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!

Lovecheese, you certainly need to take a chill pill. Your daughter is clearly very bright and is doing remarkably well for one so young. I do however think that you should remember that it is not a competition. My daughter is in year 1 and reads very well. I am not interested in what level she is on because i work with her at home and know that she is able. I am also aware of the fact that the other children will eventually catch up with her. I would urge you to relax and enjoy the fact that your child can read.

I've found that there can often be a difference between what DC will do in the comfort of their own home, and what they will do in front of a teacher and a class full of pupils. It may be that she can do the relevant comprehension type stuff at home, but as yet lacks the confidence to do it properly in school. In which case going over old ground will help her to build up that confidence.

DS2 is in year 1 and has just turned 6. There is a huge difference between what he reads at home (Roald Dahl, Horrid Henry, Mr Gum etc) and what he reads at school on the ORT levels. But he reads at home for enjoyment, whereas in school it is more about learning the relevant skills.