Thank you for the many responses.

[jim and meesie]

It is a issue of convenience on the teachers part but a moral necessity on Ds's part? I don't think so!

In every school day he has 200 small issues where he does comply with the requirements, even when it is to his own detriment. His 5th grade math class was a repeat of his 4th grade math class but he just did the homework, did the classwork and did the tests. The paper this morning reports that 60% of the 4th grade class scored needs improvement or failed. 48% scored needs improvement or failed in English/Language arts. He scored advanced on both tests. (Truly he does have his weaknesses also, just not math, science or reading. )

If this was the ONLY exercise in doing what he doesn't want to do, THEN i would agree with the majority of posters.

The librarian said the teacher should be slapped upside the head.

I do feel that he is being penalized for being a fast reader. He has to find 30 plus books a month to read or get zeros on some days. His classmates have to find one or two.

His handwriting is bad enough to be noted on a progress report. Why not MAKE him work on what he NEEDS to work on. NOt much fun either so still another exercise in doing what you don't like.

Luckily the books set aside and penmanship practice sheets were acceptable to the teacher so that is what we are doing.

After reading all the posts here the real issue is that you want a customized learning environment for your child. Don't we all??? Your alternatives are private school (scholarships are available especially for very bright kids) or here in Massachusetts we have some great pseudo-public "Charter Schools", many with Montessori type learning environments.

As far as your child's reading style, he is clearly ready to "crank it up a notch". My daughter has developed a very sophisticated "coding" system that she uses when she is reading. (I know most people who have read this far will say whoo boy this kid is anal!!) With multiple colored highlighters she identifies plot, themes, descriptive language, character development (many other points, she needs 10 dif color pens). She also uses those post-it type tabs to identify important passages so she can refer back. She started this "super critical" analysis of her reading material back in sixth grade and it is an amazing skill. When she wants to write an essay about a book she can easily refer to "quotes" and "themes" and quickly pull together any supporting information. She also keeps a reading journal (an idea she got from a college English professor cousin) to remember how she was inspired when she was reading a specific book. As I have said earlier she has recently loved "The Odyssey" and I am frankly amazed at the depth of her analysis at just 13.

Now to be totally honest I can't read books that need that kind of analysis. She and I did read a TON of "chic-lit" over the summer which was much more my speed, but then again, I'm not an advanced nor sophisticated reader.


PS Penmanship in 7th grade is way overrated ! Have him practice his penmanship in a reading Journal.

 

[froglady]

I agree that it's time for this avid reader to branch out. If reference books are acceptable, I second the idea that he start with volume I of the Encyclopedia, or "A" in a dictionary. Surely the school library has Bullfinch's Mythology? What about anthologies from the library? He could "finish" a different story every day, and although he might not like every story, he could find at least one or two he liked. I never liked mysteries as a child/teenager but rather enjoy them now. As both an avid reader and the daughter of one, I can't believe that he can't find something to read. I read EVERY type of book when I was 12; Ray Bradbury, Assimov, etc but also Dickens, Shakespeare. I remember reading "The American Way of Death" at that age, and other non-fiction books.

My motto was, and is, So Many Books, So Little Time!

 

[BuckNaked]

After reading all the posts here the real issue is that you want a customized learning environment for your child.

Bingo!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

He has to find 30 plus books a month to read or get zeros on some days. His classmates have to find one or two.

So - Is there all the sudden a shortage of books in this world and nobody told me? does he like Star Trek? You can buy lots of 30 to 50 books for around $20 off of EBAY. My kids tear through them and then we resell them for about the same price

Michael Crichton, around 15 to 20 books....

Ender's Game and there is a sequel....
The Rosewall Series

Look, we just made it to the end of the school year!

I'm sorry, but you are just being silly. For one thing, I am one of the fastest readers anybody ever saw and I can't finish 30 books a month reading 25 minutes a week. I mean wow - what is that, a book about every 4 minutes?

As I said, I'm all for kids being Smart. But part of being Smart is being able to solve problems.

And running and having your Mommy get the assignment changed because it BORES you is not solving it.

 

[goofy!]

.....

 

[Sandy V.]

Very well put, Goofy!

Your parents did you a tremendous favor by not catering to you.

 

[DawnCt1]

I whined, I screamed, .

Don't you mean you "winnyed and neyed"???

 

[Crankyshank]

Being a gifted reader is not being able to read the more books of the same genre than your classmates. It is the ability to read many different genres and to be able to appreciate them. I would much rather see a kid who reads one biography, one classic and one science fiction book a month than a kid who reads 30 science fiction books a week.

Very well put Goofy! I was in a similar situation growing up. In my case my parents decided they wouldn't buy me what they considered mind candy books ( Sweet Valley High) and instead bought me all sorts of classic novels and historical biographies for any subject that picqued my interest. Even if I thought the book was boring I had to finish it. As a result I found I enjoyed lots of books that looked pretty boring to me.
It was important to my Father to have a well read child instead of just a child that likes to read. I just sent him an email to thank him for that.

 

[RadioNate]

Being a gifted reader is not being able to read the more books of the same genre than your classmates. It is the ability to read many different genres and to be able to appreciate them. I would much rather see a kid who reads one biography, one classic and one science fiction book a month than a kid who reads 30 science fiction books a week.

Isn't that the truth. My SIL is an avid gifted reader. If it has words she'll read it. I've seen her spend hours on a book, finish it in 2 days and then say it was boring, stupid and that she didn't like it at all. But she read the whole thing quickly and picked something else up.

While here she read DH's business books, DSs children's books, my chic-lit, newspapers, magazines, a retrospect on the SA Spurs Championship season, my grandmothers Frank Sinatra biography and some healthy eating book all in the 15 days she was here.

 

[jim and meesie]

Being a gifted reader is not being able to read more books of the same genre than your classmates. It is the ability to read many different genres and to be able to appreciate them. I would much rather see a kid who reads one biography, one classic and one science fiction book a month than a kid who reads 30 science fiction books a week.

There has been more brilliance posted on this topic than in most parenting handbooks. Kudos to you all for being concerned and interested parents!!! Hopefully there has been some education too.


PS In 4th grade I read every Nancy Drew book and every mystery imaginable. I definitely won the class reading contest every month but I now know I could have expanded my horizons a little more and been a little more challenged. "Quality not Quantity!"

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I don't think anyone here is arguing that a love of books and reading is a bad. And nobody seems to think that favoring a certain genre is terrible, either. But there's a time and place for following the rules. We have a book issue with our DS8, who is highly gifted, has been reading since he was 3. In fact, when they tested him at the beginning of kindergarten, he got 95% at the sixth grade level. He absolutely loves to read--up at night, reading in the bathroom, gets up early to read sometimes, etc. But we have started to see a problem--if his 3rd grade teacher is going too slowly, DS thinks it's appropriate to whip out a book and stick his nose in it while the teacher is talking! This is rude and disrespectful, and he hears about it, as should the OP's son.

I find it completely unbelievable that the library has nothing for him, and/or there aren't other sources for books. That's just ludicrous! It's an excuse being made by the child and accepted by the parent. Even if he has a favorite genre, branching out WILL NOT KILL HIM!!!

I get so tired of parents making excuses for their little Snooky--poor thing, he's just so smart, this rule is unfair! Yeah, well, my kids are gifted, too, and it doesn't excuse them from anything! If anything, it makes me MORE inclined to enforce the rules, because it's important for them to function in the world we have (full of people who, on average, have IQ's of 100), and not the world they would like to have. So far, it hasn't killed one of them yet, although you'd never know it sometimes when you hear the whining about reviewing spelling words!

 

[poohandwendy]

Maybe you could have him print out and read this thread every morning?

 

[froglady]

Maybe you could have him print out and read this thread every morning?

I love it. we'd better keep it going, though.

 

[laura001]

Maybe you could have him print out and read this thread every morning?

that thought crossed my mind also....

 

[goofy!]

.....

 

[soccerchick]

I would like to point out to all teachers who parent-bash... There has not been any big outcry on this thread against this teacher, or teachers as a whole. But, yet you parent-bash and wail and whine whenever somebody does have a legitimate issue or disagreement.

QUOTE]

This is a mountain out of a molehill. Get a book long enough to take several days to read. The teacher keeping the book is a VERY generous compromise on her part. Teachers around here often switch classrooms, etc. so this is just one more thing for her to have to do, a thing SHE perhaps doesn't like to do but does, because it is "for the good of the child." Maybe her mommy will call in that she's required to do too much. I wouldn't want to be responsible for holding ANY property that belonged to the OP.

 

[C.Ann]

Sorry, but your follow-up posts indicate that you are doing your son a grave disservice.. He will not be able to function in high school, college, or in the work place if you insist on instilling these thoughts in his head that if he's "bored" with something he does not have to participate - nor should he receive any punishment or suffer the natural consequences of his actions..

Please re-think your stand on this!

 

[salmoneous]

One thing I would suggest is teaching the kid there can be more to reading than just getting through the words and plot. Teach the kid to start reading critically.

Have him pick one of those books he has alread read and re-read it. But don't just read the words, *think* about them. Read a sentence. Stop. Ask "What is the author doing here - why did she choose these words - how does this sentence/paragraph/chapter fit into the overall structure of the book?" Think whether or not you like the way the author wrote that bit. Is there a better way to have written it? Draw connections - how is this book similar/different from that book? Why?

 

[foolishmortal]

ok so the son is a fast reader???? 10 seconds per page x 60 seconds is 6 pages a minute x 5 minutes is 30 pages x 5 days = 150 pages a week.

I highly doubt he is "reading" a whole page in 10 seconds (scanning yes, reading no), but lets go ahead and go off of that.

so a nice 250 - 300 page book should last him 2 weeks for SSR.

WHERE IS THE PROBLEM??????????

Even if you get a 125 - 175 page book that is 1 a week NOT 30!!!!

The OP needs to teach son how to pace things.. maybe get him a hobby other than reading. Is reading bad of course not but if he is reading that much, how are social skills? how about athletic skills? have him join band or a sports team and between that and homework he shouldn't have enough free time to read 30 books!


I am another on the teachers side here. IT'S 5 MINUTES!!!!! READ ANYTHING WHO CARES HOW BORING IT IS! If all the other students have to do it so should he.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

Last post for a while because having Lasik enhancement surgery this afternoon.

I was a teacher 3 times and i would customize for each child to the very best of my ability. Granted I only had 30 children and not 120.

In this case i don't expect total customization, just 5 minutes of a different assignment. I also agree for more practice on critical reading. And one way to start is reading a hard book and the cliff notes at the same time. In second grade his teacher asked for no more aviation books and we complied. This year the teacher asked him to expand from Tom Clancy and other military fiction so he branched out to Science Fiction.

Rather than thinking we are too good to follow the rules and wait in line, my thinking is exactly the opposite. I would not begrudge anyone using a GAC or if a celebrity caused parts of the park to be temporarily closed because other wise they would be mobbed. That is customization again.