Why on earth shouldn't you teach reading if you jolly well feel like it?

[learnandsay]

Is it really all that bad?

I've heard of parents travelling double that distance pulling their children on a sledge through the snow. With 6 young children riding on the sledge?

I wouldn't be impressed with a parent who told me that her child couldn't didn't read very much because the library was five miles away.

and who says the children can't read?

L&S,

Hmmm, so a parent not only has to not be at work when the library is open but ALSO needs to have the time to walk 10 miles in order to access the library??

Surely even you can see that yes, some motivated parents would do that, but to be 'not impressed' by a parent who is not in a position - healthwise, timewise, needs of other children wise - to make that 'over and above' commitment is unreasonable.

I can't think how DCs manage without belonging to a library-it is the only way that you get a completely free choice of books. Even if it is difficult you have 3 weeks, can have a lot of books and can renew on line or by phone. You can even order on line. It isn't as if you have to get there every week if difficult.

Ours is also open in the evening a couple of nights a week.

I would have been lost without it as a child and it means that you have to rely on either school or what your mother provides-you can't make your own discoveries.

I wouldn't be impressed with a parent who told me that her child couldn't didn't read very much because the library was five miles away.

I really don't think there would be many parents who would care what you thought tbh.

love the image of a dedicated mum battling it through snow because we have overdue library books dammit!!

Some people have no bloody idea!

Exotic, just looked up a typical small town branch library local to the school I taught in.

Open 3 days a week. Two days 9.30 - 4.30, 1 day 9.30 - 5. Every other Saturday 9.30 - 11. So a parent working a 'normal' 9-5 job would only be able to access the library every other Saturday morning, supposing that they had the transport to do so (first bus from village to small town does not arrive until 10.50)

Very true seeker

Absolutely - not only about what kind of lives other people might lead (financially, socially, psychologically) but also about what life might be like, even for a willing and able person, living in a rural area.

Some of our local libraries are spaced over 20 miles apart (or maybe more) and only then open twice a week. The buses might only run twice a day and even if the timings coincide, it can cost up to £12 return for some journeys - per person.

The libraries are almost solely utilised by m/c parents (in a broader definition of the 'class'). I would like to see a lot more investment in providing better resources into each and every school - and in rural areas that primary schools are open and available as a community resource for the wider community. In an ideal world.

Some people will have problems but there are those who don't use them when they could. I live in a small rural town and opening is :
Opening times
Monday 10.00am to 7.00pm,Tuesday 9.30am to 5.00pm,Wednesday,9.30am to 12.30pm
Thursday9.30am to 7.00pm,Friday 9.30am to 5.00pmSaturday 9.30am to 4.00pm
Sunday Closed
City libraries, having looked, tend to be longer and open to 8pm is common.

Many people have libraries that they could use, but don't.

The nearest library to my school is closed Monday and Tuesday open Wednesday and Thursday 9.30 -12.30 and Friday 10.00 -6.00

I love my local library but I certainly wouldn't judge others for not using it!!

We seem to go backwards -when I was at primary school the library service used to send a huge box of fiction books which were changed regularly. Now I have only seen this done for set topics.

It was very exciting when the new box arrived!

The nearest to my home is open Monday 10.30-5.00 closed Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and open Saturday 10.30-12.30.

O god this is turning into the equivalent of 'why can't the feckless working classes live on kale and lentils'* threads. I know loads of posh types who don't use the local library either, dammit.

*I quite like kale and lentils. You can make an excellent garlicky cumin-flavoured soup with them.

Nobody likes kale. Except guinea pigs.

"I've heard of parents travelling double that distance pulling their children on a sledge through the snow. I'm sorry, I wouldn't be impressed with a parent who told me that her child couldn't didn't read very much because the library was five miles away"

Yes, no wonder poor children don't do as well as better off ones at school. Their parents just aren't prepared to make the effort!

The library is 8 miles from dd's school, we go regularly because we have a car. To travel from dd's school by bus (we live nearer to the library than the school) would mean two buses and fares of £6 plus for an adult and £4 for a child. Dd's best friend's mum is a lone parent with four children. I doubt that she has £22 to spare to take her children to the library tbh but dd's school is very aware of the pressures parents face and has a really well stocked library that children can borrow as many books from as they choose.

If I worked full time I would not be able to go to the library as my DC have activities on a Saturday.

I go in the week and choose books I think they would like to read but they don't have a chance to choose any themselves.

Their school does not have a library but DS's yr3 teacher has started a class library with some books her DC have out grown which is proving a big hit.

LandS - one child I read with told me that they are not listened to at home (yr2) and they get their school reading book out and "read" it to themselves but since the child can barely read the word cat obviously finds it hard. But can tell you what has happened in the book as they have looked at the pictures

Exactly. Rather than berating parents (or 'not being impressed by' parents ) for 'not supporting their children by taking them to the library', it's much better for the school to focus on delivering to ALL children what ALL children need to make progress in reading - so stories and talk and imagination and books to lose yourself in as well as phonics and scheme books and careful teaching.

(And for pre-schools and nursery classes and dayt nurseries to focus on all the foundation stones for reading, not 'pushing formal learning even further back' while missing out the essential sharing of stories and books and make-believe play.)

If you try to teach your child to read when they are not ready you will find it very hard work. If the child is pre-school you may find it impossible.
I had to work very hard to help my about to move into Y1 DC to get up to a very basic level of reading, so as not to fall too far behind. But my DC2 at age 3 was totally ready to read and caught on very easily, and was very soon reading little books to herself with no input from me. The nursery used to give the ready to read children a little pot of 3 letter words to take home once a week. They clearly disapproved when my DC2 and I didn't stop there, and moved onto little books. They presumably thought that I was standing over her with a whip. The reality was that she would read the little pot of words in one minute, and then wanted to do more the rest of the week. There's no harm in that.
But it's interesting that at age 7 my DC1 read the first few Harry Potter books, whereas at age 8 my DC2 is not reading anything at that level, and reads less than her sister. She is very bright but does not have the same enthusiasm for reading yet.

Dromedary - I could not agree more re teaching a child before they are ready. This is why I believe DS struggled so much in reception