saw Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 8 yo DS came home today with the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for his reading book. First I thought he had taken it out of the school library without anyone paying attention. As it turns out, his teacher (young guy in his 20s and quite new to teaching I think) picked it out for him from the 3d grade classroom reading shelves and told him to read it! Poor DS was trying to get out (yet another) Roald Dahl to read when the teacher made him take TBSP. I've been flipping through it and am not impressed, plus the reading age that is suggested is 12+. School isn't doing any sort of unit on WWII that would provide context. Argh. DS is not particularly mature or otherwise capable of handling this sort of topic without lots of explanation (plus he's adopted so anything that involves parental loss needs to be handled sensitively). Well, I've been quite happy with the school up until now, so I guess it's time. Off to write a (hopefully) tactful note to the teacher telling him that DS will not be reading this and would he please suggest books that are age-appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 8 yo DS came home today with the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for his reading book. First I thought he had taken it out of the school library without anyone paying attention. As it turns out, his teacher (young guy in his 20s and quite new to teaching I think) picked it out for him from the 3d grade classroom reading shelves and told him to read it! Poor DS was trying to get out (yet another) Roald Dahl to read when the teacher made him take TBSP. I've been flipping through it and am not impressed, plus the reading age that is suggested is 12+. School isn't doing any sort of unit on WWII that would provide context. Argh. DS is not particularly mature or otherwise capable of handling this sort of topic without lots of explanation (plus he's adopted so anything that involves parental loss needs to be handled sensitively). Well, I've been quite happy with the school up until now, so I guess it's time. Off to write a (hopefully) tactful note to the teacher telling him that DS will not be reading this and would he please suggest books that are age-appropriate. Wow, that is pretty heavy stuff for 8 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 It's no excuse, but maybe the teacher hasn't read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saw Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 It's no excuse, but maybe the teacher hasn't read it. I think he has ... ds says the teacher told him to read it because the author is one of his (teacher's) favorites. Apparently DS is supposed to read his reading book in class in the mornings and then write about it in his reading journal, so it's not like he can just take the book and then ignore it. I've had concerns before because the books DS brings home are not often what I would consider good literature (Dahl excepted) but are generally quite light. I'm not thrilled about the choice of reading but I'm not too bothered either because DS has access to so many books at home that he will be exposed to good literature in any event. This goes too far though. Argh, I hate school conflict. That was the lovely thing about homeschooling dds -- no more school conflict! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 8 yo DS came home today with the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for his reading book. First I thought he had taken it out of the school library without anyone paying attention. As it turns out, his teacher (young guy in his 20s and quite new to teaching I think) picked it out for him from the 3d grade classroom reading shelves and told him to read it! Poor DS was trying to get out (yet another) Roald Dahl to read when the teacher made him take TBSP. I've been flipping through it and am not impressed, plus the reading age that is suggested is 12+. School isn't doing any sort of unit on WWII that would provide context. Argh. DS is not particularly mature or otherwise capable of handling this sort of topic without lots of explanation (plus he's adopted so anything that involves parental loss needs to be handled sensitively). Well, I've been quite happy with the school up until now, so I guess it's time. Off to write a (hopefully) tactful note to the teacher telling him that DS will not be reading this and would he please suggest books that are age-appropriate. I agree that you should ask that your son read a different book. There are other books that he could read that are lighter. Maybe Snow Treasure would be a good substitute. And maybe Matilda. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Nope. That wouldn't fly here. I would talk to the teacher. He probably didn't think that suggestion through very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I agree that you should ask that your son read a different book. There are other books that he could read that are lighter. Maybe Snow Treasure would be a good substitute. And maybe Matilda. LOL. Or Number the Stars or The Upstairs Room. All three are more gentle introductions to the subject. I'm not familiar with The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but I just read the description. Wow. I agree - not what I'd choose for an 8 year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Why is it on the shelves in a third grade classroom to start with?!? I agree. He needs a different book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Agree with the others, you are right to question this and write a letter to the teacher. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 You know, honestly, I think that it is very possible that an 8yo would not understand what was actually happening in the book. Much like the main character doesn't. My 9th grader read it this past summer, and he is very sophisticated about most things. He also has excellent understanding and knowledge of history. And he didn't get the ending. My point is that it is very likely that the OP's son wouldn't be scarred for life (though my son might be...he was very upset when I explained what happened). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I agree, and he wouldn't be scarred, but what's the point of reading it then ? I agree. I probably should have mentioned that in my post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I remember at that age a teacher reading "I am David" to us. I had no idea what it was about and we just thought it was an odd adventure story. I think younger teachers just aren't very aware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saw Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 I had a brief chat with D's teacher at drop-off this morning, told him the book is intended for children 12+ and that the ending is about kids being g@ssed and could he give D another book. I think he was a bit taken aback but just said, oh okay fine. So that's done. I hope there's no fall-out, and I'll make doubly sure to monitor his reading books. I was also concerned to discover that DS is no longer able to subtract 12 from 20. At all. Random guessing. He could do this easily a couple of year ago, but whenever school teaches him some new method, he tries to apply it and gets confused unless it's taught really really well. He then forgets that he actually can do math/use his brain because he's so focused on the appropriate method. There are 32 children in the classroom and we live in an area where there are many underprivileged and undereducated families, so the only surprising thing is that his school is as good as it is. So I guess I"m back to afterschooling seriously once again! Off to dig up the older dcs' afterschooling books..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Why is it on the shelves in a third grade classroom to start with?!? I agree. He needs a different book. Because parents are afraid to challenge a book's appropriateness for a particular classroom in today's culture of calling every challenged book a "Banned Book"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saw Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Because parents are afraid to challenge a book's appropriateness for a particular classroom in today's culture of calling every challenged book a "Banned Book"? I'm afraid that in this particular school it would be because the parents are not aware of what the kids are reading and are not going to question the school because the school is supposed to know best. It's a school drawing from an area that is underpriviliged and from families that don't have many books at home because I think quite a few of them are principally concerned with making ends meet. The headteacher wants to open the school to students half an hour earlier every day to give the kids access to the school library to encourage them to read. In our case, that wouldn't be helpful as ds has so many books at home to choose from, but when I thought about this initiative, it reminded me that my world is different from the worlds of many (not all) of the parents at this school. The school does exceedingly well in terms of value added, I have to say. I'll probably send the headteacher a quick non-accusatory email. I didn't see her this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Sometimes the teachers interpret "good book" as good for kids to read without looking further. It is kind of like everything natural is good or healthy means non-fattening and other strange beliefs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 My 6th grade social studies teacher recommended "The Clan of the Cave Bear" to me when I wanted more information on early man. All I can think is that he was thinking "advanced reader" and that that particular book puts archaeological finds in context, and had forgotten the rest of the book. What I took from it was more the latter, because learning how Neanderthal man hunts mammoth didn't sink in with near as much effect as the reproductive practices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aug17girl Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 My sensitive 2nd grader came home today with a book about the Titanic as assigned reading. Having to discuss with him why so many people froze to death in the water was difficult. I can't imagine addressing the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas with him a year from now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saw Posted October 3, 2014 Author Share Posted October 3, 2014 I spoke briefly with the teacher again, and he was super-apologetic. He had even written a note explaining why he'd suggested the book (he's read another book by the same author and assumed this was more of the same). He was so nice. I am not used to this sort of reaction from a school! I've had various children in 11 different schools over the years and this is one stands out as being respectful and considerate toward the parents. It's going to take me a while to get used to being treated like a reasonable adult and not an annoying interference! It's a lovely change for the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsquared Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I have sent stuff back that my kids have selected from the classroom library. I simply throw a post it on it and say they need to pick another book. I don't even go into my reasons. I haven't had any kick back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted October 25, 2014 Share Posted October 25, 2014 My daughter is super sensitive to talk of death, etc. I have no idea why because we've tried to keep a sensitive, open, circle-of-life approach to it since the kids were very small, but oh well. When her teacher sent a book home with a near-drowning, I sent it back with a polite note saying that it appeared to be targeted towards a much older interest level (I looked it up and it was indeed a remedial high-school book). Teacher was totally fine with it. That teacher is very experienced but sometimes they have volunteers dole out books from the library to classrooms, and with 30 kids in the classroom, the teachers don't always read each one. In your case, it's kind of amazing that the teacher wouldn't know that some kids can really be sensitive to this stuff, but live and learn. I agree with other posters--you don't need to provide a justification, but if you do, I suggest the sandwich method. (It's a great book--not appropriate for our son who is very sensitive to separation issues--maybe later, thanks.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 The Boy in the Striped PajamasBy John Boyne Interest LevelGrades 9 - 12 Reading LevelGrade level Equivalent: 8.3 Lexile Measure®: 1080L I thought the movie was a little intense for my 6th grader at the time. How do you explain this kind of systemic inconsideration of human life to a 3rd grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeontheprairie Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 NM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.