Something to take your mind off the 11plus

[mystery]

It's groundhog day in the Mystery household. DD2 returns to school after having read loads of whatever she fancied over the summer hols, great reader, enjoys reading. She chooses from books which I have carefully selected. We ducked out of the dreadful school book boxes last October (beginning of year 1) when she was place on gold level and stopped enjoying reading as she had read whatever she liked over the summer after reception and then was made to feel as though she wasn't allowed to read "home books".

This year she has returned to be placed on the dreadful white bookband books in the white boxes - just one bookband up from last September, despite the fact that she made a huge improvement during that year. "Some children are free-readers" she tells me. Her reading is at least a year ahead of her big sister who was classifed as a "free-reader" at the same stage (after I had asked why she was being given books she had read 9 months previously).

Of course it doesn't matter, I'll just send another letter in to school asking that she is not made to feel that she has to read the school stuff and that the home stuff is too hard for her (this is what happened last year, big sense of deja vu) and carry on as normal. Never mind they'll probably put her in some rubbish guided reading group, and when they are told to read quietly during the day she will probably have to choose from some box of drivel rather than the books she is reading at home.

Why are schools so silly sometimes? The teacher has heard her read 200 words of a very basic book, and told her that she must take care with the punctuation - she reads very nicely out loud at home but has been heard at school so few times in her entire life that reading to a teacher is probably a daunting experience. She finished the book in the car on a short journey home. Then insisted on reading it to me again at home as this is the book she is supposed to read out loud to me. She chose it herself from some random collection of badly written books because it has a nice front cover. Aaaagh, give me strength not to go in and set fire to the bookcases with the random collection of badly written books on it.

[scarlett]

Oh Mystery..I shall look out for your picture in the news, draped in a grey blanket as you are led away for arson .

You will just have to carry on with your own thing...that's what lot's of us have had to do. If she is a year ahead of her sister, then she must be doing well...surely she won't stay on the same level as she was a year ago ?

[suzanne]

I would let her choose - reading should be fun in Yr2. Why are the home books too hard? Maybe take a trip to the library and let her choose? My kids loved Horrid Henry at that stage and the Guinness Book of Records.

[mystery]

No the home books are not too hard. And she does choose - sorry my wording was not clear. It's when school forces her to read their drivel that she starts to tell me that she has to read the school stuff, is not allowed to read the home stuff, and thinks (quite wrongly) that the home stuff is too hard. I just don't understand that school. It's annoying me that the same thing happens again and again with them. It's like hitting your head on a brick wall, except there never is the pleasure of stopping!

[mystery]

She's read every Horrid Henry there ever was written ....... had enough of that one long ago!

[suzanne]

Maybe the school is worried about the content of the books aimed at older children being read by much younger children? Although as you say you carefully select the books.

I wonder if your School Improvement Plan says anything about reading and gifted readers?

[mystery]

Unfortunately I don't think it's based on anything. At one point DD1 came home with a teen novel at the age of 8 she had borrowed off the library shelves; she soon got bored with it before the good bits (shame). The whole thing is just random, or designed to annoy me, I don't know which!!

The white box assessment was based on reading 200 words of a very straightforward book. She read the whole book in a very short car journey. Maybe there are too many children in the top guided reading group and others have moaned before me!

I don't know what the SIP says - it would certainly be the closest guarded secret on earth, and they would never consider my daughter gifted in any way.

[Sally-Anne]

Knowing what I do now about the stupidity of school reading schemes, I would sail on like a galleon on a glass-like sea.

At the age of 6, DS2 was reading the Economist and the Times at the breakfast table and asking intelligent questions about the content of the articles. At school he was being given Biff & Chip.

(DS1 was a whole other story though - Biff & Chip were his saviours.)

Ignore it all, allow her to free-read at home, forget "the system" and reassure her.

[fatbananas]

Have attempted to draft several replies to this but they just come out as rants. Totally agree with Sally-Anne!

[mystery]

I'm sure that's what I'll end up doing, but it's so irritating when unwanted books that my daughter feels duty-bound to read come home. I'm just hoping this time she won't feel that home books are "forbidden" like she did last year. It's if she is in the wrong guided reading group reading something appropriate for a much younger child each week that I will find it particularly annoying; it will be all the more so if there's a higher group reading something more suitable. This happened to her for 2/3 of year 1 too - I just get fed up with it as I hope that she'll read something interesting at school someday soon. Why does it have to happen with both my children for quite long periods of time and others sail along in the right group all the time?