Year 1 reading books AGAIN!!!!! :D

[Noodlenation]

Hi just thought I’d add another post to the 24578 posts already on here about reading.

so my dd gets one book per week at school and listened to once by TA. We have been told they need to read this five times to build fluency. Now five times for one book? How can children progress further by reading the same book again and again for the whole week. I get a couple of times but five is too much. Dd refuses anyway and I don’t fight it cos I agree with her it’s bloody boring!

I’ve seen posts on here from mums who’s kids get their book changed every day! No wonder your kids are so far ahead in reading!!
anyway if I get books from library and read one everyday a couple of times, do you think that would progress her further considering she’d be exposed to new material every day? (Yes I’m aware comprehension is important too)

also for those about to comment that I should speak to the teacher about getting more books. Yeaaah nah they’re not going to change the rules for little old special me.

so what do you think?

I’ve found the repetition really helpful for advancing my slower reader, and the current thinking is that working towards total mastery of a smaller volume of content (which our school defines as being able to read aloud with intonation / no longer having to decode) is more helpful for building the skill of reading. Building a love of reading is something different, though, and I think you need to find balance between the two objectives. Our books are changed somewhere between 3-14 days depending on how long it takes to master. You aren’t expected to read it every night for 14 nights though - I tend to alternate between the school book and our own (recommend the songbirds series for more or less aligning with book bands). And then I read lots of exciting stuff to them, so they always look forward to book time even if they aren’t super excited about their assigned book.

We get a new book every day, but only one on Friday for the weekend, so that gets read 3 times - Fri, Sat, Sun. Certainly by the third time my DS races through it and has learnt the tricky words. But isn't nearly as interested as the first time. It helps if the second or third read are to different people, eg dad on Friday, mum on Saturday, big brother on Sunday, then he feels that he is reading his story to different people, not just repeating himself.

So yes, I would get more books from the library or eBay/charity store second hand and mix it up.

It depends which reading and phonics scheme your school is using. There are some where the repetition is designed to really reinforce the phonics before moving onto the next sound. It also ensures that children aren't exposed to words and sounds they haven't been taught yet. It doesn't mean that they'll be any slower to read, they will actually be better readers because they will have a really thorough grounding in the basic phonics and won't have gaps in their phonics knowledge

@Noodlenation
Phonics can be slow and boring. Helps slower readers but others need faster reading programmes based on assessment of reading skills. I think your school sounds poor.

Years ago DDs had books changed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Two or three each time. I supplemented from the library too. Also DDs had library books from school which were wholly unrelated to phonics! Reading for fun and love of books was encouraged. Schools with strict policies do the opposite. Bright kids need little reinforcing week after week and thrive on a mixed diet.

My DC were not listened to that often but I signed the reading diary and gave feedback. The books progressed pretty quickly and DDs had done loads of phonics in nursery. So, talk to the teacher. Say DC is bored. Get books from the library. Get general library books too. My DD chose the Diary of Samuel Pepys (Ladybird) from the school library in YR. It was an infant school. The great fire of London fascinated her. You can talk about it! Read a bit together and pick out words that match the pictures. Don’t accept low standards and expectations.

This seems to be one of those things where some schools are interpreting ofsted guidance and then trying to fit every child into a box that they think they’ll be happy with.

For some children, reading the same book every night will work wonders for their fluency, confidence etc but for others it will turn reading into a dull and boring chore.

You need to work out exactly where your child’s ability is at and what she needs and at the same time, try to do your best to support the school. If you’re sure your dd could read the books she gets with the same level of fluency and expression that you could read it at, then she doesn’t need to continue reading them for no reason.

Yes definitely source your own books from the Library or wherever. My child is in y1. We read the school book a couple of times then read whatever we want from home or the Library. Frustrating for parent and child that books get changed so rarely and are so boring and hardly a way to develop a love of reading.

Is she still on the phonics scheme? Our DCs' school has a similar policy for those on the scheme, then once off it they change their book whenever they want. I agree with PPs: read it once. If DC reads fluently with a good 'storyteller' voice, then don't bother again (fake the reading diary entries if necessary) and just read something of your own choice from home/library. If they aren't fluent quite yet then try again the following night.

My year 1 DS had the same book for a week too, and it has done wonders for his fluency. He's an advanced reader anyway, despite having only attended school for 50% of the time since starting in reception due to their inability to cope with his special needs. We have a variety of usborne early reader books, fairy tales, and library phonics books as well as a large selection of picture books. He reads his school book about 5 times a week and then we supplement with others. He usually reads 4 or 5 books aloud each night so it doesn't really bother him reading the same one over and over as its just one of a few. It means he's mastering the fluency as well as developing a love of reading by reading a variety.

There are different types of reading.

What you get from school is reading for learning. It's about the retrieval and rehearsal process and, through that, encoding knowledge into your child's long-term memory in a more effective way. It builds automaticity which, over time, creates better readers as it frees up more of the child's working memory to deal with comprehension rather than being overloaded by fluency. Some books may be interesting and fun (the new Little Wandle ones are good for this) but it isn't the primary focus of them.

Then there is reading for the love of it. Schools should be supporting this by allowing the children to engage with and borrow from the library and reading to the children from quality texts in class. However, a lot will come from the books you read with/to him or her. This is all about imagination, expression, entertaiment and wonder.

It's also worth noting that the colour band your child is on is pretty meaningless. It doesn't really affect much and so racing through them isn't going to help.

Little wandle by any chance?

My son is also in Year 1 and we get sent home 2 or 3 books a week, on the day he reads to his teacher. The books are normally around say, 25 pages, so I tend to do half the book one night, then the whole book the next. Then go onto the next book, unless he's found it particularly tricky. And then I read him a bedtime story each night, as I always have. I've no idea if that's the right thing to do, I know some people say they should do each book 3 times, but he seems to be ticking along okay, so I'm sticking with it for now. If I try the same book for 3 days, I get 'not this one again!'

We do Little Wandle at school. We do three reads during the week. The first is decoding, the second is using expression and the third is with comprehension questions after the read. We then send the book home for the weekend. We do send other books that are not phonetically decodable home during the week as sharing books.

This does mean they really know the book they are taking home and it should be an independent read. We do get comments about the book being easy and we try to explain that it should be after three reading sessions. It is a whole new way of managing reading but I have to say I have seen great progress with it.

We had the issue with DS2 that on the second time around he was simply reciting. At which point the school admitted it was a bit rubbish for him, said they had to follow the latest government guidance but that they were unfussed if he read a range of things at home. So we did, and wrote what he actually read in his reading diary.

Later in Y1 he was officially a ‘free reader’ but they still had to send home books that matched the phonics they were revising…madness.

I do think the Reading Framework published by the Govt in Jan 22 is slightly difficult to
interpret. It talks of the greater vocabulary middle class children have but then, later on suggests children will not understand more complex words and doubles down on phonics and phonics books. It then rather assumes all Dc learn at the same pace with the same external influences on words and understanding. This seems at odds with the huge variety of backgrounds, intelligence, pre learning and experiences DC have. Therefore “stage of learning” is not the same for all Dc and teachers surely must assess this. It doesn’t seem fair to say just because you are teaching phonics methodically that all Dc are exactly at the same stage or we wouldn’t have amazing readers or ones who need extra help. We know we do.

However as you can see from the attached extract, children should read a book most days. Nowhere does it say repeat the same book every day. I doubt ofsted would say this either. They certainly like repetition of learned phonics but not the same book.

“Then there is reading for the love of it. Schools should be supporting this by allowing the children to engage with and borrow from the library and reading to the children from quality texts in class. However, a lot will come from the books you read with/to him or her. This is all about imagination, expression, entertaiment and wonder.
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It's also worth noting that the colour band your child is on is pretty meaningless. It doesn't really affect much and so racing through them isn't going to help.”

Such a good post it bears repeating.

A love of reading is going to shore up your kids future far more than tick boxing their way through dull reading schemes. So if they’re young and you end up reading it - do the voices, make it magical, point out some of the phonics etc they will associate reading with quality parental time and a world in their imagination that is unique and special.

So many parents just slavishly think that the commands that come home from school must be obeyed but if you think your child is bored shitless then do your own thing. If the school ask, you can fully justify and explain that you are supporting reading in a far more rich and nuanced way than their ‘homework’ requests are.

Five is too much. With the best will in the world, red - orange band books are pretty bloody dull no matter how good you might be at coming up with games, questions or activities. Plus for any kid whose already ready to move up and hasn’t been spotted yet, you’ll kill any enthusiasm they do have for reading already.

Reading is about extracting information across different contexts - that’s how we compare and contrast and start to notice letter level, word level and phrase level difference. It’s massively organic and it comes from reading a wealth of material. Moreover you need to be motivated by the fact that it’s purposeful!

Normally the books have questions at the back of the book. I'd ask some of those on some nights.

@TimeforZeroes
I don’t think there is any excuse for a Dc not being spotted!!! It’s about time schools went back to a comprehensive assessment in the first weeks or how on earth do they plan the curriculum for each child according to their needs. You also must check what parents say.

My dd’s year 1 class have a digital book system so we don’t even get physical books to read at home. I think she currently has 3 books on there, one for her guided reading group and 2 others just for extra. They don’t have a TA so there is no one to one reading and the guided reading groups are between 4-7 children. I hadn’t realised what terrible provision this is until reading this thread.

Buy your own books or join the library.
Education isn't just for school.

I taught DD to read as she was keen, and we only paid lip service to the school books. She was reading books at a much higher level at home and found the school books boring.

It's the fact that she can read that matters, not what book she's reading at school.

I think it depends on the kid, but one book a week I think must only work for some children.

DS1 wanted to read, but only got a new book once a week, so we supplemented - if he'd read the same book every night he'd have just memorised it rather than read it by the end.

DS2 could not have been less bothered by reading (he used speak to search on youtube, and just asked big brother to read things for him if he ever needed it). One book a week just meant that he didn't bother at all, and because it wasn't 'for school' he wouldn't read the other books we had. It took moving to a new school, and having competition and a new book every night to get him reading.

My DD's school is very similar. However, she is a sight reader with a very good memory and the books are short. She reads it once and then can re-read it fluently. So we are more or less ignoring the 'read 5 times command'. She reads it once at school and once or twice at home and then we go to the library and get interesting books out! Some for her to read, and some for use to read together.

She is currently deeply interested in the Smyth's toy catalogue. I make her write out her wish lists so that's a combination of reading and writing. As long as she is practicing the skills needed, I'm not sure it matters where the practice comes from.

There is absolutely no way my DD (in Yr 1 ) would re-read the same extremely boring book five times over. I might be able to get her to do it twice, but tbh her school haven't asked us to and I don't see it as particularly important. I do go to the library every week and make sure she has enough books to last us until the next two come along. She reads me one every night before bed.