Pre-reading

[Kelkoocode]

My Y1 daughter has moved onto pre-reading at school and has been told she won't get any more books and we have to read stuff from home. I won't even go into my views about how ridiculous this is - instead, does anyone have any recommendations of suitable books?

Have the school given any recommendations?
Otherwise google 'books for 4 to 6 year olds' and see what comes up.

I agree with PP ask them directly what books they recommend. Amazon usually has ‘teachers picks’ but some schools seem to prefer certain books.

Do you mean ‘free reading’ - ie they have completed all stages of the school’s reading programme and you are now able to help her to choose books she would enjoy?

Or is it that they have phonics reading books in school that they will continue to work through steadily but home reading is separate?

If it is the former - rare these days of structured phonics schemes and matched books - then the world is your oyster. Go to the library every week and get out as many books as you are allowed, read some to her, some with her, and she reads some independently. Once you find an author or type of books she likes, mine that seam for as long as you have stomach for (dd’s Rainbow Fairy stage was particularly painful).

If the latter, you need MUCH more information from school. Which phonic sounds have they covered? What is the progression? Do they want you to find books at exactly that level, lower to support fluency and understanding or actually do they want you to read a wide variety of books and stories to her and they will continue to teach reading as a process in school?

Something like Reading Eggs may be best if they want you to read your own books but at the right phonics stage, though some libraries do have a limited stock of phonics readers.

(DS was a ‘free reader’ from mid-Reception as he fell off the top of the KS1 reading scheme at that point. Our main issue was finding appropriate books, in terms of content, for a sensitive 5 year old with an exceptionally high reading ability. Slightly more old-fashioned books like Flat Stanley or Mrs Pepperpot were good for that stage.)

Has the school not got a library to get suitable books from

Something doesn't add up here. Are you sure you've understood? Is she a strong reader? In that case you probably mean free-reader (a pre-reader would be a child acquiring the skills to read - ie pre-school and early Reception age).

All schools should provide adequately for children of all reading abilities. Free-readers usually visit the school library to select their books, or their classroom may have a selection of age appropriate books to choose from. I can't believe they would genuinely expect parents to provide books from home once a child is past the phonics decodable reader stage. Not everyone can afford that or would even support that. We all know that sadly some children have no books at home at all. This would be a major red flag with Ofsted if true. I can't believe it is. Surely there has been a misunderstanding?

My DD’s school only goes up to year 4 (age 8/9 yrs) and they have age appropriate books for children with a reading of 13 yrs.

I am also confused by school not having any suitable books.

This makes no sense? Can you elaborate

I assume you mean free reading.

That's wonderful. I mean my dc were loving reading at home, and found the school books generally dead boring. Ds didn't mind the magic key or fact ones, but other than that we ignored them after one read through.

Either go to the library (or a charity shop) and pick out half a dozen books, or google and find some.
Lots of ones like:
Rainbow Fairies
Milly Mollie Mandy
Magic Kitten
Secret Seven
Faraway Tree/Wishing chair

Are all nice gentle books for that age where chapters can be read one at a time.

Hallelujah. Being done with the assigned readers is such a relief. Ask the teacher for information on your DD's reading level and plan a trip to the public library where the children's librarian will be able to give you some appropriate suggestions. Once you know what you're looking for charity shops are often a great bet for building a cheap home library as well. And of course the books you previously read aloud to her can be revisited with her reading alone or with help.

There will inevitably be some phases where your DD tortures you with the endless unicorns or fairies or pinkalicious selections, but at least she'll be spending time enjoying reading based on her own interests. And even the worst unicorn princess dog selections are usually less mind numbing than doing the the phonics readers over and over.

I think the recommendation re books that can be done as a single chapters is helpful. My eldest was an early reader and stamina was something that came with time. I also would say don’t rush into books that seem more grown up. I remember her saying to me she was really sad that a lot of her chapter books didn’t have pictures and what she missed picture books. Just because they are good readers, doesn’t mean they won’t still enjoy a picture book or need to move into heavier texts. We found the princes poppy books a lovely bridge for this sort of age. And we had a rainbow fairy phase as well.

I’d be surprised if they have genuinely exhausted reading scheme books. They still have them up to year 6 in my school. The challenge though is making sure you’ve got something age appropriate. I’d also say that while some scheme books are awful, there is something about having a bit of variety forced on them so they don’t exclusively read rainbow magic fairies for 6 months and it’s important to be reading non-fiction as well as fiction. I really like the national geographic books as they come in different reading levels and are very visual.

My DS is a strong reader and was reading Famous Five. He is still on (easy for him) phonics books but reads loads to himself at home. Things he enjoys:

• Non-fiction books - great for general knowledge and vocabulary
• Rainbow Fairies
• Enid Blyton - Famous Five, Naughtiest Girl. They are about much older children and FF could be scary for some children. They may be a bit long for some
• We have short versions of books e.g. The Faraway Tree from places like the Works which give a much more condensed version
• 13 Storey Treehouse - funny and silly. Longer but lots of pictures so quick to read.
• Frank Lampaard has written books about a magic football

My kids are at infant and juniors schools. They get to free reader at some point (usually start of year 2 is the earliest they let them even for strong readers) when they bring a library book home. They go back on the reading scheme at junior school.

Fo you mean a free reader? My DD was a free reader early and we did manage to source higher banded books from Reading Chest; they are a great little company. Otherwise she read longer picture books and early chapter books to herself and we read her a more complex chapter book at bedtime.