It's not that I don't think reading's important. I probably spend 20 hours a week doing it. And I'm not anti-academic - i spent 10 year studying as a grown up! But now, I have 4 kids in one primary school - and there is a rule that if their reading records do not have 5 entries in each week, they lose their play time! Is that just my school, or has the insanity spread? Am I alone in battling this through with teachers?
Surely, play time is one of the most valuable parts of school life. Most of us, I bet, learned more than we knew at play time. The trouble is, you can't measure the social and relational development that children learn when they play - so much better to focus on things you can measure, like reading. Depriving children of play time is not just bad because they lose their break, but bad because they miss out on something valuable. All so that schools can measure their performance so the reigning government can tell us how well their education initiatives are working.
The same rules apply through half term - which is supposed to give them a break. Well, tomorrow we're all off to make crude wooden swords and spend the holiday attacking each other, picking out splinters and wondering why I didn't just go and buy plastic ones. I'm not going to make them read anyway.
I'll shut up now, given this is my first real post on here! Think I'll go and do some reading.
Ooh, don't get me started! Five does seem a lot. We are told that they should be reading to us most nights; just for a few minutes. However, my oldest who is at junior school (yr4) has to have his book filled in at least three times a week, or he loses some of his special Friday time. Of course I would never be economical with the truth and split the twenty pages he read to me on Saturday and Tuesday night to look like he read five pages a day for four days, because that would be immoral. That said, they read to us when we can fit it in and they read on their own and they are well above the expected standard and they enjoy reading. So I would have no worries about fudging the stats, if that were the sort of thing that I might do, which of course it isn't, because that would be immoral.
Great! Yes, I'm with you there. I too would never fill in three entries on one day in order to keep the school happy! Think of the damage it would do...
That sounds very harsh, punishment for not reading every day.
Reading shouldn't be a chore - my hormone monster loved reading as a 5 yo and because it was fun, she still loves reading now in her teens.
I think reading is essential but I don't agree that they should be punished - my daughter is at secondary school and they get points for taking books out of the library and then answering a few questions to make sure they've read it - it's an incentive, and not compulsory.
With all of my kids when they were young, when they went to bed, they were allowed to read or the light went out - naturally they always chose to read and now all of them love reading (a book read in couple of days is quite normal, and all of them had reading ages way above their actual age) even at the expense of portable games consoles.
Like other posters: five is harsh and extreme!
Does the school mean "an entry" being a record of time spent reading, or "an entry" meaning a book read? If it is the latter, then I have to say is it really worth putting your child through that school system?! From experience, we started each session with twenty minute silent reading (granted: secondary school and each session was three hours long!) ... kids had to bring in their own books, if they didn't then it was a newspaper from the box. Most Yr 7s would bring in books or comics, Yr 8 started the decline and by Yr 11 the newspaper box was emptied each session!
I hope that this narrow minded approach does not kill the pleasure from reading!!
I had a conversation with the teachers as my son was punished because I hadn't filled in the reading diary and they didn't believe he had read one evening. He had 5 entries per week for the previous three months!! I also reminded them that I had read with him every night yet the last time they read with him was 6 weeks previously.
Forcing kids to read will only put them off and forcing them to read books they dont like will not help.
With you on that one, SuperMario!! I would rather kids read something enjoyable to them (this coming from someone who had to drag Yr 11 kids through Dickens ...).
As much as I am loathed to say it: JK Rowling did a not too bad job with HP series and Steph Meyer seems to have done a similar job with Twi..., once kids find what engages them ... then they can be happy readers!
Hi there
My 10 year old has been asked to read a book that I read as a child. We decided on "Stig of the Dump" which I remember enjoying at his age.
He is ploughing his way through it and seems to be enjoying it also
I loved Stig of the dump when I was a kid.
What a good idea to get kids talking to their dads about reading. Have you discussed it with him much ?
Once kids are past the age where we read bed time stories to them its very easy to just let them get on with it.