read the reading book if dd wanted to i.e if she was interested in the book, if not we could read our own books.

I would wait for parents evening assuming you have one this term. Teachers need time to assess all the children. You can then have a proper informed conversation about reasons/ability.

There are lots of threads on MN about the boring content of ORT but many schools including DS's still insist they read them all at every level. Do not hope the next level will be more entertaining ! A counter attack with interesting books at home and trips to the library is the way to get round this.

Dd has marched into school with her rainbow magic book every day :o unfortunately teacher said she's cant read it in class and made her promise to do the ORT ones :( its like pulling teeth

I was worried about this kind of thing before my daughter started school, because she has been able to read for quite a while. And sure enough her first book home has no words at all in it. So I got her to tell the story from the pictures and wrote down her version of the Ugly Duckling with no words, and put her version of the text inside her reading record. It seems to have inspired her because she continued making up stories, including The Cat in the Hat Goes to Legoland and then copy out sections of Green Eggs and Ham, so maybe there's something in this easy book stuff? (I don't know.) We also bought a pack of ORT books, presumably the easiest ones imaginable, levels 1,2,3. My daughter loves reading the levels 2,3, you can't really "read" the level 1 books. They're too simplistic. Maybe the novelty will wear off at some point, but she volunteers to read them! I have listed the books that she can actually read, all the Dr Seuss etc in her reading record, just in case her teachers are interested in what she can read. But if they're not, and my daughter doesn't object, I'll continue to let her read baby books if the school wants to send them home. It doesn't seem do her any harm yet. Later on, if the school bores her with books which are too easy I'll try getting her to join me in making an alternative text to those books too. If that doesn't work I'll eventually speak to the teacher. But I do suspect there may still be creative/inspirational merit in books even if they are far too easy.

Thanks guys,

I will put a little note in her reading record this evening and say along the lines of"DD enjoyed the book and read it with ease perhaps we could try her on book one level up"
I think DD has been assessed for reading already, she has read with her teacher or TA almost every day since the start of the year maybe they feel this is the right level for DD.
Small class of only 14, so they all get the chance to read very frequently with teacher/TA.
We do read at home different books, nice interesting books every evening at bed time, DD gets the chance to read me a chapter and then I read one chapter to her,that is what kept us sane.

We have the same problem (dd1 also just gone into Yr2, she is off ORT I think and starting to read some other scheme) with both reading and maths. I asked her teacher about it yesterday and she was a little flustered so I did get the impression they are still assessing them.
I'm just honest in the book - "she found this boring" "she said it was strange". I get the impression they don't care that much, it's the ones not meeting the standards they care about, the ones who are above the average can just cruise because they are not a "problem". I'll just keep getting her to read at home.

I suppose the teachers should care somewhat if the books they're sending home are so easy that they are putting the children off reading, because sending home nothing would be preferable.

FYI I think once they get on gold level they can essentially read. The books don't get more difficult they just get longer. I was very eager for ds1 to zip through the levels and then wished I'd stayed quiet because he was happily reading chapter books at home and the 40 page Ort book he'd bring home each week filled us with dread. Ds2 is on level 7 but reading chapter books at home to me and I'm thrilled he rattles his Ort book off in 5 minutes or so. Long may the teacher put off the higher levels.

caffeinated

DS (Y3) is on gold level, he loved ORT books but his school is not using the system and DS doesn't like any other scheme books (although he seems to enjoy many as he reads).

My DS is not a keen reader and will not read for pleasure but he likes the magic tree house books. So we read one scheme book per week and then each day a chapter of his chosen book and record it in his reading lock. I haven't had any response from the teacher so far, buy hey, we are reading and he is slowly getting better.

Can't see the issue here - read the boring ORT book, make a note in the reading record that it was read with ease and request a new book.

Then read what ever your child likes at home. DS used to read these "because I have to" but knew that he could read much more fun, complex, exciting books at home.

School reading books aren't just about how good a child is at decoding words; it's about teaching concepts like inference and developing comprehension skills.

Schools have to teach a number of skills - you as a parent can instill a love of books and the idea of reading for pleasure.