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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Teacher pushing back with regard to reception reading books - how do I avoid an annoying exchange with her?

106 replies

Quangle · 27/03/2014 14:33

So DS is 4 - youngest in the class. But holding his own in Reception and doing well. He was sent home in November with some level 3 books which seemed about right and obviously since then there's been lots of work at home and at school so he's now consolidated at that level or a bit higher (we use the songbirds ones at home and he's happy working through level 4 with me but that's probably only because we ran out of level 3 stories).

At some point after November the books from school went back down to level 2 - no idea why and some of them only have 16 words in the whole book and he's past that. I put the odd comment in the book journal "DS read this fluently - could the levels be reassessed?" over the months but nothing happened and the books continued to be too simple. New reception teacher then arrives at half term and level 2 continues. I mention again this week "could DS go back to level 3 - he's easily managing these books?" and get back a message "I have sent home more level 2 books - he can go up when he has read ALL the level 2 books" (her caps!).

My problem is, how do you push back against the pointless pushing back without being an arse? I've had children in the school for 4 years and have never been into school other than for parents' meetings so I'm not the painful pushy mum but now I realise I'm bad at getting my message across.

I know this seems like a tiny issue but because DS is so young (and weirdly, there are no other summer babies in the class) and so not top of the class (in an academic school) but also quite well behaved so not calling attention to himself in other ways, I don't want him to be invisible to her.

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Morgause · 27/03/2014 14:35

Has he read all the level 2 books?

Pooka · 27/03/2014 14:38

I know a school near us had this system - books in boxes. Read ALL the books before you can move to next level. Resulted in ridiculous competition between parents, some of whom would help out in class and take home a dozen books for their dcs to speed through in order to progress to the next level.

The dc's school never did this - levels were much more fluid and there wasn't the rigid requirement to trawl through a box of books when the child was already secure at that level.

I can see the argument that reading books easily and quickly can consolidate the skills and the readiness for the next challenge. But to stick steadfastly to a level/system seems wrong to me.

Original poster

Quangle · 27/03/2014 14:39

Sorry, not clear, though long!

No he hasn't read all the level 2 books. There are loads of them - like 50?) Our school does it's own banding not the Biff and Chip thing). I'm just not sure why she's insisting he must read all of them when they are all too easy.

OP posts:

MerryMarigold · 27/03/2014 14:41

I think different teachers do it different ways. My ds2 is also in Reception and was given books he could read, moved on fast. He has actually finished all the books now, and is proudly calling himself a 'whizzy reader'. Dd is also YR (they are twins) in a different class and seems to be ploughing slowly though all the books even ones she can read very easily.

I would push back by saying. Ok, fine, can we have 2 at a time so we can move him quickly through them? I would do it in person? Is there not 5 mins at the beginning or end of the school day to do this? Tbh, dd needs more repetition that ds1 so I am fine with her teacher's method of going through all of them. Plus it gives her more of a sense of achievement and enjoyment to read an easier one. If you are doing harder ones at home, then I'm not sure what your objective is...I would fight some battles in Y1 when they are in academic ability groups to make sure he is in the right one.

ilovepowerhoop · 27/03/2014 14:41

its a bit stupid to force him to read all the books in a level when he can read and understand books from the level above. Our school does not force you to read all books and will move through the levels when they are ready to do so.

MerryMarigold · 27/03/2014 14:43

I think it may depend on the scheme. I guess some schemes will follow certain sounds through a level eg. oo, oo, ai, igh in Level 2 and then ure, ea, oa in Level 3 (just examples), so it makes sense to read all the books if you need to read all the sounds.

Smo2 · 27/03/2014 14:47

I've had this recently.....we were getting level three stuff and now back down to level 2. I've gone along with it for a bit, realising the stuff about different sounds....but now it's starting to naff me off as he reads the book out loud in the car before he even gets to the top of the road! So I did say nicely in the book " We are flying through these books, could you reassess his reading level? " ....which was ignored...sigh....so I guess I might go and ask at some point....

tobiasfunke · 27/03/2014 14:48

DS is in P1 - it's Scotland, so no reception so he just learning to read this year.
There are 2 or 3 groups in the class based on ability and they trawl through each of the books at that level - it's Jolly Phoics so it's Level 4 at the moment. They read it in a group and then discuss the story and answer questions so they all have to be reading the same books. It's not just about the reading.
Ds can read it easily - he is reading harder stuff at home. If the kids were assessed purely on individual ability the teacher would have too many groups. At some point he will be reassessed and carry on from there.
If school was his only access to reading books it would be a problem but it's not.

PurpleAlert · 27/03/2014 14:50

Go to the library and find some simple picture books he will enjoy either reading to you or helping you to read to him.

I used to pick up loads of suitable early reader books at the library for my DDs when they were learning to read. (Usborne were good I seem to remember)

There is no rule saying children have to read reading scheme books and notheing else.

Bumpsadaisie · 27/03/2014 14:51

Similar experience here. My DD ploughed through red band books, millions of them, sometimes getting one more than once. By the end they were sending home two a night and DD was reading them with one eye and playing with her dolls with the other.

Alleluia, they have just started sending her home with blue band, so it looks like she has skipped yellow altogether. (Although some of what the school labelled as red books were actually yellow according to the label on the book itself, so maybe she was sort of doing a combined red/yellow level).

I did mention it to the teacher a while back and she said sth about DD needing to develop confidence in talking around what she had read.

Original poster

Quangle · 27/03/2014 14:52

I think because this is a homemade scheme, as it were, (they've thrown lots of different schemes together and the headteacher went through herself and banded them all) it's not quite as structured as that.

I suppose my issue is, how do I say "It's not helpful for him to read all the books at this level and he really needs to go up" without putting her on the spot and making her dig her heels in even more.

I am bad at this. I don't know how pushy mums do it. How do they get the teacher to do what they want them to do? I get this sort of push back and then get annoyed.

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Original poster

Quangle · 27/03/2014 14:55

OK glad it's not just me. Smo2 that's exactly what's happening here!

Obviously I am getting him to read lots of other stuff at home (and spending a fortune on Songbirds!) but I'd like the teacher to see his level properly iyswim and not underestimate him because he's so young and not demanding.

OK, so maybe I don't engage with her and just sigh and carry on as before.

OP posts:

SofiaAmes · 27/03/2014 14:59

I finally just gave up and pretended we were reading the books being sent home, but didn't. Ds found them boring and irritating and frankly, so did I. I purchased and took out of the library books that were his level and that interested him and we read those. Ds went from being the "slowest" (teacher's complaints, not mine) and most "struggling" reader in the class in 1st grade (we're in usa, but have exactly the same inane programs/issues as in the uk) to being the "fastest" reader in the class by 2nd grade and the "fastest" in the school by 3rd grade. He also had exceptional comprehension as I found out officially in some private testing I had done, but school only measured speed.

Kif · 27/03/2014 14:59

Ignore the school books and read your own.

Simples.

My DS is 'whizzing through' - even though we read nothing but horrid Henry and Roald Dahl.

MerryMarigold · 27/03/2014 15:00

No Quangle - do engage, but in a light way. Just say, I understand you want him to read them all, so can we have more of them, more often? I think face to face she will be less arsey.

NancyJones · 27/03/2014 15:06

I had to be pushy with ds2. They had a policy of reading everything in each colour band before moving up. Now unlike ds1, ds2 was reading fluently on entry into reception having taught himself to read at 3. So I had this very able 5yr old who was reading stuff like horrid Henry at home being given books with single words or cvc stuff. They wouldn't budge for 2 terms funny how he gets to sats years and they become obsessed by stretching him. He's now labelled G&T and they're falling over themselves to differentiate for him.

It's such a ridiculous rule and I don't sed shy they need to do all the books got all the sounds if they are being taught synthetic phonics as a discrete subject anyway.

givemeaclue · 27/03/2014 15:24

Crazy rule. Ignore, get your own books from library,don't bother with school ones

newbieman1978 · 27/03/2014 15:27

Obviously you need to talk to the teacher and really should have done back in November when the level went backwards. Why?

Just because a child reads well doesn't always mean they understand what they are reading (actually this applies across the board even to adults).

I'm sure you know that there is so much more to reading than just being able to decipherer text. You don't mention whether your son has a good understanding of 1. the actual meaning of the words on the page ie two rabbits....meaning 2 of something....and rabbit....a little fury animal. And 2. whether he understands the simply narative of the story.

Also whilst your son may be very good at showing off his skills and understanding with you at home, he might possibly be not so confident with his teacher.

I can't see a reason why a teacher would want to hold a child back as in fact we all know teachers are under pressure to meets targets and move children on up the levels.

Shimmyshimmy · 27/03/2014 15:31

Agree ignore issue with school, go to the library and encourage dc to read books they are interested in and at the right level, you'll know what that is if you listen to him read. The child who finished the school's reading scheme first was the child who felt a big fat failure - he told me he was the only child in the class who hated reading - less racing more fun reading! That's my advice!

Martorana · 27/03/2014 15:40

And don't buy reading scheme books! Just buy books you/he likes the look of from charity shops, get loads of books from the library, revisit his old picture books.

There's no harm in the books from school being too easy- he'll be doing guided reading as well, and easy books build loads of reading confidence. If he'd can do them quickly that's all good- more time to explore loads of different books at home, with you reading to him, him reading to you, him reading by himself.....

morethanpotatoprints · 27/03/2014 15:40

Hello OP

if it was me I would leave the levels to the school, they are practically meaningless anyway. Get yourself off to the library pick some suitable books and let your ds read those.
it is good to have a wide variety anyway and when you tell them there are no levels for these books they improve drastically for some reason

DeWe · 27/03/2014 16:14

Are the level 2 ones a different type. Because mine have generally found the fact ones are a lower level than the fiction ones.

Also our school has them banded in their own groups, and some level 2 will be in one band, another will be in the band above.

So it's not necessarily that they've moved him down.

MerryMarigold · 27/03/2014 16:48

Forgot Oxford Owl, OP. Ds2 is on this now and loves it. It's free to join up. Loads of books inc Songbirds, so you don't need to buy.

Ferguson · 27/03/2014 18:49

These sort of attitudes by (a minority of) schools are like something out of an old "Carry On" comedy film - only of course, it's not funny when it is your child who is being disadvantaged!

Does the teacher select the books each time? Ask her, or the TA, if you can have four or five books a night, and whizz through them.

Letticetheslug · 27/03/2014 18:52

if you feel he is more capable, join a library if you haven;t already, read stuff together. Learning is moe than just school. My daughter ws still on ORT stage 5 and reading matilda at home, I gave up trying to get the school to conform and we just did our own thing!

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