View Full Version : Frustrated with DD's school
Sorry just need to vent
My DD is in grade 1 this year (QLD) and is quite advanced with reading and writing. I began teaching her to read at about 3 1/2years old after she asked me. Although a little disapointed that they wern't teaching reading last year in prep I battled on teaching her at home. I was very happy when she was put in a 1/2 class this year and was excited that at last she would start learning more at school.
Well she took her first home reader home yesterday and read in withinn 30 seconds of leaving the classroom. I talked to her teacher this morning to see if they had to read all the level 1 books or if it was posible for her to take the level 2 books home instead.
Now here is the frustrating part, the teacher said she thought they would be a bit easy for her but if she gave her the level 2 books she would fly through those and then have nothing to read for the rest of the year. I asked if she could then read grade 2 readers and she said it was not possible as those are only for grade 2 kids. I can't belive they are not willing to give my DD books that will actually chalanger her. And here I was thinking i was sending her to school to learn:banghead:
Sometimes i think I might as well be home schooling her because everything she is learning is from me.
The thing that gets me is that those kids who need extra help get it but those kids who are bright are just left to fend for them self.
Not sure if this is a problem just at DD's school or with all public schools
Has anyone else experianced this with their kids and what did they do.
I think continue what you are doing is best. Get her books that will challenge her at home.
My daughter is ahead too with her reading. She is in grade 3 but has been always a year or 2 ahead and has started reading short novels. The school has encouraged her yet they were concerned that she wasn't comprehending as well as she could be. So she is at level 26 now in the home readers.
My child is only just learning to read so I cant really comment but things must have changed a lot since I was a kid because the public school I went to allowed you to read as many grades above as you were capable of. Back when I could read, my teacher at the time asked my mum if it was OK for me to read grade 4 & 5 books in year 2. They would also allow library books from home or the school library, as any suitable book was encouraged. And not once did I ever "run out" of anything to read so that's just a poor excuse made by the teacher IMO.
Sounds like it is the particular school with the problem and they just cant be bothered finding extra material. Dont let them be lazy and keep insisting your daughter have more reading material as its such a gift to be able to read well.
punkbaby
19-02-2008, 10:31
DD9 was always great at reading, you will find in grade 2 or 3 they will give her a more advanced reading level or set her a target each week. DD was meant to read a book a week but she now reads 3 a week and they are the lower level of the grade above her so shes basically reading grade 6 books but the ones they start on. When she does grade 6 she will be reading the advanced group. She loves reading and apparently this is the way they do things at her school get her to read more books opposed to reading ones in grade 6 and have nothing left when she starts there.
They have done this at two of her schools from grade 1. perhaps ask your teacher about this, remember though start of the year etc they want to see what a childs capable off first before they go giving her harder things to read :)
Mind you at home shes reading books they wouldnt even give her at school
Hi,
I agree this is a common problem for 'advanced' readers. My son is facing exactly the same problem.
I ended up sourcing a bunch of books he would find challenging and 'donating' them to the classroom so that he could take home books like the other kids.
Now that he's in year two, the school doesn't send home books at all so we just plug away, reading anything I can find him.
It seems that the system is based around the idea that 'levels' are achieved: if you've already achieved them then they don't need to worry about you!
My main concern is still that he should be afforded the same opportunity as every other child in the class to be challenged and improve.
Good Luck
Thanks everyone Its good to know I am not the only one facing these challanges.
For now i will keep doing reader books that i have borrowed from the library and ones we have at home.
Her prep teacher (who was FANTASTIC) was shocked at how simple the reader book was she took home. She has given me some tips on extending the books she brings home.
Poor DD all she talks about after school is what work the grade 2 kids are doing and how boring the grade 1 work is
I am just hopeing what when her other teacher returns (she has 2 teachers), she is more interested in helping her.
punkbaby
19-02-2008, 12:24
Just a thought for you too, i found alot of teachers tend to focus on a childs weaknesses and try and build them up first before introducing harder topics that they are competent in, if that makes sense.
Hope things work out for you though :)
i would be asking the deputy or the principal for some help( sometimes you have to go over the teachers head) i know with our school there were a few kids in dd1 class like this and the teacher teamed up with the teacher in the class above and sent the kids who needed bigger books up to her class. They were happy to do this aslong as the books were returned. I cant see why this would be a problem as also with dd1 school there are 43-4 levels of books to every grade
I agree, go to the prin and ask them to step in. That's stupid... cater to the individial, not the grade! *WTF smilie here*
It's not all public schools that do that, so please don't be put off the public system!
If it's school policy, and not teacher policy, go to an opp shop and grab some books yourself. Sounds like you are doing a great job! :yes:
3princes
09-03-2008, 11:42
I've seen this happen before to my friends children. Unfortunatly it does seem a little common.
In the first term, you will usually find the teacher is usually testing each of the class to see where the children are up to...(especially with the early stages of school) it can sometimes take awhile with so many students. Fingers crossed that after this occurs your daughter might be extended with her school work and reading so she doesn't get bored with school and start to play up.
One of my friends ended up home schooling as after so many attempts to reticfy this prob with the teacher it became very uncomfortable and the principal wouldn't allow her daughter to change classes. So its best to give it soon time and try to sort out with the teacher first, understanding that your daughter is not her only student and she might be dealing with some other more challenging students at the start before they recieve assisted help etc
Another possiblity could be that the teacher is quite new to teaching and i think more emphasis is placed on needier children that gifted ones and learning on how to extend children takes a bit of learning for the teacher as well.
It sounds like your doing a great job!
Hi there,
I hope you dont mind me putting my two cents worth in...Im a primary school teacher and soon to me mum. Although i dont have my own children yet I thought I might share from a teacher's point of view....
Every teacher is different so I am only really speaking for myself on this but the first few weeks of the year are definately assessing where kids are at and their ability levels. I sometimes had to slow down my top readers a bit as they could read things easily but didnt have the comprehension to match what they were reading. Im not sure where your child is at with this but it is quite common for kids to miss meanings in texts, to see beyond the words. If you are challenging your child to more difficult books take it slow and make sure they understand everything that is going on... the teacher should be more helpful and willing to extend your child for sure especially being in a 1/2 class. In my class my yr 1's were much better readers and overtook the year 2's...we used to work with other teachers in diff grades too to swap books this should not be a problem... if the problem continues dont hesitate to take it further, not all schools and teachers are like that...
I hope that helps, feel free to pm me or ask if you need any more help...:)
mum2peanut
09-03-2008, 18:20
I'm a teacher also, and agree with Meggs.
IS your child reading for meaning? Is your child reading fluently or word for word? Is your child using expression and intonation? If yes then she prob does need higher books.
OUr school doesn't restrict certain grades to certain levels, at one point we had a kinder student reading novels!! Does the school have a library that you DD can borrow from? Maybe she can borrow from there also.
Hopefully once the chn are fully assessed they will do a bit more for her, I know our Yr 1 only started getting readers sent home in the lst two weeks, it can take a little while to et kids onto the right level, plus it's always assumed kids drop a couple of levels over the xmas school hols.
Goodluck.
At our recent kindy info evening, the teacher stressed to us that although the home readers our children were coming home with might seem really easy, they do this on purpose.
The kids are all assessed and then sent home with readers that are approx 2 levels below where they are reading and comprehending.
This is so that they are not struggling or remaining on one book for a long time and are encouraged that they are actually achieving their goal of learning to read.
They need some minor triumphs to encourage them to stretch themselves a bit further.
This incentive seems to work as my 6yo dd has now made it through all of the home readers and has been borrowing chapter books from the school library for home readers for a couple of weeks now. There are 4 children in her class (year 2) who are now at this point.
I know that there are a lot of times when we don't understand the methods that are being used, but the majority of times there is a valid reason behind them.
My 5yo DS has been in school for almost 2 weeks now (he started late and we have been away for just over 2 weeks) and although he has been started on level 1, I am as excited as he is when he reads his reader and puffs up with pride at being able to read it all by himself.
I know that teachers regularly assess the kids ... does your child find it hard to read to someone besides family? I know that initially my dd did and took a while to become confident at it ... It made me a bit frustrated with the level she was on when clearly to me she could read at a much higher level.
By all means, continue teaching and encouraging your child at home ... just see if you can find out what the current curriculum is and keep as close as possible to it.
Thanks everyone for your imput.
Well things have improved slightly, her teacher showed me the reader books DD is reading to her at school and they are at a higher level (same as the grade 2 kids) but she still continues to bring home the level 1 books. She also came home with sight words yesterday, but again she read them without any hesertation. I am just extending the work by getting her to write a sentance using each of the words.
To those who mentioned comprehension I totaly agree about how important it is. With all books (whether she is reading them or me) I always ask her questions about the story, not just what happend but how the person felt etc.
I really feel for teachers as most of them are doing the best they cam with what little time and resorces they are given.
My ds1 is also in a yr1/2 class this year. He comes home with 2 books some nights, one level 1 and one level 2. He flies through the level 1 books but I look at it like extra practice. Like revising your notes kinda thing lol.
HunterzMummy
19-03-2008, 12:19
I agree, go to the prin and ask them to step in. That's stupid... cater to the individial, not the grade! *WTF smilie here*
It's not all public schools that do that, so please don't be put off the public system!
If it's school policy, and not teacher policy, go to an opp shop and grab some books yourself. Sounds like you are doing a great job! :yes:
:iagree::iagree::iagree: She should not be held back because of her teachers laziness!!! and unwillingness to accommodate
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