Reception teacher told us not to read everyday

[TeaJunky]

Ok, so dd started bringing books home. She initially brought the purple level with no words then progressed onto pink quite quickly. She reads her school reading (phonics) book to me everyday and as the reading book is changed only once a week, she began to find this boring quite quickly.

I wrongly assumed that she is perhaps ready for something more challenging and I wrote this in her reading record.

Dd's reception teacher called me in at the end of the day and proceeded to show me the whole reading scheme on the trolley and explain that it only consisted of 500 words and the whole point of it was to achieve fluency blah blah (I already know all this). She said dd had been tried out on some 'harder' books and struggled with them hence she stayed on pink.
That was fine by me, so I suggested that she perhaps needed a new book more often as she read everyday. The teacher said 'really, don't read everyday because it can get boring really quickly'.
I pointed out that it actually wasn't me pushing dd to sit down and read, it was her bringing her book bag from her room and literally dragging me onto the sofa to read - she said 'honestly, don't let her do it everyday'

What ?!

The second thing that worried me about the whole conversation was the fact that the reading scheme only went up to level red, so the whole of the reading scheme was only three levels; purple (pre words), pink and red. She said that's the highest they can go in reception on the scheme.

Am I right to feel that this is a very limiting and pre-determined scheme with no room for differentiation or individual progression?

This is a highly thought of school and we are happy with everything else but the whole reading convo we had seems so bizarre.

thoughts ?

X posts. She had plenty of toys to choose from. Nothing motivated her like looking at books though.

No, I really don't think you are making any kind of faux pas. And your daughter sounds lovely. Bright and interested and lucky enough to have a parent who will answer her questions in a sensible way. I can't see how this can be wrong.

Framey I think you ought to stop jumping to conclusions about what other parents are doing with their children. Another of my children did need to "learn" reading and it didn't come easy or super fast.

I've just seen mrz has said the same thing about sibling difference!

Our 2 have followed the reading development paths of their two very different parents. Neither were well served by the school's reading programme but the slower reader would have had a lot of problems imo if we had not been big readers, whereas the early reader navigates school work well. (Just needed a library card.)

My daughter had and has tons of toys! She liked the letters best. She still likes writing and reading and thinking about numbers better than lego or brio or building blocks or most other things. Some children just genuinely do like thinking better than doing.

As for not learning about the physical properties of objects etc, why on earth would you think that a parent wouldn't be helping their child do that too? And why would you think that that kind of thing couldn't be brought into whatever other discussion you were having with your child about the magnetic letters? DD learnt a lot about magnetism in the Year of the Fridge Letters (you do realise that you can take them off and see which bits stick together and which don't, I hope). And she also, in addition to playing with the letters did loads of other stuff. Just because a child asks about letters doesn't mean he or she isn't also asking about baking cakes, how to make a really good sandcastle, how to hop, how to whistle, how to make wrapping paper with a picture of a cat on it or whatever.

Galena I assumed you were joking about the supposed faux pas!
What you have done sounds a perfectly pleasant way to go about reading with a keen child.

well, obviously DD only had books and letters to choose from! That's why the hospital family worker who came to help me fill in DD's DLA form walked into the house and said 'It's a toy shop! You've got enough toys here for triplets!' And yes, she would play with her trains, she would play with Duplo, she would play with her plastic animals and she would play with the free plastic tat alphablocks tiles which came free on a magazine. She still plays with them now in fact.

Not a deprived child, not a child pushed to do anything, but a child who was fascinated by letters and words.

I'm not saying that books are not essential for toddlers and preschoolers! My 4 year old's bedroom is full of books but they're sharing books not reading books.

I find it fascinating that as soon as a child is able to do something early or particularly well thenthe assumption by some posters is that the child has been pushed into it against their nature and their will.

DD, at 3, would be at playgroup and would spend a fair amount of time curled up in the book corner reading. Not because I forced her to. Not because there were no other toys or children. No, because she wanted to and enjoyed it..

Yup, DD also had only books and letters to choose from. Apart from the dolls house and all the furniture and little people to go with it, the hundredweight of lego/duplo, the train set, the dolls clothes and beds and actual dolls, the tea set, the stacking cups, the squirty bath toys, the trolley with masses of bricks, the wiry thing with beads to move along, the cushions and blankets to build a house with, the playdough, the building bricks, the thing where you bash pegs down, the jigsaws, the board games, the cutters for the playdough. Etc etc etc.

But she likes writing and she likes reading and stopping her from doing those things would have been really mean-spirited.

Your four year old, Framey, doesn't want to read, then. That's absolutely fine. Some do want to.

Come to think of it it is the later reader I spent time with reading and plotting which book would suit and how to encourage progression. The younger reader took a lot less conscious effort! (i.e zero) I wonder if Framey would judge that I was a better parent to one than the other? My mind is boggling a bit.

Didn't get any of my three to read before or during their reception year. Or actually much since.

I just read TO them, every day, without fail. At length.

At 8, 10 and 14 all three have got high reading ages and read for pleasure.

You have to make them WANT to read. Make them love literature, then the job is three quarters done, and you can leave the rest to their teachers.

(Ps, I speak as an ex English teacher and someone with an MA in children's literature).

But what if the 2 or 3 year old you are sharing a book with asks what that word says and remembers it? What if they ask what that letter is? It took her less than 3 weeks at the age of 2.5 to learn the main sound for all 26 of the magnetic letters on the fridge. I don't see how we could have stopped her tbh. What would you have done with that? We've never taught her to read really, she just has.

Well, DD would rather curl up with a book rather than play a lot of the time.

She is in yr1 now but still 5 and finds playtime totally boring/pointless. She complains about it and says "all we do is run around, I don't want to" now give her wet play in the classroom and she loves it, loads to choose from (books and toys such as blocks, jigsaws, Lego etc).

She is G&T at school not for her ability but her drive to want to read and write. This is what makes her happy and yes she gets to roll in mud etc as should 5 yr olds do, but why should I stop her curling up with a book because she is deemed too young?

He does like reading, he's already in reception so he can read, but I'm one of these weird parents who thinks there is too much too soon for 4 year olds.

In his class, we get a reading book, flash cards, and two writing exercises to do for homework each week.
We've rarely completed them all because I think it's far too much. He is in school for 30 hours per week, (far too long) he doesn't need reading and writing at home too. The school KS1 has a poor inspection report recently.

My DD went to an outstanding primary and they hardly did any reading in reception, no homework and only a book home after one term.
I know this proves nothing but it's my expirience.
DS doesn't like going to school, one of the reasons is that he has to do 'busy jobs' and he just wants to play. Fair enough.

I would agree with you that a reading book, flashcards and two pieces of written homework is too much in reception. I'd also say that books should go home once a child is able to blend to read them rather than at a specific point, be that on the first day or after one term. It should be child led based on the skills and need of the child.

But that works the other way as well. If a child is motivated and has the skills necessary and drive to learn they shouldn't be limited by the level of books, the number of books or by people thinking it isn't appropriate for their age. Children can and do learn to read before they start school and it in't always because they have been hot housed or are play-deprived.

miifingers my early reader did it without me doing anything, it does happen as others mention here. Also not everyone loves literature, one of mine only reads non-fiction for pleasure. If I'd left it to the teachers I think i would have one kid with low-level literacy. (We have extended family in that situation, it's a family trait mitigated in my dh's case by a very involved grandparent.)

My lot could be guinea pigs for genetic underpinnings of reading I reckon!

Dd isn't even given books with words in. Her reading notes keep saying she's not engaged with the book. Which may be because she actually likes to read words. Not look at rubbish pictures. According to her school I am imagining this because obviously a speech delayed child couldn't read. It's a miracle she manages to place one tiny little foot in front of the other obviously. I should be so proud of everything she can manage and not compare her to the other children.

Ahem.

DD has gazillions of toys, but has always been obsessed with letters and numbers. DS couldn't give a monkey's and would rather play with his trains.

I think my whole family on my Dad's side could join you as guinea pigs. We seem to divide ourselves quite neatly into those that always have a book or 5 on the go and those that have more problems than usual with reading and writing and never pick up a book unless absolutely necessary.

MummytoMog I am sorry, that sounds very frustrating.

Clay I may start another thread to chat about that!

It's clear children are not blank slates. I think (some?) people must have assumed I hothoused, one friend was quite sniffy about the early reading which is why I felt moved to post here I suppose!

I don't agree with this concept of hot housing at all. Actually, i really hate it.
It is a really horrible attitude to parents who only want the best for their child or who are trying to help in some way.

I find it so bizarre that these kind of parents are being judged so negatively, especially since I come from a background where education wasn't important at all. I started school at around six, completely bypassing nursery, reception and year 1. I also missed most of year seven, part of year nine and all of year ten the latter of which I had to go back one academic year and do again. But somehow, I had picked up reading by the time I got to school although no formal education and went on to study at postgraduate level at university.
I still firmly believe that I would have achieved more and done better had my parents taken my education seriously.

I believe that as parents, our parenting is mostly shaped by our own childhood experiences, mine definitely is. I know that I am more involved with dd's education because of my own childhood experiences. I follow her interests and also introduce new educational experiences that I feel she may find interesting. I always make time for reading to her and listening to her reading everyday, because I know that's what she wants and it's what I longed for as a child.

The picture is much bigger and complex than a single accusation of hothousing.

Sorry TeaJunky - your thread has kinda moved off the issue you wanted to discuss.

I agree with various PPs - If school are going to be awkward, get hold of some songbirds books (good ol' Bob Bug!) or go to the library and see what they have, and let DD read as much as she would like.

It's ok galena, I know the nature of MN

Yes we have songbirds and have continued to read as and when dd wants to read (which is every day, sometimes more than once!).

She's happy and so am I

But TeaJunky, don't you think you are what you are today BECAUSE of your experiences rather than despite them????

What do you mean, framey?