DD's class reading log rules- way off??

[cdlamis]

DD#1 is in 2nd grade and recently moved to a new school. She just informed me (in tears) that she had her card turned to yellow because she did not read for the required 20 minutes one day last week. I thought the 20 minutes/day was a guide- as in "read approx 20 minutes each day during the month. If you skip a day, read more the next". I figured she should read at least 600 minutes/month to make sure she was on track. Right?

She read over 900 minutes last month yet she is being docked for missing one day even though she read more the next day to make up for it. I already emailed the teacher asking for clarification and explaining our viewpoint.

What does your school do? Are we way off base? TIA!

*Mini update on page 3.

[SnuggleBuggles]

BS. I think that is extremely nit picky. At my ds's school we only turn in the log at the end of the month. They tried weekly last year and it was a flop w/ getting people to remember the logs. It is an honor system so if I know he reads more some days than others, I feel ok switching around the totals. Then again, at our school the 20 minutes is a goal not a requirement.

Beth

[ellies mom]

Yeah, that is nitpicky. My daughter's is collected weekly and they get a sticker on the folder. Sometimes it doesn't get sent in or I don't fill it in but if I fill it in the next week she gets credit. For the first week or so, I'd religiously fill out the exact time. Now, I just put in some average number.

[sariana]

Do you sign her reading log? Are you sure she didn't read 20 minutes every single day? I thought for sure she did...

That sounds totally unreasonable to me (a former language arts teacher). It sounds like a terrific way to make kids hate reading.

I always learned that academic progress and behavior were different things. Isn't a yellow card a behavioral system? Why is it being used in association with academic work? That seems very wrong to me.

[lalasmama]

Yellow Card is for in-class behavior management!! You don't get to use Yellow Card for homework! It makes no sense to have a yellow card for homework. That's automatically starting the day off on a bad foot, for no reasonable reason.

We count our weekend reading as our Monday and Tuesday reading, because I'm useless after work those two days. She's supposed to aim for 10-20 minutes nightly, M-Th, so as long as we are getting an hour in over the course of the week, I'm okay initialing it as done.

[sunshine873]

That's ridiculous. I have a few years before having to worry about school, but if those are the kinds of things we have to deal with, I'm afraid I'm going to be "one of those moms." I agree with a pp who said that's a great way to get kids to resent reading. Another example of a good idea (reading log) that went bad (too demanding/pushy.)

[kransden]

Ours is daily, but honestly I just flat lie about it. My dd is a fantastic reader. She reads a lot, but might not get all the reading done that night. Collectively, she read way over what is required for the week. I just don't sweat it. I know at least half the class doesn't do the required reading either.

[Globetrotter]

This sort of thing makes me crazy! Let's take the fun out of reading, shall we? We just make up the reading log as my kids read a lot. I see no reason to document it all, though I can understand why some kids might need the motivation. This is still uncalled for, IMO, to be so persnickety.

[funda62]

What a nice way to turn a child off reading forever. I would throw the damn card in the trash and take your daughter to Barnes and Nobles for hot chocolate (or chocolate milk) and a few good books. And that is my nice response.

[egoldber]

Do you sign her reading log? Are you sure she didn't read 20 minutes every single day? I thought for sure she did...

:yeahthat:

Ours is turned in weekly and was still a HUGE source of angst until I told older DD "we estimate at the end of the week how much we read each night". She always underestimates and is a huge reader so I don't care.

Everyone, and I mean everyone lies on the reading log that I know of. It's just stupid. In second grade we opted out. Her third grade teacher is a stickler and hence, we lie.

ETA: Unfortunately if you don't do it, the teacher doesn't let them participate in "special" class events, so not doing it this year is not an option for her.

[Dayzy]

I agree that it's a way to turn a child off from reading. A friend of mine was a 4th grade teacher and instead of doing log for reading, she told the children to read one book per week. Any book they want that is in their reading level. Then on Friday they had to hand in a 3x5 index card with a paragraph about the book. She figured that parents always fudge on those logs anyway.

[nfowife]

I taught K-2 and we did have 20 mins of reading time/night as part of homework. HOWEVER it was more of a guide so that parents who wouldn't normally read with their kids would be reminded of it. I certainly didn't "dock" the kids who missed a night here or there on their log on the behavior plan at school....and it's not like parents couldn't just sign the log if they didn't do it anyhow. Hope the teacher has a good explanation for you.

[Melbel]

DD1 is in second grade and does not have any mandatory nightly reading requirements. If she did, I would just consider it part of her homework which would be manageable considering that DD1 loves to read. Our school routinely ties homework to behavior management beginning in first grade to teach the kids responsibility.

[egoldber]

I would just consider it part of her homework

The problem we had, and that many people experience, is that a kid who once would read for HOURS for pleasure would start to count the minutes and only read for 20 minutes and say "I'm done". And my compulsive rule follower would refuse to use a book that she had read for hours on the weekend for pleasure as part of her "20 minutes".

Some kids do OK with the log, but it is very negative for many kids.

[Seitvonzu]

i got turned off as soon as i read "yellow card"-- i don't have a school aged child yet, but i do have lots of exposure to our local school systems behavioral managment systems-- including the "stoplight" system (green is good, yellow is "warning" behavior and red is of course, bad). i agree VERY strongly that this shouldn't be tied to academics...in my opinion the shaming aspect of the stoplight (which does seem to work well for lots of kids) should be reserved for impulse control sort of behaviors.

i understand that homework is a "responsibility" issue, but it also is a VERY parent dependent issue. i was a longterm sub in a pre-k situation and certain kids who were perfectly capable of doing their prek "homework" would habitually come in without it done. we'd right notes home to the parents about it, we'd help the kids do it during the regular day (sometimes missing recess which i didn't think was right, but i was overruled), and sometimes it would just remain undone. it would NEVER affect them on the stoplight-- it just sometimes isn't the kids fault. (an aside-- it didn't technically affect the stoplight, but persistant parent uninvolvement often correlated very strongly to the stoplight anyhow.... you just can't perfectly disentangle behavior/academics, but i still think teachers should try)

i had a really supportive SAHM who sometimes would forget to sign things....would i have started my day on yellow? yes, alot. and i LOVED to read :( i just don't get that at all. and i'd be talking to the teacher about it because my initial assumption would be that i misunderstood the system....especially if i was just hearing about it from my child. of course, my supportive mother also was the sort that tended to "believe teacher first"-- so anything we would claim had to be verified first, giving teacher benefit of the doubt....but maybe you've already talked to the teacher?

[egoldber]

The above is one of my HUGE issues with homework in general for the younger grades. Regardless of the intent, it is basically homework for the parents: to ask your kid about the work, police the backpack, resolve information conflicts with the teacher, etc. And kids whose parents are not that involved (for whatever reason) or forget often suffer the consequences in school when the homework is linked to in class behavior management systems.

[Melaine]

I'm just....just.....horrified at this. Yet another reason to homeschool. If a stupid system starts to rob my children of the magic of learning, then I am going to be PISSED. And I know it inevitably does happen, but this is just so wrong....I'm sorry OP!

[caleymama]

:hug:

I am in agreement that it sounds very nit-picky. I would have had exactly the same reaction as you.

My DD1 is 2nd grade also. Her weekly HW packet has each day's assignments on the top sheet and they are supposed to read for 20 minutes each day. There's nothing to note or turn in about it, though. I rarely even mention it to DD b/c she is a reader and some nights it's literally hours of reading and others it's barely 5 minutes (in addition to what she's read at school - plenty, and what she's read as part of her other homework). It all averages out and definitely falls on the way more than 20 minutes a day side of things. At the beginning of the year, the teacher acknowledged that there may be nights that we just can't get to homework for whatever reason and that with the weekly homework packet, we can shift things to the next night if need be. Ideally, the kids would do the homework each night but she was clear about understanding that sometimes it just isn't possible.

[noodle]

And my compulsive rule follower would refuse to use a book that she had read for hours on the weekend for pleasure as part of her "20 minutes".

Some kids do OK with the log, but it is very negative for many kids.

Honestly, Beth, I think I'm raising the boy version of your DD.

The reading log nearly drove us out of school. And the stoplight system . . . my blood pressure still soars when I think about it.

[Momof3Labs]

The problem we had, and that many people experience, is that a kid who once would read for HOURS for pleasure would start to count the minutes and only read for 20 minutes and say "I'm done".

:yeahthat:

With no reading log, DS1 has polished off the first four Harry Potter books in the last 3 weeks. With the reading log, he'd set the timer for 20 minutes, grab the easiest book he could find, and stop as soon as the timer beeped.

DS1 had a monthly reading log in kindergarten and toward the end of the year, I'd just write on the sheet that we read a ton more than we took the time to record, sign it and turn it in.

OP, that's totally ridiculous.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

I taught K-2 and we did have 20 mins of reading time/night as part of homework. HOWEVER it was more of a guide so that parents who wouldn't normally read with their kids would be reminded of it.

Did you find that it really made any difference?

My son's K homework (don't get me started :p) has "20 minutes of reading" listed for every day. We never worry about that. We read a lot anyways and I don't feel like I need to try and get exactly 20 min in everyday. I feel it's just one more way to try and manage OUR family time. There is no log. If there is a log next year, I will have to address it with the teacher. I personally am uncomfortable with being dishonest, so I would have to get it out in the open or have DH sign off. :)

It just seems like the parents who weren't reading in the first place won't start reading to their kids just based on the "20 minutes of reading" and to those of us who already are, it's an unwelcome imposition.

[pinkmomagain]

Don't even get me started on reading logs. I loathe them with a passion.

My kids are great readers and read books all the time outside of school requirements..however there may be a day when no reading gets done, and then another when an hour gets done. I've always "lied" on the reading logs. There really must be a better way to encourage reading at home.

Sounds like the teacher got carried away with the yellow card thing. I hope you get a suitable response from her.

[AshleyAnn]

I'd call. I am outraged that the teacher is docking a child who clearly reads nightly and much more than the required minimum for one night. IMO, The reading log is for children that aren't big into reading a books and need the extra push to turn off the video game and pick up the books and for parents that need the extra reminder to have thier children read. I'm a reader (always have been) and I don't like the idea that you have a daily reading quota you must meet and document because I don't set aside a time to read and I don't think reader children do either. They read in the car, after dinner, during siblings t-ball games, ect - not by the clock. Not to mention that the teacher has no idea what your DD did instead of reading - it may have been a day you had her running errands or just didn't give her a chance to sit down with a book for a steady 20 minutes, maybe she wasn't feeling well. Not only is it unfair but if you decide next month to fudge the log it teaches her to be dishonest and that those that lie get ahead.

[s7714]

That sounds harsh to me. I agree with a PP that cards should be changed for behavior in the classroom--if they were supposed to be reading 20 minutes in class and were goofing around vs. reading, I think a card change would be appropriate. For not doing homework right, especially once or twice? No.

My older DD is in 1st and we turn in our logs at the end of each week with homework packets. At the beginning of the year I tried to be firm about the reading, but saw immediately that it was making my DD get turned off to reading. So now, to be quite honest, I don't time the reading at all and I don't make a big deal about it. If we didn't read a book one day I just fill it in and sign off. We usually read chapter books over the course of weeks, so it's not far fetched to just say we were continuing a book we'd already started.

[Melbel]

The problem we had, and that many people experience, is that a kid who once would read for HOURS for pleasure would start to count the minutes and only read for 20 minutes and say "I'm done". And my compulsive rule follower would refuse to use a book that she had read for hours on the weekend for pleasure as part of her "20 minutes".

Some kids do OK with the log, but it is very negative for many kids.

I could see my rule followers doing the same thing, which was the case with daily piano practice. I guess it is difficult to recognize the pitfalls until you experience it first hand.

I do feel bad about the kids that do not get parental supervision on homework. I do, however, also believe in teaching the kids personal responsibility once they get a little older (definitely not prek or K). DS and DD1 have been taught that homework is solely their responsibility. If they forget to do something or leave it at home, there will be consequences. Fortunately, my rule followers are great about completing and returning their homework with very little supervision required by me (one less thing for me to worry about).

[cdlamis]

UGH- I emailed the teacher expecting her to "dismiss" Julia from the rigid reading rules since she regularly goes above and beyond what is expected. NOPE! She let me know that 20 minutes per night is part of the nightly homework, that it is absolutely mandatory and that she will be docked if it happens again. The teacher actually said "I will let last night's reading time slide since I got a note from you". gee, thanks!

Should I just let it go, sign off 20 minutes each day and just get through the year? I am so ready to move and get to a place with better schools! Ugh.

[cdlamis]

Thanks for all the replies so far. It is so nice to know that I am not alone on this one. Makes it somewhat easier to deal with. :)

[cdlamis]

I'm just....just.....horrified at this. Yet another reason to homeschool. If a stupid system starts to rob my children of the magic of learning, then I am going to be PISSED. And I know it inevitably does happen, but this is just so wrong....I'm sorry OP!

Exactly! My DD is a wonderful student, gets her homework done before playing outside (her choice), and loves reading. Yet, she is treated like part of a herd and has been punished.

Now, I have been forced to lie to the teacher and say that she reads exactly 20 minutes/day.

[Cheburashka]

We had reading logs when I was in elementary school, and I remember my mom telling me I couldn't fill out my log anymore and she had to do it for me. I asked her about when I was older, and she told me the teacher suspected me of lying on my log because no child would read 2+ hours a night for fun, and the teacher wanted to report it as academic dishonesty to the principal. I'm sad to hear these reading logs are still kicking around. Parents have to lie because their child reads too much, not enough, had to skip a night, and what kind of message does that send to the kids?

[sariana]

Should I just let it go, sign off 20 minutes each day and just get through the year? I am so ready to move and get to a place with better schools! Ugh.

Yes, but....

You should talk to the principal. Since you have addressed your concerns with the teacher, and the answer seems unsatisfactory, it would not be inappropriate for you to take it to the next level. Say that you are concerned about how the homework policy is affecting children and their reading development. Perhaps the teacher is misunderstanding a schoolwide reading requirement. (Or perhaps not, and that needs to be addressed, too.)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Like others have said, take the weekly estimate and divide it by 5 and record that number (I assume it is higher than 20 minutes). Don't get wrapped up in counting every day. You know she is reading and that's what matters.

Now, do you have a PTA or do you know other parents in your class that might be equally bothered? Bring it up and maybe you can work on some change! We succeeded as 1st grade parents with changing the homework policy last year. Squeaky wheel and all...

Beth

[Laurel]

Yes, but....

You should talk to the principal. Since you have addressed your concerns with the teacher, and the answer seems unsatisfactory, it would not be inappropriate for you to take it to the next level. Say that you are concerned about how the homework policy is affecting children and their reading development. Perhaps the teacher is misunderstanding a schoolwide reading requirement. (Or perhaps not, and that needs to be addressed, too.)

Yep. I'd keep going higher with this.

[s7714]

UGH- I emailed the teacher expecting her to "dismiss" Julia from the rigid reading rules since she regularly goes above and beyond what is expected. NOPE! She let me know that 20 minutes per night is part of the nightly homework, that it is absolutely mandatory and that she will be docked if it happens again. The teacher actually said "I will let last night's reading time slide since I got a note from you". gee, thanks!

Should I just let it go, sign off 20 minutes each day and just get through the year? I am so ready to move and get to a place with better schools! Ugh.

If you're willing, I'd talk to other parents in the class to see if they have any concerns and potentially talk to the principal. Otherwise I'd just keep signing off on the silly form.

I think it's ridiculous in this day and age to expect such young students to be doing homework every night without fail. With all the outside activities kids can be involved in (many of which are being done to make up for lacking school programs, none the less) it's sometimes near impossible to get stuff done each evening. We tend to do more homework on a couple nights to make up for two nights that we have a hard time getting any done. And not to mention the hoards of parents who work such long hours they can't help on a nightly basis. Our teacher issued a letter at the beginning of the year saying she understands situations like that happen, but to try our best to do things nightly if possible. As long as the student is advancing academically as he/she should and is turning in assignments when they are due, I don't think teachers should be so crotchety about things getting done every. single. night.!

[ett]

Yes, but....

You should talk to the principal. Since you have addressed your concerns with the teacher, and the answer seems unsatisfactory, it would not be inappropriate for you to take it to the next level. Say that you are concerned about how the homework policy is affecting children and their reading development. Perhaps the teacher is misunderstanding a schoolwide reading requirement. (Or perhaps not, and that needs to be addressed, too.)

:yeahthat: Take it to the next level. So the teacher is saying that it's better to read 20 minutes each day as opposed to 1 hour 1 day and 10 minutes the next day, just to follow some rigid rule. OP, I'm so sorry you're going through this. This is just not the right way to encourage kids to read. :(

[sunnyside]

We had reading logs when I was in elementary school, and I remember my mom telling me I couldn't fill out my log anymore and she had to do it for me. I asked her about when I was older, and she told me the teacher suspected me of lying on my log because no child would read 2+ hours a night for fun, and the teacher wanted to report it as academic dishonesty to the principal. I'm sad to hear these reading logs are still kicking around. Parents have to lie because their child reads too much, not enough, had to skip a night, and what kind of message does that send to the kids?


This same thing happened to me when I was a kid. We had a read-a-thon, and got prizes for reading lots of books. We had to keep a log of what books we read. I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. In the time we had for the read-a-thon, I read nonstop. I must have read well over a hundred books. The school didn't believe me and called my parents to talk about my log. I felt bad, but I had read the books. They weren't War and Peace, but I read them nonetheless.

[edurnemk]

Yellow Card is for in-class behavior management!! You don't get to use Yellow Card for homework! It makes no sense to have a yellow card for homework. That's automatically starting the day off on a bad foot, for no reasonable reason.


When I went to school (1-3) they's give you a yellow card for homework, if your parents forgot to sign something, if you're shoes were not shined... It was horrible and added a lot of stress, especially for little rule-following overachievers like myself. My parents switched me to another schooll because of this and other ridiculous policies. The sad thing is uninformed teachers can really scar kids by abusing and misusing these techniques.


I would definitely talk to the principal about the use of the Yellow Card system and the reading log. And if necessary go to the PTA or other parents. This is just ridiculous and can really hinder a child's love for learning.

[newg]

Is this an older teacher?? Do you know parents in any other classrooms that you could talk to for comparison? Sometimes teachers have to do things as a grade, even if they don't like it........though I don't agree with her response to you at all.
I would ask to talk with the princ. about it.......if nothing else, the feedback from you may help with planning next years curriculum/homework policies and behavior system.

I also used the green/yello/red system.........but it was behavior only in the room/school.

[kijip]

The problem we had, and that many people experience, is that a kid who once would read for HOURS for pleasure would start to count the minutes and only read for 20 minutes and say "I'm done". And my compulsive rule follower would refuse to use a book that she had read for hours on the weekend for pleasure as part of her "20 minutes".

That is us, right down to the compulsive rule follower. Kid averages 2-3 hours a day of reading (out of school, especially once you factor in the weekends) yet he would flip out if he missed a night because of an event or if he was not sure it had been 20 minutes. Then when I took to pre-signing his form, he flipped out about making sure it was right. Dude. I don't need to write 27 minutes or 2 hours and 4 minutes. I can write 30 or 2 hours, ya know? No, apparently compulsive rule followers DON'T know:p. On the plus side, most of the time he loudly declares when he is planning on breaking a rule and then gets talked out of it or stopped preemptively.

[MommyAllison]

She let me know that 20 minutes per night is part of the nightly homework, that it is absolutely mandatory and that she will be docked if it happens again.

That is crazy! 2nd grade? What if you had a family emergency and missed a night? She would be punished for that? So, so wrong. She is a CHILD!! Ooh that is so frustrating. So sorry, OP :(

[niccig]

The whole homework philosophy would totally frustrate me. You could go higher and see if the school will change. It's worth a try. My friend did this for K, a group of parents from different classes went to talk to the principal. They were told "this is K in public school, and this is the homework they must do", end of story kind of attitude. I think with all the testing etc, some schools are quite rigid with homework. She is now just signing regardless if it's done according to the strict rules or not. She tried.