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

[DrNortherner]

"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"

from what ive been told its not just the reading of the words its understanding them and knowing where the story is leading, being able to read it as a story and not just a sequence of words etc which is why they keep some children on certain levels for longer.

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

Why post on Mumsnet when you could be researching quantum physics instead?

Reading is more than just words on a page. It is enjoyment, comprehension etc.

I actually complained once when dd was sent home a book that was abviously chosen as she was advanced in reading. However the storyline and understanding was way beyond her years.

Dr Northerner, are these the books which the teacher reads with the children during guided reading sessions, or are they extra books which are changed more regularly.

If they are the guided reading books then yes, I would expect the teacher to choose books whenever possible which have not been read before. However, if these are books which the children choose and take home as additional readers, then at Year 2, I would not expect the teacher to be supporting them with their choice.

I do think her comment was a little abrupt, but I agree with her that it's not unreasonable to expect your ds to choose books himself.

Was your ds upset that he'd had the books before?

Perhaps he likes reading familiar stories.

I agree with certain comments about comprehension and enjoyment but considering a reading program is structured to encourage reading advancement and considering there are plenty of other opportunities to read easier books for enjoyment I think some of the attitudes are a bit soft.

Sorry if I've been brusque on this thread, I think I have.

A reading program ? wtf?

blueskyandsunshine - I consider reading at home to be a time to practice skills, enjoy reading and share ideas - not a time "to encourage reading advancement". The books DrNortherner ds is bringing home may not be part of the formal reading scheme at school. Many schools now have real books (banded by degree of difficulty) for children to bring home. Within each band there can be a wide variation in the difficulty of the books. Children are encouraged to bring home books which interest them in the same way that they would if they went to the library.

That's not arsey, that's unprofessional and bad-mannered.

Disappointing.

LOL at bluesky.

Save me from reading programmes. FGS let children learn what fun reading is, not how challenging it is. Plenty of time for them to be challenged at school.

hahahaha

yes reading programmes are evil and turn children into the miserable slaves of literary oppression

I think you are being unreasonable. Of all the things that a teacher should spend time on, I don't think making sure your ds hasn't already read the books he chose shouldn't be one of them. Especially since at 6, kids still love to read the same books over and over and over again. Take your ds to the library every week if you think he should have a wider variety of reading material.

I bet you were the 15th parent to complain about something that she should be doing that day... do you really blame her for being arsey when so many parents want their school-aged children to be treated as the only child in the class and to have so many things done for them that they need to learn or themselves

sometimes I depsair at the 'they're only 4/5/6' babydom on here

If she was the fifteenth parent complaining about the teacher's inadequate involvement in her child's reading progress then quite right.

How ridiculous. Expecting a teacher to take some interest in a pupil's reading is not "babydom".

So the children read at home, and they change the books themselves -- what does the bloody teacher do? Check their levels once every half term? Completely arsy, whether its their fault or the fault of the curriculum. Somehow you've all been convinced that this is perfectly acceptable.

And, Littlefish, if "practising skills, enjoying reading and sharing ideas" is not encouraging reading advancement which you seem to deplore then I don't know what is.

A reading scheme is designed to teach children to read. It's not pulling their toenails out. Do not want them to get the most out of books?

In this situation, the least the teacher can do is say: Oh I wonder if he's getting muddled up, I'll keep an eye or have a word.

Are most children still on a reading scheme in year 3 ?

I thought it was free reading from then onwards? Picking favourite books again instead of scary ones which look hard and boring sounds like a good idea.

And any contact with teachers should ALWAYS start with "hello Miss Marvellous Teacher" (accomapied by a genuine appareciative smile ) and move on to something like "Can I just ask for your advice on how I could get my dc to choose reading books he hasn't read? Is there anyway you could help me and him improve his choices?"

I assumed Y1 or Y2, and also assumed reading books. Because why else would you mind. Every parent knows the child chooses their own library books.

I do hope you were being facetious gagarin. Teachers can't be that self-important.

BlueSky did you willfully misunderstand what I wrote?

IMHO too many parents complain about too many things at school ... as though it's the teacher's fault your child can't toilet, wash hands, dress, put on coat, choose a reading book, keep track of their jumper, pe kit etc etc

There is a HUGE difference between a problem to talk to school about and an issue with not expecting your child to learn to be more independent

you should stand back and actually watch the way some parents talk to teachers ... constantly and abrasively

some parents

I know what gagarin, jokingly, means to be honet

unless they are a shite teacher of course

Plainly I did misunderstand -- I thought we were talking about children and their reading books, not dressing themselves and going to the toilet. You moved it on to talk about pushy and over-protective parents hogging teachers' time, is that it? I'll try to read between the lines next time.

You're assuming the op talked to the teacher aggressively?

If not what does this have to do with changing reading books?

it's not the teacher's job .. it's the childs!

I didn't assume OP talked to teacher aggressively.. I was pointing out that the reaction she got was probably based on the cumulative effect of parents going "Jimmy lost his coat", "Where's Johnny's jumper?", "blah bollockin' blah"

I don't think that believing reading is, and should be, enormously pleasurable and fulfilling, and that the most important thing for children is not to follow some arduous 'programme' but find their way into the infinite potential of the written word, is 'fluffy bunny thinking'.

I don't understand what you're saying MI

It was an answer to a post above about reading programmes.

I do agree btw that a lot of parents are very abrasive with teachers. (I am horribly smarmy which is probably even worse, of course.)

(Or worse, sometimes I forget and call them darling. I am quite probably the parent every teacher scuttles away from, thinking about it.)