Is anyone about?

[NAB3wishesfor2008]

?

I think there are often other things going on with the school reading books. To do with comprehension, to do with the recognition of very specific letter combinations etc. Personally, I don't mind not getting more Biff and Chip stories. I know it's all rather satisfying this ticking off of levels and aren't they bright and ahead of their peers etc but it's not the be all and end all.

I like home reading to be different from school reading. I like home learning to be different from school learning. And I've seen early readers get turned off books and I do think that fretting over levels rather than whether a book is enjoyable can cause the problem.

I couldn't care less about what the other kids are reading. I am just looking out for my child.

It sounds like she's fine to me though. She can read well and she can change her library book whenever she wants. Obviously if the school library is poor, you have a problem but if it's okay why can't she just raid it? Leave the "reading books" (odd concept anyway) to the teachers and the literacy hour.

At our school, books are changed twice a week so long as the parents have wrote in the reading record 3 times.So therefore some children don't get their books changed for weeks at a time, because their parents are too lazy.

My oldest gets hers changed twice a week, if i feel she is ready to go up to next stage i just write a quick letter to teacher and usually she agrees and moves her up.

She also has a library book which can be changed whenever she wants.

Teacher says it has to be read 3 times so that they can take in all the puncation and learn expressive reading.

Also teacher relies upon parent helpers to change the books as she doesn't have the time.

If you are really worried i would ring the school and ask for an appt with teacher and if no joy then speak to HT.

Read the same book three times!
I can understand this for slow readers or even beginners but for good readers! What a waste of time and how soul destroying!

Nab3 - what have you written in the contact book? I've skimmed through and can't find it?

When dss were younger I always wrote in their reading book what they were reading from home/library as well as school books. Just as a record that they were reading, even if not a school book. From c.yr3 I would sign it even when they were only reading by themselves in bed, not to me.

This is pretty much what I have written -

(I have written a note saying) I don't understand why she can't change her reading book more often, she is keen to read, enjoys it, is good at it (and has even started using intunation (sp) according to her teacher.) I said we feel she is being limited in her reading and it seems a shame when she is doing so well.

Brackets enclosed is my extra thoughts on here not in the book.

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, I have my own worries about extending my own DC (I'll start another thread).

But I don't understand NAB's problem, either. I mean, ask for more books/week if your DD would appreciate them, but otherwise...
DD (y1) is also reading ahead of her age. I could go in and change her books myself every other day, but actually it's easier to get her extra reading material from the library. At home she does independent reading, plus when she reads with me I explain words she hasn't seen before (eg., feud). Probably not a patch on the ability of NAB's DD but she amazes us and considering the large new vocab she's encountering, she's plenty extended by the library books.
Why is extra reading material provided from home not an acceptable solution, NAB?

Roisin - a bit of a hijack here but how are you doing with the selective school/tutor route. I'm about to start serious research and I remember you recommending a book to me a while back.

Okay. The teacher will only allow her to have 2 books a week to read to me. Her brother was allowed a new book whenever he wanted and was not as advanced a reader as she is.

She is allowed as many as she wants for me to read to her but hasn't brought any home this week.

She has access to hundreds of books at home, and is always reading them, but I want books from school that I can keep a record of in her book.

I will send in the note and from now on write every book down, including her own books she reads to me, with comments in her record book and leave it at that.

She has just read The Magic Key to me. 30+ pages and a black level.

I get frustrated with school as we don't get told a lot of what goes on and why, we are just expected to know or not care.

When my DC read a book form home instead of school book I write that in their reading record just so that when the TA checks (and then tells the kids off for not reading enough ) she will see that we are actually reading, just not always the school books as some of these are datastamped from the 1970's and can be quite limiting)

Write them in the book if you want, its your DD's reading record not just a reading record of school books.

My dd (also in reception) is also doing very well with her reading. She is also only allowed to change her book twice a week. We do read each school book twice - it helps to check if words she previously need help pronouncing are now trouble-free.

In addition to her school books she was given lots of ORT and other books for Christmas. She is also a member of our local library so we go and get more books whenever she wishes.

I no longer tell the teacher about dd's extra reading. Nor do I keep telling her how good dd is at reading. I don't want to be seen by her as pushy or showy-offy. The teacher has her hands full helping those who are still finding reading hard. So I just take dd's reading one step further myself.

I personally don't see it as a problem, although it can be frustrating when a teacher is not willing to bend the rules a little to allow a child to fulfill his/her true potential.

NKF - DS1 had assessment day (6.5 hrs) at independent school on Friday! We're waiting to hear the results.

CAT me if you want.

I am not showy offy. I just want my child to do well. No one cared how I did at school and I changed schools a lot so haven't done anywhere near as well as I could have.

If the teacher had said in the beginnning how it was going to work and that I could record any books she had read, I would have been happy.

NKF - I wish I knew how to CAT. Can you explain?

I havent read every post (sorry) but the reason you are only getting 2 books max. a week is that the teacher wants to hear your daughter read at least one of those books before she sends them home. Thats how it works in my school. Then while you are reading those books at home with her, she will read the next prepared book to the teacher and that will go home when the first lot come back.

I don't know if teachers are keen to send home lots of books each week when they havent heard them read from each set of books, and there isn't enough hours in the day to do this for 30 odd children!

I don't see anything wrong with asking for MORE books to be sent home, even if it is only twice a week, at least then your dd can progress through the stages more quickly,. It is a slooooow process though!

Nab, I did not say you were showy offy - I said I did not want to look showy offy.

Of course it is great that you care about how you did at school, and of course you should care about how your dd is doing. But the school reading scheme is not the be all and end all.

Just read at home with her, for fun, as you are doing. That reinforces the message that reading is fun. Ploughing through school reading levels is not fun. So hence why I keep the two separated.

I agree with what others have said. Just carry on reading all sorts of books with her, filling in the reading diary as you go.

Anyway, showy offy is not a word is it?

Oh I know you didn't say I was but I felt it was implied. No worries.

I am repeating myself I am sure but it is just another frustrating part of school when they don't tell you what they are doing and why.

I guess I feel she is being held back by the school. Lowest common denominator and all that.

We have always had books around and I buy new ones regulary so the children can all read when they want too.

Hi NAB, I can hear the frustration in each of your posts, but I still don't really see what the problem is. Your dd is obviously a good reader, she gets 2 books per week from school, plus other library books. Please could you explain to me what you think she is going to gain by bringing home more reading scheme books from school so I can try and be a bit more helpful.

Reading books are just absolutely not the be-all and end-all of reading. In fact, they are often really lacking in content, rich vocabulary and story line. They are simply a way that teachers check progress and teach specific reading skills such as characterisation, comprehension etc. As such, why would you want more of them sent home each week, when there are far, far better books available.

I'm sure your dd's teacher is well aware of her reading ability. As others have suggested, it is so much better for your dd to visit the library, or choose books at home to read to you. Why not just keep a list of the books that your daughter is reading at home, and send it in with her reading record every few weeks with a note about which books in particular your daughter enjoyed, and why.

Perhaps your dd could start to think about reviewing books after she's read them - giving a very short precis, saying whether she would recommend them to others and why. You could just do this verbally, it doesn't need to be written down.

NKF - If you click on the envelope at the RH side in the blue bar against my name you can send me a message - if you've payed your £5 CAT subs.

But when I tried clicking on yours it said you've opted not to receive such messages, so I can't send one to you.

I've paid my subs, so if you amend your profile I could send a message to you. Or you could pay your £5 and send a message to me.

Or might be easier to start another thread and we could chat on there.

Let's start another thread. I'm way too mean to pay a fiver.

Oh NAB, don't worry. I do understand how you feel, I really do.
I have always felt this about school. Ds was always near the bottom of the class and I felt he did not get enough support, Dd is the opposite and I feel she is being allowed to coast rather than be challenged/stimulated.
I have now decided that is the downfall of the state system. (and our school is ofsted outstanding so you would expect it to be good)
I now just do extra help with ds at home to ensure he can keep up at school, and give dd extra reading/words etc to satisfy her wish to read/learn.

I want her to have the opportunity to read more books from school so the teacher can see how well she is doing.

If I was told, your DD will have 2 books from school per week and then wants to read at home books, write it all down and I can see what she is doing, I would have been happy. It isn't about showing off (though I appreciate it may seem like that) it is about not knowing how to do things.

TBH she is taking it all in her stride and accepts she can only have 2 books so I will chill.

Oh Nab , just fill in the reading diary with all the extra books dd is reading, and the teacher will notice how well she is doing. I help in dd's reception class, and book changing sessions are very frought and somewhat chaotic. I think once things settle down the teacher may have more time to look at each individual child (well I am forever hopeful...) There is also a limited supply of books for each class, so dd can't have extra books as she would go through them too quickly Hence why I am now using own books and the library.

Be proud of your dd - it sounds as if she is doing fantastically well