Reading journal - losing the will...

[Ragusa]

DS is a young 5, in reception. He seems quite able to me and seems to be doing well with phonics. We have a reading journal we're sipposed to fill in and I'm going to be very honest here and say I find this pointless, joy-sucking and irritating. AIBU to just not fill it in?!We do read by the way, and do practice writing etc. Not necessarily every day as DS is sometimes too tired, but regularly.

[mouldycheesefan]

How is it joy sucking to put your initials and what page is next or a comment. You are over thinking it if it has that much impact on you. It should take ten seconds not cause misery to be cast upon you.

[Hennifer]

It is totally joy sucking to have to note down in a book everything you do. Just ask teachers what they enjoy more - teaching itself, or the mountains of paperwork they are compelled to do regarding it.

I think the answer would be unanimous.

I hate the way our reading at home is policed. I don't think the teachers enjoy checking it either, it must be such a waste of time for them.

The evidence they need is in the child's progress, and if it's clear they aren't practising reading at home then they will need extra help.

Checking there's a signature in a book every day isn't going to help with that.

[Hennifer]

Oh also - would you want to write down every job you did at home, for someone else to check?

Washing up. 10 mins. Excellent.

Folding laundry. 15 mins, could do better

Hoovering - best part of an hour and still not very thorough. Will work on this.


Isn't it better just to DO it?

[user789653241]

I don't find it joy sucking at all. It's just a routine since start of reception. It's not actually related to love of reading, it's just a record, and reference for teacher what children are reading at home.(At ds's school, they don't need to read school books.They can read whatever they like.) Teacher checks it properly once in a while(normally just a tick), and gives him some advice.

[WeAllHaveWings]

is it a two second job to fill in after you've read? don't understand the big deal, what do you write in it?

I guess it more joy sucking for the teacher when parents don't make this tiny effort

[WeAllHaveWings]

also, parents evening is likely to be only 5-10 mins per child, if this is the only thing you got to talk about I'd think about leaving it and concentrate on hearing how your child is progressing/settling in instead.

[Hennifer]

I wish I was like you

[Hennifer]

You know, I get the impression the teachers don't care much what I write anyway. I suspect it's a box ticking effort for Ofsted.

They know he can read and does read. I know he can read and does read. Does it matter if he read for ten minutes or two hours last night, or what page he got to?

No.

[Jesabel]

Teachers just want to know which children are being read with frequently at home and which aren't. I doubt they want an essay about how much you enjoyed the book.

If you don't want to fill much in, just initial it.

[user789653241]

Hennifer, do you still have to do it? At my ds's school, writing reading diary is children's job since yr2. He normally writes name of the book, how many pages or chapters he read, and few comments if he has any. Parents only have to initial it.

[Hennifer]

yy we still have to...sigh. it's Ok, I've got my head round it now and we just get on with it. But it does seem pointless.

[sunnydayinmay]

I read regularly with infants, and the reading records are invaluable. The first thing I do is check the record. If there is a big gap in home reading, there is often a reason (parents working extra hours, problems at home, child has lot of clubs), and I flag it with the class teacher who arranges for the child to read to a volunteer or TA several times a week.

Or, if the parent has written that the book is too easy, I listen to the child and again flag it with the teacher who can then listen and move the child up as appropriate.

Also, don't underestimated how much the children love showing me their mum or dad's comments. They remember where they were sitting, whether their baby or dog was with them, what their parent said. They are proud to share the good comments.

[jamdonut]

Just sign your name if you can't think of/ be bothered to write anything! We need to know that books are being read and someone has listened otherwise, books come back for changing without being read! It also helps us to recognise those that need to be listened to in school. If a child is reading every day at home, and if we get helpful comments, then it is not as urgent to listen to them in school ,whereas a child who never has anything in their reading diary will need to be a daily, in- school reader to keep up.
The teacher and I make an effort to write something about how the child has read, and any areas for practice eg expression, understanding,fluency, and it is appreciated if this can be reciprocated. We aim to hear everyone at least once a week, but time constraints mean it is not always possible.

[mogloveseggs]

I just wrote what pages dd had read, and any words she had struggled with. Haven't filled in a reading diary since year 4 thank goodness although they still sent her one this year (year 6!).

[jamdonut]

Hennifer it doesn't matter how long you read for , what matters is you read,and regularly!
The lower level books can usually be read in one sitting, but as they progress, the books should start to take a couple of days or more to read. What it isn't, is a race , to get through as many books as possible.

[steppemum]

I write in anything they read, home books, library books, school books.

(I do this as got fed up with books not being changed and school books way too easy)

So I fill it in every morning over breakfast

Stardust the Pony, pp 30-40 signed my name

It takes 2 seconds.
But in dds school they have a prize for everytime you clock up 30 reads at home, so dds want me to fill it in.

I hear readers at school and there are 3 types of kids:

1. read at home, fill in the book
   
2. read at home but don't bother to write anything in the book. If their reading record is empty I ask them what they like to read at home and that way you can see if they are regularly reading anything or not.
   
3. reading record is empty and they are not reading at home. Pretty much without fail these kids are in the bottom 20% of the class and struggling. I try to enthuse them about reading a bit at home, reading to older sibling, reading to yourself and write it in yourself, but the bottom line is, if they don't read it effects their schooling.

[KyloRenNeedsTherapy]

I have 2 DC and also work as a TA at another school. I really don't understand the issue of just signing the book on days you've read - I find it a useful aide memoire for me and DC2 especially, who's still on reading levels. I notice a massive difference in his progress on weeks we read regularly in comparison to the crap weeks (as you would expect).

The two kids I work with mainly at school never have their reading records signed despite teachers asking parents repeatedly to read with them at home. I'm now trying to read with them daily and the difference it's making is incredible, but this is unsustainable.

Why the fuck the parents won't engage is beyond me (educated, literate parents). Frustrating as hell.

[Hennifer]

Thanks Jam, that helps.

Kylo - it might be that some parents don't have much time, or aren't organised enough. It's unlikely to be a deliberate effort to sabotage their children's education.

Often there may well be other priorities in any precious spare time there is

(single parent, youngsters as well as school age children, maybe working and using childcare? Just one combination where time will be very limited)

I know with us we concentrated more on written homework - maths etc - as I knew they would get reading eventually. The other stuff needed more input. We couldn't do everything.

[Hennifer]

Or maybe they do read but just don't get round to writing it down.

[KyloRenNeedsTherapy]

Not single parents, only one other sibling etc. I understand about the pressures of daily life but I'm sure they could remember to write in the diary once a week? They don't read at home as both children openly admit they don't.

I truly don't understand why parents don't get the importance of it. It's the single now important thing a parent can do for a child's education but you'd be amazed at the number of parents that tell us it's our job and they don't have time! We have 30 kids, they have 2!

[KyloRenNeedsTherapy]

Steppemum, couldn't agree more- lack of daily regular reading has a MASSIVE affect in education!

[catkind]

Y2, I no longer see any point. They never hear him read in school anyway, and no-one appears to look at reading diaries. DS usually reads at bedtime which is not really the time to pin him down and try to persuade him to write legibly.

[catkind]

Thinking about it, I think it actually rather a hard thing to communicate into a black hole consistently over a long period. It's like trying to talk to someone who never answers.

[Pedestriana]

I just note down that DD has read the book(s) and any difficult words/sounds that she either struggled with or breezed through. I know that the TA's read EVERY diary through, poor sods!

[Hennifer]

I'm actually a bit scared of how judgmental some TAs and teachers are about things like this.

You really cannot know the ins and outs of a family's daily life, and if they are sending the child to school, warm, fed and clean then surely there are other children not in this situation to worry about.

I don't see reading as a priority, because I know my child can do it. I help him a great deal with maths and we do 11 plus practise papers together too. He reads by himself.

I don't think I'm failing him. Once a child can actually read then it's only a question of getting faster at it really.