Telling teacher we're not going to track reading at home? - Page 2

[FedUpMom]

none of the teachers' business

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Because in the first weeks of school, a lot of parents are involved and attentive, but they really fall off as the school year goes on. And a lot of parents want the teachers to 'trust them' because they don't feel they have the time/energy to make sure the kids do it, or because the kids are 'too busy'.
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Didn't we used to have a system where the kids learned to read in school, and what the kids did in their own time was none of the teachers' business? I want to go back to those days. It ticks me off that teachers think they have a right to tell me how to conduct my home life.

[mtiger]

Those logs literally take minutes a week to fill out. To ME, this isn't a hill to die on. There are more important battles to fight on behalf of our kids than five minutes a week.

One of my kids was an avid reader and read more than the 20 required minutes per day. The other? Really isn't.Never has been. And for HER, having that "requirement" made it easier to at least get her to pick up a book on a regular basis - whether she read on her own, we read it together, I read it aloud, we listened to a book on tape while following along in the book, etc. It usually ended up being more than 20 minutes, as one or the other would say "hey - let's just get to the end of the chapter, eh?" Reading still isn't her favorite activity, but she will sit down with a book if it's nonfiction and fits in with her interests.

[karne]

I was all up in arms about it to, at first, until................we actually had a really positive experience with the program, for both of our kids-both very different readers. I haven't found that it has turned reading into a chore, at all, and I don't think it's made my kids resistant to reading, in the least. I find that my ps'd kids and their friends are passionate about their books. This has completely taken me by surprise, but when I see my middle school dd and her friends clamoring to go to the bookstore for a new book they've heard about, I have to smile. My elem. aged child and his friends can't get to their chapter books fast enough. I think that I was the one with the negative attitude about the program-not my kids, lol.

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by FedUpMom

Didn't we used to have a system where the kids learned to read in school, and what the kids did in their own time was none of the teachers' business? I want to go back to those days. It ticks me off that teachers think they have a right to tell me how to conduct my home life.

Didn't we also have a system where most kids left school at 8th grade or earlier to go work on the farm or in a factory? So, it didn't matter if they couldn't read all that well? Didn't kids in the olden days also have homework? Didn't owning books used to be a luxury that few families could afford? Didn't we also have a system where few people went to college?

Did we also used to not have TV to compete with reading? Didn't most kids spend several hours a day doing chores at home rather than watching TV?

Haven't we also learned a bit about what makes kids successful in school, and know that kids who read at home do better? Haven't we also learned that having parents involved with the kids' schooling helps them feel better about school and thus succeed? Haven't we also developed an economy where children need more than a 6th grade reading ability?

If you choose to send your child to school, you choose to be part of the system. Part of that system involves homework. Homework = school telling you to spend your time. That was true 100 years ago and it's true today. If you don't want that, then it sounds to me like homeschooling is more your style.

[journeymom]

Reading logs are not in the least bit necessary in this home, but I totally see where they're helpful for some kids.

Ds is in 6th grade and I'm surprised that he still has a reading log. I signed the whole week's worth on Monday night.

He's supposed to read a certain number of pages, which is a pain for him to track. I tried to suggest he write a best guess for each night but that feels like cheating to him. I also tried to do the fudge thing for him and he picked up on it and doesn't like it. Well good for him!! My boy doesn't want me to cheat for him.

I predict that within a couple months his teacher won't be requiring him to keep the log going.

[Hatteras Gal]

This is the first year we've had a reading log. It's for my 3rd grade dd. She is supposed to read for 15 minutes each night and then re-tell me or her dad what she read and then we log what she read, how many pages, and any comments we have.

The reading part is no problem- she loves to read- but she's not good at re-telling. She needs me to lead it, but I know she's understood it because all I have to say is, "and then what happened" and she can tell me. Her comprehension can be improved upon so we're doing it.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

If you choose to send your child to school, you choose to be part of the system. Part of that system involves homework. Homework = school telling you to spend your time. That was true 100 years ago and it's true today. If you don't want that, then it sounds to me like homeschooling is more your style.

I don't entirely agree with this. Do we really have to take accept school and its policies 100% of the time or HS? What about people who do not want to HS or can't HS? Challenging schools on their policies can only help them grow and be accountable.

I do think that if you disagree with school on many issues or on fundamental issues - you should arrange your childs education differently. Reading logs are not an issue to leave school over, but they might be an issue to challenge the school on and hopefully effect positive change (and positive change does not necessarily mean getting rid of reading logs - but it may mean listenning to parents and tweaking things so they are more meaningful for kids who already do read a fair bit)

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

Have you asked your son what he thinks about the reading log? As a kid I loved to complete my reading logs. LOVED them. Dialectical journals, on the other hand, blechola.

My dd also loves reading logs because she can see what she is doing. I love them because my dd will read daily with them and her reading continues to improve very quickly. I also think you really need to get your son's buy in before just saying you won't do them. Tell him what you notice and ask him if it is related to the reading log or just how he is feeling that week. The point is to read a lot not to necessarily read daily so the teacher may be fine with tracking his actual reading or you could just fill in time so it doesn't have to be an issue.

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

I don't entirely agree with this. Do we really have to take accept school and its policies 100% of the time or HS? What about people who do not want to HS or can't HS? Challenging schools on their policies can only help them grow and be accountable.

I didn't say that we had to accept 100% what the school is doing. If you've read other posts by me on this forum, I have suggested challenging some requirements by the school (written homework in K, for example). I'm perfectly willing to lie on the darned reading logs if necessary. But I recognize the value of them for many children.

But if you send your child to school, you do have to buy in to the idea that they are going to ask you to do some school work on your own time eventually. If you interpret that as the school telling you how to spend your time, then you're in for a very confrontational relationship with the school at the very least.

[rubyhatespets]

If it was putting my child off reading then I just wouldn't do it. What are they going to do?

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by rubyhatespets

If it was putting my child off reading then I just wouldn't do it. What are they going to do?

Just be certain to communicate to your child's teacher that this a decision that you made, it's not that your dc didn't get around to filling out the log. What's happened to my son is that his teacher called him on it for not finishing his homework and he felt embarrassed and sad about it. And he felt wronged, because his mom was the one who told him not to bother with the reading log.

[amcal]

Why tell the teacher anything?

My DD used to stress over her reading logs. And, she's an avid reader. But, she'd worry that she didn't read enough one day although the previous day, she read 5x the required amount.

So, I took the log from her and I fill it out and send it in with them at the end of the month.

I do not keep track of how much they read. If they're reading regularly, I call it good. I just fill out the log with what I think they read and send it in.

It makes DD relieved to not have to stress about it. She doesn't even think about it until I fill it out and send it in at the end of the month.

And, I don't worry about being accurate on the log. The goal is to get kids reading. My kids are reading. They read a lot. Some days, not at all, other days they'll read for hours. So, I fill out the log with whatever I think and call it good.

[Girlprof]

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

Have you asked your son what he thinks about the reading log? As a kid I loved to complete my reading logs. LOVED them. Dialectical journals, on the other hand, blechola.

That's what happened to us. We were asked to do a reading log over the summer and kind of rolled our eyes about it. We did it every few days and there were certainly some estimates. Turns out our son is incredibly proud of his reading log! He loves seeing how many minutes he read over the summer! So, there you go. Never expected that.

[Thalia the Muse]

As a kid I loved to complete my reading logs. LOVED them.

Heck, I STILL keep a reading log, except now it's called a GoodReads.com account! So satisfying, to look back and see what I've read and what I thought of it ...

However, the log was a hassle for my kid and she read a lot, so I asked her teacher if she really needed to do the log. The answer was "Nah, I know she reads a lot voluntarily." If the answer had been yes, I would have made her suck up and do it, though -- that's part of being a student, you comply with the requirements of your class.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by Thalia the Muse

Heck, I STILL keep a reading log, except now it's called a GoodReads.com account! So satisfying, to look back and see what I've read and what I thought of it ...

Funny, as I read this thread I was thinking that I wished I was in the habit of keeping a reading log. I read a lot and find I often can't recall books I've finished. Recently, I've been debating about joining GoodReads or Librarything....

Reading logs, music practice logs, daily journals - for my kids, it's all been part and parcel of the school experience. My DD told me that many kids fake their music practice logs. I was always vaguely horrified at the dishonesty, but hey, my kids played without (too much) protest. Maybe I'd feel differently if they didn't and it was a huge hassle at home. I'm sure the music teachers can tell which kids have really been rehearsing and which ones haven't. The log is supposed to be a communication tool between home and school, so parents are aware of the importance of practicing and how much time their children are spending on their instruments, and the school knows that the parents are reinforcing lessons at home.

I've always thought that it would be helpful if there was MORE of this sort of communication between parents and teachers. If teachers knew what kind of learning their students were doing at home outside of assigned homework, it would help them assess and instruct in the classroom.

Anyway, to the OP's issue. It's a daily log, correct, and you think recording makes reading a chore, but he is reading almost daily? Perhaps the teacher will consider tweaking the system a little. A weekly report might suit her need to track independent reading and be less onerous at home. As long as it averages to 20 minutes per day, it shouldn't matter for fluent readers whether it's daily reading or not.

[Dingletwitz]

Confession. I've always lied about it. It ended up being too complicated to explain, rationalize, etc. But at the end of the year I gave a description of what my sd had read and fessed up to faking the logs. I was already a black sheep, however, because I opted her out of the state accountability testing every year. Her scores would very likely have looked great, but the whole idea of it made me as it bordered on child abuse (all the anxiety surrounding it). Thinking back, a couple of her teachers were actually my students (at the u
) at some point so I suppose my refusal to cooperate was understandable. They knew where I stood. I know many of them agreed with me on the logs, but were forced by curriculum.

[Youngfrankenstein]

Originally Posted by SubliminalDarkness

I wouldn't "tell" the teacher we weren't going to do it, I would talk with her about it.
My DS1 is an advanced reader, and has been since he started kindergarten. Every grade has had some version of a reading chart. And every year we go into it with me saying, "OK, we'll do this, but I just want you to know that the format won't really fit the way he reads." And they say that's fine, let's just get an idea.
And every time it takes about two weeks before the teacher tells me to not even worry about it, because it becomes clear to them very quickly that DS1 is reading a lot, and he's reading well above his grade level, and that trying to encourage him to read at all is not an issue.

I agree. My one son reads everything that's not moving! He reads well above any alloted time any teacher has given on his own. His father also reads to him too.

Last year my second son, the reader, had the same teacher as my previous son and after getting the calendar, I pretty much ignored it and she never said a word.

In his case, it didn't count for a grade, they just wanted the kids to read.