Not allowed to read none school books anymore?

[NoBooksMore]

DC is Year 4, still on the Reading Scheme due to dyslexia.

If a child reads 3x a week at home in Years 2 and above they get a house point on Friday.

Teachers in Years 2 and 3 both told me to let DC read whatever they wanted, a page from Harry Potter or whatever even if it was a bit advanced for them because we didn’t want to take the element of choice away or to make DC feel lesser than their peers. Year 3 teacher felt it would also be good as due to the dyslexia DC has a speech issue so it improved vocabulary. We’ve taken to taking it in turns, I read a page then them etc. it works and I just wrote it in and the teacher awarded the house point on Friday.

Year 4 teacher has just replied to an email I sent asking about this after DC told me they got told off for me writing “none school books” in the reading diary. They’ve confirmed this and told me not to let DC read anything other than school books or very simple first readers like Julia Donaldson until they were a free reader.

I don’t understand, am I doing something wrong and harming my DC? I get that reading a book that’s too hard can be damaging but I’m there helping them with words and explaining them and they just want to be like their friends who’re all mostly free readers now.

DC has a reading age of around Year 2 level so they could easily leave primary not as a free reader.

So teachers, is it worth battling the teacher over this given that both Year 2 and 3 teachers (2 diff teachers btw) thought it was ok? We find the ORT books dull and repetitive, DC doesn't enjoy them so then refuses to read, this way at least they're reading something and motivated to give it ago.

Read a page of the book from school. Write it in the diary. Then read whatever you want in whatever split of you and him works for you.
I often used to read the first few chapters of a book to DS, just to get past the slightly slower paced stuff, and get the names of characters nailed down. Then we split it to suit how tired he was.

Teacher is an idiot. Let DC read whatever they want, lie in the reading diary or just tell the teacher you won't be filling it in anymore

I gave up filling in the diary when similar happened and explained why cheerfully. DD loves reading, and now reads happily by choice, but it was a monstrous battle while the school books existed. They made her hate reading so much she'd not read a thing, didn't even like being read to anymore. Ditching them was the best thing I ever did for her reading and comprehension ability. She flew once I redeveloped her intrest in books again.

My year 6 daughter came home this week saying she can't read home books, she's been a free reader for years and also 2 years above her expected reading levels.

I've emailed the teacher so I'll feedback once I get a response. Sounds a silly rule!

DC reads once per week at school, usually the book that has been sent home.

Its ORT books about Biff and Chip they are wordier than the ones they had in Year 2 and 3 but still incredibly boring.

Will do the reading a page and then reading whatever we want. It just feels a bit sad as DC loved seeing all the reading they'd done written down.

If your child is still on the reading scheme, it will be because there’s been a push from ofsted that home reading books should be within the child’s ability so that they are successful at reading it independently.

Does it feel like you son is getting good reading practice and doing well when he reads HP out loud to you? If it does, then carry on doing it. And talk to the school about getting books that are both age appropriate and within your ds’s ability level. They do exist.

Another teacher saying this is rubbish. I would ask for a copy of their English policy though. It really depends whether the two teachers who did the right thing were just ignoring a bad English / reading policy or whether this one is just making up their own rules. It could be this teacher is blindly following school policy in which case you'd need to contact some one else.

Reading is like a muscle. The more you exercise it the stronger it gets. If the back of a cereal packet is your choice of reading material, IT'S STILL READING.

This teacher is talking out of their uninformed arse. Reading is reading, whatever it is.

@ClocksGoingBackwards They struggle with some words, they can read a lot and fluently, but then sometimes there's a word in a context they've not seen it before or a word they know but with a prefex or suffix so they struggle, they can't decode, they just don't, they make the word up in their head and then carry on reading.

But then I'll go back and read the word say "Washed" they know wash so I'll break it down and say "Whats the first bit?" "Wash" and the last "ed" so it's "Washed" and what does that mean? And they can often tell me.

Don't do this. Jesus. Let your child read what he wants to read. You sound like a wonderful mother and that teacher has got a feckin clue.

Another teacher here saying that teacher is wrong. He should read anything he enjoys. My own daughter never even had a reading scheme it was all 'real books' (London 1980s).

It may be that he has developed poor reading strategies eg guessing randomly at words or confusing visually similar words and that the school want him to focus on reading accuracy - this is important as inaccurate reading will impact on his comprehension and ability to access more complex texts at secondary school. He should be able to read a book with 95% accuracy or 90% at instructional level.. The school needs to get some high interest/lower reading age books and they need to have a plan to improve his reading. If he wants to read more challenging books, you should consider paired reading at home dyslexia.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Paired-Reading.pdf

Oh no! Not Biff and Chip, Kipper and Floppy. You have my sympathy. They are dire and get worse as you go higher up the reading scheme.

1.nobody can order you NOT to read anything.or actually take preventative action
it might be-easy enough to practice the "school books"
did you write "none"under a header "school books" or did you write none school books...like a poorly formed sentence.
neither makes any difference to me-but you will be judged praps

But this is a policy that failed many children and is responsible for lots of children having much poorer reading skills than they otherwise would have. It’s not likely to be a very good strategy for a child with dyslexia.

I think the question that needs thinking about here is whether or not his reading skills have been catching up with his peers during year 2 &3 or whether they’ve fallen further behind. And if it is the latter, what intervention does he need to help him catch up? Although finding this in schools may be an issue at the moment.

It may also be worth talking to the teacher face to face about his reading and seeing what her reasoning is and whether she has any other idea ti help.

I would talk to the teacher firstly.
And look at Barrington Stoke for dyslexia friendly books. Loads of choice and they are high interest by excellent authors. Then you can have the best of both worlds.

Why is it wrong to ask for age appropriate books - schools should have them and don't- Hi/Lo books have far more interesting stories than Biff and Chip and more variety, but are written specifically to help struggling readers access the text. Reading texts where a child struggles with more than 90/95% of the words is not better than reading simple childish books.

If a school wants them to read the books sent home, turn it round and ask for age appropriate. Then listen to audio books to access more complex texts.

just lie in the reading diary - I am assuming most people do - I did it all the time with mine.

Especially my first, who was being sent home with basic readers with instructions to read 2 pages. We just ignored it and she got on with reading "Wind in the Willows."

@Mischance That may work well for student who do not have reading difficulties but I provide interventions for teenagers who have poor literacy skills. Many have embedded “guessing” as a reading strategy for unfamiliar words or may just skip over complex words entirely. This is usually due to being given books that were too hard for them to read throughout primary and the lack of phonics-based interventions in many schools at KS2. Often they have given up expecting texts to make sense and definitely don’t read for pleasure - as you need a reading age of 15 years to access the GCSE curriculum, it is essential that students get the basic right at primary if they are going to achieve their full potential in exams.

The teacher's job is to teach - to tailor his/her approach and selection of reading material to best help each child.

The parents' job is to have happy reading time with their child, whether that child is doing the reading or they are.

I am sure this child loves being with Mum and hearing stories - a positive spin on reading that is maybe hard to achieve at school with a child who is struggling.

Ignore the teacher and simply don't tell them. If they tell you off again, tell them to mind their own business. I'm sorry, but I have utterly no time for teachers who think one size fits all. The important thing here is reading with your child and encouraging a love of reading no matter what their difficulty. Provided they have done their school work, then what they do in their own time at home is your decision, not the teachers. There aren't enough readers around these days, unless you count time logged on social media. Literature is important. Encourage it. It actually helps a child to see the world in new ways, encourages brain development, and utilises the creative imagination.

Non school books are fine at home in addition to the set school books. The school ones have been designed to progress children through. My dd was in the same position or perhaps further behind so we supplemented with things she actually liked

Thanks everyone, think I'll carry on reading with DC but also do the schoolbook, maybe when I'm making food or something DC can attempt a couple of pages of the schoolbook so we can still keep the turn taking for bedtime (it helps DC to settle for sleep)

Teacher and mum of dyslexic child (now adult) - makes me so angry. I'd ask for some dyslexia friendly books to be sent home, maybe Barrington Stoke. But equally, if your child loves it they'll read it. Same as the rest of us. As a teacher I'd be suggesting ways you can read it together in a paired/shared way or suggest reading a paragraph each for eg. Would also recommend audio books for gaining vocabulary and enjoying stories without the big effort taken up to read as a dyslexic child. HP great for this - read and follow, read a bit then listen etc. Just been on a family holiday - Ds (25) still listens to audio books including re-reading Harry Potter by the pool!

I’d be making sure he’d done a bit of both. Some of his school books to hopefully work on his phonics and word recognition and then some of whatever he wants to try and ensure his enjoyment and engagement. What his teacher has told you is ridiculous and potentially damaging to his long term interest in reading at all.
If you want to play the game, just write whatever she’s asked for in the book to keep her quiet. I’m a primary teacher BTW and I’m cross on your behalf!