Book bags - honest answers only please

[joggingalong]

Hi,

My ds is in reception. He has gone to a friend's house for tea for the first time today. He was picked up from school.

What I would like to know is, what are the chances that his friend's Mum will look in his bookbag, to see what reading book he is on?

Does anyone know of a mother doing this, or have you taken a sneaky peak yourself?

Couldn't agree more, OrmIrian!

Oh and Chasing Squirrels, I don't think was you did was awful at all - I'm talking about mums who grab the teacher in the playground and demand very loudly and publically that their child move up a reading level.

For them, it's more about broadcasting their child's intelligence (and, by inference, their own superior genes) to the world, than any concern for their child's interest in reading.

I couldn't be ar$ed to look.

I've never had the opportunity as we don't do play days after school as I work. However I will be honest here and admit that I probably would sneak a peek just out of interest. I don't actually believe a lot of those who say that they wouldn't or profess complete disinterest. I think it's perfectly normal to be curious.

Can someone tell me the purpose of wordless books. Even DS#2 thinks they are a waste of time. We usually give it a cursory glance after practising his phonics and then move on to his 'choosing' book and home books.

I wouldn't look. Its wierd imo. And in any case, they have numbered boxes in DS1s class with mixed levels in so no one really knows properly! All you would know was the box number

I"m with Kerrysmum on the confusion - ds' P1 class are all reading the same 2 books - one reading one comprehension. They get a new one every other day.

Ds knows the P7s are on "level 12" whatever that means, but then we're in SCotland so no high prssured sATs/leaugue tables or attainments thingies to reach. Just reading

sneaked a look once when my eldest (now yr1)was in reception purely through being nosey , wouldnt do it again, is totally pointless. (i am a primary teacher)peach 123

DD went to a friends house and her friends mum commented on my dd being a good reader. On the way home I asked dd if her friends mum had asked her to read and she siad she had taken a book out of her book bag and told her to read it!

I thought the purpose of the wordless books is to encourage them to piece together a story and meaning from the pictures. This is important in the ORT series because as word recognition, it requires the child to take clues from wherever they can and use an informed guess as to what the word is likely to be.

Lots of children have already had endless practice at looking at books with parents, picking out bits of story from the pics etc before they go to school - but lots haven't.

dd1 doesn't have any friends so I have not had the opportunity to look in a bookbag [sob]

but I think most of the class get the same stuff, ORT iirc

I am the least competitive parent you could meet. But I just can't resist looking in book bags when ds has friends to tea. I sometimes deliberately leave the in the car so that I'm not tempted. I was looking babysitting at my db's last week, and dn and dd go to the same school. When I went to the loo I saw dn's school books on her desk and had to literally FORCE myself to walk past her room without looking. I don't think I'm comparing - I am just incurably nosy!

I've just realised I've never washed my DD's book bag and she's had it 4 years [slattern]

No, I would not look in another childs book bag! Originally when dd first started school as parents we would chat about our dc's development but not now in year 1. I would not worry if any one did look at dd's book though, although it is intrusive to look in there bags! Mind you I suppose it could be out of line as you could have private stuff written in their reading report book, hadnt thought of that. I think I'd just ask a friend if I was worried about dd's development but then its unfair to compair they are all so different.

Critterjitter... surely the teacher would ask a parent to leave at the start of school??

There are other things so much more interesting than the book in the bag.

Dd was given (afterschool club supervisor error) the wrong bag to bring home yesterday. We didn't open the bag [hmmm wonder if I might have done if I hadn't all this exposure via MN to the Morality of the thing - suspect wouldn't but who knows] but dd & I earnestly inspected: the labelling technique (smartly done vs. scribble? - ooh a sewn-on nametape!), how clean it was (it was, oppressively, rather sparkling) & the variety & style of ornament.

Dd has gone in today bursting to find out where you can get sequinned cat-face keyrings. We have our priorities straight I think.

Who cares if someone else has a peek? I don't give a Fig.
I think odds of another parent doing it to one of my DC are respectively nil (DD, never gets invited back) and maybe 5% (DS, rarely invited back and don't think the other parents who do invite care that much). Ours is not a competitive school, though. SAT results on the plummet, in fact.

I once had a quick look to see if DD's bright friend was on a similar reading level.
Is that so awful (haven't dared read rest of thread)?
But DD seemed quite advanced for reading and I was too shy to ask the teacher about it, at the time.
DD was on a lower reading level, on that occasion.
I would humbly submit that one peek out of probably 40+ playdates over the last 4 years still doesn't really qualify as competitiveness on my part.

I do always check name labels on school sweatshirts; do it compulsively with my own DC -- don't think I will ever change that habit.

It appears that quite a number of people would look. I wonder how you would feel if you discover that the other child is loads of levels ahead of your child. If you knew that your child was reading well and you had no concerns about their reading, would it niggle and make you start to question how they are doing. Or would you just be able to accept that the other child is ahead?

chloesmumtoo has a good point. DS is undergoing assessment for SEN, - seeing an EdPsych and has learning support in the classroom, but we have no dx. So his P1 teacher uses his reading book as a home/school communication thing wrt his behaviour or things he hasn't been coping with well.

If I thought another parent was rifling through confidential comunnications like this out of sheer nosiness I would not only be hurt personally but also very concerned that their child might then eavesdrop on the inevitable fallout "Did you know that bobsmum's ds did this in school?" or worse, actually asking the child "What's bobsmum's ds like in class - is he the naughty boy?".

I'm heartened by those who say they wouldn't dream of it. I just hope that's true of ds' classmates' parents

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I bet Biff and Chip's mum would snoop - but she would accidentally drop an ear ring into the bag and not notice and get caught out!

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