Book band fatigue

[Jonas25]

Wondering if there is any benefit to completing the book bands once DC can read competently? My Yr2 DC is on Gold Band but can read pretty much anything fluently. They are not allowed free reign in the library until they get to free reading status. I'm keen to let him enjoy reading books of his own choice to try and foster a love of reading. Any thoughts from teachers?

Our school just encouraged them to read. So although my children were on bands in class, at home they were allowed to read anything they wanted to.

The difference between being able to read words, however, and having the comprehension to understand a story and all it's meaning is vast, however. So choose wisely. Usbourne books do a whole host of transitional books which DCs loved and I also highly rate things like the Shifty McGifty series which moves them on from basic picture books to chapter books with ease.

The main thing is to get them reading and loving reading.

Let him read whichever books he chooses. He can have the gold ones from school and ones he’s picked from the library with you too.

Lots of children have a school book on the go and one at home that they can bring into school. Reading schemes can be restrictive so read to him and with him at home because this isn't just about reading but ultimately comprehension. Learning to read between the lines later on ie it isn't specifically written that someone is sad but it describes a sad person.

Ask questions but also comment yourself on things you read to him or hear him read, comment on good friendships or poor ones, ask him what do you think will happen next, what has happened so far? These are the skills they learn from reading, plus they can "magpie" brilliant words when they come across them. Lots of schools will give children a bunch of descriptive words on the board to use in their writing so they get used to seeing them and then they will use them without being prompted.

Thanks. He does seem to understand the story lines. I make sure to check for this. Part is the issue is that time is limited for own choice of books as we bring home 1) a book exactly aligned with the phonics scheme (as mandated by Ofsted despite it being too easy), 2) a banded book at the appropriate level.

The gap between my Y2 DS' reading ability and the phonics-aligned books he gets has grown so much that we have become pretty disengaged with the school books. We read those in five minutes per week and then The Worst Witch etc the rest of the time (checking vocabulary and understanding as we go).
I get that there is reasoning behind the method but it's so tedious.

Read whatever you want at home, No.1 child the book bands were just awful. Such boring, boring books, so we got other things from library. No.2 had a much better scheme (Read, Write) which was so much more enjoyable. I think by end of yr2 they're always bored of book band schemes, and in the long term as long as your are reading at home all the book band stuff evens out.

I would just let him read what he wants to at home. My yr 2 dd is on white band but all that means is she gets a white book sent home, she chooses whatever books she wants from the school/local library and we buy her quite a few (books are the one thing we buy consistently for her) at home. I wouldn't overthink it.

My son’s reading level quickly outpaced the phonics books so we have been reading other things at home. Some days we might not get them all in but we make reading a priority as much as possible.

You’ve got years left if you’re still on gold- some schools use book bands until y6. It gets even more soul destroying in ks2 when you have a very fluent reader stuck on god awful book band books they have no interest in. We made the mistake of just ignoring the book band books in y3 and school refused to move my daughter until she’d read every single brown book so she’s still getting really awful books home while she’s reading a range of fiction and non fiction that actually interests her at home.

This week she had a terrible book home about a greedy spider which was a slog to get through as no plot and she just couldn’t be arsed really.

My Y2 child is similar. She has read very fluently since day 1 really and is on lime green band. Wheras I would say I agree that it can feel a bit pointless I am also going to go against the grain a bit and say that I agree with the banding system. Although my dd reads very well there are usually at least a couple of words in her school books that she hasn't come across before (fancy words or place names etc) One or two of them tbh I've even had to look up how you prounounce them! These words also tend to come up in more of the books in that band so I do think it's good for reenforcement. In addition to this are you definitely checking understanding carefully? Remember the exams are ultimately going to be about comprehension. If you don't already then really check that your child understands the subtleties in the story and can extract information and use problem solving. Eg the story might say that it was raining outside and bif might say 'I'm so glad I bought my sunglasses' Check that your child realises that Biff is making a joke. Tbh all of this should be more than enough for even a very intelligent 6 year old to get their teeth stuck into.

My usual method with my dd's books is to read the whole thing through with her. This might take a couple of sessions and I will try and really check her understanding. Once we've done this a couple of times on the next days I will just pick out words that she's struggled to understand/pronounce to reenforce them. In addition to this I encourage free reading and reading for pleasure too. This is so so important for engagement and we always read at least one story together in a day or a chapter of a chapter book.

It's your child. Only you really know what they're capable of. However unless you have a literal Sheldon Cooper on your hands there is definitely plenty a child can and should be getting out of structured reading books at just age 6 tbh

I would also encourage you to look up a quick reading age test on google and do it with your child. It might open your eyes to how much further they have to go with their vocabulary. I don't mean that in a derogatory way but I think we forget how diverse the english language is unless we're linguists ourselves

Scurry through the book bands and hit the library and charity shops and get piles of books for him to have a go at.

Just ignore the Phonics book they send home. As you say, it is literally for Ofsted’s sake so we can say all children have the opportunities to practise the current sound at home etc… As a teacher, I genuinely used to cringe having to hand them out to children who were reading chapter books and novels. I wished everyday I didn’t have to do it. His teachers if they’re worth anytbing won’t pull you up on disengaging with the Phonics book.

How often are the kids moved up book bands? Mine reads with her teacher each week and gets books sent home weekly. She has to demonstrate comprehension to move forward. Maybe have a chat with the teacher about why he hasn’t been moved up more quickly?

Maybe it’s a difference in school policies but I’m fine with it. She brings home 2 books a week, we read them a total of 4 times, just whizz through them, check as we go along that she is understanding. Other than that she has bedtime stories and she reads to herself every day so the hour it takes to complete over a few days doesn’t make much difference.

I think with bookbands it’s just a matter of getting through them. Should be reading your own books for pleasure anyway.

It really depends on the child and the teacher. Mine flew through the bands in her first year or so and is tending to be moved up about once a half term atm. I've also found that her Y1 and Y2
teachers seem to be keeping the kids all on a similar level. It doesn't stop parents reading more with their child though. Different bands have different jumps as well. The band my dd has just moved to is quite a big jump. It's gone from quite small books to full on chapter books so they're requiring much more stamina.

Just go to a public library/pick up some second hand books ?

I wonder if it’s to do with when they finish the tree, if they finish at 12/14 perhaps they are trying to make sure they are all finishing at roughly the same time?

Does your son understand subtext, motivation, can he make inferences? There is probably a year or two gap between my DD’s decoding and comprehension skills. Because she decodes well it can give the false impression that she is further along than she actually is in terms of her comprehension. As pp jokes are definitely something she doesn’t always get.

I’m not doubting you OP I think perhaps I would talk to the teacher about why he hasn’t moved up if you feel he should have been. I would also make sure he finds some books he enjoys reading by himself. The books can be a chore, I’m looking forward to the day I don’t have to do reading practice.

Yes mine got to the point where her decoding was jumping ahead of everything else. It wasn't so much that she couldn't understand the story it was that she couldn't/wouldn't articulate her ideas. However we've worked really hard on this. For a lot of last year I might only have read a couple of pages with her but intensely talked about the context of the story etc. It really seems to be working and she's come on leaps and bounds with this side of things. Example; One of her books this week was about 2 girls who can see each other and wave at each other from their bedrooms. One has been ill and unable to go out and no siblings. The other has a house full of siblings. The story started by explaining how envious the child in the busy household was of the other child because she had a peaceful home and didn't have to go to school. I asked dd how she thinks child in the quieter house feels about the other child and with very little inference she was able to say that she tbought the other child would also be jealous because she's sad that she has nobody to talk to and can't go to school. Later in the story child in the busier house has to take little brother to the park. He's pestering her to play hide and seek. I asked dd before reading on if she thinks little brother gets his own way. She says 'yes because in this picture she's counting and brother is running away'. It's really easy to skim over inference when reading but it's so important to make sure it's really being teased out of kids and something teachers probably are better at assessing which might be why parents often feel that their kids are reading below their level.

To add, my dd might have been able to read me this story quite easily even by reception year. However no way would she have been able to discuss it so eloquently even a few weeks ago tbh

My DD was a free reader when she started year 2 in her old school (and ever since) and now in her new school, is forced to be on Dark Red! As all the other kids in her year are (Year 5)
I hare reading bands it just causes concern & confusion for parents

There are children who can read beautifully but are not able to answer a single question about what they've read.

As you're reading with them, ask lots of questions. How does the character feel? How do we know? What do you think might happen next? Why has the author used that word? Why is that word in italics? Etc etc

There is no point in jumping book bands if the child doesn't really understand what they're read.

Book bands are pretty subjective. In the school I work at my child would be a few bands ahead of where her school puts her at. I also think once you get past about Orange the next few are all much of a muchness - Turquoise, Purple, Gold and White (not even sure if that's the order). I don't pay too much attention to them as a teacher. Keen readers will generally be fine whatever. You do just need to watch they are reading properly and not just skim reading/missing the more nuanced points of the book/skipping trickier words.