I think my son has regressed and I blame myself!

[bangingmyheadoffabrickwall]

My DS is 5. He is in YR and in October 2016 he began the dandelion launchers. He has only
Progressed to unit 6 since then! His school has a pink sticker on them so am assuming they book band these!

I am a teacher but not at all familiar with these books as my school use a range of other books that are book banded.

He has basically been on these books for the past eight months!!!

Surely he should have progressed to red or even yellow by now even for home readers???

My children are assessed half termly and every one of them (admittedly Y1) have moved up at least 2 book bands the majority being 3-4 book bands!!

I blame myself! I don't know why I haven't picked up this sooner. It wasn't til I saw his friends book (I know, don't compare) and saw she was on blue band (very high for YR I know) but it actually brought to my attention that my son has not progressed!

We read ' Viv can run' tonight and he read it with no enthusiasm at all. I asked him why he wasn't reading as well as I know he can and he said reading the stories are boring and even he realised that this book hasn't only 4 worded sentences and one sentence to a page yet the book previous to THAT had two to three sentences per page.

I don't feel as though they have encouraged him enough and didn't to the easiness of these books he is reluctant to read.

He loves writing and writes all the time at home independently and sentences with capital letters and full stops. He is even reading phase 5 high frequency words.

Am I being too pushy? Am I barking up the wrong tree? Is the school not encouraging him enough?

Obviously speaking to school on Monday about it but wanted some views on these books!

I don't want to sound critical but really it's only now in nearly July you've noticed he's on the same book band as when he started in September and you're a teacher? Didn't it come up at parents evening?

Don't feel bad OP. He's only in reception, there's plenty of time for him to get the hang of it. Do you read with him every night? If you spend a little extra time over the summer holidays you might see a big difference by next term.

Are you reading at home? You can practice with him all summer and he can fly up the bands.

We don't read every night. I often don't get home until 6:30 which by that time he is getting ready for bed. DH and grandma won't read with him!
They have this mentality that because I am a teacher, it's my job! I read with him on my days off and a two weekends but TBH even if I did, they don't change the books often. My class are encouraged to change their book three times a week and he has his changed weekly. He is breezing through the books at home and has lost the will to read I supppse. He doesn't see a purpose to it.

I hate myself! I feel like my bloody job of teaching kids is taking time away from my own!

FOR what it seems worth, I don't blame the books. They are fab supporting synthetic reading but I feel that he should be much further than learning to read words with phase 2 sounds when he isn't top set for phonics and approaching phase 5!

They only change the books twice a week at dd school. However with reading at home almost daily, using reading chest too, and books lile songbirds she is now up to orange band rigby star. And able to read purple at home.
On the other hand she cant/wont form letters correctly to write. So she wont meet that target.
You have 10+ weeks to improve his reading before yr1.
Maybe he could read higher levels but the teacher isnt assessing him. I certainly found they don't necessarily read alone to teacher. And maybe the ta let them plough along at same level. It must be hard though as they would have to catch them on a point when they make a leap.
I think the downside is if you have been treading water then skip loads you have missed seeing lots of vocabulary. Also your stamina and concentration are not increasing as you only have to do say 1 sentence a page or 10 in a whole book, whereas others in the class may be doing well up to chapter books, gaining vocabulary etc.
Your dh does need to pull his weight, at this level anyone almost can listen to them read and it helps.
I wish parents could change the books more often.

Surely if hes only on pink the teacher would have mentioned not meeting the eyfs targets?

Maybe missing the point but why and how are the school bookbinding Synthetic Phonics books?

Try not to feel bad, I feel like you do and I'm not the teacher.

Why don't you take it into your own hands now? See what phonemes and graphemes he knows, Teach him what he doesn't and practise on books you have. Can you bring books home from your school? I used Reading chest- just the synthetic phonic ones - it wasn't completely straightforward matching am old fashioned bookbanding method they also use with DDs phonic knowledge but manageable. I got the most expensive subscription meaning she always had books to read. I also was the only member of the adult household who read with her and we did it maybe 3 or 4 nights a week.

Give yourself a break and work with what you have

Well I have been informed by a parent who isn't a friend that they stoped guided reading six months ago!!!

Nothing mentioned to parents about this at all!

I am fuming!!

So basically the only 'reading'y son isn't doing is at home. They donit in phonics!

Obviously not helping my child.

Apparently they are too young for it.

How come my school and others do it successfully then???

Children can be good at hiding things if they are embarrassed by it.

My DD struggled with the majority of her school books as she had no interest in them. However, the likes of Harry Potter/ Enid blyton etc she wouldn't put down and really enjoyed them. Maybe try him with different types of books about things you know he's interested in?

We use the e books on the Oxford Owl website when if DS1 forgets to change his book from school.

I have brought home some books from my school and finding out via my partner teachers husband (he's a head) about this 'not doing guided reading' at school because they are 'too young'.

He knows all GPCs up to and including phase 3. Completed phase 4 with ease and is now learning phase 5 HFWs. For a boy and left handed, he is incredibly neat and loves writing. He is very studious and loves work! He wants to go into class C because 'they do more work'

I really don't get why you are getting so angry now, at the end of school year. You have skill, resources(from your school if you wanted to), and knowledge, that us just parents don't have. Why did you leave it for whole year to find out how he is doing???

I don't feel sympathetic at all for the teacher who doesn't know what/how your child is doing at school until the end of the year.

Is he only reading the Dandelion launchers? There are only 4 launcher books per unit and 1-2 lines per page 6 pages per book which suggests he's done very little reading this year. Or has he also had Dandelion readers?

The expectation is that children will cover units 1-20 in reception ready to move onto Level 1 (not related to old NC levels) in Y1.

Book banding doesn't match the new curriculum (neither does guided reading) so I'm surprised they've labelled Dandelion books pink.

"He knows all GPCs up to and including phase 3. Completed phase 4 with ease " then he should be beyond unit 6 because books should be matched to his current phonic knowledge and skills ...can he blend and segment? "and is now learning phase 5 HFWs." If his school uses Dandelion books he should be taught how to decode HFW not learning them.

I think the school should have been keeping an eye on his progress more and assessing him from time to time and moving him on more. I wonder if the ones who've moved up have parents who've requested it. They shouldn't just rely on parents letting them know though.

As a teacher, why not have a real focus on reading over the summer holidays and make sure that he's definitely ready for Y1 come september? Can you borrow some books from your own school, or look at subscribing to Reading Chest? You can then wait and see what books are sent at the start of Y1 and address it with the new teacher of they're not at the appropriate level.
With both my DDs, I saw it as my job to take charge of their reading. I know it's not easy when you're working, but you're in the best place to support him.

I am bringing books home from school now. But he's turned off at the moment. I think I caught 'this' too late! At least I know what 'we' do is successful! I don't know about reading chest. I will look into that.

I am wondering if parents have been pushy. A friend did tell me that the YR teacher likes to do thing in 'order' despite the fact children can make leaps in their reading etc. I have never pushed. i have had complete respect and trust in his teachers and now some parents are telling me that she is 'slow' to get them to read.

Mrz - I too am surprised at the amount of reading or lack of! It seems that books are only changed when read at home. We read, but not every night. That's a home issue I am kicking into touch with those who care for my son whilst I am at work! Also agree regarding his phonic ability doesn't match his home reader - especially as that is the only reader he apparently has - and that has been backed up by parents who seemingly know!
I assumed (wrongly) that guided reading was done at school. He reads individually with a 'helper' (not seen any teacher comments in his home reader) for 5 minutes a week! Other children have seemingly done well and progressed which would suggest that they have not moved my son on because he doesn't read as much as the others! I find this quite scandalous as it suggests they do not assess his needs and rely too much on reading being taught at home.

I may be a teacher but I should not be the only one teaching my child to read. That responsibility should be shared between school and home with school LEADING the teaching and home supporting it. It seems it's the other way round!

He has story time every night and has done since the age of 2. He loves story time. He does often attempt to read books beyond his capabilities but I always let him have a go.

I am simply stunned that he has not been encouraged enough, let down by school and myself for not noticing sooner!

mrz - yes, blends and segments with ease.

As for guided reading - is my school completely out of touch? We do guided reading and it is pushed a lot at our school. I know the curriculum has changed and we do teach the curriculum as it is now but I am not understanding how this affects guided reading.

Our guided reading proformas have actually been matched to the learning objectives in the curriculum for that year group (talking Y1 up here) and YR match there's to their curriculum.

And we have the majority of children on book band orange and above at my school (Y1) - so we must be doing something right!

I am now utterly confused, bewildered and disheartened by everything!

That responsibility should be shared between school and home with school LEADING the teaching and home supporting it. It seems it's the other way round!
I agree with this. I'm not a teacher but it's how i remember my kids' school doing it at that age. We were expected to hear them read every night and make a note in the reading record and it was questioned if we didn't. They were also assessed and moved up every so often.
In the summer you'll be able to do regular trips to the library so he can pick out what he wants and hopefully rediscover his enjoyment of reading. What about something like Reading Eggs on the computer if it starts at his age?

ccea.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/curriculum/area_of_learning/language_and_literacy/fs_LL_Reading.pdf

This supports 'guided reading' just calls it shared reading.

We did a trial on reading eggs - will do that over summer plus he can use my subscription to education city and phonics play to support with other aspects of the english curriculum.

They also dod guided reading. Don't panic though. He can catch up. Remember in other countries they start later and catch up. Reception is still early.

Banging - what was said about his reading at parents evening?