Classroom Reading for Parents

[Ahmawa]

Is this something that is new. It's the first time I have heard about it.

The school wants to start a morning reading session where parents can come in and read books with their kids and find out more how the school is teaching them.

I think it's a good idea in principle but will need to rejig some work commitments to attend. I don't want to be only parent not sitting with their kids reading.

Not a new thing as my DC's infants school did the same thing when they were there (and the oldest is now 14!).
I doubt very much you will be the only parent not sitting with their child reading. How frequently is it? At DC's school it was once a week, and there was no way that working parents were going to shuffle their work commitments every week.

We have a group of parents who come in to support reading every morning, but I suspect that's a bit different.

Do you mean a 'one off' morning ?

No, we used to do workshops like that back in the 1980s when I was teaching at my first school

Or do you mean 'parent volunteers hearing people read?
In which case that has been going on for decades and decades.

Not every parent's going to be able to make it - so don't worry on that front. I think it's one of those things that it's nice if you can do it, but people have other commitments and on the whole school are very realistic about that.

Having seen it in a few schools you usually find that the parents who are there tend to acquire a few extra kids who'll pootle along to join in with a story so there's invariably one parent sat there who ends up buried in about 5 kids (usually me to be fair), at least one kid who's ditched their own parent for a better offer from their mate's parent so the parent's stood there feeling like a right wally (usually me with my other child), one performance parent giving it a routine worthy of the RSC and another couple mentally counting the minutes till they can decently escape and get to work to get a cup of coffee!

We have this at our school for lower primary. They have the days that parents can come into school to read with their children at the end of the day. Not all the parents turn up.

It is going to be a weekly event. It is a bit problematic as DD Nursery have started up a parents reading event for half an hour once a week in the morning which I was just about to shuffle things around and commit to, and now this.

If I make one, I will have to try make another, lol.

IF it's every week, it's like the session at DC's school.

Realistically you'll find

• parents that are SAHPs or don't work that day that come every week (though some SAHPs may have younger DC that can't sensibly be brought along)

• parents that are SAHPs or don't work that come sometimes or never

• parents that work that day and juggle their schedule to allow them to come sometimes

• parents that work that day and don't wish to/aren't able to juggle things.

It certainly won't be every parent coming every week.

It will depend on the % of parents at your dcs' school that WOTH, I'd have thought.
Some jobs enable you to shift things around for a one off morning or afternoon, but I can't see many employers being happy at you trotting in 2 hours late every Thursday, or whatever.

Tbh, if you are already reading with your dc at home, I really don't see the point of doing this numerous times.

At our school, it wasn't run well, we just read with our children in a noisy classroom, just that, no teacher involvement(ppa?) and ta was busy reading with children without parents in a group. There wasn't anything to be gained.

We did this in the first school I taught at over 20 years ago. Any child who didn't have a parent there for whatever reason was scooped up by myself of TA to read together. It's a lovely bonding thing to do

Our school used to do it three times a week. I used to enjoy it but often I ended up with a child that wasn’t my own as it was the same parents coming in all the time.

This happens weekly in my daughter's school. Not all the parents can make it, and those that do tend to read with their own child and one or two friends whose parents aren't there. It's quite relaxed.

My DD is 20 and we had this weekly when she was in reception, honestly I think they are the devil. Monthly would be fine but weekly was over-board.

I am not judging but we lived in a poor area, with the many of children had parents on the benefit, or worked part time so could come to reading. Out of a class of 20 odd, I think my DD and two others had full time working parents, I was also a single parent (I think I made it to about two).

DD did understand why I couldn't come, however it was still upsetting for her seeing most of her class mates have their parents turn up. I still remember her coming home in tears when one of the kids teased her because I never turned up.

I agree with chipsnmayo. There is no way that parents working full time could realistically do this every week. Even more than once a year would be a struggle as it'd eat into days off needed to cover school holidays.

It sounds like a lovely idea, but in reality it's really not fair on the children whose parents can't come.