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 ?

Why don't you read with your DD at home...don't have to write down in her homework book or anything.
Read a book to her and every so often if you think she will know a word ask her to read it...or when she gets a better reader ask her to read words you think she might struggle with. Or for simple text read every other sentence/paragraph/page.
Reading to children enlarges their vocabulary, which then helps them down the line. (If they are reading themselves they can be so busy decoding they don't comprehend! So harder books become meaningless)
If the school are covering the basics, don't do another reading scheme -read anything ...together.
(BTW my DD1s P1 teacher was judgey and thought I was pushy -DD1 could read fluently when she started school. First parent's evening I was questioning why she was still getting such easy reading books (was partly so she didn't feel like the odd one out) ...teacher said (pointedly) 'I find it really surprising that for such a good reader your DD doesn't spend more of her choosing time in the library' (meant I'm sure as 'you have put her off reading by pushing too much') When I asked DD she said it was because they were boring easy baby books... now why couldn't the teacher have asked her that? (And DD1 still loves reading)

read every other sentence etc - I mean alternate - she reads one you read one ...

Im not sure what is normal but can tell you what happens for us.

In our school there are two groups for reading (class of 12 reception kids), a group of more and a group of less confident readers. I think for guided reading they work in these groups.

Separately, we are advised to read with them a little bit every day. My DD can read her red band books pretty fluently so we read one book each night and get it changed in the morning. I guess when she moves up to yellow after xmas we will manage a few pages of a book.

gileswithachainsaw, you do not want to know what reception teachers do with children who can already read before they start, trust me. You don't want to know! I think there are some who go in reading and come out unable to read. The teachers then congratulate themselves on what a brilliant job they've done!

I'm so glad DD's school change her book whenever they've read. And they don't limit them to a particular level.

I'd be very concerned about that response from the teacher, to be honest.

It sounds rubbish to me. Some kids will be on red at end of Reception, but others given the chance will be flying, essentially reading fluently on those higher levels (gold/white/lime).

I would do it yourself. You can pick up phonic reading books quite cheap and/or go to the library. Encourage and enjoy. Reading is such a good skill to have and kids ready and progressing should be encouraged not discouraged.

I think we are a bit odd in this country. We start them off in YR, but many schools "play" at reading, or this is how it seems to me. I think if you are learning to read you are learning to read. Yes, go at your own pace, consolidate and enjoy, no need to rush when you are 4/5 but you still want to progress and learn to read- DS essentially learnt to read in YR and I think DD will be the same.

gileswithachainsaw, you do not want to know what reception teachers do with children who can already read before they start, trust me. You don't want to know!

What does that mean?
Are you a teacher?

DD's teachers do the following with a child who can already read:

• Check their phonic knowledge
• Put them in the correct Letters and Sounds group for phonics
• Give them books which are a little easy but which they can comprehend and begin to answer inference questions on
• Put them in a guided reading group with other similar readers - even if that group is in Y1
• Let them read whenever they want to

When we send home books in school we change books once a week but for the children who are read with regularly we send home 2-3 each time.

gileswithachainsaw, you do not want to know what reception teachers do with children who can already read before they start, trust me. You don't want to know! I think there are some who go in reading and come out unable to read. The teachers then congratulate themselves on what a brilliant job they've done!

You 'think' wrong. What a load of absolute bollocks.

I think there are some who go in reading and come out unable to read.

Seriously? If a child's grasp of reading was so shaky that they could actually forget how to do it I would consider that they couldn't read. Barring catastrophic brain injury of some kind I cannot see how anyone could forget how to read.

Why would reception teachers take a child who can read and make them 'unable to read'. Is this a huge survey you did across hundreds of schools (are you an ofsted inspector?) or are you making wild sweeping statements?

Op- I would Second some advice you've had...don't read the scheme book every night but make sure you read if your daughter wants to...reading for pleasure is so important, as you clearly know from your description of what you do. Your dd has a love for reading and this is fantastic. When the time comes for her to move past red level I would ask for her to use the higher bands- surely no school would make them stay on red if they were clearly beyond this...
As a teacher I say don't worry about going back to speak to the teacher. If she makes you uncomfortable ask for a meeting with the literacy co ordinator or head teacher. Good luck.

Feenie...haha, bollocks is exactly the thought I had about that comment but was too polite to say it. Seeing as you did I'll say it too. "Bollocks!!!!!"

Check out the Oxford owl website, it has loads of free (school) ebooks to read.

Another one who thinks red level at the end of reception is quite low.

DD started reception able to read at stage 5/6 level. There is no way she would have entertained a red level book.

Basically, your DD can only go up one more level?

You've heard of reading progress slipping back over the summer. Well, take a really good reader, give her nothing except the most dire non-books you can imagine for a year (and restrict those to the lower levels, of course) make her study and endless series of pseudo-word components while waving her arms about and then wonder why she's not ready to move onto level 3. I'd say than pretty much covers taking a reader in at reception and producing a non reader out of her.

That only happens in your head, collumgolumn.

Boy I would have loved a teacher like this. Reading scheme books are dire! ds hated reading (full blown tantrum hating) so I only ever read to him, dd insisted on reading the terrible books to us, the less of that the better really I certainly wouldn't voluntarily have chosen to read them more than once. We had lots of books at home and read them together instead/as well. They both developed a love of books (not that the OP's dd won't - sounds like she might have already :))

If it is a school developed scheme then might it be that there could be differentiation within the levels?

collumgollum I could read when I started school. I hated the school scheme, but that didn't stop me reading. Why would it? I read books from home and the library. The scheme didn't stop me, I just spent as little time as I could on the school book and pulled out my own from my bag and read that instead.

NO point reading the school book 7 times in a week. If the school policy is one book a week, fine, read non school books together on 4 or 5 nights out of 7.

This could be "scheme books " from the library, maybe not the same scheme as school. Or it could be picture books , simple, toddler ones will have some words she will be able to read and as you read together she will pick up more. Picture books designed for early readers will also work , again she may not be able to read them completely independently. But its sounds like your DD likes reading time with you on the sofa.

Record these books in reading record book, or don;t. It won't make any difference to how the school work with your DD. She will move up " bands" when the teaching staff consider her ready.

TBH I think the school needs to sort its reading resources out.

I thought we had established, some time ago and with some of us called other things, that your daughter could only read books she already knew on entry to Reception, collum, and hence could not actually read much at all?

Are we talking about the books in the basement thing? Te non phonic stuff

That was for huite :)

If a child can already read before starting school, then the chances are that they have access to a range of books at home/outside of school.

Pants reading scheme books will not stop a child reading but may not enhance the love of reading unless you ignore ORT books and do your own thing

What an odd conversation with the teacher - I agree with you! I used to teach at a primary school - and would just send home extra books if the child was getting through them. Resources are a huge issue so perhaps next PTA meeting you could suggest raising funds for more books so that there's more of a range within levels.
I can't imagine any teacher recommending reading the same book everyday if the child is bored so maybe that's what she meant? As well as all the lovely things you're doing with other books etc you could also expand on the school book eg one night read it, next night-re-read and discuss favourite character/write a book review (aided of course!) etc These are higher level inference skills which will give the school books more mileage until their changed.

You're right, limiting the level is bizarre but once they reach level, surely they free read! Good luck!