Be honest - how often do you read with your reception child/practice keywords etc with them?

[BadGardener]

Not sure if I'm going to regret posting this if everyone jumps in and says 'oh we do everything every day of course - don't you?'
I find it a real struggle to do reading with dd every day; we have reading books, keywords, sounds and letter formation that she is supposed to practice atm so we don't get through it as much as I'd like to. Is this normal?!

[Hulababy]

If a child is insisting on reading the whole book - go and chat to teacher and get the teacher to explain to the class that a whole book in one sitting is not ncessary. Let them see that grown ups don't read whole books in one go, and that when you do get big books you get to use fancy bookmarks. Many children like the idea that they are reading more "grown up" books and the fact that they can behave like a "grown up" nd not having to read it all in one go.

[SofaQueen]

I read with DS1 every night, and have done so since he was a baby. Even before he was bringing home books from school, I would always let him pick out letters while I was reading to him.

Last year (reception) we would read his book M-F, and books we chose together during the weekend. However, I am a book lover and DS1 has inherited this. This year he still gets a book a night, but they are loooooong (about 70+ pages), and so we sometimes only finish half in one night due to the amount of other work he has (spelling, dictation, math bonds, homework worksheets, piano practice, PLUS extra work he is given to do). Instead of him reading extra books aloud to me, this year he is reading extra books quietly at his leisure.

I still try and read to him every night, but the level of book I read to him is higher than his current reading ability. In fact, it has always been like this and thus the level of book I read to him ramped up dramatically last year as his own reading became more confident. We are currently working through the Harry Potter books (are on book 3, and I'm debating if I finish the series or wait as I think the subject matter of the later books might be too dark for a 6 year old).

I agree that the books at the early level are really silly (which was why I would choose extra books last year which were well written). It is difficult to get all of this done, particularly if one has additional children, and it can get quite stressful. However, it IS important and me making time to work with him every night emphasises to DS1 how seriously I take his learning and so I continue.

[ShoshanaBlue]

We read every day - we did so before starting school and I see no reason to change that. School reading books get changed about once a week...

Never bothered with the high frequency words as when they tested her at the end of last year they said she knew them all. I'd never even bothered to find the list of them.

We don't get any homework except for reading, that's it.

[sylar]

Its the book that's the killer MollieO. They are 32 pages at level 7 and it takes forever but he gets really upset if I suggest he just reads half or a few pages. He is ultra competitive with some of the other children in the class and they all keep track of what book the others are on (!)

The rest is only about 15 mins a night which seems about the norm talking to friends with children at other schools. Everyone seems to find it hard to fit in with everything else, particularly those who do lots of after school activities.

[MollieO]

sylar that sounds like a ridiculous amount for a 4/5 year old.

[Highlander]

5-6 nights/week.

Word tin

Book (DS1 always keen to do this)

Phoinics writing (3 nights/week)

[sylar]

We have a LOT of homework.

Reading every night (book changed every day) plus writing 3 x week, comprehension exercise 1 x week and maths 2 x week.

DS1 loves it but it is so hard to fit it in. We do the written exercise when we get home from school (takes about 10 minutes whilst DS2 is sat watching Dora) plus half of the book,so about half an hour in total here, then playing before bed, then the other half of the book in bed whilst DH reads DS2s story and then DH comes and reads a real (chapter) book to DS1.

I feel like we are the ones given the homework half the time - BUT to be fair to the school DS1 is progressing at an amazing rate and is on ORT level 7 about to start level 8. Goodness knows how we'll manage when DS2 starts school too though.

[paisleyleaf]

10 minutes a day, 5 or 6 days a week.
Either flashcards or reading book.
Her reading book gets changed every time she reads one.

[MollieO]

Every day in term time in reception (had Wednesdays off from school reading) and now every day in year 1.

It is incredibly painful as ds hates reading and is utterly rubbish at it (he gets lots and lots of praise for sounding out every single word on every page of every book, even if he has seen the word 20 times). Sometimes he does it willingly mostly it is as a result of threats and deprivations.

[Pitchounette]

Message withdrawn

[asdx2]

In reception dd read every night her reading book quickly in order to read more interesting stuff. No other homework though.
Now in yr2 dd might read a page or two aloud to me or the doll but she reads as much as she pleases with far more enthusiasm now she only brings home "proper" books.
Homework isn't formal this week it's investigating forces push/ pull and find examples around the home.
Last week it was create a character draw and/or desribe their likes and dislikes. Not compulsory though and can be as much or as little as the child chooses.
Tend to let dd set her own targets and so far she is very conscientious.

[Heathcliffscathy]

every night/or first thing snuggled up in bed.

15 mins.

is a pleasure rather than chore, and the routine of it works.

but then i only have one.

[kif]

BadGardner - I think everything you are doing sounds just super. IMO it's about a culture of reading. Making it fun rather than a chore has to be a good thing, with regards to keeping them motivated. After all, reading is ubiquitous in modern life (books, mags, DS, signs, letters etc etc).

My Dd is Y1 now - according to her teacher 'top of the class' for reading. In terms of out-of-school work this has 99% been reached through her own motivation on books and 'jobs'. Her handwriting is crabby, but she'll sit down and write six page 'stories' - so I'm not risking putting her off by putting too much focus on it.

It's all a-OK with me at the moment. We're now at the stage where she reads for pleasure quietly by herself unprompted, and reads her brothers bedtime stories every other night. More time for meeee!

[Bramshott]

Honestly? About 3 times a week.

[BadGardener]

this is all v helpful, thank you.
and now I must go out!

[muppetgirl]

Apple Tree Farm books are good as they have sentences for the adult to read then simpler ones for the child. Ds loved these when he first started.

[muppetgirl]

and we're of course talking emergent writing so don't worry about spellings, capital letters etc. Just get her interested in getting her ideas down on paper. Don't ask 'what have you written? She may think 'Why? Can't you read it???' Just ask her to read it to you/tell you about it.

[mistlethrush]

We're now powering through school reading books as I've said to ds (4.9) that we will get to the more interesting books more quickly if we get on and read the 'boring' books every time they are changed (at least 2x per week). That being said, this is the only 'formal' school work we do with him. However, we read signs on the way to school and if out and about, we read the cereal box in the morning, we read book titles in the library etc etc. He also does a lot of sounding out of words as we're driving along and we talk about what letters the sounds are made up from (eg, the sounds of shop are sh, o and p, but sh is made up from the letters s and h). And, of course, eyespy is also a good one - we're still doing this phonetically at the moment.

And we have a story every night - and now, whilst I do the majority of the reading, ds gets to add in words as we go along - this is helping to get him to follow the lines as I read them, and also encourages him that reading is fun and not just something to do at school.

[BadGardener]

We're not having Peppa Pig to tea here, she's too bratty and not always kind to George


Good idea to get Granny to write back. Granny would like that too

[chopstheduck]

4,4, 7. The 7yo has sn, so I still have to do a lot of support with him.

[chopstheduck]

sentences Maybe I should be the one at school!

[muppetgirl]

I would say go with what your dd wants to do. If you follow her interest she will develop and entusiasm for reading but if you force her to do what she doesn't want to then she could be put off.

Look at signposts, buses, when you're out shopping 'can you find...' how much is it?
Let her write letters, can she do it to different people? What about her favourite characters out of books, on telly. Could she invite Peppa Pig to tea? Could she thank Fif for the lovely cakes she made?

Write to realtives, post the letters so she can see you have to address the envelopes, stick the stamp on, Get Grandma/whoever to write back. Can she send postcards from days out?

There's loads you can do to broaden her reading/writing horizons that can follow what she's into.

[BadGardener]

how old are yours Chops?

[chopstheduck]

with the keywords, we made silly non sensical sentances out of them.

[chopstheduck]

We do 5 days a week, so give it a break at weekends. I struggle for time too - I have three to listen to, so ten minutes each means I have to find half an hour. If I am really pushed, I jsut have to listen to them in the kitchen while I'm doing the packed lunches or folding laundry at the same time. Prob not idea, but better than nothing.

We make it fun, normally find something to laugh at in it, and do a variety of weird smilies in their reading record when they've read well.