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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

Yr 1 getting 8 books a week

39 replies

redcarpet · 06/03/2010 09:33

My dd is in year and she has been bringing home 2 Oxford Reading Tree books,1 from New Way and another 1 from guided reading making them 4. She gets them on Mondays and they get changed on Fridays when she gets 4 more.

She also gets 10 spellings and homework on Fridays. She is getting extra help with her reading in a programme called Early Literacy Support and gets a folder with more homework.

Now my daughter is completely bored and says that she "hates reading". Is it normal to be getting 8 books, homework, spellings + more homework at this stage?

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TotalChaos · 06/03/2010 09:35

my yr 1 ds gets between 2 and 4 books per week, no spellings, no homework. Think my DS's school is somewhat erm laid back and non-academic. I suspect somewhere in between my school and yours would be the right amount!

Eddas · 06/03/2010 09:48

my dd's in year 1, she gets a different book per night normally, unless we don't get chance to read it the Teacher sometimes doesn't get time to change them and sometimes dd 'forgets' to put her book in the box to be changed.

She also gets spellings but they are a couple of sentances to learn rather than 10 words.

8 books does sound a bit excessive. What happens if you don't read them? Maybe just tell the teacher it's a bit much and ask why there's so many

Hulababy · 06/03/2010 09:56

Sounds like too many to me. Also gives her no opportunities to enjoy her own books If getting so many school ones. No wonder she is bored, reading scheme books are often boring. Let alone with 8 of them.

spitandpolish · 06/03/2010 10:20

ds changes his own book and usually brings home 2 a day. He gets 10 spellings and homework once a week. 8 doesn't sound like a lot to me. Its only one a day plus an extra at the weekend. He is a bit of a swot and asks for extra work so my views may be a bit skewed.

purepurple · 06/03/2010 10:27

If she is getting bored, then it is too many.
Classic case of overkill.
Just send them back unread, write in her reading record that she was busy doing other stuff.
The teacher will soon get the message.

Twinkster · 06/03/2010 10:33

DD (Y1) gets a book every night. However, if she didn't manage to read one, we'd just hold on to it for an extra day: she wouldn't get an 'extra' one. Some of the children in her class keep a book for two or three days, then change them. They seem to go at the individual child's pace. When DS was in Y1, he had more than one book a night because he was a keen reader. The teacher was totally happy to be guided by us on this score.

DD also gets ten spellings (has a week to learn them), and homework at the weekends. It all seems fine to me.

rainbowinthesky · 06/03/2010 11:03

DD (Y1) doesnt bring home reading scheme books instead they choose one from the library. She chooses one book a day from the library. If she prefers a book she has at home she reads that instead and I write that in her book. I choose around 7 spellings for her a week to learn for a test and probably every other week she gets a maths/english sheet to complete.

Shaz10 · 06/03/2010 11:26

I am a teacher. Each child gets 2 books (1 reading scheme, 1 'free choice'), they read at their leisure and when they've finished they bring it back and can choose more. Some bring them every day, some once a week, some once in a blue moon and some not at all! If you don't read all 4 books each time you might not have to change them all.

I agree that reading scheme books can be very dull (and I have a personal hatred of Oxford Reading Tree!) so if she wants to read but is becoming disillusioned maybe you could take her to the library to get some 'real' books? It might remind her that books aren't all about Biff and Chip!

The teacher will be teaching guided reading in class which means if you don't read the scheme books it doesn't really matter to be honest!

TotalChaos · 06/03/2010 11:31

/hijack. Shaz - is it usual for a child to choose the scheme book himself from a certain band/bands? just that DS sometimes brings home ones he's already had....

peanutbutterkid · 06/03/2010 11:34

Sounds fairly typical to me, OP.

DS (also Yr1) is allowed to change two books daily, so 8 books/week is not unusual for us. He is supposed to only get books in his own colour sticker, but instead goes for whatever takes his fancy; some he can easily read within 5 minutes and others we only barely get thru a few pages.
He brought home a list of about 200 words to learn to spell, I don't even know how to get started on it so have quietly shoved that to the side (he's only 5, ffs).
He has homework, too; in theory he should do that for computer time on Saturdays; in practice, he doesn't mind not getting the Poota time, and I can't be asked to pressure him more than that (he's only 5, ffs, did I mention that? ).

Shaz10 · 06/03/2010 11:36

I let them (although I will remind them they've had it before!), some schools/teachers don't. I see take-home books as how they would choose books as adults, sometimes you revisit a favourite story lots of times! I've never had anyone take home the same book constantly, I would probably convince them to choose another if that happened. I will put in the home-school book that they wanted to read it again.

Shaz10 · 06/03/2010 11:38

Sorry that was in reply to TotalChaos.

TotalChaos · 06/03/2010 11:55

thanks Shaz

SeaTrek · 06/03/2010 14:51

Sounds fairly normal, depending on the length of book.

Up to and including purple (band 8) my son would read at least one book a day, sometimes several. From Gold band onwards it was a book every 1-2 days.

Elibean · 06/03/2010 14:54

dd is in Y1, she tends to read about 6-7 books per week in her colour band, but thats because she likes reading and we read most nights. Others in her year get through anything from 2-10 per week (on average I'd say 3-4 per week: I read with them every Monday so I see what has and hasn't changed in the book bags).

She also gets about 3-4 pages of homework every Monday, including 6 spellings, a page of English, a page of Maths, and sometimes a page of 'Science' eg nature spotting etc. Its manageable, but other, younger and/or differently motivated children don't do all of it. Nearly all of them manage some of it.

If your dd is hating reading, I'd definitely back off a bit...

maizieD · 06/03/2010 15:53

Get her some decodable readers, Read Write Inc, Jolly Phonics, Jelly & Bean, Dandelion Readers,ORT Songbirds...

I suspect that she is finding reading'boring' because she is finding it difficult. With a mixture of ORT and ELS (unless it is the latest version) I'm not surprised.

Decodable readers should help to restore her confidence in her reading ablilty and her enjoyment of reading. I see it all the time with my Y7+s.

lovecheese · 06/03/2010 19:06

DD2 brought home 16 books once whilst she was in reception, but then again she was born with a paperback novel in her hand.

MumNWLondon · 06/03/2010 20:59

Is she expected to read them by the change? My DD brings home 2 on Monday, and they change on Wed and Fri, but totally ok just to read one or to even just write - "read up to page 16."

cyb · 06/03/2010 21:19

8 is too many! 4, tops

taffetacat · 06/03/2010 21:46

@ cyb

DS gets one each day, less if we haven't had time to finish it. He's given one, he doesn't get to choose

@ rainbow's school

my DS would love to choose his own books. He doesn't esp like the non fiction ones, can take or leave Titchy Witch and is at Jacqueline Wilson. He is probably the only person in the country with a love of Biff Kipper et al.

taffetacat · 06/03/2010 21:48

....oh and he gets 10 spellings a week. Homework is a folder they get to complete at their leisure twice a term.

kissingfrogs · 06/03/2010 22:08

OMG! What is all this work for? We are talking 5/6 yr olds aren't we???
My dd1 is yr1:

1 new ORT book per week.
Spellings once a week (4-6 words).
No homework (except art/creative stuff occasionally).

From the sounds of all your schools I'd have to say my school must underachieve - yet it's reported as outstanding.
I admit I asked for dd1 to have 2 books per week so she can move up the levels a bit quicker. However, she's just received an award for "great progress" in reading so the schools steady, no pressure methods are working.
Needless to say, dd1 loves school!

pollywollydoodle · 06/03/2010 22:43

dd loves reading and i'm sure that this is partly because they only have 2 reading books a week from the ort scheme (changed when they have shown that they can read/retell/understand them) leaving plenty of time for good stories they choose to read!

apart from this they have 5-15 spellings a week depending upon ability and no other homework

pollywollydoodle · 06/03/2010 22:44

yr 1 btw

cyb · 06/03/2010 23:17

How do the teachers and TA's find the time to keep on top of all this? In my school its one reading book a week, and one 'option' book , which is run by a parent helper.

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