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!

I would talk to her about the books that she reads. I think that you might be making assumptions about what the teacher means by comprehension. Most DCs can answer direct questions that are in the text such as 'what was the name of Sarah's best friend' but they are not so good at answering questions that are inferred in the text such as 'how do you know that Sarah was angry'-(when it doesn't say 'Sarah was angry' or 'Sarah was annoyed' or 'Sarah was cross' etc.)

Ds' teacher sent home a workbook on inference when he was ill and that was really very interesting, because he really had to think about indirect inference rather than basic comphrehension.

It really sorts the out. Those that are good at decoding often miss out on inference.

To my mind, at home, when she reads school books and home/library books she gets the inference - this is what is frustrating me about school! Perhaps she just clams up a bit and doesn't say as much as she needs to, I dont know as I am not there. And TBH for 5-6 year olds how much bloody inference do they need to get out of a book? What more can she get out of a book? And what about non-fiction books? they are facts - no inference needed. Its not "War & Peace" that shes reading. I still do feel that teacher is being unreasonable, but I look forward to September and a new one. DD is off to bed with Jacqueline Wilson now; you tell me she doesn't get it.

'And TBH for 5-6 year olds how much bloody inference do they need to get out of a book? What more can she get out of a book? And what about non-fiction books? they are facts - no inference needed.'

If they read widely, for pleasure, it is the best start. They pick up the inference quite naturally; but they need lots of time and lots of books-at any level. The ones that struggle are the ones that don't read unless they have to.
Reading is a very personal thing-as if the author is speaking to you alone-you are also free to make your own interpretation.
I belong to a book group and we get very different things out of books.
A 5-6 yr old doesn't need to be concerned about the level-go to the library-they might like to read something for a 10 yr old one day and a picture book another.

piscesmoon - "as if the author is speaking to you alone" is a very good point, I am going to use that in future. I am a bit surprised at some of the responses on here, I simply want to support my child as best I can.

I don't know about your local library, but mine has a section where the books are graded and I found it very useful when DSs were young.

I had this with ds1 when he was in year 1. He could read well, decode words easily but school felt he couldn't comprehend the books.

At home, we talked about the books in detail but in school he wouldn't feel as comfortable so wouldn't talk openly.

We had a hell of a year where I felt he stalled, he hated his teacher, we felt the feeling was mutual and it was hard after having an incredible, experienced reception teacher.

Roll on to this year, year 2, he loves his teacher, is showing his real potential and is growing in confidence daily. Reads absolutely loads of books, school ones and stuff he gets bought or borrows.

Read stuff at home and don't sweat it. The year will soon be over and she will have a new teacher.

Thanks for your message Fizzy.

here

I used these reading comprehension workbooks with dd. I don't think they are absolutely necessary if dd is reading well and you are supporting her anyway but we were in a non English speaking environment, so I did a lot of extra work on English anyway.

They are ok books but after using the grades 2-4 I didn't continue because some of the topics were repeated and the basic set-up was always the same. You could try one or something similar. Just looking at one I can find, it is divided into 6 units, each focuses on a reading comprehension skll. The first sections have a page of reading followed by multiple choice answers, the later cahpters have a collection of paragraphs, each followed by a multkiple choice question.

Units are - practice finding facts, practice with sequence, working with context, finding the main idea, conclusions, practice making inferences.

My dd did them readily enough but as I said, after 3 of those books, we didn't feel like doing any more of the same type/structure.

if anything took our fancy in the readings, we googled and found out a bit more about it or looked for travel videos etc (Taj Mahal, Neil Armstrong, tree frogs etc. Dd quite enjoyed using them

Right, still on the guided reading books, which this week have really surprised me; the first one a sunshine books level 2 about a girls visit to a museum, 16 pages long, very simple; the second a picture book about the life-cycle of a frog drawn to appeal to 2 or 3 year olds, I would read something like this to dd3 who is 2. She doesnt want to read the second book, calling it "babyish" and last night read a 60 page chapter book from the library to me instead, and then enjoyed it so much that she re-read it in bed. WWYD now? After chilling about a ll this for a week I feel teacher is really taking the mickey now; stretching her? high ability? Are you joking? Anyone else experiencing this with their DCs?

What age and year is your dd in lovecheese??

Is she already in the top reading group and you still feel she isn't being challenged enough?? Or are other children further on than her anyway?? Does she read her 60 page chapter book with 100% accuracy?? If she is being given 16pge easy to read books i would just write in her record that the ooks are not challenging enough, you would like harder books? My dd is stage 6 ORT so i'm not sure where that relates to level 2 sunshine books but i know that sh wouldn't manage a chapter book for sure yet, she wouldn't evenhave the reading stamina to read for that long!

JennyPen - She is 6 and yr1; As you will see from my first post this is an ongoing hiccup with school. Yes she is in the top reading group, and is probably one of the best in the year. She read the chapter book with accuracy, apart from someones name which I had to help her with. She reads chapter books at home for pleasure, currently an Enid Blyton and a Jacqueline Wilson on the go.

My problem is that how can she progress at school in literacy at the rate that she has been when the teacher is still refusing to let her have a go with harder books. I feel that her comprehension has upped a notch recently after we have implemented ideas suggested by kind MNetters and school. How can a child who the teachers have labelled as "high ability" sustain the progress expected when they wont let her move up? AAghhh!!

Haven't read all of the thread, but to be honest I just let school do their own thing wrt reading levels and schemes and let my dcs choose their own books to read at home. With hindsight I suspect I came across as a twat by going into school complaining about what level books ds1 was reading when he was in KS1, so these days with ds2 and dd I leave school to do their thing and I do mine. I'm of the opinion that the level books my child is reading at school aged 5 is unlikely to have a great impact on his future academic success.

I agree with daisymoo as long as dc are enjoying themselves I don't care too much what they do.
Like piscesmoon mentioned my dc2 7y would enjoy a "babybook" from dc3 one day and a book meant for dc1 9y old the next day.

I see what you are saying Daisy and I know I am probably getting myself in a tiz about this. But my worry is that because of what is happening at the moment she may not be stretched next year, and then loses interest and begins to doubt her abilities and then it all goes tits up. I have had such mixed messages recently about her progress and ability ie. One day she tells me that her and two others have been put in a different group to the rest of the class, yet is currently bringing home really easy books that she "Gets" immediately? Wouldn't you be confused!

I think getting easy books for part of reception and her whole education going tits up is a bit of a leap! If in general you feel that she is being challenged at school, and the fact that she and another child are being separated for some subjects suggests this is the case, then I personally wouldn't feel too worried. IMO it is equally importantly at this age to enjoy being there and if she is happy then I would try and be happy too!

I also think it is completely and utterly unrealistic to think that your child should always be stretched and challenged - generally a class will have a wide range of abilities to cater for, right through from reception to year 13 and sometimes the class (even when streamed for ability) has to go at a slower pace until everyone gets to the same point iyswim. That's just a fact of being a school IME and it doesn't do much good to get too stressed about it, particularly when there is so much you can do at home to stimulate and engage her.

This is bizarre.

Fancy getting so worked up over reading books! Dd brings books home from school - I never even look at them. I've never filled in the reading record. She reads her own stuff at home - she reads and re-reads the Beano, Enid Blytons, the cereal packet etc etc.

If my dd had a problem, then I would take notice, but as she can read very well indeed things are obviously fine.

So that's why I think you need to take a chill pill. You say your dd is one of the best readers in the year. The end.

There are only a few weeks left of the school year. It's time to move on from this book band obsession.

I can see both sides of this. On the one hand, yes of course you want your child to be stretched and stimulated.

But on the other hand, it is our job as parents to teach our children resilience. If you expect your dd's education to go tits up just because she spends a few weeks reading books that are a little too easy for her, how would you both cope if something serious happened?

My experience of bringing up children has been that I get the most out of them when I don't expect them to let things go tits up at the first hurdle, but assume that they are competent people who can deal with even fairly major difficulties. Dd was reading the Lord of the Rings at home by age 6 (as well as having it read to her); that still didn't stop her from doing the Oxford Reading Tree at school and benefitting from that too. The one does not exclude the other.

She has grown into a person who can enjoy reading at all sorts of levels simultaneously without stressing about it: she read Vanity Fair at the same time as Jacqueline Wilson, because books are fun and you can always get something out of them: it doesn't always have to be the same thing.

If I were you, I would probably just say calmly "yes, those books do look easy, but never mind, there are so many interesting books you can read at home, and eventually you will get more interesting books at school too".

cory - "eventually you will get more interesting books at school too" - this is precisely why I am narked; roll back a couple of months and she WAS getting interesting books from school, long ones that we would read over a couple of days; then the question of her comprehension arose which we have worked on loads, and the teacher has written this week in her reading diary that "There is a better understanding now" (Exact words) BUT she has come home this week with books that I would say she would have been fine with twelve months ago and that DD doesnt want to read. I know that i should encourage her reading at home as much as poss, and I do, but the teacher is sending home these ridiculous books - do I insist that she read them or say stuff it, read what you want to me and I will record that in the diary?

The only thing that makes me a bit uneasy about dc getting "inapproprate " books (both too easy as too difficult) is that similar things may be happening at school in maths etc.
Anyway, at this age, as long as they like school what more do you want.

I would either say "look here, you can read this book in 2 minutes flat and then go onto the book from the library, there is absolutely no point in making a fuss about something that takes a few minutes out of your day" or "let's ask the teacher if you can put your library book in the diary instead".

Either way, I would make it clear to my dd that I considered this a very minor problem in the general scheme of things.

Dcs will often come across homework (and at a later stage, work in the office/workplace/etc) which seems pointless/tedious/not suited to their general competence. The trick is to get it out of the way quickly.