Is this too much to ask? Homework ?

[TallyLassie]

My dd 7, second grade, must read 15, 50 page books each 9 week grading period. If she reads all 15 she will receive an "A" which counts as a test grade. This is in addition to her regular homework which takes about 20 minutes a night.

We are already behind, she has only read two and the assignment is due mid October. We will get it done some how, but I feel sorry for the parents that their children are struggling in reading. We went to the library yesterday and she checked out some books (Goosebumps, etc.) The good thing is with all of this, there is no time for TV during the week.

This seems like a lot for her to be required to do. That is 750 pages!

My ds is in kindgarten and he must have 25 books read to him the first 9 weeks. That is much easier, one a night and we will have it covered.

 

[dzorn]

That seem like a lot to me, but actually its only 12 pages per night.

Denise

DD doesn't start second grade until Tue so I'm not sure what to expect now.

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

We are already behind, she has only read two and the assignment is due mid October. We will get it done some how, but I feel sorry for the parents that their children are struggling in reading.

.

Yeah, I don't know the reasoning , maybe there is some, but it seems at first glance like you are giving an easy A to kids who can read fast and punishing kids who are just a little slower. Are they testing them on comprehension? I mean, it's one thing to read all those books and it's quite another to get what you are supposed to from them.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

It depends on how hard the books are and if she has to do all the reading. Also, if there are certain books that she has to pick from.

I just picked up one of my 1st grader's Junie B books and they are at least 50 pages and don't take long to read. I read those books to him, but he would be able to read the words himself and they seem like they would be perfect for a 2nd grader to read without a problem. Goosebumps are going to take awhile with the smaller print and more intense subject.

 

[JoyG]

Hmm, as a teacher that seems like a lot...unless she's in a gifted and talented program. I ask that b/c you mentioned she's reading Goosebumps in 2nd grade...those are advanced chapter books.

I teach 3rd grade and our school has a requirement that you have to read 25 books by the end of the year. I think that's a little on the easy side, but yours seems excessive.

I would think 1 book a week would be fair. Can you help her out by reading the books to her? Choose thinner books?

 

[Ready to go in Ok]

I agree that it is a little much. My oldest DD would have had no problem, but for my youngest DD that would have been torture.

On the flip side, there are soooo many benefits to reading. I work in a high school, and you wouldn't believe how many kids I work with who cannot read! Besides the academic aspect of reading, more and more we are realizing that child resliency is linked to reading, and this affects children's social abilities. Which in turn affects behavior at school. We now have 20 minutes per day of reading in our school. The way the kids act when you ask them to read for 20 minutes, you would think that you asked them for $20!

 

[TallyLassie]

My daugter likes the Junie B books, also and they are a bit easier to read. Although, because the books are written like Junie B speaks, some of the words are more difficult since they are not "real" words.

She checked out one book on rescue dogs ands loves it. She can't put it down, so hopefully this will help her appreciate reading. I am more of a newspaper, magazine reader, DIS, reader.

We did have fun at the libarary.

Can anyone recommend another good series of kids books? She supposably reads at the 4th grade level, but her attend span is definitely at 2nd grade.

 

[E&BMom]

What about the Magic Tree House books??? There is a whole series and my kids have enjoyed them a lot. Good luck. My third grader needs to read 400 mins. in a mont this year. Last year in 2nd grade it was 250 min. It worked pretty well.

 

[golfgal]

My kids loved the Magic Tree House books. I think those are close to 50 pages, but I haven't looked. They are a pretty easy read too. Maybe that is the point of this assignment is to just get them to read. Comprehension is important but they will work on that in other areas too. I would select easier books for her to read for this assignment.

 

[JoyG]

Can anyone recommend another good series of kids books? She reads at the 4th grade level.

These are all skinnier books, not on the 4th grade level, but if she's having problems getting her assignment done in the timeframe allowed, I would try them:

Horrible Harry series
Cam Jensen series
Judy Moody series
Nate the Great series
Magic Tree House series

 

[E&BMom]

Here is another..my kids really like the Rescuers series too. Good luck!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My daugter likes the Junie B books, also and they are a bit easier to read. Although, because the books are written like Junie B speaks, some of the words are more difficult since they are not "real" words.

Isn't that the truth! It's fine reading them to my 6yo and he giggles every time I come to a "Junie B word" and tells me that's not a real word, but you're right that it's harder for them to read to themselves.

You've got some good suggestions of books for her to read. I'll make sure I look over the list before I go to the library next time. My 1st grader is required to read 10 minutes every day as part of his homework and this year I am having him do that reading as opposed to me reading to him (last year I read to him and sometimes had him read to me). I sit with him and the time and literally have him read for that 10 minutes and then I finish the book if he's not done in 10 minutes. He's been choose Berenstain Bear books, which he can't read in 10 minutes (and some of those words are pretty hard), so I do usually finish the book for him. Then in the evening we still read to him.

One trilogy that my son (and all of my sons) REALLY liked was My Father's Dragon books. I forgot who the author was. I read the books to them the first time and then they reread them when they were older. I should get them back out for my 6yo to reread.

 

[clh2]

Will your DD read in the car as you are going to and from activities? This might help with the time part of the assignment.

I don't know if the American Girl books (the ones for the dolls) would be too difficult or not, but it seemed that they were a good book for my DD, and page-count wise, would be just a little bit longer than 50 pages.

Of course I just have to ask the STUPID question here, because I hate these types of general assignments, because it won't work for all students. Why can't the teacher allow a 100 page book to count as 2 of the 15? Which might allow some kids to read more difficult books? But, when they come up with the stupid concept of "it has to be 15 books of at least 50 pages" blah, blah, blah...It just reminds me of when my DD was in 3rd grade, and her teacher just pretty much sucked the fun out of reading, and it is a problem I am still trying to fix, and DD is in 7th grade.

(I'll step off my soapbox now...)

 

[mrsv98]

DD is in 1st and she has to read 90 minutes a week minimum. We have been doing 20 mins/night all summer for a reading program so it is a good continuation but there are nights it is a struggle. She hasn't read in two nights for various (fun) reasons so she owes 30 mins today without a fuss (umm, sure )

She loves the Junie B books, Magic Tree House and something called "Charming Ponies" . We are off to the bookstore (they love to see us coming) today to get another stack.

 

[PatsMom]

Another vote for the Magic Tree House series - my DD loved those books. She also really enjoyed the American Girl series. Both of these were available at our local public library.

 

[chobie]

I personally think homework is pointless until the fourth grade. The kids are just not emotionally mature enough, nor have the physical stamina, to deal with spending 7 hours in school, then coming home to do more school work along with whatever other activities they have, eating dinner, taking bath etc. It was a battle with both my kids to get homework done, with tears and melt downs and a growing resentment and anxiety about school. I think that parents should read with, or have their kids read to them, on a daily basis, but I think that the ever increasing homework load is not helpful.

My Dh, is at teacher as was my mother, a couple of SILs and other family members and we all share this opinion. But the schools are under so much pressure with NCLB and other "standards" that they have to cover every base possible.

 

[barkley]

my dd is in 6th and ds is in 3rd. they both have the same reading requirements. each month the teacher picks out a subject and they have to find a book (age appropriate) that relates to it. they have a month to read it and then complete a project related to it (we've done book reports, had to gather 10 items mentioned in the book, tag them with a pc. of paper that indicated how they were mentioned in the book-and then put them in a paper bag, done poster boards with the storyline mapped out...). in addition each child has to keep a reading log that they fill out each night to indicate how many pages of 'free reading' they were able to accomplish in 20 minutes. at school they also have to have a 'free reading' book to use when they've finished their reading workbooks each day.

my dd loves to read (son not so much yet) and she loves junie b. jones-i had her read the 'ramona quimby' books since they are similar, but she is realy hooked right now on the 'katie kazoo' and captain underpants stuff. they are very fast reads for her so we have to hit the library once a week. she's also enjoyed some of the abridged versions of classics like 'anne of green gables', 'oliver', 'black beauty'-she started out with the abridged but then went back and got the full blown editions to see 'what they cut out'.

 

[CajunDixie]

Do they have time to read in school? I know at one of our beginning of the year meetings we (all parents) were told the teacher gives the kids 10 minutes of free time to finish up homework and read while the teacher takes attendance, collects lunch money, and passes out graded homework. And she also gave them time after an assignment such as a math paper to finish it. Some of the students would finish the math assignment and instead of reading their required AR book they would just doodle or do nothing. Same goes for when they take a test. Once finished they can do other homework or read.
My older DS has finally figured out he can get his homework done on the 45 minute busride home each day.

 

[damo]

Isn't that the truth! It's fine reading them to my 6yo and he giggles every time I come to a "Junie B word" and tells me that's not a real word, but you're right that it's harder for them to read to themselves.

You've got some good suggestions of books for her to read. I'll make sure I look over the list before I go to the library next time. My 1st grader is required to read 10 minutes every day as part of his homework and this year I am having him do that reading as opposed to me reading to him (last year I read to him and sometimes had him read to me). I sit with him and the time and literally have him read for that 10 minutes and then I finish the book if he's not done in 10 minutes. He's been choose Berenstain Bear books, which he can't read in 10 minutes (and some of those words are pretty hard), so I do usually finish the book for him. Then in the evening we still read to him.

One trilogy that my son (and all of my sons) REALLY liked was My Father's Dragon books. I forgot who the author was. I read the books to them the first time and then they reread them when they were older. I should get them back out for my 6yo to reread.

My kids loved the My Father's Dragon books by Ruth Stiles Gannett . They are pretty old (1948) but goodies. I wonder how many libraries would even have these!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My kids loved the My Father's Dragon books by Ruth Stiles Gannett . They are pretty old (1948) but goodies. I wonder how many libraries would even have these!

I don't know since I bought them for my oldest and I'm glad that I did. They were probably the most read books of all the early chapter books. There are a lot of other ones, too. My 6yo was just talking about The Chocolate Touch which I read to him last year. I should get that one back out for him--it's a good one.