dd 'bored' with reading scheme books.

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She is yr 1; on orange level and has been for a term. She seems to have worked through all the yawn magic key ones and most of the other story books, latest offerings was a book on leeches and meals. She says there are no other interesting books there which she hasn't read and she doesn't want to read them but she has to take two home each week. When she is bored reading then she just sucks her thumb and rolls around, then says she feels sick etc etc... Over the holidays, as she has no reading books she has chosen to read some rainbow fairy books I know it is the same story 80 times but at least she is engaged she reads a few pages, then I read back to her for however long she read to me. We have the same agreement for school books and works well for us.

How can I approach this when we return to school. I understand if the teacher doesn't want to put her up a level, but they aren't about to come and listen to her read and I don't want to battle with her every night to read books she has no interest in. I don't think it will be a problem when she goes up a level as there will be new books, but she won't go up until she reads more.

This was an ongoing battle for us. They need to read the books given to demonstrate understanding of the texts and comprehension, also trying books that are too hard can sometimes knock confidence which is obviously not good when learning to read. Doesn't make the battles any easier though.

I would just explain to the teacher exactly as you have here. You understand why the books are set but you are concerned that by rolling around sucking her thumb she is saying she is ready for more and you do not want reading to become a boring chore for her, potentially putting her off.

In the meantime keep on buying her books and taking her to the library if you have one local to you. Keep on with Rainbow Fairy and Walliams and Dahl so she doesn't lose sight of reading being fun.

Strangely she seems more fluent with RF, even though the language is (to my untrained eye) a similar or more challenging level. I don't know that she is ready for more though, I think she has just exhausted the supply that the school has at that level - at least of the books she likes to read. She is very keen to read chapter books, which is why she pays attention when reading RF. We do go to the library but thanks to the book people we have enough Rainbow Fairies to keep us going for ages. What did you do about the school books? Do you keep reading them, or leave them and let them read with them at school? I really don't think I will be able to make her read the school books and RF books.

We had a real battle with dd1 at the same age. In the end we barely read with her for about 6 months (we read to her but she didn't read much to us) as she just refused to read - I told the school and she read there. I don't want to get to that stage with dd2 (dd1 is now yr3 and reads loads and is fairly fluent, so I know that it will come).

There are some brave parents out there who just say fu** the school reading scheme we are going to read real books. That may be a good idea. (It also might not be.)

I have tried many times to find appropriate books from the library. But our library, although it has a sweet and responsive early learning staff member, still has a rather random approach to reading books. In the end I gave up on a search of correct books and just let my daughter read any children's books she could see. There is no shortage of them. It's a radical step and I don't know how wise it is. But it seems to be going OK so far.

We moved schools. DS was bored to tears at his old one. At new school he got moved up a year and the new teacher just lets him read what he wants to.

While at the old school we pushed on with the books and I have to admit we did undermine the school a bit with the line "Yes, these books are boring, but they're like cleaning your room. If you clean your room you get to play in it. Read the boring books and we'll buy you nice ones."

If she's reading the books at school with no issue (as your DD1 did) I'd be tempted to let her be for a while. Obviously if her book comes back with notes from teacher saying she struggled I'd rethink.

they are boring. this is a life lesson. my approach is to read them together as little as possible and move on to better, real books which we read together or i read to them.

Not sure I could categorise Rainbow Fairy books as real books! How has the school responded? Do they still make you feel guilty send home books? Dd2 is a stickler for rules, it is the only way we get her to read the school books - by telling her that her changing day is in x days so she needs to read otherwise she won't be able to change them. Not sure how she will feel about going against the prescribed books even though she hates them. However she seems happier reading about fairies, which is one of her obsessions not many reading scheme books about Ancient Egypt and mumification

My DS is in reception and we read the reading scheme and we read other things.

He reads whatever is around - picture books, bits of chapter books. This evening he read dear zoo to his little brother.

We read Dahl, Flat Stanley, Winnie-The-Pooh, Wind in the Willows, Thomas the tank engine to him - the Thomas books he is starting to read to himself.

Variety is the key I think, I'd be sceptical about ploughing through 80 (did I read that right??) books from the same series.

Make sure you use your local library- go every week and let her choose.

Do you talk around the text or just read the words?

I did many years as a parent helper listening to the reading scheme (as well as hearing my own three children read it!).

A surprising number of children would tell me it was boring or to easy yet could not name the different punctuation for example. I used to make them start with the blurb and then predict the story (or the facts it might tell them in non fiction). Then as we read I would point out different punctuation, or when I knew they had probably learnt some get them to pick it out for me. Then we would try different voices for the speech and work on expression. We talked about what might happen next, what was in the pictures etc, pick out words in spelling tests (if I knew them for that class).

I was just so enthusiastic about the books they kind of picked up on it. I normally finished the session leaving a few pages for them to read to mum at home so they could tell me what had happened next time we met.

I know the books can seem dull, it's just how you sell then (when you think you have heard "oh floppy, no Floppy" for what seemed like 100+ times this can be trying). I did used to tell the teacher if I thought they might be ready for another level as there was no point keeping them on a level just to finish it if they had made lots of progress.

Believe me, not our wish to read them all, but both girls are obsessed with fairies, and I guess it worked for dd1, as she wanted to read them, now she has much more sophisticated tastes which are fed by the library. We do go every week to the library, and do the reading challenge, but dd2 doesn't seem to be at the point that she could pick up a book (other than picture books which she has no interest in) and read it. The library books appropriate for her reading level also don't seem to inspire her either.

She does like the biff, kipper stuff, basically anything magic, but the school don't seem to have any of those which she hasn't already read. I realise that Rainbow Fairies are probably the literary equivalent of a chinese takeaway, but I know from dd1 that she won't want to be reading them in a few years time, there is plenty of time for her to develop a wider love of literature when she can read. We read various different books to her, depending on what she wants us to read.

We do talk about the story and her comprehension is fine, but I think that is the problem, she (well all of them) have incredibly vivid imaginations, and I think that reading about leeches is an anticlimax for her when they have been reinacting Narnia or being Santa and the Elves etc. All the teachers comment on their ability to make up stories / games etc. She loves history particularly ancient history, but they don't seem to have any history books at that level. She does do expression when she reads, but I don't think she is ready to move up a level, she really struggles with longer words still.

I don't know how much time you have at your disposal. But when I come across such a problem I grab a few sheets of A4 paper, fold them over and start making a book. I draw what needs to be drawn and write what needs to be written. I don't fear reading scheme books because they lie smitten before me

....sorry, thought I was Abraham for a minute, there.

Err, no. All you need is a marker pen and some paper.

I did do that for dd1, probably still have the 'book' on my hard drive! I guess it is mine and dd2's fear of going against the authority figure which I am battling with. Dd1, like dh has less regard for such social ettiquette. When dd1 got bored she stuck two metaphorical fingers up and refused to do it.

Dd2 is a different creature, she is more like me, sees a rule, tries to follow it, even when the rule is stiffling her. I think, that this rule based approach to life is the barrier in that both of us would hate to tell the teacher that we didn't want to read their book on leeches, so would plough on and do it, even though it stiffles any pleasure and it doesn't do much good as each word is like blood from a stone. I also think that her rule based logic means that she finds it hard when words aren't phonetic, or at least beyond the level of phonics that she has been taught. On the plus side she is very good at maths, and it won't be long before she is ahead of dd1 on rush hour.

It has really helped to put these ideas down, I think I will see if she goes up a level after Christmas and opens up access to a wider choice of books, otherwise will see what the teacher suggests (she is fairly newly qualified and seems to be fairly rule based too, so we'll probably all sit there agreeing that the situation isn't ideal but plough on anyway!)

I had this on orange level too, i just went to the library and got different books and signed the reading diary anyway. She stayed on orange for Ages.

Quick update, dd2 read every day in the second half of the holiday and she has just gone up a level and is very excited about opening up a new range of bloody magic key books. She read half her first book tonight, think reading might have clicked for her.

That's great. Poor girl stuck with leeches book!

Hooray! Only x however more Magic Key to go....... the kids do seem to like them though so they must be better for kids than parents! .

I was hit with the old 'duty of care' rubbish when Ds was not being read with at school last year, he had been stuck on the same really low level for a very long time until he gave up and refused to read at school when he did get the opportunity, I spoke to the TA, left polite messages in his reading diary that he was becoming bored with his book (which he had for over a month!) tried sending him back in to change it but the TA had an office with the books in so this was a useless idea (it was locked up at the end of the day)..in the end we ignored the schools reading scheme and hit the library then we were blamed for his non-enthusiastic approach to reading at school because we were not reading the daft bloody books at home with him! What did help us was to find books from Ds's reading scheme which were a couple of levels higher to give him a taster of what was to come, this seemed to make him realize that if he just read the darn books eventually he would get to the more interesting ones. Sadly he has the same TA from last year and now he is reading a book a day she is giving him every possible extention book she can find on the same blooming level...damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

My dd ended YR on this level and stayed on it for ages as well. I was very frustrated with this level too! She has moved up 2 levels I think in the last few weeks so after you get through it, progress seems faster.

Use this to get alternative books at the library, you should be able to order titles into your branch www.essex.gov.uk/Libraries-Archives/libraries/childrens-library/Documents/Books_for_children_beginning_to_read.pdf

Also even when DD had finished Kipper books, we have been getting other ORT books still levelled 6 and 7 but they are actually higher levels than Kipper 6 and 7.
www.oup.com/oxed/pdf/ORT_bookbands.pdf

Thank you for your encouragement, and the links. She seems to be more fluent on turquoise than she was on orange. Fortunately her teacher is fairly good at listening to the read, so hopefully she will progress ok. It seems to have clicked for her, think it is practise now.

I think if a TA or teacher was actually tracking down books to keep the same level of the scheme lasting for ever I'd first complain and then stop reading them with my child.

even if that was the level your child was working at and needed to practise because they weren't ready for the next level ?

DD's level she is on now, she is going to be on for a while. Her school are tracking books to match that level so she has more to read, I don't have a problem with it. Tbh she seems to be getting some decent stuff ATM (keeps fingers crossed).

Iirc DD found the jump to orange harder and to yellow (when on that stage) the other stages have not been so hard for her (so far anyway...)

I suppose it depends on the child. But I can't imagine a normal child without any learning difficulties needing to remain on the same level for ever. Keeping the child there suggests lack of imaginative teaching to me.

Then your imagination doesn't reflect reality