Ds is finding the reading books boring and drab

[mumineedapooooo]

What can I do?will the teacher be able to do anything if I tell her?
It's becoming a real chore every evening because hes just not interested.

How old is he?

Can you go to the library and let him choose something else?

Hi mumineedapooooo

Have so been there. I posted something similar after 3 weeks of Big Panda/ Little Panda nearly killed us when DD2 was in Y1. A very wise soul here on mumsnet made a radical suggestion - read the school books now and then, but no school will object to you reading something else - the point is to be reading.

We're quite open about it with the school - we just fill in the reading diary saying DD2 is a bit tired of XXXXX so we're reading YYYY at home. The school didn't seem to mind at all - and I suspect that will be most schools.

If you need some advice or ideas on what to be reading can I suggest:

Guardian how to build a classic children's library: www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/building-a-children-s-library

The Book Trust: www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/children/. - Their book finder section is set up by age and genre - and has little synopses of the stories - scroll down from the children's page and it's in the menu list on the left - then select age group and then select genre. I see they've added APPS now - I'll have to have an explore myself.

HTH

I was in a similar position with dd2. She is in yr1 and loves dirty Bertie/horrid Henry/penny dreadful type books and will happily read them. However it was a nightmare to get her to read anything she was given at school. I spoke to her teacher who was fantastic and said that in school she would still have to read school books (obviously)but at home we could read books which she was interested in - we just had to make sure they were at the correct level. I would definitely speak to your son's teacher.

It might matter how old the child is and how well he can already read. Some school books are designed to practice things that have been done in class. (I'm not sure if it's possible to avoid those ones.) And some school books are just reading books and not very good or imaginative ones at that. Those can probably be avoided. Then some mums get their unwilling boys reading David Walliams and the like because they won't read anything else.

Some reading books are dull and drab. I'd encourage him to read as much as he can, not turn it into a fight (read the book to him if you cant' get through it otherwise).

then read more interesting things to him (or get him to read, or pick bits out depending on what level he's on).

hes in yr 2 and reading turquoise books, im not sure which non scheme books would be at this level?
he enjoys the 'fix it duck' books, anything with animals or adventures,hes still very young minded.
yesterday his book from school was about a girl who liked dressing up and showed off when her mum said she couldnt go to the shops dressed like it.
i read to him everynight,fantastic mr fox at the moment,he's enjoying it but i dont think he could or would read it himself

DS had to read the school books - but eventually we managed to get him to work out that if he read it quickly the torture was over quickly and then we could all get on to 'proper' books.

I know that the school books are meant to be designed to help with vocabulary etc (but I'm not convinced).

I think Ladybird classic tales are about the same level of difficulty. But if he's nearing the late middle/beginning of the end section of his school scheme he can probably read pretty well by now. I'd start placing a lot less emphasis/importance on school books and branch out into library books, books from Amazon, secondhand books, all books really.

happy families books by Allan Ahlberg are this sort of level (maybe a bit higher but he will be there soon).
Does he pick his own school books?

Have you tried going to a library? I went in to our local one, and told them what level DS was reading at, and they showed me what they had at that level. Saves spending a fortune on books he will have outgrown in a few months!

I'm guessing he's not choosing his own books given what he came home with yesterday? That's important by Y2 imo.

Ds's school quite explicitly said they whilst they'd like the kids to read the school books sometimes, the most important thing is for them to enjoy reading. Like others, I'd just starting reading & recording some home books (library is prob good unless you have a bottomless book budget) as well as a few school school ones in his book bag. (Worth reading a few school ones so you can keep an eye on how easy/challenging he's finding the official school level) If they raise it as an issue, explain you're mixing it up a bit to maintain his engagement, I'd be surprised if they have a problem unless you start getting him to read way above his level (remember he needs to be able to understand and enjoy, not just decode). Depending on your teacher, you could let her know in advance, or just do it ...

i think unless they are finding the books really easy they have to read every book on the level,hes probably read all the ones hes intrested in and now just plodding through the others in the box.
he was enjoying the biff and kipper books but hasnt brought any of those home for quite a while.
i will have a browse for your sugestions thank you

Try the Oxford owl website too. There are loads of free ebooks to read online...

I would check with the teacher re: reading every book before they go up - ime, very few school do that anymore - and its a mad idea anyway as kids don't progress like that do they?!

"they have to read every book on the level"

I agree with the other poster. Is this what's really going on or does it just feel like that? Maybe the teacher has a reason for sending the books home that she's sending.

I agree with the other poster, if the school policy is to send the books home simply for the sake of sending them and is also inflexible about this then it's a mad policy. (Although it does happen.)

Yes this does happen.My son has just been moved from lime to white by his teacher[on the basis on the very first Ks1 english paper he has ever done].He has been on white since september and is an extremely capable reader.This teacher has never once read with him.I am now going to totally ignore this particular 'control freak' and read our home books with him.I just really want him to enjoy books and not be turned off reading at 6 years old.Please parents just rely on on your intuition and life experience to do whats right for the child.I've come to the conclusion that some teachers really do enjoy controlling and limiting some children.As you can tell i am somewhat cross at the moment[the ofsted dash report for our school has shown a decline in ks 1 levels recently-i'm really not surprised].

im pretty sure thats how they do it,the only times he goes up a level is if hes ran out of books on current level or if ive said hes finding them easy.i think he has read to an adult at school twice since september thats how many times his record has been signed anyway,he says he reads with a friend or to himself sometimes.
i have to remind him every morning to change his book because it is up to the children to just go and do so.hes had this one book all week.
they have had a recent poor inspection too teta