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Original poster

FGS sake, why are the teachers at my ds's school so bloody arsey sometimes?

99 replies

DrNortherner · 15/10/2008 09:31

"Just to let you know. ds has broiught home 3 books recently that he has alraedy read" says I this morning.

she replied:

"Well that's his fault not mine"

OP posts:
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Blackduck · 15/10/2008 09:39

were these his reading books or library books? If the first then POOR SHOW!

annh · 15/10/2008 09:52

To be fair, in ds2's class (yr 3) any kids who are still on the (endless) reading scheme pick out their own books now. The books are all clearly labelled and each one is in a separate box so all the kids have to do is pick up the next one along. I read sometimes in class and did notice one day that one little girl was half-way through a book which she had read the previous term. Interestingly, neither the girl or her parents appeared to have noticed!

Do you know how the books are changed in your ds's class?

Original poster
DrNortherner · 15/10/2008 09:58

It's his reading books. The kids take responsibility for changing their own with no teacher helping. He gets in a panic and grabs anything.

OP posts:
cory · 15/10/2008 09:59

I think in our infants, they were choosing their own from Yr 1. SO it would have been dc's own fault.

Blackduck · 15/10/2008 09:59

Ours are done by the TA, but ds is in Year1.

compo · 15/10/2008 10:00

have you tried to get them from the public library? I found that sometimes that is the only way when the teachers are being a bit rubbish

trumpetgirl · 15/10/2008 10:01

When DD was in Early Years, I complained that she was bringing back the same books over and over again. Teacher said it was her fault SHE'S 5 YEARS OLD!!!
Turns out she'd read all of the books in that box - but she should have told the teacher, so it was her fault that she hadn't been moved to another box

cory · 15/10/2008 10:01

So if he is choosing his own, why complain to the teacher that he is picking the same ones again. Isn't that a matter to bring up with him? How old is he?

Hassled · 15/10/2008 10:02

Yes, pretty standard at our school that the child picks their own reading books from whatever colour box they're on.

She could have phrased it slightly more politely though, I know. But the logistics of tracking what each child has read throughout the year to ensure no duplications would be horrendous - I'd rather the teacher spent the time teaching.

BloodAndMutts · 15/10/2008 10:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
DrNortherner · 15/10/2008 10:15

He is 6 and in Year 2. He is an entusiastic reader but not fluent.

Of course I mentioned it to him, and have reminded him to ask for help if he gets stuck. He said he is scared to ask.....

So, I politeley mentioned it to his teacher, who as his teacher could then keep an eye on it hopefully. I wasn't having a go at her, or saying it was her fault I was simply making her aware of the situation.

I thinked she guessed from my reaction that she had been a bit arsey...

OP posts:
rydercup · 16/10/2008 18:46

Know what you mean........my son is yr 1 now and just broken up for half term. We don't get to see the teacher at drop off now so I wrote in his reading book the other night.....'great reading although a little complaint from DS that the book was easy. Could we please have lots of reading for the holidays? Thankyou'. The written response was......'we can't send home lots of books over the holiday because there would not be enough to go round the school. You could go to the library...perhaps they have some good books there'........ouch I thought!!!!! I'm not sure where the arsiness comes from and not sure how I could have done that differently as we don't get chance to see the teacher....but hey ho....smacks of a bit of defensiveness to me...i.e. don't tell me how to do my job type stuff!!! It did make me chuckle though!!

unknownrebelbang · 16/10/2008 18:49

Probably cos the parents are so arsey sometimes.

rebel breaks into a fast run...

Hulababy · 16/10/2008 20:10

Hopefully it was just a one off bad day for her...because it wasn't a professional response. I wuld expect a teacher to be willing to select reading books with a child, esp if a child was struggling to choose different ones.

Littlefish · 16/10/2008 20:16

rydercup - that sounds like a perfectly reasonable reply to me. She gave you a reason why she couldn't fulfil your request, and suggested an alternative. I don't read any arsiness into her reply at all.

pointygravedogger · 16/10/2008 20:17

Must admit, ryder, I don't see why you thought the school should give him lots of reading over the hols rather than you.

blueskyandsunshine · 16/10/2008 20:20

stupid, they should have help choosing their reading books, there should be a parent reading rota or TA rota and a reading record too

that's rubbish and I think the op has a damn good point and everyone who says the teacher is right has just never known what decent teachers do

islandofsodor · 16/10/2008 20:22

Dd is also in Year 2 and picks her own books from a coloured box.

She has had 3 books in her bag for about a month now. I havn't complained as she obviously enjoys re-reading the same books over and over again. If she wants a different one, she can choose.

PinkChick · 16/10/2008 20:25

i say/have said "i wasnt suggesting it was anyones fault, i was asking you if you could help him choose more wisley, id do it myself but im just his mum and not with him in class" (muttering 'snipy cow' under my breath)

robinpud · 16/10/2008 20:26

I'm not condoning the response because I think it could have been more tactfully worded; but from a teacher's perspective, any comment from a parent which suggests they see reading as a race to the hardest book, without reading the "easy"ones or allowing a child to re read favourite ones, can sometimes make the red mist appear; although I would never let a parent guess that!

Perhaps she thought that ds had deliberately chosen to re read them and that you were unhappy that he was doing so.

blueskyandsunshine · 16/10/2008 20:29

oh this is such utter crap
sorry, I'm dead tired but really
i'm sure the op is not trying to engage in a race to get her daughter to read the hardest book

ridiculous

PinkChick · 16/10/2008 20:29

just read ryders comment, dd's teacher (even tho school are under scrutiny from me right now) is fab..dd has been told she needs to show shes read every night (i fill in her book record) and last night she forgot to bring it home..so i got out one of my very old janet and john books for her to read..we copied the stories she read and wrote on the photocopy this morn, what we'd done and why, hope this is ok as dd was worried ..teacher wrote back saying thankyou for all the work you are putting in at home with dd, its really showing..but then there was a kiss at the end..which left me .., but never the less, am happy her hard work is recognised and her teacher is really helping

blueskyandsunshine · 16/10/2008 20:31

son not daughter

why should you read the easy ones if you can read much
harder ones, what are you learning then?

I mean, why do we advance them at all, why move them on from colouring in, if they love it so much?

pointygravedogger · 16/10/2008 20:36

the child might be improving comprehension, he might be letting a story pattern sink in which helps when moving on to more complicated plots.

robinpud · 16/10/2008 20:37

some people read for pleasure, for the storyline or because they engage with the characters...

You would be amazed at the number of parents who do try and push their children into reading books which are too hard and so not enjoyable. Obviously there aren't any parents like that on mn, but there are plenty in rl.

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