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AIBU?

to write a note in the reading diary saying...

190 replies

EvilTwins · 23/03/2013 23:20

...that my DTDs are not going to read their reading books this holiday.

DTDs are in Yr 2. They each have 4 reading scheme books for the Easter holidays. At home, DTD1 is currently reading the first Harry Potter book, and DTD2 is reading The BFG. I am very very happy to listen to them reading these, and to write which chapters they've read in their reading diaries, but they find their school reading books so dull. WIBU to not make them read their reading books over the holidays but to listen to them reading their own choice of books instead?

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pigletmania · 23/03/2013 23:22

As long as they are reading i dont see a problem tbh

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WorraLiberty · 23/03/2013 23:22

YABU really yes.

Dull or not, it won't take more than a few minutes for them to read their school books.

The sooner they get on and do this, the sooner they will become free readers and will be able to read their own books.

They'll have to get used to reading books they don't particularly like anyway as part of group literacy.

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Fanjango · 23/03/2013 23:23

If they are reading, they are reading. Surely that is all the school want to ensure they are doing? IME many children don't read often at home so any reading is good and if they enjoy it more then it should be encouraged by the school. Reading for pleasure is a good thing.

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Feenie · 23/03/2013 23:23

This wouldn't have been a problem to me when I taught Y2 Smile

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EvilTwins · 23/03/2013 23:25

Worra - their school books are about 70 pages long, so longer than a few minutes. DTD2 has one that DTD1 had the week before last - it's about a dog at a football game. Neither twin is interested in football. I don't read books about things I'm not interested in, so why should they?

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YouTheCat · 23/03/2013 23:26

If it was 1 book each for over the holidays I'd say get on with it. 4 is total overkill.

I'd go with the reading HP and the BFG and if the school don't like it then that's a bit tough. Once they've got to the point where they are able to read independently pretty much anything, then school should let them enjoy their books.

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Bluelightsandsirens · 23/03/2013 23:26

Just write books read, great reading.

DD3 is in reception and reading beyond what is sent home so we Amy or may not read school books but do have evening books we read every night as part of her gong to bed routine, DDs teacher doesn't care less as long as she is learning to love reading.

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AgentZigzag · 23/03/2013 23:27

It might be better to talk about it or suggest it to the teacher rather than telling them what's happening?

It wouldn't be a big enough thing for me to stick my neck out and take the school on about, are you really that blood boiling about it that you want to make a stand?

Sometimes they have to do stuff they don't want to, and reading a few things they're not keen on is hardly going to damage them for life.

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Bluelightsandsirens · 23/03/2013 23:29

X post re reading what we are not interested in.

I ask them to read the first 3 chapters and then move on because. Wouldn't be able to read something that didn't grab my attention.

We have books available all the time at home so school reading is an extra if interested.

We also go to the library for subject books in the holiday if they get a bit bored with being at home/club

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WorraLiberty · 23/03/2013 23:30

I don't read books about things I'm not interested in, so why should they?

Because you're an adult and they are children at school.

I had to read Shakespeare and many other things I wasn't keen on at school as part of a lesson.

Your kids will have to do these things as well and if you're already unsupportive of the school at year 2 level, it's going to be a long journey through their school lives.

In the grand scheme of things it's really not a big deal. Let them knuckle down and do their school reading the same as every other pupil in the class.

HP or any other books can be read for pleasure in their own time.

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Feenie · 23/03/2013 23:32

The point of reading schemes is to get kids to read and enjoy reading. Your dds already are. Win, win!

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YouTheCat · 23/03/2013 23:32

It is their own time, it's the holidays.

I think 4 books each (so about an hour per book) is way too much. What if they were going away for a week and didn't have time?

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EvilTwins · 23/03/2013 23:32

I know it's not going to damage them, but I don't really see the point. Their school is very wedded to the reading scheme - I was talking to a friend this morning whose DD is the same kind of level with reading - at her school, the children can take their own books in, and can choose from a box of non-fiction books so that there is something the school can "monitor". At my kids' school, they have to work through the scheme books - they don't just use one scheme, they use several, so the number of books in each level seems endless. My DTDs are on lime books, and they are good girls who do what the teacher says, but they get far more enjoyment from their own books than the reading scheme books, and as a lover of reading, I find it odd that the school would rather DTD2 read the particularly dull "Jam Street Mystery" than enjoyed The BFG or Matilda.

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aldiwhore · 23/03/2013 23:33

My youngest needs the reading scheme books so if it were him I would definitely stick with them.

My eldest never read his boring reading scheme books, and was freereading early on anyway, because I kept records of his reading up to date (as did he) so his teachers could easily plot progress away from the scheme.

YANBU. So long as you keep the diary up to date. #

I was guilty of writing "My son refuses to read another BIFF & CHIP book on account that they are utterly dull, instead he has read 'x' and is on page y" it was never a problem.

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ujjayi · 23/03/2013 23:34

DS2's school take the attitude that whether it's a great classic or a comic it really does not matter. If they have read to you then write it down. I was a little sceptical at first, having had very strict reading policy in DS1's school but DS2 soon became a free reader despite being bored senseless by sodding Biff & Chip due to his love of Harry Potter and Beast Quest.

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WorraLiberty · 23/03/2013 23:34

The OP isn't complaining about there being 4 books

She's complaining that the kids find them dull

Well kids find all sorts of things dull but it doesn't mean they don't have to knuckle down and do them.

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MissEleanorLavish · 23/03/2013 23:34

I regularly write something similar in the reading diary - my 6 year old reads HP, Cressida Cowell, Roald Dahl etc at home through choice (although tonight went to bed with an atlas) - teacher said not to worry at all, she just likes to know they're reading (and school reading books stay in bags for reading at school). It's the holidays, I'd let them read what they want. Surely they're pretty much free reading if they're coming home with 70 page (I assume chapter) books?

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YouTheCat · 23/03/2013 23:36

Yes but 1 dull book is all well and good and a bit of time to read one is fair enough. I do agree about their being plenty you have to do/read in school that will be soul-destroyingly boring.

I don't agree with homework during holidays anyway. Holidays are there so pupils and teachers can recharge their batteries a bit before the next term.

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YouTheCat · 23/03/2013 23:37

*there

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MissEleanorLavish · 23/03/2013 23:38

If they're particularly wedded to the scheme, can they read their own books first then make a start on the school books?

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olgaga · 23/03/2013 23:39

IME as long as the teacher knows they're reading, they'll be happy.

My DD (now 12) hasn't read a single Harry Potter book, she finds them dull and ridiculous. But she's always read loads - both fiction and non-fiction.

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WorraLiberty · 23/03/2013 23:39

Exactly MissEleanor this is not an either/or situation.

They can quite easily do both...like I'm sure all the other kids do.

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LandofTute · 23/03/2013 23:41

I think the teacher is unlikely to mind. S/he is probably more concerned about the kids who never read at home than the ones who are reading Harry Potter and BFG in Year 2.

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EvilTwins · 23/03/2013 23:42

I know that there will be plenty in school that is dull, but really, at age 6, given that they've discovered the joy of reading, I think it's unnecessary to make them read books they find dull. I enjoy reading, but if I find a book boring, I don't bother to finish it. If someone told me I had to finish it because I just have to, then I would perhaps decide that reading was a bit crap, and I wouldn't want to do it any more. I love that my 6 yr old DTDs are developing a passion for reading. I love that they are reading challenging books, extending their vocabulary and enjoying stories. I would just rather they read their own choice than the boring reading scheme books the school has sent home.

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LandofTute · 23/03/2013 23:43

I think most teachers would agree with what you wrote above.

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