8 year old homework...help!

[northepaul]

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You could probably strike some kind of deal where she reads off-syllabus books, and is credited for them in school.

Thanks Taff, I asked about that very idea - they said no, its the books they set or they dont count.

[Two_Sheds]

they said no, its the books they set or they dont count

Oxford Reading Tree? We use them because they are an ordered, structured way to learn to read, with different bands, going up as the reading progresses. Once they've done all the levels (not necessarily read all the books) they are free readers and can choose whatever they like.

I'm in the 'low ability' literary group, and our children say they hate reading. What they mean is, it's difficult so they hate it. They often don't realise it's a skill to be learned, and needs practise.

We have some different books apart from the ORT, which are more interesting esp. to boys. They can read these in addition to the ORT. Our view is that any reading is better than none

[Florence Fennel]

I have three eight-year olds amongst my grandchildren, all at different schools, but none of them have such complicated homework. Talk to the Head.

[di]

I didn't get to speak to her teacher this morning but I think the problem is possibly that she's started a 'challenge' group for those that found the normal spellings too easy...this is where I agree it's difficult for teachers to please all all of the time,several mums went in and complained that the spellings were too easy so now the more able spellers get some extra words relating to the topic the original spellings are from.They have to learn them and put them into a sentence to show they know the meaning...I gues she struggled to find some tricky science words that were more relevant to their age???
Although the poetry ones surprised me at the time at least they were simple enough to explain to an eight year old and hopefully will be remembered by her if they regularly do poetry work.
Other than this weeks homework they're actually a really good school and the literary co ordinator is great and does her upmost to get ALL the kiddies excited about reading,regardless of their ability and interest...obviously there's still a few that 'hate' it(or as TS points out hate it because they can't grasp it)...if they want to sit and read a comic,it's still considered reading.
We do the same as TS's school where they start on ORT and progress to Free reader when they can choose their own books...DD hasn't brought a school book home for several terms...I explained to her teacher that she has so many at home that we've bought and she wants to read but wasn't getting the time to alongside the school ones.I find it odd that a school can't let her choose her own books if they can't provide any that interest her,'d have another word.
Both the Junior and Infant school have just started a reading scheme thing...sorry I can't remember what it's called...but it's computer based and the programme has hundreds(maybe thousands)of childrens books in it's system,once the child has read a book(so long as it's on the programme)they then complete a short multiple choice quiz based on the books to gage their understanding of it and helps the teachers to see what level the child is at.
I know it took many,many after hours of work to set up...each book had to be colour coded and a barcode put in,but now it's up and running it seems to be going well and I THINK if they read one of their own books they can check to see if it has a quizz for it.

[Two_Sheds]

it's difficult for teachers to please all all of the time

It's really hard. In our one class we have some children with a reading age of 5 and others who can manage the 3 inch thick Harry Potter books

Even the children who "hate" reading love having a story read to them, sadly that's now rare: they're more likely to be sat in front of a TV and XBox or a DS instead

It's having an effect on their language & spelling too: because they don't ever hear correct pronunciation, they tend to speak & spell phonetically - eg WIF for with. Some don't know the difference between P, B, D and G and use them interchangeably (because they sound the same to them). These aren't dyslexics, they're just normal children who don't see books at home

[binley100]

My youngest would only read the Dandy or Beano annuals ( apart from school books ) until Harry Potter came along ......then pow .......but a book still has to really appeal before she'll read it .

[Two_Sheds]

a book still has to really appeal before she'll read it .

I try to get our kids reading anything: supermarket signs, TV listings, footy pages, recipe instructions

[northepaul]

Oxford Reading Tree? We use them because they are an ordered, structured way to learn to read, with different bands, going up as the reading progresses. Once they've done all the levels (not necessarily read all the books) they are free readers and can choose whatever they like.

I'm in the 'low ability' literary group, and our children say they hate reading. What they mean is, it's difficult so they hate it. They often don't realise it's a skill to be learned, and needs practise.

We have some different books apart from the ORT, which are more interesting esp. to boys. They can read these in addition to the ORT. Our view is that any reading is better than none

Yes!! Stage 10 she is on. (And been on since last september.) I dont know if thats the top level but they only seem to have acouple of books....She used to enjoy them when they involved Biff and the magic key but now they're about football (??)
I agree any reading is better than none, but not at her school apparently!

[jackie j]

Just because I didnt like reading out loud in school my reports always said could do better and must read more. It infuriated my mum cos I read everything I could get my hands on, ( over 50 years ago mind ). I had all the famous five books as well as many others, judy, beano, dandy, jackie ( well I would have that one wouldnt I ) comics as well.

I read to my kids everynight and as they got older and could read themselves they would read to the younger ones.
Once they grassped reading they found they could do sooooo much else, maths for one.

Teachers sadly no longer have time to listen to children reading and if they are lucky they might get to read to a classroom assistant.
I used to volenteer my services to listen to a class reading on a one to one basis.
Home work should only be 30 mins at that age, and my daughter used to ( still is ) be such a perfectionist at that age it would take her hours, she would redo it and redo it till she was satisfied it was right, and looked right.

[Hilary B]

I was stubborn about reading aloud, mainly because of the books they chose. I don't remember being asked to read aloud in primary (I was set loose in the school library at age 7 or 8 max) but early secondary they expected us to read David Copperfield, which, quite apart from being one of the most miserable stories going, it was in the first person, and the character telling the story was male. My imagination balked at that combination!

[Jeanied]

I think it is time to get friendly with the children's librarian at your local library (if you still have one, but that is another story!) who can extend an avid reader's repertoire if the school doesen't.
I was lucky - I was the youngest and there were books everywhere in the house. I remember reading stuff I was too young to understand, but I still read through for the story. (Ice station Zebra was one!) I still read very fast - often finishing a book at one sitting.

[Two_Sheds]

My daughter (7) loves reading - she reads all the time, and all manner of things

Just a thought: do you actually hear her read, and have you checked comprehension? I just ask because our children might say they read every night, but when we hear them in class they don't understand what they read and can't recap what's happened... we also have sheets of key words that they have to learn by sight and read without hesitation, often words that can't be 'sounded out' like LAUGH, CAUGHT, COUGH

As for recommended reading, this might be worth a look (and order the books from your library?)

[MrsC]

A difficult subject but kids need to enjoy what they are reading and want to read. You can lead a horse to water (I think that's how it goes) ... They all do things at their own pace. I'm a big believer in not rushing them. As posted previously kids need to understand what they are reading before it sinks in. How many kids starting school know the letter 'M' not what it stands for etc just thanks to Mr Ronald Macdonald! They've all seen it before out the window of the car. Back to basics in my opinion. Sorry that doesn't help much with your initial post

[di]

Thea...don't tell a soul but I had the same problem with DD when she neared the end of the Oxford Reading Tree books...it was horrid,she went from loving reading to finding it boring...we cheated just a teensy bit and took it in turns reading a page each so she could get through them quicker
Sounds like your little one has a great love of books and I just see it as helping them along a little so the school are happy to move them up to free reader.
As has been said before,teachers are so stretched that they can't keep totally on top of where each child is at,I'm sure they'd love to be able to offer a tailor made reading programme for each child,unfortunately they just don't have the time and the easiest way for them is to follow the ORT books.If your school do as ours then DD probably gets asked a few key questions regarding the book she's read,to ensure she understood it before being moved up...so long as she's read and heard it she should do fine...and get onto books she enjoysGood Luck...I remember the frustration too well.x
DD came home with some Bookmarks with questions to ask them about the book they're reading...really helpful if you want me to PM them to you.

[binley100]

I remember my mum telling me that when she was at school they had to stand round the teachers desk and each read a sentence........if they didn't get it right then it was a ruler across the knuckles.....She got it once and told her mum when she got home.....her mum ( my nan) then went up the school ant told the teacher that if she did it again she'd suffer the consequences(or words to that effect ) .....cold comfort I know but things have changed for the better....