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Not allowed to check out whatever she wants from the school library

3K views 49 replies 41 participants last post by  yarngoddess 
#1 ·
Argh! And yes, I know, this is why people homeschool. I thought we had it solved, but now, AGAIN, my daughter is only allowed to check out picture books and early readers. THEY are the ones who keep testing her reading level and say she's at almost a 5th grade level. All she wants is to read Captain Underpants or some such thing. They were letting her get whatever she wanted for a while, because I'd called and asked (very nicely) for that, but she's back to Frog and Toad. Which she loves, but she has them all memorized. Give the girl Captian Underpants!!

It's so frustrating. Why do they test her reading level, then? What purpose is there in them doing that if they're not going to let her get books in that reading level? Or even lower - I don't think she's actually reading 4th grade level books, maybe more like 3rd grade level. She likes the text to be big enough, and she does like some pictures. And yeah I can get her whatever books I want, but the books they get from the school library are the ones they read in class. If all she has to read are easy readers, she decides that reading is boring.

So I will have to call AGAIN.

/vent
 
#3 ·
I'd stop in and chat again. My 7-year-old dd reads well above grade level and needed me to talk to the librarian about letting her choose from the intermediate books and letting her take more than two at a time (she finishes books like Nancy Drew in under 2 hours...)

I needed to talk to the librarian a second time about providing *guidance* though. DD came home with two Gossip Girls books - ack!!
 
#4 ·
When I was in first grade, my class was taken to the library. I wandered off when we were told to choose a book to borrow-- out of the picture book section. The first person to find me was the librarian, who asked if I was interested in the [chapter] books I was looking at. I told her that I loved to read, but that I wasn't interested in baby books and I had already read most of the chapter books that I could see/reach and I wanted to know what was on the top shelves.
(I was very short.) She smiled and took a book down from a higher shelf (it was called "The Box-Kite,") and I said I'd never read it when the teacher showed up. "SHE'S IN MY CLASS! SHE IS NOT ALLOWED TO BORROW THESE BOOKS!" the teacher glowered. The librarian stood up calmly and said, "She can read them, and I say she can borrow any book she likes." The two of them faced off, then the teacher said something about everyone choosing a picture book, glowered, and stalked off. The librarian told me that I would have to choose a picture book, but that I could also borrow a chapter book if I wanted to... and I always did after that.

I can't remember her name, but I'll never forget her standing up for me against the evil that was my first grade teacher.


In any case, yes, it's fairly common that children are limited by some standard. Depressing, but I've certainly encountered it before. In my experience, public librarians are thrilled by literate children and love guiding them in helpful directions but school librarians are not always so accomodating.
 
#5 ·
I am so depressed libraries still do this. I remember getting that song and dance in grade 1, and then we got a new librarian who was wonderful and introduced me to so many great books. I hope the school responds to your concerns.
 
#6 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by GuildJenn View Post
I am so depressed libraries still do this.
me to, I figured that it was limited to the po-dunk little school that I went to! I remember we weren't even allowed into the '3-5 readers' area until 3rd grade.

I can see why they do it, sort of. There are only so many books to check out, and if the 3rd graders take all the 5th grade books, a. what are they going to read in the 4th and 5th grade? b. what are the current 5th graders going to read?

I would take her to the public library and let her go wild.
 
#7 ·

I've never had a limit on what I could check out from the library (well, 100 item limit
) and I wasn't even an early reader.

Find out who the librarian's supervisor is (probably someone with the school district) and get them to tell the librarian to let your dd check out what she pleases--and maybe make a special library card.

Meanwhile, I hope you guys have a good public library.
 
#8 ·
I agree, it's awful.

When DD was in first grade at her last school, she came home telling me the librarian would only let them check out picture books. I couldn't believe it, because she was reading very well.

Her teacher talked to the librarian and they made an exception so that she could check out chapter books (easy ones, like Junie B. Jones).

The sad thing is that now in 2nd grade (at a different school) DD tells me that on library day, most of the kids race to get the "easy" picture books so that during silent reading time they can just flip through it and not have to read a bunch of words.
 
#9 ·
Are you kidding me?
That is just plain silly.
Our kids can check out whatever they want. And if anyone tried denying them that they would certainly hear it from me.
 
#10 ·
I think that is fairly common. All of the schools my dds attended in elementary had a "three finger" method for determining if the child was allowed to check out a book. Basically, they'd stand the kid up in front of the librarian's desk and make him/her read a page out loud to the librarian. If s/he fumbled on three words, the book was not allowed.

Granted, I think they were trying to gage whether the book level was appropriate, not just bar all books above a certain level for all kids, but... If the child was shy, nervous about being put on the spot like that or (like dd#1) would maybe miss some words, but ask what they were and then remember them after being told once, it did limit the child. I found that dd#1's reading progressed the fastest if she read books that were "too hard" for her and had a chance to learn new words. Dd#2 doesn't function that way b/c she gets frustrated, but individualization would be a nice thing, no?
 
#13 ·
Not my normal forum, but I had to click on this title.
I am so glad I was homeschooled. I begged my dad to teach me to read at age 3, and he finally did when I was 4.
I was reading on a college level by the time I was in 5th grade.
C.S. Lewis adult fantasy books, and George McDonald's big and heavy novels were amongst my favorites at that time. Still are as a matter of fact!
And my little nephew taught himself to read and write at the ages of 2 and 3.
I did not even know about this, and one year we got a Christmas letter from his family the year he was 4, and he had signed his name. Slightly wobbly, but all the letters were the same size and well formed.
 
#14 ·
This was the procedure at my daughter's school as well. The only way she could cope (the school refused to bend even with my advocacy) was to check out all non-fiction books so she could at least learn interesting little factoids.

Aaaannnnnd yet another reason we're done with our public school system...

There is nothing worse than teaching a child they are less capable than they really are. After a while, they come to limit themselves to what someone says they 'should' be capabe of. I'm working on deprogramming this belief system within my daughter who was never allowed to excel in school, and was routinely told she 'didn't know how' to do things she routinely accomplished at home. It's going to take us at least a year of homeschooling to undo the damage done by teachers ignorantly trying to put all of our kids in a one-size fits all education.
 
#15 ·
Oh my gosh, they seriously do this? I could check out anything I wanted at the elementary school library. I do remember the book fair lady trying to lead me away from the Box Car Children books to something easier when I was in first grade, but my teacher saw what was happening and stood up for me. Seriously, what is the supposed harm in letting a kid check out a book that's above their level anyway?
 
#16 ·
So here's the challenge and I'm not sure you'll love this, but worth tossing it out there. We're helping a friend deal with similar issues in a school district that told them "there are no gifted programs until 5th grade".

I told them to go get an IEP. In reality, gifted children ARE special education (in fact, the SpEd teachers can get a separate certification in gifted education). If it's affecting her ability to learn, it can be addressed in the IEP. In my friend's situation, their child is now to the point where she will actually fail a test here and there because she's just not paying attention anymore.
They do ALL KINDS of great stuff with her at home, but it doesn't matter once she's in the school all day.

Just a thought. And I'd also take it up with the principal since you've already taken it up with the teacher/librarian. Why can't they pull her out of her class to do reading with a higher grade? It's what they're proposing for mine next year and he would be entering K (and tested at 2nd grade reading last year--right after turning 4yo).
 
#17 ·
Yep they do this at DS's school too. Mind you we're in one of the larger suburbs of a good sized city, so it's not like the library has a shortage of books or anything. There's a section with a big K on it, and that's what he's allowed to check out from. Although he wasn't reading at the start of k, he was so way beyond the early readers in interest. I mentioned to his teacher that he'd been requesting science textbooks to read since he was 3, but it doesn't matter. He's allowed to check out Dr. Suess (he now breezes through that on his own). This late in the year they are starting to allow some of the kids to check out books from the 1st grade section. He checks one out but really couldn't care less what it is- we seldom look at it. He'd rather read about Pokemon or the theory of electricity. I agree it is sad and maddening, but it just wasn't a battle I was going to win.

K.
 
#18 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by confustication View Post
This was the procedure at my daughter's school as well. The only way she could cope (the school refused to bend even with my advocacy) was to check out all non-fiction books so she could at least learn interesting little factoids.

Aaaannnnnd yet another reason we're done with our public school system...

There is nothing worse than teaching a child they are less capable than they really are. After a while, they come to limit themselves to what someone says they 'should' be capabe of. I'm working on deprogramming this belief system within my daughter who was never allowed to excel in school, and was routinely told she 'didn't know how' to do things she routinely accomplished at home. It's going to take us at least a year of homeschooling to undo the damage done by teachers ignorantly trying to put all of our kids in a one-size fits all education.
Yes, well said. ITA. This situation would be an absolute deal-breaker for me.
 
#19 ·
I am surprised by this if the librarian has already had a discussion with you and they know your childs reading level.

Usually, I think this happens because the librarian is simply trying to direct the child to appropriate reading materials and are basing the assumption about reading level on age. I don't understand it when they know the child is capable of reading at that level.

I remember in elementary school getting told once that I couldn't get a book. It was number three in a series. The librarian stopped me and told me I couldn't get that book because it was too hard for me. My face fell and I said "Okay, I just wanted to see what happens next, because I already read the first two in the series." She was visibly taken aback and told me that she was wrong - I could read the book. She never again tried to tell me a book was the wrong level for me. My son's teacher tries to direct him to AR books that are at the level he is working on but for regular weekly library books I don't think he's ever had an restrictions on what he can get. Of course I don't think he would tell me if he did, so I probably wouldn't know about it (getting that kid to tell me about his day is like pulling teeth)
 
#20 ·
The librarian is just a very rule-oriented person. The rule is that first graders only can check out picture books and easy readers, and she's a first grader, so there it is. And I don't even understand why that rule exists in the first place. Kids are likely to pick out what they can handle, and if they don't it's possible to simply gently guide them to something else. It's ridiculous. I'm sure I'll get the problem solved. I'm just frustrated and venting. And we do go to the public library, but she is supposed to read the school library book in class for reading time. They don't want other books brought in or they're afraid they'll get mixed up or something. Anther ridiculous rule IMO.
 
#22 ·
Gah! That must be so frustrating. I remember being upset that our elementary school library didn't have certain books I wanted, but they never limited us in choosing amongst them. I just had to wait until the first week of middle school to finally get my hands on Les Miserable and the other ones I had in my mental to-read list
 
#24 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by fek&fuzz View Post
Do you not have a library card to check things out for her? Not being snarky, just wondering if she's unable to get the books at all, or if it's just annoying that she can't check them out in her own name.
This is the school library. They have to read the school library books in class during reading time. They can't bring public library books or books from home.
 
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