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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Another reception/reading thread - help with books please!

29 replies

OhThisIsJustGrape · 14/02/2013 12:55

DD started reception in September and is doing very well. My problem is that her reading book is not changed very often, she finds the books relatively easy although I would say they are appropriate for the stage she is at but as she can read it competently the first time and is then left with it for over a week (the book she currently has was changed Monday of last week), she is getting bored.

I have asked her teacher on occasion if she can possibly have her book changed but always get the same reply trotted out - the children have to read to the teacher before the book can be changed, they read with a volunteer on a Monday but she is not qualified to change the book. The teacher 'tries' to hear the children read once a week but this is not always possible. There are only 15 children in the class though so goodness knows how she would cope with 25 children!

Oddly enough, whenever I have asked for the book to be changed it does and DD will get up to 3 different books in a week then we slip back to one every 10days! I find her teacher quite unapproachable at times and she always seems to take whatever I say as a criticism.

So, I'd like to buy some books for DD to read at home. Not in any way to push her forward as such but more so she just has some different reading material. She likes to read every night but gets bored when its the same book after 10 days! We read lots of books to DD and she has a fantastic library but they are too advanced for her to read herself, she has a go and does quite well but I'd like her to be able to confidently read a book like she does with her reading book.

DD's school is using the Dandelion Readers books and is Unit 7 of the first set if that helps.

We have parent's evening in March and I am going to raise the issue with the teacher as I feel DD could be so much further ahead than she is if only the book was changed more often. If its a case of the teacher wanting DD to be learning the new letter sounds etc that come with each book in class first then I understand but I don't really think this is the case. DD seems to be more advanced than a lot of the children in the class - I see this for myself every morning when they are doing handwriting practice etc and also they have a list of goals on display and whereas the others have goals of recognising letters and sounds, DD's goal is about writing sentences with spaces in. I'm no expert but I do think she is a bright child (although obviously biased!).

DD is not my PFB btw, just incase it comes across a bit like that

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learnandsay · 14/02/2013 13:14

I just buy all the secondhand Ladybird books from our local charity shops. I find there is a plentiful supply and they're about right for my daughter.

christinarossetti · 14/02/2013 15:21

I don't know about Dandelion readers, but my dd also had her book changed once a week in reception, although often given 2 books at a time. She also read them competently straight off and didn't want to re-read them. Her teacher was very happy to change books as often as needed, although I felt a bit odd asking every day, so I bought a set of Songbird phonics for the first term or so, then used the library.

I think it probably did progress her reading, as she had access to more material that she could read independently and she could read harder books at home etc.

She left reception being a fluent, independent reader.

Original poster

OhThisIsJustGrape · 14/02/2013 16:06

Thanks for replies, will look for both those ideas.

Does anyone think I should make more of a fuss about her getting book changed more often? I know it's not the be all and end all but it's the inconsistency that I'm struggling with and I do think 2 weeks with the same book is too long (was hoping it might've been changed today but nada). Teacher said back in sept that dd was one of the brightest in class and would be pushed ahead but it doesn't seem like it to me.

My trouble is that I don't have the confidence in teaching her myself - I'd happily let her plough through a set of books but would worry that she'd learn differently to how she would at school. Or would that really matter?

OP posts:

Original poster

OhThisIsJustGrape · 14/02/2013 16:22

Just ordered set of 25 Biff, Chip & Kipper books for bargain price of £15.80 delivered! At least that will give her something to read at bedtime for a few weeks :)

OP posts:

MerryMingeWhingesAgain · 14/02/2013 16:27

If you see the Songbirds ones on ebay or TheBookPeople I really like them - Biff and Kipper are not fun at all for me (though DD doesn't seem to hate mind them like I do)

Don't worry about trying to teach her to read, I wouldn't know how to either just let her practice - you will absorb some of the 'sounding out' stuff from her as you go along. The school books - if you have asked for the books to be changed and they are not working with you, speak to someone else - the HT or a deputy.

I had the same issue in reception, I raised it with the school and now books are changed daily if you want them and parents are invited in once/twice a week to change books in the class too, which is great.

Original poster

OhThisIsJustGrape · 14/02/2013 16:34

Tried to get the Songbirds ones but out of stock everywhere. Biff and Chip will be like a trip down memory lane for me as my eldest 2 had them when they were in reception 10+ years ago!

I just don't understand how hard can it be to ensure that 15 children are listened to reading once a week? Surely that's a smaller than average cohort?

OP posts:

christinarossetti · 14/02/2013 16:36

In your situation, I wouldn't wait for parents' evening - ask for a brief before or after school meeting and explain the situation as you have here and ask for your dd's book to be changed more frequently.

Original poster

OhThisIsJustGrape · 14/02/2013 16:41

Teacher is just so snippy though and makes me feel like I'm the pushiest parent ever - which I'm not, and certainly don't think I'm being about this issue. She's a bit odd really and don't want to make an enemy of her, it's difficult as she's seems so defensive whenever I approach her.

OP posts:

christinarossetti · 14/02/2013 17:00

The library is your friend, then!

mrz · 14/02/2013 17:05

If the school is using Dandelion readers I would stick with them or perhaps look at
sounds-write.co.uk/books_initial.aspx

simpson · 14/02/2013 20:35

My local library had some phonics corner books which were fab.

I would keep trying to get hold of the songbird books as they are great too (try amazon).

ORT has it's place, but they are not hugely phonetic.

mrz · 14/02/2013 20:38

OhThisIsJustGrape do you know which phonic programme is being used with the Dandelion books

simpson · 14/02/2013 22:49

I have not found one set of school reading books that are great. They all have their downside (although dandelion books seem ok).

DD has just been put back onto the dreaded JP books

learnandsay · 14/02/2013 23:01

I think it's the teacher's job to explain in terms that mum can understand if she wants a child to study the-little-blue-book when mum says no, the little-blue-book is just too easy. Because the simplest thing in the world to do is just chuck the school book in the corner and forget about it. If mum (maybe mistakenly) thinks that Little Charlotte is getting so much from reading War & Peace, and nothing from ORT Songbirds 12787, then Tolstoy it is.

simpson · 14/02/2013 23:06

I am not that DD has been put back on them as they are lower just that she hates them iyswim.

The teacher told me that DD is very strong in fiction and has a muxh higher level book for that too but needs to practise non fiction more (which I agree with) but its hard finding a decent non fiction school book I guess.

Out of 5 we have had from the school so far, DD has refused to read 3

learnandsay · 14/02/2013 23:20

(Hi, s, I think your daughter is probably an exception.) For most mums, if there's a difference of opinion about whether the reading scheme is right or relevant then the teacher needs to explain. If they're paying attention and have a scheme where all books at all levels have to be read, and if they have a child who reads at a million miles an hour, it won't be long before they run out of relevant books for Little Charlotte to read. Some say why not let Charlotte choose her own books at that point?

If the teacher says no, I think she should explain in terms mum understands why she has said no. (Otherwise, if mum is a stubborn old cow, she'll just say flip the school reading scheme and invent her own reading scheme at home.)

simpson · 14/02/2013 23:21

Well I do agree and had the same situation with DS (although no explanation) so he had shit easy books for ages....

learnandsay · 14/02/2013 23:28

If I hadn't taught may daughter to read myself such a trap would have been possible for her too because if the school didn't progress her I would be left like a lot of mums saying "progress, progress, progress" and getting ignored. But as I've taught her, to progress her all I have to do is take her to the library.

We're not stuck in the system because we were never in the system in the first place.

I've heard some mums saying that their children can't read books with unfamiliar sounds in them. I don't know if the failure there is on mum's account or on the child's. I suspect that with mum's help a lot of children could read a lot more local library books.

simpson · 14/02/2013 23:51

I have loads of non fiction books at home so I am going to encourage her to read them this half term.

They are a lot more fun than the school books. I have not had a problem with the fiction ones at all (she has a good one this week) just NF

learnandsay · 15/02/2013 00:07

Maybe there is a reason why some schools or some teachers can't be more flexible??!

Mrz seems to say often that she doesn't mind what the children read as long as they read and she seems to get good results. But, with any system I can see why the controller would want to call the shots and tell pupils what they must read and when they must read it. It's easier, possibly not better or more effective but certainly easier.

dixiechick1975 · 15/02/2013 01:40

Reading chest may also work for you.

I've only used it short term over the summer hols but DD loved getting books in the post and you can try a variety of different schemes.

Cat98 · 15/02/2013 08:34

I second reading chest.
Ds only gets one book a week from school, I like to hear him read most nights so we use the library and also reading chest. It's great because you know the books you get will be on the appropriate level. Ds thinks its a treat as well when it arrives by post for him!

simpson · 15/02/2013 09:24

Another one who loves the reading chest.

Hawise · 15/02/2013 09:33

Reading chest is fantastic if you can afford it. We go to the library three days a week and dd chooses books. However, with Reading chest I feel like it is more structured, she reads through books at her level and the library books she chooses whatever takes her fancy. I don't stress about what books she gets from school now, esp. as books are only changed once a week and we have got repeats on numerous occasions.

Trixieblue · 15/02/2013 11:08

When my boys book isn't changed I write him little rhyming story's to read. They don't have to be clever, but funny. Poo rhymes with a lot of other words, he can use his phonetics so well, trying the different sounds with the words I know that are "tricky" and apparently can't be sounded out, strange as we can sound them all out x biff and chip books are good basic books xxx

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