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

[learnandsay]

Is it really all that bad?

Learnandsay, I can be a tiger mother with the best of them, but seriously you come across as a cartoon of a pushy mum! Are you for real?

This has got nothing to do with teaching your child to read by the way - I am with motherinferior in thinking it is not that important, but if your child wants to, then go ahead. But your attitude in general, and in particular the idea that parents who won't go 10 miles on foot in the snow for library books deserve to be judged as uncommitted, is laughable.

Children are not all the same, much like adults are not.

Some children are talented and want to learn to read early.
Some children are talented and don't.
Some children are not that bright but will pick up reading early.
Some children are not that bright, and won't.
Some children may want to learn but do not receive the right support.
Some children get lots of support but would rather do finger painting.
You see a pattern emerging?
Different people, different circumstances. Do what you think is best for your child.

If you want to argue with what I've said then argue with what I've said not with some version of what I've said that you've made up. I'm sure I've mentioned cabbages before but I haven't said that pregnant mothers should swim ten miles through the snow to get a cabbage, either. You can argue with that too, if you like.

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.

As others have pointed out, I doubt your disapproval will keep these parents up at night.

And I stand by what I wrote. It was an accurate rendering of your post.

Oh, FGS. Or even FFS. I am an involved, supportive and helpful middle class parent and there is NO WAY ON THIS EARTH that I would pull my child (I just have one and she's quite light) on a sledge through the snow for five miles (or twice that, given that there's a return journey to be factored in) to get books. I'm a bit weedy but it's not even that. It's just not worth it...

Because, as you have often pointed out, LandS, books are a movable feast. For tiny children, you could write stories on bits of paper. For older children, you could write them together. If an involved, supportive, intelligent parent hasn't got access to a library, they'll find a way around it. If a parent who couldn't care less has got access to a library, they won't use it anyway. There are tons of parents in my v leafy suburb whose kids don't even know what a library is.

The thing that's bad is people not caring if their children have appropriate reading/learning material or not. This is not actually something that can be solved with an accessible library (though if there is one and if the children want to go to it and if the parents will take them that can only be a good thing). I wholly support libraries and consider them an essential part of a civilised society but quite honestly if the benchmark of good parenting is taking your kids five miles to the library on foot if there's no other way to get there then at least 80% of the world won't be arsed to do it.

My DD's reception class have a school trip to the local library later on in the year.

Many/most of the kids have not been before.

It is easier for me to provide books for my DC to read at home (through eBay/amazon/2nd hand shops than it is to go to the library.

Haberdashery, and you dare call yourself helpful and supportive? Quick! Get that sledge out, wake your DD up and Start Walking Now! The library books won't read themselves you know ;)

I know. Those books will be FOREVER UNREAD. And I will probably go to hell.

To hell in a sledge, oh yeah.

Having taught DD who is a September baby, the basics, I wouldn't do it again.

DD was desperate to learn to read and we did some basic letter sounds. Nursery also did some of this with her, as they started all their preschool group on Jolly Phonics.

Before she started in the September, she knew most of the simple letter sounds and could read simple phonetic words i.e Cat, Pig, at, big etc.

However, when she started school, she didn't really progress and by the end of Reception I was actually worried about her progress, by Year 1, she was put on the Reading Recovery scheme, which she flew and there were no obvious problems with her reading, she just hadn't progressed.

I personally think that because she knew some sounds and words, she switched off in the class and then never really got it back. The teacher wasn't the best to be honest, but her Year 1 teacher spotted the problem immediately and rectified it.

If she hadn't known anything, would she have been more interested?

No library= uncivilised society? If you are like me and living as a heathen, try poundland - really great books,( great "workbooks" if you like that sort of thing) all a quid each and you never have to take 'em back!. You may have to leave your sledge outside though.

But do go, even if you dont buy the books, seven bags of mini cheddars for a bin lid is surely a good deal for the uncivilized masses!

Great, now I'm craving mini cheddars.

I'm beginning to see why we have a comprehension problem in this country. The woman pulling the sledge was going to the doctor.

paddling that's interesting, and good that your dd is now flying with reading.

My dd was pretty much the same before starting school. although not that bothered about learning to read tbh. She did though and left reception as a fluent reader - she had very good teachers who she adored, which I think was a key factor.

Ds will be 4 in the summer and is much keener to try to read and I'm wondering whether to do anything about 'teaching' him. He knows his sounds and I'm inclined to leave it at that until September in terms of 'teaching' - I'd rather continue to share books and make up stories and look at the pictures if he'll let me.

"I'm beginning to see why we have a comprehension problem in this country. The woman pulling the sledge was going to the doctor."

So why was she relevant to the discussion?

So you are the root cause of the "comprehension problem in this country"?

I didn't even know we had a CPITC.

Wow, lands, you take the meaning of comprehension to a whole new level. I appreciate comprehension involves reading between the lines but usually you know the context in which the lines fall.

Everyone is talking about getting to a library and then you through in some information (incomplete at that) about getting to the doctor. Not sure why you are so surprised that people are responding to you in the way they are?

'Throw' not through

We're not talking about reading between the lines here we're talking about reading the lines. (Or not reading them properly in these cases.)

But where in your post when you talk about a woman pulling a sledge twice the distance do you mention the words 'to the doctor'. Or did my version of MN delete that line?

"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."

Where exactly do you say that the sledge trip is to the doctor's? The conversation was about getting to the library. You refer to the library in the next sentence.......

Can you not walk five miles?

???

I genuinely don't know what this thread is about anymore...
It's turned into a who can walk the furthest brag it seems!?

Learnandsay- please could you make your point again. I really don't understand it.