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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

free reading~what is it?

26 replies

morningsun · 09/03/2009 10:45

Hi ,was wondering if someone can tell me what mners mean by free reading.
Is it choosing any book from school to bring home instead of ort or other scheme,or is it reading silently to oneself chapter books etc or being able to read any book?
Thanks

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Insanity · 09/03/2009 10:50

I never heard of this expression until I had kids. I think it means reading a book not on a reading scheme??!
Ive been free reading for years!

wasuup3000 · 09/03/2009 10:53

Free reading I guess means independant fluent reading choosing own books ect

EachPeachPearMum · 09/03/2009 10:54

It just means rreading whatever you want- ie reading words not using phonics to work them out AFAIK

ShrinkingViolet · 09/03/2009 10:54

in DD2s school free reading is being able to choose any book from the school library to read - she's stretching it a bit by bringing in books for home as the school library isn't especially well stocked with stuff she hasn't already read. You wouldn't be allowed to become a free reader until you were confidently reading chapter books, and had worked your way through the reading scheme (to make sure you had grasped all the various bits of reading, including reading out loud).

ChopsTheDuck · 09/03/2009 10:56

same as shrinkingviolet in our school.

Not a good thing in my experience as dd keeps bringing home books that just aren't suitable and the teacher isn't interested any more.

Original poster

morningsun · 09/03/2009 11:00

ok thanks it sounds like at our school when they stop the reading scheme and choose from the library.my older dcs seemed to do this after about level 6 or 7 of ort in english[going back a few years]and my yr2 ds is on scheme end of stage 7 but is learning it in welsh does no english literacy at all at school yet.

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Original poster

morningsun · 09/03/2009 11:01

yes i think he'll need graded books for a while yet in welsh or we will suddenly be plunged into chaos i feel!

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FAQinglovely · 09/03/2009 11:02

same as ShrinkingViolet with DS1 (YR2) and it's heaven. Yes he's been reading "captain underpants" - and a load of other rubbish. But my god he's getting so stuck into his reading now he has free choice over what to read I'm happy as larry. He tends to alternate his school free reading books with his favourite book about the 2008 F1 Grand Prix.

When he was on the reading schemes it was sheer torture to get him to read anything at all.

Gorionine · 09/03/2009 11:02

Ds2 Has just started free reading (year3). In his class it means that he has read all the ORT and all the TreeTops. he can chose a book on his own but the teacher still check it is within his abilities which I think is quite good.

When DD1 started free reading, with a different teacher, it meant that she could choose any book from the school library and they were not always suitable for her.

I think every school, if not every teacher has their own interpreation of free reading, to br sure ask the teacher.

ChopsTheDuck · 09/03/2009 11:04

I do wish ours would check suitability. dd keeps bringing home books that are too difficult and it is losing all interest in reading.

Madsometimes · 09/03/2009 11:07

Free reading differs greatly from school to school. At our school, the reading scheme goes upto stage 8. Once stage 8 is passed, then children are on "free reading." Most of these children will be in year 2 or 3. Being on free reading does not mean that the children are able to read War and Peace, just that can select books from their classroom library. Often the classroom library will have different boxes of books for different ranges of free reading. A classroom library in year 6 will be very different from that in year 3.

In many schools, children who are below stage 8 also have the freedom to select books from their classroom. It really depends on the school.

Original poster

morningsun · 09/03/2009 11:08

thanks mad that was my likely interpretation

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FAQinglovely · 09/03/2009 11:10

I found DS1 when he first started his free reading would come home with books that were too hard for him. However he seems to have improved since then and now (apparently) opens the book and reads a bit of it before choosing it to see whether he can cope or not.

Although having said that I can't understand a word of his F1 book but he sits and pours over it for hours and then tells me lots of "interesting" (well to him lol) facts and stats

Gorionine · 09/03/2009 11:19

In our school here is no classroom library, there is a nice big library for all the children from reception to year 6 so a book with an appealing cover ( which let's face it is the first thing Dcs choose a book for)will not necessarely be adapted to a younger reader and vice versa. I do appreciate the teacher has a "look in" on what children choose.

coppertop · 09/03/2009 13:19

At our school free reading just means that you no longer have books from reading schemes. Children can read either their own books from home/public library or books from school. All they ask is that it's recorded in the child's reading diary.

thirdname · 10/03/2009 12:02

That no one at school bothers to check what he reads/if he reads. I've stopped writing in his diary long time ago.

Hulababy · 10/03/2009 19:21

Free reading = reading a book of own choice, not from schools reading scheme.

DD's school has pretty much all children free reading from Y3. They have a range of graded books (not just reading scheme ones - higher ones are prper books) up until then, so no free reading until very end of Y2 for any children here.

Hulababy · 10/03/2009 19:22

thirdname - how old is your child?

I do think all chldren should have their reading diaries monitored and be heard read occasionally by a teacher in primary school.

CompareTheMeerkat · 10/03/2009 19:25

When I was at school there were books with different coloured stickers on all the up the school until year 6. They were "proper" books but still had stickers on for different levels.

I was on the highest level from year 4 I think, but didn't run out of books.

ChasingSquirrels · 10/03/2009 19:25

I make ds1 write his own reading record - he needs the writing practice! Unfortunately this means it is illegible.

thirdname · 10/03/2009 22:45

well, ds is in y3. TA heard him read once in the first few weeks, that was it.
He now reads books from the library. Should really listen to him more often....

furrycat · 11/03/2009 12:21

FAQinglovely, what's the name of the Grand Prix book please? My ds is obsessed and I haven't found a good book for him yet

furrycat · 11/03/2009 12:21

FAQinglovely, what's the name of the Grand Prix book please? My ds is obsessed and I haven't found a good book for him yet

FAQinglovely · 11/03/2009 12:31

furry - can't remember off hand. It's one DH got him for his birthday - don't think it cost a lot (as he was skint so just bought lots of little bits and pieces).

It's not a kids book, definitely aimed at adults - but DS1 loves pouring over the tables/stats and chapters.

Have no idea what's actually in it as I have no interest in F1 and I can see from the cover that while he may not understand everything in, it's also not "unsuitable" for a boy of his age to be looking at.

He's got it in his school book bag at the moment but I'll have a check later for the title.

furrycat · 11/03/2009 14:11

Thanks v much

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