Is the teacher being unreasonable to DD?

[lovecheese]

I have posted before about my dd in yr1 regarding reading/comprehension but there is a new development. She progressed from gold star books to white band books about a month ago and her teacher then said that we need to focus on her comprehension as she is reading well ahead of average at this stage. All well and good, as DD reads at home all the time. However, after a week or so on these new books which she read perfectly and we discussed etc her teacher called me in to say that she was putting her back on the gold/ gold star books as she thought her comp wasnt matching her decoding skills. To cut a long story short and after DH intervened to say that there was no way dd was going to be re-reading books that she had already read (as they didnt have any more gold/star books) teacher has last week and this week sent home "Guided reading group" books, cunningly looking as though they have had the book band sticker torn off the spine of the books. These books certainly are easy to read and are not stretching DD at all, even though her teacher has said that she is high ability and that they are stretching her in her work. I dont want to go in again to question her methods, I dont want to piss her off but I just get the impression that DD is almost being punished with these easy books because of mine and DH's questioning of her methods, and that she is refusing to let her go back to the white books which she had progressed to. what would you do? DD is a sensitive soul and was so proud of her progress and this is like a kick in the teeth to her. Should I go in again? This is really starting to eat me up. Sorry this is long and thankyou if you have got to the end!

Just to add, if a child is "high ability" then how ARE they going to progress and their comprehension skills improve if they are not moved on to the next level of books??

Unfortunately there is a lot of looniness associated with reading, both parental and teacherly. Why not leave it be with the school for a while and get her books that you know she enjoys? Reading at school is a very small part of the day anyway.

I know what you are saying Hully, but I just feel this is getting a bit personal and I dont want DDs up till now good progress stalling because of this teachers ideas.

Go to the library and get her the kind of books you think she should be getting to read at home or buy some if you can afford to. The teacher gave you a reason for what she did but your DH decided he knew better - it's hardly surprising that the teacher probably has you down as a pita. You would hope that she wouldbn't be so unprofessional as to "punish" your DD, but she clearly thinks she is doing the correct thing for your daughter. It's one of those situations where you're not going to "win" so if the concern is for your DD, get her needs met another way. (I'm really amn't as unsympathetic as I sound by the way, just pragmatic )

next year will be a different teacher?? If so, why not just ride it out, let her read what ever she likes at home and talk about what ever she reads. Try not to stress over what colour band/ star what ever is coming home from school,listen to her read them if she wants, or read them to her if she won't or just leave them in the book bag if you really dislike repeating them.

I would leave it for now tbh. When the teacher is assessing comprehension she will be looking at more than general understanding.

Reading the same book twice isn't necessarily a bad thing. Adults often choose to re-read the same book several times. With each reading you can pick up different things that you might have missed the first time.

My ds1 was one of those children who could read pretty much anything from an early age. Luckily his teachers realised that his understanding wasn't at the same level and deliberately gave him books that were very easy but which allowed him to slowly build up his comprehension skills. It was the best thing they could have done. He now scores very well on comprehension as well as reading ability, and this in turn has helped with other areas of his schoolwork.

If your dd is in Yr1 there is plenty of time to go up to higher levels. She can enjoy her own books at home while working on the comprehension side of things with the easier books.

I think you should really have asked "Are DH and I being unreasonable to DDs teacher?" - the teacher explained that DDs comprehension is where she needs to focus for now, and after trying her out on a higher level of books, decided that she needs to go back to the previous level to work on her comprehension.

You and DH decided to take this as a personal insult, and think the teacher is punishing your child, and are going in and questioning her methods.

YABU - your DD is being stretched, and given work at the right level. But that is the right level for comprehension not straight reading. It's only a "kick in the teeth" to your DD because you and DH have convinced her that's what it is.

Completely agree with MumInScotland. I'd be delighted if a gap in my child's knowledge had been identified and I'd been given a clear idea of what I could do to help. Believe me, much better to be finding this out now than have DD galloping through the reading scheme and only discovering her comprehension is weak 2 years down the line.

Agree with Amuminscotland too. Just chill, there's so much time for all this and the teacher presumably is experienced in this and is trying to pitch it at a level your ddcan cope with.

Everthing that amuminscotland said

Sorry lovecheese but I agree with the others. Sounds like the Teacher identified something your dd needs to focus on, which is surely a good thing. Why not go see teacher and ask how you can help her improve her comprehension. That way you show the teacher you're on-side and stop any bad feeling so you can all move on.

Firstly, I do think that you should try ad work with the teacher because it doesn't sound as if you are. However whilst she to have identified an area that your DD needs to focus on she hasn't given you any guidance, imo, to help her improve this. Putting her 'back' a level and making her re-read books doesn't make sense to me. Surely the teacher should be finding some new texts and then asking your DD to work on her comprehension by doing say book reviews or by reading a chapter and then commenting on the characters. I would go and see the teacher and ask what she suggests you do to help your DD with her comprehension.

iloverainbows - firstly thank you for empathising with me. When she reads to me we always discuss any words that she is unfamiliar with, we look at the punctuation, rhyming words, what words in bold mean, why a word an author has used is good, why we like a character, the style of the text, how the book makes us feel, what might happen if the book was a page longer, basically loads. The teacher has given us pointers but TBH in my mind we were getting all we could out of a book anyway. My gripe is why she cant be moved back to the next level books and let us take her pace slower and do book reviews etc as you have said.

I think that the importance of comprehension is often undervalued in KS1. In KS2 comprehension skills play a significant role and KS2 SATS often seek children to use the skill of inference. It is a good idea, for a fluent younger reader to have experience of all aspects of comprehension.

doubleexpresso I completely see your point, inference seems to be the buzzword in juniors where DC1 is, BUT I come back to the question of how is she going to improve her comprehension longer term if she is not being allowed books at the next level at school when she is reading much more advanced texts at home (and telling me all about them!)

Not wanting to get focused on levels but what level is your DD reading? Has she doing guided reading at school and then being given more difficult books to bring home to read? I do think that you should go and speak to the teacher again and ask for books from the next colour (if she has finished the gold books) and to discuss with her how you would like to work in more detail with your DD on these. My experience of the reading levels is that they do get more interesting as you go up the levels and to go 'back' a level could potentially turn the reader off.

Lots of sound ideas and advice, just wanted to add...my dd (also Y1 and just been moved on to white band) really enjoys re-reading books, irrespective of book band colour, if she has particularly enjoyed them.

We took a 'turquoise' one out the other day to re-read, a 'purple' one another day, along with a 'white' one to have in her book bag. It sort of helps focus on enjoying story/character/illustration rather than on book bands, which presumably is a good thing.

Whoever said that adults re-read, both for enjoyment and when studying texts, was making a good point IMO.

Would it be worth asking your dd what her favourite books were over the last term or so, and choosing those? Or is it only the teacher who chooses?

All this assuming she's not stuck with Biff and Kipper of course: re-reading those would be literary torture

There's obviously something that she's not doing at school - I would go in and see the teacher and ask what it is (but not in an accusatory way IYSWIM). There's nothing to stop her reading and enjoying other texts at home. Honestly, this is a good thing - it would be far more damaging for DD to progress too quickly through the levels and then flounder (especially in KS2 where there's probably less time/staff to help with difficulties).

should read 'particularly enjoyed them the first time around'.

I think (as others have said) that you need to ask the teacher which areas of comprehension your dd is struggling with at school. She might have some suggestions for things you can do at home to help.

I know it can seem really odd when you have a child who reads well but is still being given lower level books. My ds used to be on the yellow band books at school while reading and understanding adult-level non-fiction books at home. Those lower level books turned out to be exactly what he needed though. He's now 9 and has been scoring a level 5 for reading for a while now. This isn't meant as a boast but to show you that reading easier books can be a really good thing in the long run.

If the teacher had originally called you in and explained that she was going to try your DD on the white band books but asked you to try not to make a big thing of it as it was only a trial would you feel the same?

I ask because sometimes that's what we teachers do; we give the children the opportunity to tackle something at the upper end of their current performance but, if it turns out that this isn't the right moment will use that to inform our teaching.

It's unfortunate that the colour stickers seem to hold so much sway in your DD's school and in your home. The guided reading books that have 'cunningly' had their stickers removed may be stickerless because they were once in a set of 6 but 2 were lost and they are now no use for GR or else were part of a different system. My own DD brought home an ORT stage 7 book last week and the inside cover had the label 'special needs room'. She's 5 and her reading is fine - did I go and speak to her teacher because she'd 'cunningly' implied my DD had SEN? Of course not! Clearly the book was once used elsewhere.

I think you and your DH need to relax about the importance of levels/colours etc. and remember that we teach children to read as a life skill that we hope they will come to enjoy.

I was going to say what iloverainbows said, and suggest talking to the teacher again, to find out how you can best help your dd to develop the skills she needs.

It sounds as if you are putting a huge amount of commitment and effort into helping and supporting your dd with her reading, and I think you are doing a marvellous job. If she learns how much fun reading is, that will stand her in good stead for the rest of her life. I'm sure you can reassure her that moving back to the white books is meant to help her.

Perhaps you could think of an occasion where you tried a new skill, and didn't manage to master it, and had to go back and try again, and that that is a perfectly normal thing that happens to lots of people - it doesn't mean they are stupid, it just gives them something to aim for.

'The guided reading books that have 'cunningly' had their stickers removed may be stickerless because they were once in a set of 6 but 2 were lost and they are now no use for GR or else were part of a different system.'

That makes more sense to me than the idea that I'd be spending my lunchtime carefully removing stickers from specific texts. I'd only have to spend next week's lunchtimes cunningly sticking them back on.
When my DD was in Y1, she had books from school, but she also had over 50 books of her own that were very wide in range. She had Dr Seuss next to Narnia and Roald Dahl next to Meg and Mog. She's off to read English for her degree next year, so I feel it has worked quite well for her.

Why don't you just trust the teacher, as the professional? She will move you daughter to white at the time she considers correct, and she has given you the her reason for her present action.

Buy magazines for your daughter, go to the library, read road signs and labels. Give her a wide experience of print, not just gold and white books!

I hope you're not discussing the teacher in front of your daughter. You could be sending the wrong message.

Just read at home with books from the library.