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

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

Primary education

Do you all sit with your primary school child every night and doreading/word cards etc

69 replies

julienetmum · 12/12/2006 13:01

There seem to be a lot of threads about reading records, flash cards etc.

My dd has a reading book sent home every night (changed about 3 times a week) a little less the last couple of weeks due to Christmas, nativity plays etc.

However I only generally manage to sit with her and read it about once or twice a week. We have a bedtime storu every night but usually by the time we have got in, had tea it is time to get ready for bed or she wants to watch a bit of TV or play.

We do no homework at all on weekends as I am either working or we are out visiting family etc.

Just wondered as dnecice has homework every weekend and others mention doing stuff every single night (like spellings or recognising words)

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Earlybird · 14/12/2006 15:52

OK, yes I agree. It just struck me as odd to see a 5 year old doing maths at 8.30 AM on the first day of her holiday. But, you're right that it doesn't necessarily indicate a pushy mum. I'll stop with the judgemental commentary.

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foxinsocks · 14/12/2006 19:16

oh enid - big hugs.

Is this the woman that has lots of dyslexia/dyspraxia experience? Did she say it was worth getting dd a proper assessment or was she happy that she seemed to be progressing with the extra help?

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anemone · 14/12/2006 20:20

DD (Reception) is too tired some days to do the reading book, so I'm a bit lazy about it, and I don't do them at weekends. She'll play with letter fridge magnets on her own and likes to read 2 or 3 books at night anyway, so it seems OK to me at this age. She seems to be progressing OK (teacher put her onto B pink books last week). Luckily other parents aren't competing madly about it.

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boomie · 15/12/2006 10:14

I spend time every night with DD1 (Year 1, aged 5) as she is struggling with her reading. In fact DH and I went to see her teacher last night to see how she is getting on. Her teacher said she struggles in class and I asked if she was concerned. She said she wasn't overly concerned but a bit concerned.

DD loves the time I spend with her one to one as it really boosts her confidence. She's not very confident and I think she shrinks into herself in a large class especially when she doesn't grasp what's going on.

How old is your DD Enid?

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CristinaTheAstonishing · 15/12/2006 10:46

HMC - i used the Teach your child to read book and it was fantastic.

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Glassofwine · 15/12/2006 10:55

I listen to dd2 read every night - she's in reception
Dd2 (yr3) - reads everynight, sometimes to herself, sometimes to me, written homework 3 times a week and spellings to learn given on Monday and test on Friday. We are told implicitly not to 'help' the child, but they should be given a quiet place to do it by themselves, if they have a problem they write it on a post it note.

I do it religiously, but - there is the odd occassion when we skip it due to tiredness or we've just been busy - I think that's ok as we are good the majority of the time.

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Legacy · 15/12/2006 11:51

OK, I'm prepared to be deeply unpopular by voicing this opinion, but I'm honestly shocked by how many "I don't have time"/"I'm too lazy"/ "I don't bother"/"Never get round to it" and type comments and excuses there are on this thread!

Supporting their education by helping your child to learn to read is probably the single most important thing you can do for your child when they start school.
It really doesn't have to take a lot of time - 10 mins a day, but every day, will make a difference. And, it doesn't have to be all book/ workbook based either - there are words and letters everywhere you go - in shops, waiting rooms, on trains etc.

However good the school, they simply don't have enough time every day to read with every child. Besides, a cuddle-up story/reading time is a great way to bond with your child.

Perhaps the mistake people make is to think of storytime as 'fun' and learning letters as 'homework'? I don't always even use DS1's school word books, I just look up which words they're working on, and then find them in existing storybooks etc sometimes

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Bienchen · 15/12/2006 12:14

When I had an opportunity to work from home I decided to become a classroom helper, just for half an hour each week listen to kids reading. Was amazed at the range - some barely able to string a few words together and others having a huge vocabulary. I also got to see their reading record books and yes those with help did a lot better.

I think it is important that you read with your children and also to listen to them to read. Legacy is right, with 30 children in a class the teacher will not be able to listen to each child individually. Please try to find FIVE minutes everyday, it helps them so much.

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kslatts · 15/12/2006 12:31

I completely agree with legacy, I work full time and my dds go dancing twice a week until 6 o'clock and dd1 goes to brownies once week so we are quite busy, but we always find the time to read every night.

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tinkerbellie · 15/12/2006 13:33

hi everyone
i do agree with legacy but i do there is a limit
my son started reception in september and they get a different book every week and while he enjoys reading he gets very frustrated. he also has a speech prob so this night contribute to it, but i find if he is struggling he is less inclined to try and just messes around at this point i let him go and play as i don;t wnat to pt him off altogether
has anyone any suggestions of nay good starter books (he knows all his sounds and letters just seems to find it hard to put it all together if you know what i mean)

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mummydear · 15/12/2006 14:20

I have DS1 in Yr1 nad Ds2 in reception, so two lots to do .

DS1 has homework set each night , as soon as we get home from school we sit down and do it, justs takes 10 to 15mins. I sit with him and help whilst I have a cup of tea.

DS2 although no set homework will sit down and do something as he thinks its the big boy thing to do.

Both then have reading everynight.

Its become part of our routine and its amazing to see how your child developes.

DS2 gets a bit tired at times so I dont push it with him, learning is supposed to be fun !

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julienetmum · 16/12/2006 21:54

We do have a bedtime story every night and look for words when out and about but often we just get back too late.

Take last night for example, I got home from work at 8.30pm, she was already in bed, tonight she was astill up, it was 8.00pm but she was dead on her feet.

Two days a week we all get home at 7pm so it is straight to bed with a story and I also have ds to see to.

INcidentally dd is in the top reading group so somewhere in the top 4 out of 20 children and the teacher or TA reads with them most days.

I am very interested in her education,(being involved in a type of education myself) but that includes her wider education.

OP posts:

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tinkerbellie · 17/12/2006 19:47

its hard isn't it when you can't be there to do the reading every noght i feel quite guilty when i can't but grandma is quite good and he is still young (5) just don't want him to be behind everyone else in class

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Gjamjelly · 03/01/2007 01:23

Hi,
my little boy is 5 and he will not look at a book. He refuses to look at the words and so we do not push it at the moment. He can read the words when given on separate peices of paper but will not read them if they are in a sentence or in a book,
any suggestions as to why this might be?
I find it really odd.
He loves me to tell him stories and would rather I did this instead of reading them to him.

I would like to make him more interested in reading but am not sure how to go about it,

thanks,

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whatwouldjesusdo · 03/01/2007 02:23

5 is fairly young. mine learned reading at 6, because they were in french and german schools. ds2 is learning at the moment, and he definitely cant manage a sentence. He reads one word at a time. I think he will have caught up by the end of the school year though.

Does your ds see you reading books?
How does he react to children's magazines?

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juuule · 03/01/2007 11:16

If my child wasn't particularly interested then I haven't pushed it. If a reading book was sent home we would read through it together once. More only if the child asked. They have asked me to check they know their spellings occasionally. I'm not a great fan of regular homework at primary level anyway. I've usually gone off whether the teacher has said there is a problem (has never happened) or my child has said they are having difficulty with something (has happened at times). This approach doesn't seem to be disadvantaging them in any way. My eldest ds is at university studying Astrophysics.

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cat64 · 03/01/2007 23:39

This reply has been deleted

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juuule · 04/01/2007 09:04

Cat64 - totally agree with that approach.

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elastamum · 04/01/2007 09:26

Both my boys (yr 1 and yr 3) read 10-15 minutes every day and also do their spellings and any worksheets (they get 2 a week each) My youngest often reads in the car to DS1 on the way home. I think they get a bit too much homework but we always do it straight away before play and its now just a habit they are into. Not all mums doing maths are pushy EB, my youngest loves maths he asks to buy maths books as he likes doing them. My eldest would far rather watch cartoon network

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