General Chat

leave primary school unable to read because teachers want to entertain them rather than instruct, according to worrying research."

Do you think this is down to the lack of books in the home? while 'we' sit at the computer reading text are we forgetting that books can be read anywhere,anytime and 'should' (?) be readily available to children from infancy?

Were the reading books at your school / your child's school interesting enough to make them want to read for 'fun'?


xx

Rose, morning, I bought my children up to read books from the moment they were able, and read to them, before that. Not an easy feet when having four children close together.
However, when my eldest went to the village school from when she was five, nearly forty years ago,I became aware that the teacher was not letting children read in front of the class everyday. In fact, they were getting very little reading practice in her class. Several letters from me, and personal visits by me, led nowhere. In the end, after telling her I was going to do so, I contacted our education department at Matlock, and things did change a little. But my daughter was about seven, and obviously in a different class, before things changed properly for the better, and she gained the confidence to stand up amongst her peers and read aloud.
This particular daughter did not let this bad early start put her off reading, and whilst being a mother of four sons herself, went to University and took and achieved a law degree. Obviously, alot of reading was involved as you can imagine.
All my children have always maintained their voracious reading habits, as I have myself.
Best Regards
Julia in Derbyshire

Beverley, I loved being taken to the library, as you say all those books " just for me" .We always had books, all sorts ..they were just a part of the home ready and waitng :)

I just find it so sad, because my genuine belief is that if you can read well and enjoy it, the world is open to you...what you haven't yet learned is all there as a 'possibility ', if you can read about it ( be that books or on the internet).

Julia, just going for bus but will read you reply when I get back ! >>>>>

I remember when my eldest started school back in 1980s, the teacher asked if I had been 'tutoring him'. I assured her I hadn't. I had just spent time reading with him, doing pages of simple sums which he loved and generally spending time with the children. Perhaps all of this early time spent set the seeds of them both doing well at school, university and going on to have good careers.

Being a parent isn't just feeding children and clothing them. There is a whole lot more.

Elisabeth

We have always had a house full of books, when the children were tiny they had cloth books and we progressed on from there. Family bought all of them personalised books where they, their siblings and the family pets were named.

When they started school there were certainly books available and they had homework and were expected to complete reading books at the end of each week. They certainly didn't find it a chore.

At the Welsh village school there were only 12 children in each of the two classes when they started there. They were having to read in both Welsh and English.

I remember that their teachers stated that they could tell which families had books at home because of the rate of progress attained by the children from that home.

I looked after a 5/6 year old one evening and she couldn't read at all. She bloomin' well knew all the characters in Eastenders though and I had to relent and let her watch it even though I hated to.

Too much TV babysitting in my opinion.

Sue x

baby satan is only 4 and can write his name
and starting to reconise words
books are a big part of his life

but if i have to read the three little piggies again
i might scream and scream till i am sick

Some are too rich or too poor to indulge in literature. The feeble accomplishment of reading & writing is held in low repute by many. A pity.

My little granddaughter is only just 4 and has a bit of a problem formulating words... although she tries desperately hard. However, she has been writing her own name for sometime, recognises one or two words on a jigsaw that I have here, and has become *cult doing* at bedtime every evening with me... she knows all her alphabet, as long as you know the letter she is trying to say and can understand her!... and knows it to see, and say *phonetically* and ay bee cee ish, lol

This visit, she has begun to point out some words in her story books (what is it about 3 little pigs??? lolol and wmsl @ Joy)

But she has her bedtime story from daddy every night, even when she is back with mummy, son has a phonecall when she is tucked in bed ready.. and she has a duplicate book, here and at mummy's house so she can follow the words.

There are so many children who do not know what a book is!

She has a good selection... plus access to a computer and her own *site* which she knows to use, and navigates through it with an aplomb that is amazing.... plus her crafts, and also some tv time as well....

She is, of course, a budding genius, lolol ;¬)))

Love

Daff xxxxx

We were fortunate with our two. they both were able to take in our efforts at teaching them, and BOTH were able to read and write before they even went to school.....
upset the teachers though...
I guess that some children are quicker on the uptake than others, but as has been inferred, parental guidance seems to have been missing/not effective, in some cases.......

LOL I remember being pulled out of my class, at school and taken to read out in front of an OLDER class....

but that was endof wartime, no telly then.....only books , and radio.....
aged about 7-8, I wanted to join the library, so got a form and filled it in and wrote my mums name in.....the librarian said I should get mum to sign it herself, and she said can you read? I said of course( or words to that effect) so she gave me a book to read......out for her, she must've been impressed for she gave me a library card there and then.!!
Bob

i think moe children definitly need to learn to read, baby s, loves books and has a bedtime story, at home at the moment its the yellow trumpet :(

he has so many books, its not just the learning to read its about sharing and spending special time together, i love putting on the voices and making him laugh, im rubbish at them lol, xxx

I have always read to and with my children and both love books, I remember extracting the Daily Mirror from my Daughter at the age of 7 who wanted to know what the story she was reading was about!

I did voluntary reading in my childrens schools for the 14 years they were there.. There wasnt many sessions I missed and the school were happy for me to come in around my work shifts. Many other Parents and grandparents also did voluntary reading.

In most Primary Schools the chidren have some form of a reading Diary and school books to read every evening with a family member. It doesnt have to be pages and pages either, there is a space for the parent/grandparent etc to write a short comment how the child is progressing or if there are any worries and the teaching staff normally check the diarys daily.

I am not a teacher or connected to any, but through my experiance hearing children read in a variety of age groups I have to say that reading was high on the Schools priorities.

It was very clear that the children who read at home to an aldult, older sibling or to themself were always stronger readers.

My Mum read with me before I started School in the 1960s. We had one teacher per class and no helpers and we all managed to leave School being able to read.

Teresa

Our son read the lesson at the first school carol concert after he started school. It was a pleasure in later years to exchange ideas on who to read, and he started me on Terr.y Pratchett and sci-fi.

Dear Rambling Rose

Hello

Hope you are well and doing okay.

Good post.

Our local main library is going to close because of government cutbacks, which means travelling into the next district for books.

I have always enouraged the youngsters to read.

A lot of the TV programmes like Doctor Who have books that tie in with the storylines so it is a good way to enjoy reading.

Take gentle care
Very best wishes
xx

Thank you to all who have replied :))

I can't imagine how i could live without books,

Elizabeth have you seen what David Cameron is suggesting re people keeping libraries open...volunteering...part of the 'Big society 'idea.

"In a speech in Liverpool, the prime minister said groups should be able to run post offices, libraries, transport services and shape housing projects.

Also announcing plans to use dormant bank accounts to fund projects, Mr Cameron said the concept would be a "big advance for people power".
"xx

My eldest is dyslexic - but when she was small I wasn't aware of it.
She could read before the age of 4 - by recognising word shapes.
She had a favourite book of nursery rhymes, which I used to read to her, and she would point to the words.
I'll never forget when she picked up the book, and read 'Humpty Dumpty ' very slowly out loud!
She went all through school, and only one teacher recognised that she was dyslexic!
Her younger sister - at the age of three got up on my lap, book in hand and said 'teach me to read - now!' LOL

I did wonder where you got that fact Rose, so I Googled your exact words.

The Express

1in5 = a third?

But the article does go on to say:

'The report, commissioned by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and published by the Centre for Policy Studies, only covers schools in the capital but the figures are likely to be similar across the UK.'

Why should this be so?
Could it not be that London has a high ethnic/transient population?
....
It is a known fact that we are more likely to learn if we are interested in the subject. The teachers in our counties schools/nurseries attempt to make learning enjoyable. (East Sussex)

It was also in the mail, Carol and I think the BBC may have run it in the 'education ' section.. it was one third of primary school and one fifth of secondary school

the article in the mail goes on to say

"A separate study, by experts at Sheffield University, has found that 17 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds across the country are functionally illiterate, meaning they can understand only the simplest text.
'This is less than the functional literacy needed to partake fully in employment, family life and citizenship and to enjoy reading for its own sake,' the authors said. "The low literacy levels cannot be attributed to immigration, the report said, adding that children who don't speak English at home are often the most keen to learn. "

I'm sure that some children do slip through the education system and come out of schooling with next to no literary skills .
I've got four children ( the youngest reached 16 last month ) , I also have two grandchildren that have started school in the last few years .
One thing , I'd like to comment on is that "the powers that be " have chopped and changed how they teach reading / literacy countless times over the years . I don't think that this helps any kiddie who is struggling with grasping the subject .
When I was a child we had those story cards , text on one side , questions on the other ( that where designed to gauge if one had understood the text ).........they worked very well I think .

One other point I'd like to mention is that having the ability to read doesn't ( unfortunately ) necessarily lead to a love of literature.....that just can't be taught in school and is more than likely to be fostered in the home .

"It is a poor scholar who can't spell a word in two ways". (Mark Twain).