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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

Reading homework - advice please

19 replies

TrisisFour · 23/09/2014 21:15

Dd has just started in year one. For their homework this week they have been asked to read three books on their online reading site. As you can imagine there are a number of different reading levels among dd's peers so would you think that it's 'fair' for all the children to have to read three books? Dd has just moved to gold level but still isn't a fast reader because she likes to look at the pictures and talk about what she's reading.

But as you can imagine there is a vast difference in both the number of words on a page and the number of pages in the book, between a red level book and a gold level book. So would you still assume that dd needs ro read three? I don't want to ask the teacher in case she thinks that I am thinking that dd should be treated differently - I don't and as it's a mixed yr1/yr2 class there are others on gold level. But I also wonder whether dd should be able to read a gold level book in the same length of time as a child on red level shoukd read a book?

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simpson · 23/09/2014 21:58

I wonder if they mean read x 3 a week rather than 3 books.

DD would certainly have found that tough, unless your child is happy enough to rattle off a book to themselves? Although even then 3 seems a bit much...

redskybynight · 23/09/2014 22:02

I also think it means reading 3 times. Also, it's not just a question of saying that one child has longer books so should read less - some children find it harder than others. DD would probably have read 3 gold books in one night just to prove she could, whereas with DS it took forever to read a single page of a short book so we'd struggle to get to the end of even a shorter book.

Original poster

TrisisFour · 24/09/2014 06:50

No it's definitely 3 books. They have something called 'bug club' online and the school sets the level for each child and their homework for this week is to 'read three books from their list on bug club'.

We read with her every night (and still read to her at bedtime every night) but I just find that sometimes, even though she can read all the words, she likes to take it all in so as much as she could read all three in a night, she wouldn't be able to answer questions on them which is another thing that they have to do (online through the book while they're reading it).

She also has a list of 12 high frequency words to learn to spell by next week aswell. We tested her last night and she can spell all of those but I just think it's too much. Some of her friends are in level 2 books and they have to learn to spell words like 'children' and 'little' my next week aswell. Just all seems a lot...

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Panzee · 24/09/2014 06:53

If it's too much, don't do it.

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TrisisFour · 24/09/2014 06:57

I don't know if it seems too much because she only turned 5 in June... Feels like we're struggling to fit it all in time wise aswell. We have only an hour and a half from when I finish work for us to have dinner as a family and then to take her up to bed!! She isn't a huge fan of school so I would rather not do too much school stuff with her at a weekend...

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Panzee · 24/09/2014 07:01

Please don't stress. I am a teacher and if it is too much to fit into your family life, it's too much. I have a summer 5 year old as well and we don't do anywhere near as much as you've listed, just read his school book once, some maths and a bit of writing at the weekend. Half an hour tops for the lot, and that's only if he wants to (I ask once). It fits in with us, we are all too tired in the evenings.

Although I don't really agree with homework so I am biased...

louisejxxx · 24/09/2014 07:27

Didn't you just say in your previous post that this week's homework is to read the 3 books? I would think it doable over the course of a week and if not then she should just get as far as she can.

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TrisisFour · 24/09/2014 07:44

Panzee thank you. Your post really helps.

louisejxxx yes that's right. Three books though at Gold level I think is quite a lot. One of them has 20 pages with 3 or 4 paragraphs on each page. That is their homework though and in addition they have a guided reading book once a week (the one they've read in class) that they have to read at home. Unfortunately DD wasn't given hers on Friday after her guided reading session so we had that on Monday and read it on Monday night. Homework came out yesterday so we have the three bug club books, the guided reading book from Monday AND the spellings.

Also bear in mind that these are the 'school' reading books. She wants to read other books at home and with the amount she has to read in the evening, she won't get chance.

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GreatJoanUmber · 24/09/2014 09:58

I don't quite see the problem though if you have got a whole week for those three books?
At my DS's school they get one book a day (so five a week), plus spellings, and a longer bit of homework over the weekend; and I don't think that's an unusual workload.
Of course books get longer and more complex as you advance through the levels, but then your child's reading improves at the same rate, so it shouldn't take much longer to read a gold level book than it takes a level red reader to read a red band book (after all they still have to sound out and take time over tricky words).

redskybynight · 24/09/2014 09:59

If it's set individually by child, it sounds like they are allowing for individual ability? If you think it's too much for your child, I'd suggest you need to query with the teacher.

Original poster

TrisisFour · 24/09/2014 10:16

Update: I spoke to the teacher this morning. She said that because the books are much longer at gold level, that she would be expecting DD (and the other children reading at her level) to read one of the books over two nights as opposed to one night and that because of the 'Guided Reading Book' that they also have to read and the spellings, that she wouldn't be expecting her to read three.

The majority of the children in DD's year are on books ranging between Red level and Green level and the books are much shorter with a lot less writing in them. She said that DD certainly has the ability to read all three, but she said that even the most advanced in the Y2 group would get bored reading three of those books.

She said that she'd rather DD read one or two of them and then chose something that she wanted to read. So that's what we've decided to do. What neither I nor her teacher want is to put DD off of reading by insisting that she reads books that really don't interest her.

As an aside, I spoke to one of the other Mums this morning whose child is on Level 3 (I think that might be yellow but I can't remember) and she was saying that there is no way that she will persuade her DS to read three books. He's just not interested.

I think that is sometimes the issue. Not that they don't have the ability to meet the requirement but that they are only just 5! They've been at school all day and actually they might want to play with their toys when they get home. They don't necessarily want to sit and plod through books that bore them silly...

Thank you all for your views.

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TrisisFour · 24/09/2014 10:19

Redsky, sorry I missed your comment. The homework is set for the whole class so 'three books' but the reading levels are set individually in the online system.

I am going to continue with the book that we started last night, when she gets in from school. We had literally 10 minutes to start it before she had to go swimming last night.

I'm not sure what they should be expecting of a level 9 reader. DD likes to ask questions while we're reading, should I stop that so that she gets through them quicker because she can read them without any issues, doesn't struggle with any of the words...

I just don't know...

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DataColour · 24/09/2014 10:21

If it's too much for her to read the whole book then can't she read half of a book a day? I sometimes do that with DS (also year 1) if he is tired or not willing. He usually reads a book a day though, on orange level. And he takes about the same time to read them as he did when he read a red level book what with all the decoding and sounding out so took ages anyway.

steppemum · 24/09/2014 10:21

Op, I think that for many kids on gold, they can read much faster than a child on a lower level, so even if the book is longer they finish it faster.

This obviously isn't the case for you dd. You just need to record in her homework book that you have read for 10-15 minutes or so each evening. If that only gets you through one book, then so be it.

Original poster

TrisisFour · 24/09/2014 10:24

Sorry, to add one more thing. I've just been looking at the 'Bug Club' download that talks through each level and how you can help at each level. For Gold Level it does say that because the books are so much longer, that the child may choose t read one chapter or section at a time instead of reading a whole book.

That's definitely helped me.

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redskybynight · 24/09/2014 10:24

I do both with my DC - sometimes I let them stop and ask questions (even if the questions are only loosely related to the book - have had some great discussions that way)! Sometimes I suggest they read a passage without stopping and then we will talk about it at the end. I'd definitely not stop her asking questions/talking about it!! It's too easy otherwise to fall into the habit that she's read something perfectly but not had a clue what it is all about.

Glad you had a good discussion with the teacher, sounds like you have a sensible way forward.

simpson · 24/09/2014 10:26

I remember when DD was in reception her school did the same thing.

She was on a high level so the books were longer but still expected to read the same amount of books as others iyswim. The problem with DD was that whilst she loved (and still does) reading, she hated scheme books.

However, the novelty of reading on my lap top worked & she rattled through the required amount of books to herself for a few weeks until the novelty wore off. Luckily by then the school had changed the required amount of books & she didn't have to do it anymore!

Original poster

TrisisFour · 24/09/2014 10:29

Thank you DataColour and Steppemum. I think it depends on the book. I have the 'Read It Yourself' books and she can easily read the Gold Level books in one sitting. But some of the Bug Club ones are sooooo boring (even I struggle with them and I've been reading fluently since I was 4 ).

We read the 'Gold' Level guided reading book on Monday night all the way through with no problems because she liked it. I asked her some questions at the end and she got them all right so she'd obviously taken them in.

Is there anyway to encourage faster reading? I think she gets distracted by asking about the pictures and trying to guess what happens before she's read it...

She's got another guided reading level book today that I picked up from the teacher this morning (they read it in school on Monday), Hansel and Gretel, so I'll see how she gets on with that one tonight.

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TrisisFour · 24/09/2014 10:36

Redsky, thank you. I don't want to discourage the questions either. I think there can be some very strong messages in some of the books. She read one about a Monsters Party the other day (Purple level, they only moved her up to Gold on Friday) and it was about no-one wanting to go to his party because he was a monster and the children were scared. So we had a long discussion about things that appeared scary when they're actually not and asked if she could think of anything that she had been scared of. She said moving into year 1!! She said she had been scared and nervous but that actually it was fine!!

Simpson, thank you for your input! I am so pleased that you said your DD still loves reading because I love reading and get so much joy from it and I would love DD to do the same. She still loves being read to at night and having gone through the less freaky of the Roald Dahl books, I am now reading her one of my favourite ever childhood series, Enid Blyton's 'The Enchanted Wood' and she adores it!! The book people are doing those and the 'Magic Wishing Chair' series so I'm hoping that reading them to her will persuade her to try them herself after Xmas.

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