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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Grrr. Yr 1 teacher told DD to slow down with her reading to let others catch up!

51 replies

Chuffinnora · 07/02/2008 21:09

DD's teacher thinks DD should slow down because she is reading ORT levels too far ahead from the rest of the class. She's not, there are at least 3 children on the same level as her. What do you think? Does it seem mad to tell a child not to progress in something they obviously enjoy or does she have a point? (And what would it be?)

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katepol · 08/02/2008 11:29

I can believe this tbh. My dd is a fluent reader and has been since the end of reception. The school have not given her reading material suitable for her ability at all - saying they just don't have the resources (they are just an infant school). Sometimes she doesn't even get her weekly school reading book 'because we don't have enough'.
We were told last year that it was 'good that some of the other children are starting to catch dd up now', which begged the question what had they been doing with dd before?(aside from getting her to help' the weaker readers with their books....).

I agree with Shabster - some schools have no provision for those who are ahead. Parents are just meant to be thankful their child isn't struggling, rather than pleased that the school is catering for their child's needs. Luckily for our dd we can cater for her reading needs via the library, but what about other children who are good at say maths - do they just sit and get bored while waiting for everyone else to catch up?

BTW - our dd was actually told to slow down physically with her reading - they are only heard reading in a group and about once every fortnight or so. All the children read the same book out loud, with the teacher going round the table to listen in. DD reads too fast for everyone else, so has to slow down not just content, but reading speed . I am very thankful that it hasn't put her off books, but I wonder if it would a different child?

PortAndLemon · 08/02/2008 11:37

Madness if true and your DD hasn't got the wrong end of the stick.

No teacher would say "ooh, can you make a few random spelling mistakes in your next piece of work so that you give the others a chance to catch up", after all. It shouldn't be different for reading.

choccypig · 08/02/2008 13:36

Slowing down physically in reading aloud I am all in favour of. ( at grammar)
Right from the start at DS school they encourage them to put expresison into it, and do voices for the different characters etc.
I think it's great, it makes reading the STORY fun, rather than it just being an exercise in how many words do you know. (aka point and bark)
Also you see the results when the do the nativity play etc. The actions were quite wooden, but the speaking was super.

katepol · 08/02/2008 13:51

Choccypig - I take your point, but my dd does read with expression, follows punctuation etc etc. It is just that the other children in her group are all still in the wooden, mechanical reading style, while she is reading like an adult, making the words flow etc etc. DD was reading with different voices for different characters since reception...hence the frustration that she is constrained by her peers (who are all competent readers, but not at the same standard).

weblette · 08/02/2008 13:58

We're having exactly the same problem with ds1. At parents evening this week we asked if he could be given something a bit more interesting or challenging as he's getting 'bored' - his words not mine.

The teacher as good as told us that he'll be kept on the same level as other children to make guided reading easier to organise and that we should do more with him at home - which we do anyway.

NAB3wishesfor2008 · 08/02/2008 14:19

My daughter's teacher told me the other week that if my DD had more than 2 reading books a week the other parents would be asking why their kids couldn't have them. I said so my DD has to miss out because other kids can't read as well. If my daughter was the slowest reader in the class I wouldn't mind others having more books.

pirategirl · 08/02/2008 14:23

this level busisness, we seem to have colour codes on our books. Does anyone know what 'level' the gold ones are. I know the purpleones are before this.

thanks.

PortAndLemon · 08/02/2008 14:27

If your DD had more than 2 reading books a week why the heck would that information be being shared with the other parents? And how difficult would it be for the teacher to respond "because your child hasn't finished her current book"?

katepol · 08/02/2008 14:28

Pirategirl - schools use different banding schemes IME, but if your schoo uses BookBands then look

here

hth

RosaLuxOnTheBrightSideOfLife · 08/02/2008 14:28

Gold books are the third last in the colour band scheme. They are supposed to equate to a National Curriculum reading level 2B - which, in effect, means your chid is reading at the average level for the end of year two.

pirategirl · 08/02/2008 14:32

ah, ok, am quite pleased then. DD is 5 and half, and luckily they have started getting the books out of the school library for her.

Although i must say some of them seem a bit boring!!! Yet she seems to enjoy them. We had a book on robots last night, which looked like it was from about 1984!!

RosaLuxOnTheBrightSideOfLife · 08/02/2008 14:38

It is amazing what they like, Pirategirl. Our school doesn't do Oxford Reading Tree, but DD3 likes nothing better than sitting down to read a pile of old Biff and Chip books that a neighbour gave us.

NAB3wishesfor2008 · 08/02/2008 16:26

My son is in year 2 and is currently on black. My DD can read them too and she is in Reception.

flamingtoaster · 08/02/2008 16:36

Our next door neighbour was told by his daughter's teacher (in an independent school) to stop reading with her at home as her reading was too far ahead of the class already and it made it difficult to teach the class! Needless to say he explained to the teacher why he would be continuing to read with his daughter at home! Teachers vary enormously. In our first primary school DS was recognized as a free reader in Reception and was allowed to choose anything from the School Library. When he moved up into Year 1 he was only allowed to choose from what was already in the classroom. We moved.

Chuffinnora - regardless of what the teacher does or says let your DD's reading develop at its natural pace at home. It's important she keeps her love of reading, and madness to slow it down.

bubblesbabe · 08/02/2008 16:39

That is utter madness - how to demotivate a child in one easy step. It is the teacher's job to challenge and keep up with her!!!

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 08/02/2008 16:46

When I was in school myself and another girl were far ahead of the rest of the class and my parents were told they send me with books from home for reading time.

Original poster

Chuffinnora · 08/02/2008 20:16

Ok so the update is...
I mentioned this to another mum with DS on same level and he had been told to slow down too. I decided to say nothing but to ask for 3 books for the half term, we got 1. Will keep an eye on the situation and speak to the head if I think the Teacher is having difficulties managing the class.
I'm not worried about DD she's very resilient but what if she wasn't? Another child might well feel very demotivated and discouraged by the teachers attitude.

OP posts:

tudorrose · 08/02/2008 20:25

have not read whole thread but as a year 3 teacher this makes me so cross! am always thrilled to have great readers in my class, i love it when kids have enthusiam for reading and actually want to do it. It happens less and less these days. reading is soooo important, if they can do it well it helps everything else! IME the other kids in the class couldnt care less who reads what anyway. good for your DD!

wheresthehamster · 08/02/2008 20:33

I still think that you actually need to hear this from the teacher. Sounds bizarre

SofiaAmes · 08/02/2008 20:50

Is it possible that your dd's advanced level is discouraging the other children? For example, my dd who is quite bright but at about normal level for reading in Kindergarten (in usa) that is, just learning. However there are several girls in her class who are quite advanced and dd came home crying the other day because she doesn't understand why she can't read as well as X and Y and thinks she must be very stupid as a consequence. Teacher has been out ill since then, so haven't had a chance to discuss, but I'm sure there is a solution. Also, don't forget that the teacher has to help all 20 (in our case) kids in the class....can't be easy when they are certainly all at different levels. Probably more likely that a child who doesn't learn to read will have more long term damage than a bright child who isn't helped to surpass her expected level.

Is there any reason that your dd can't do more advanced reading at home and instead maybe help some of the other less advanced children at school during reading time. There are certainly some useful and positve lessons to be learned by a child from helping other people who aren't as fortunate to be blessed with the same advanced skills as they are. My children's school has a reading buddy system where older kids come into the younger classrooms and read with them. The kids all love it and it appears to be extremely successful for both the older and younger kids.

SofiaAmes · 08/02/2008 20:52

Also, can't you just get books from the library...why does the teacher need to send them home?

LIZS · 08/02/2008 20:56

You need to speak to the teacher. It could be she has grouped similar children together for guided reading and they need to broadly cover the same level to be able to read together in class . Or perhaps she thinks their comprehension falls behind their decoding skills so prefers them to take more time over each book. Don't go purely on the basis of a potentially oversimplified explanation from your child. There was a wide range of ability in dd's year 1 but that gap has closed significantly in year 2.

LIZS · 08/02/2008 20:58

oh and you can't really speak out on behalf of other children who might be discouraged, just on how your child feels.

drivinmecrazy · 08/02/2008 21:07

This happened to my DD at the end of yr1. She was told there weren't any more books for her. When she started yr2 in September, she has a fantastic teacher who was slightly concerned that she needed to be stretched a bit, so her and another child started having questions with her books, meaning she would read a book one night and then do question sheet based on book the next. But My DD decided she would do book and sheet in one night, so all teacher did was increase the complexity of the questions which has given my DD more of a challenge. I love the fact that she loves to read, as I do. She will read her own books and school books and can write a synopsis of what she reads at home and her teacher loves it. Just goes to show there are fantastic teachers out there. She now has a special exercise book which the teacher gives her an essay style question, maybe involving her re-writing the story in another style

Christywhisty · 08/02/2008 23:41

One of the schools near us was the same, one little girl was not allowed to take books home "until the others caught up" . They also complained to my children's excellent nursery where a lot of children went that the children were too far advanced when they started reception.
Needless to say my DC's didn't go to that school.
My DC's school allowed them to go at their own pace. DS didn't get reading until later but DD was reading when she started and was always given books to her ability.

Don't agree with Shabster. I have two very bright children aged 10 and 12 (both on the g&t register) and they have thrived at school. But both their teachers always say how much they love to learn and they are very rewarding children to teach.

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