my beautiful girl

[boosmummy]

boo is 5 and tonight decided she did not want to read biff and chip (school books) because they honestly they not only bore her but they are not challenging enough for her,so she read the happy prince by oscar wilde

[Two_Sheds]

They bore me to death too, and that bloddy magic key.

Good on her, you should be proud. Most of the kids in my class don't have a single book in the house, not even a phone book

[boosmummy]

They bore me to death too, and that bloddy magic key.

Good on her, you should be proud. Most of the kids in my class don't have a single book in the house, not even a phone book

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA the magic key Hahahahaha that made me laugh, i know i hate them too!! boo has lots of books and i have a lot on my kindle too, we do read an awful lot, she has a very good memory (possibly photographic - if there is such a thing) so i have to constantly keep her stimulated. im looking at changing her school as they are just not challenging her enough xx

[Two_Sheds]

im looking at changing her school as they are just not challenging her enough xx

Do you have Gifted & Talented tutor at your school?
We did have, but cutbacks ...

[di]

Hideous books! DD had a great teacher in year one and she got to skip most of them and move to Free Readers, sadly, she got to year two and the TA insisted she needed to complete up to stage 11(or something)...I insisted she didn't!!!

DS sailed through them without us really noticing...I'm convinced he could read before he could talk, he had delayed speech(which I was made to feel really guilty about, 'it must be that you don't stimulate him enough')...when he started speaking at about 5yrs old, he picked up Green Eggs and Ham and read it cover to cover.

I think Dr Seuss has far more to offer young readers than Biff and Chipper and their gang.

[Two_Sheds]

I have the special needs class, and for most of them I prefer to use 'fact' books rather than Biff and Chip. The children find them more interesting and relevant, and they tend to progress quicker.

[boosmummy]

Do you have Gifted & Talented tutor at your school?
We did have, but cutbacks ...

no we don't, we dont have a creative curriculum either. If im honest, we live in quite a lower class area and the school isnt the lowest class (god i sound like a right snob - im not) but its a middle ground school. Boo doesnt get any recognition for her work, like for example, they a weekly newsletter boo has never once been in it because other children have to work harder, and because she can just do it, if you know what i mean?

[VirginVegGrower]

My son is reading The Iliad - he's 14. Daughter is reading Animal Farm and she's 12. We went through the ORT stage too. It might be boring but it gives a good grounding as you can see.
My two choose a new book every weekend. We sit on the floor in Waterstones whilst they peruse and read a bit, until they find the one they want. Have done this for ten years now.

[di]

Poor little love. DD has always had that problem. I think because she gets on, is quiet and is average or just above in most things, she gets forgotten a bit. DS, on the other hand has overcome this by being a little bit of a handful when he's not challenged (I will say, getting put on the Gifted and Talented register doesn't necessarily mean they'll their needs met any better)
Before anything as drastic as changing school, (and sorry if it sounds patronising and you already have) have you chatted to other teachers, parents with children in other year groups. Could it just be this one particular teacher?
Also, if you have the time, have you thought of becoming a school governor?

[julesapple]

A long time ago, when my father first left the RAF, we went to live in Sale. The schools were carp and I was bored. Then I discovered the library. You remember the time when libraries were packed to the gunwales with books, and not computers and dvds. It was my haven. Children were only supposed to have four library tickets, but the wonderful librarian realised my dreams by issuing me eight. Eight! all mine....and she saved the newest books for me when they came in. I lived for Wednesday evenings when I spent an hour in the library whilst my Mum battled through Kwiksave.......pure bliss! My love of books and reading has stayed with me and I've passed it on to my children. We have thousands of books in our house.

And, back then, my 60p a week pocket money would buy a paperback book (Enid Blyton or Christine Pullein Thompson) and a family bag of Revels every Saturday morning. Thirty five years later, a book and some Revels are still my favourite thing!

Jules

[Kaiya]

I was like that - I read Swiss Family Robinson in primary school, I remember my friends trying to read it and finding it intelligble. I also consumed things like Enid Blyton (Malory Towers, Famous Five etc.), Swallows and Amazons etc. - the only problem was that I ended up with the vocabularly of an upper middle class 1940s child. "Gosh!" was a favourite, as was "jolly good!", calling people "bricks" and saying "hello!" to objects/events.

I never won any prizes either at primary school - same reason. I did in secondary school when suddenly results matter more that just effort Might be a bit long to wait for that for Boo though!

I read 'Five on a Treasure Island' last weekend and it's still spiffing.

[di]

I find when I read Enid Blyton to the kiddies I suddenly sound like I have a plum in my mouth.

[OverWyreGrower]

I was reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels at about 10 years old... I'd read all the childrens books in the local library, and persuaded the librarian to let me read the 'Young Adults' books.... haven't put Pratchett down since!!

[boosmummy]

Poor little love. DD has always had that problem. I think because she gets on, is quiet and is average or just above in most things, she gets forgotten a bit. DS, on the other hand has overcome this by being a little bit of a handful when he's not challenged (I will say, getting put on the Gifted and Talented register doesn't necessarily mean they'll their needs met any better)
Before anything as drastic as changing school, (and sorry if it sounds patronising and you already have) have you chatted to other teachers, parents with children in other year groups. Could it just be this one particular teacher?
Also, if you have the time, have you thought of becoming a school governor?

I would love to tell you, that it has made a difference but i have spoke to the teacher countless times i've been into the head teacher who, listened to her read and put her up two levels of books as well as started sending 2 home.

There are other aspects of the school that im not happy with to, i just dont know, is it better the devil you know etc..

re, the school governors, its a bit clikky for that kind of thing xx

[Two_Sheds]

Oxford Reading Tree (Biff & Chip) give a good grounding for learner readers, it's true. They utilise the blending sounds (ee, oo, ay, ar, oy, igh, etc) well, with lots of repetition. But there are SO many of them to plough through, and they'll all so boring.

Children who don't learn the blends really really struggle to read: sounding out only gets you as far as c-a-t, or d-o-g. It doesn't work for n-i-g-h-t for instance. Some children take a while to realise that sounding out every letter isn't how English works!

We've just taken some of our class back a step because they haven't 'got' all their blends right yet. Once they do, they progress really quickly.
I let the boys (the refuseniks tend to be boys) take a "grown up" book, eg. Harry Potter, home so long as they read the ORT books in school.
Somebody should make covers that can be wrapped round the ORT so the other kids don't know what band someone is on.


I used to read Willard Price as a youngster, and was on Stephen King & James Herbert by 11 ( I know !). Jilly Cooper soon after that (but not Jackie Collins, too chavvy for want of a better word).