How long should I wait for a response?

[mom2lydia]

I emailed the school librarian about concerns my dd7 is having in library. She is in second grade and reads exc eptionally well with a full understanding of what she reads and if she comes to something she doesn't know she gets out her dictionary to look it up. She reads around a 5th grade level and has been reading chapter books since kindergarten. The librarian doesn't allow second graders to check out chapter books, only picture books. This to me is strange because I would think most kids by the time second grade is over half way finished would be able to read some type of chapter books, even if it's a lower level chapter book. It seems to me to be a disservice to the kids of all levels to only allow them to check out 3 picture books, such as clifford or franklin or arthur type books. My daughter finishes all 3 of her library books before the end of the day the day they check them out less than 2hrs before time to go home. She gets perfect AR scores on the books yet the policy is that all kids must check these out. Each teacher knows where the kids test in their reading range so they have the knowledge for each kid. I understand not wanting to make a kid feel left out because they are behind but this policy just seems to not encourage reading or moving forward in reading levels. The classroom has a class library and the kids have to pick from their reading range from these books so my daughter is able to get an appropriate book that way however she is so frustrated with the library policy that it is actually discouraging her from wanting to read because she feels she is never going to be able to check out what she wants. I emailed the librarian earlier this week, on Monday I believe maybe Tuesday, and wondered how long I should wait to hear a response from her before I try to contact her again.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Lydia, you might just want to check the local public library and ask if they have the ability to do AR testing there. Some do.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the AR program in the schools, it is more IMHO about gathering stats to fulfill requirements for the school, and that's about it.

 

As a child, I was limited in what I was able to check out in quantity or level as well, so I just quit checking out from the school. My father had to use his library card to check out books from the public library for me as I was limited there also under a child card.

 

That being said, if she is being limited in choices at the school to picture books...you might be able to do something a little more independent and still work within the guidelines and have her select books based on their artistic quality and illustration. Maybe make up a little chart of all the Caldecott spines and make a little home project out of those titles. There's more to books than reading of course...you could spend hours and hours looking at a selection of well done illustrations and never run out of things to talk about.

 

Good luck with it

 

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottwinners/caldecottmedal

 

http://en.wikipedia....Caldecott_Medal

[SKL]

Maybe give them a week and then pay them a visit if they don't respond?

 

My kids are in 1st and they are allowed to take out books based on their performance on a "STAR" reading test. And I don't think that is policed all that well, either. My kids have both been allowed to test on "chapter books," though only one of them has ever brought "chapter books" home from school.

 

Are they letting her test on chapter books that she has read from other sources? Most popular books have an AR coding and you can look them up online. When my kid reads a book from our home library, I look up the AR code and she takes the book to school and tests on it there. My kids log in and take the tests independently, so there is nobody telling them that they aren't allowed to use x or y book at that point. If it's an AR book and they have the code, it's all good.

[SKL]

Not that there is anything wrong with reading picture books. But I understand the frustration of being limited to "only" picture books.

[amsunshine]

Honestly, this sounds silly. However, there are a number of picture books that are at a high reading level, I suppose. Frankly, I wouldn't worry about what the school librarian does -- I would just make sure dd had ample access to the local library where she could check out whatever she wanted. She doesn't have to check anything out of the school library if they limit her access to materials like that.

 

I guess I'm feeling ornery today. But honestly, some people are just ridiculous.

[jennynd]

can you pick books in local library and have her bring to school rather than use school library?

It is weird that that the school limit the kids like that, DS in in 3rd, and the teacher does check the "good fit" book. If the kid pick a book that teacher think is too hard for the kid. Teacher will ask the kid to read 1 page to the teacher , then the teacher will decide if the kid can have the book or not.

Anyhow,l. I will just have her go to your local library

[Arcadia]

I spoke to the school librarian when my older was in B&M. Each student account has a recommended reading level and that was submitted by his teacher. Once that level was changed, he was able to borrow chapter books if he wants to. There are lots of good quality picture books that are of a higher reading level too.

 

If you are not free to speak to the librarian, I would suggest emailing the teacher as well to see if anything can be done.

 

ETA:

His school library was open 30mins before the morning bell to 1 hour after the afternoon dismissal bell.

[mathnerd]

I had the same issues with my Kindergartener who was not allowed to check out a book from his favorite series "Magic Tree House" because the school librarian deemed that he would be unable to read it by himself and that my son's class could only check out picture books. So I "coached" him to go up to the librarian and advocate for himself and tell her about all the other books in that series that he had already read and how he could read like a "big boy". He actually did it and it worked! He was allowed to check out chapter books from the next week onwards with a reminder that if they were too much for him, a parent had to help him finish reading it. So, my suggestion would be for you to let your daughter speak to the librarian and see what the response is. If it does not work still, I strongly suggest that you pay the librarian a visit and explain your daughter's accelerated reading level in person.

[MBM]

I was the librarian at my youngest's former elementary school. Picture books can be quite good, but kids should be allowed to explore and pick out what they want.

 

Sometimes it's helpful for the librarian to guide kids to what interests them, though. For example, I knew what individual kids liked and would set out books for each of them to look through after I read to them, but I never told them what they could or could not check out. Most of the time they would check out appropriate books. I do remember occasions when kids as young as 2nd grade would pick out Harry Potter in Spanish and then swagger out the door, tome in hand, smugly smiling, fully not intending to read it. They merely wanted to show off to their classmates the giant book they were going to (not) read. LOL. When they're young the library should be a fun place to explore.

 

Anyway, talk to her soon so your daughter can give other books a try. People are often in a good mood on Fridays, so maybe tomorrow.

[Little Nyssa]

This happened to us-- I emailed the classroom teacher who talked to the librarian and fixed the situation right away.

[Roadrunner]

You just described our school :001_rolleyes:. Kids aren't allowed to check out books beyond certain level due to "maturity of content". So even though DS passed Harry Potter AR test (read at home), he wasn't allowed to check out the next level. So I think the limitations have as much to do with maturity of the text (I guess this is subjective and I am not sure how they determine it) as actual decoding ability.

We aren't fans of AR. There is no discussion of any kind taking place in the classroom about the books they are reading for AR. Even though it appears to be differentiating students based on their reading ability, the "differentiation" has strick parameters at least in early grades.

In our school there is a strick separation in the library sections designed for K-3 and 4-5 grades. You can try talking to the teacher. Much depends on how strict your school will enforce those rules.

By the way, how the figure "grade levels" for those books also remains mystery to me. Pippi Longstocking books, which even my 6 year old thinks are super easy to read and certainly appropriate for little ones, are somehow at 4th grade level and therefore unaccessible to second graders. So while AR classification system makes sense for some books, others are just buffling.

[SKL]

So while AR classification system makes sense for some books, others are just buffling.

 

 

I have noticed this as well. It is not a problem for us at this point, because my kids love the variety of books that are available. They will get a good laugh from a ridiculously easy book one day, and enjoy a meaty one the next. But yeah, there are some pretty short picture books that are rated in the 3rd/4th grade level, while a just as challenging/long paperback ends up at the high KG level. ??

[Tree Frog]

You just described our school :001_rolleyes:. Kids aren't allowed to check out books beyond certain level due to "maturity of content". So even though DS passed Harry Potter AR test (read at home), he wasn't allowed to check out the next level. So I think the limitations have as much to do with maturity of the text (I guess this is subjective and I am not sure how they determine it) as actual decoding ability.

We aren't fans of AR. There is no discussion of any kind taking place in the classroom about the books they are reading for AR. Even though it appears to be differentiating students based on their reading ability, the "differentiation" has strick parameters at least in early grades.

In our school there is a strick separation in the library sections designed for K-3 and 4-5 grades. You can try talking to the teacher. Much depends on how strict your school will enforce those rules.

By the way, how the figure "grade levels" for those books also remains mystery to me. Pippi Longstocking books, which even my 6 year old thinks are super easy to read and certainly appropriate for little ones, are somehow at 4th grade level and therefore unaccessible to second graders. So while AR classification system makes sense for some books, others are just buffling.

 

 

We found this last year when ds was in 5th grade. Eragon had the same reading level as the "How to Train Your Dragon" series. The middle school librarian said the way they calculate the level for each book was by the number of spaces between words, so poetry books have higher AR levels than chapter books. I don't know if that's true, but ds and I noticed some discrepencies between the levels.

[ccolopy]

I've honestly never heard of kids only being allowed to take certain books out of the library. When my DS was in public school for K and 1st, he brought home plenty of chapter books (including Eragon) for DH and I to read to him.

 

Is the library open after school? I'd probably drop in if she doesn't respond by Tuesday or Wednesday.

[Word Nerd]

That makes no sense! Even second-graders who are reading right at grade level should be reading some short chapter books or advanced early readers like Henry and Mudge. I would talk to the teacher and the librarian to see what's going on. D7 reads some books from home or the public library for AR and Book-It goals because the school library doesn't have all the series she likes, so that would be another option. Some picture books (like those by Bill Peet) have higher AR levels too.

[Little Nyssa]

Brings back memories... when I was little, maybe 2nd grade, I wanted to borrow The Pool of Fire because it had a pretty cover which reminded me of the covers on the Narnia books I had. The librarian explained to me that it would be too hard for me, but when I insisted, she let me take it out. I remember reading through it while having no idea what it was about. But she let me try anyway. Different times?

[mom2lydia]

Yesterday dd and 2 other kids got to check out chapter books at the library. They had to be certain reading levels as the library is color coded for reading levels. However a few weeks ago before she could check out a chapter book she checked out a non-fiction book on tigers. This book was a 6.1 reading level and not surprising she didn't do well on the test she had tot ake over the book. Just frustrating she was allowed to check out a 6th grade reading level book that wasn't chapters but couldn't check out a level appropriate chapter book that she would be able to read and understand all because it had chapters in it. Just seems silly to me

[SKL]

I was surprised to find that the appx. 200-page abridged Oliver Twist that my 6yo took out was supposedly a 3rd-grade level book (thus within the range my dd is "allowed" to borrow from the school library). Not surprisingly, some of the story went over her head. However, I was glad she had the opportunity to engage with it, since it was something she really wanted for herself.

 

I wonder if some schools limit the youngers to picture books in order to keep within something most kids can read and understand on their own within a short time frame. My kids are pretty much required to do at least one AR test per day, and even my advanced dd can't zip through an on-level chapter book *every* evening (she has 3.5 hours of extracurriculars on Thursdays, for example).

[shellbelle]

Our school allows children to bring in books from home. My second grader is allowed to check out chapter books from the school library (Junie B. or Magic Tree House type), but she usually finishes those in an afternoon. She brings in a more challenging book from home to keep in her desk to read throughout the week. We do have a lot of books at home (I have a book addiction!) and visit the public library often. Do you think your daughter's teacher would also allow her to bring in books from home?

[mom2lydia]

Our school allows children to bring in books from home. My second grader is allowed to check out chapter books from the school library (Junie B. or Magic Tree House type), but she usually finishes those in an afternoon. She brings in a more challenging book from home to keep in her desk to read throughout the week. We do have a lot of books at home (I have a book addiction!) and visit the public library often. Do you think your daughter's teacher would also allow her to bring in books from home?

 

She can and often does bring in her own books to read from home as we also have a book addiction. We love books and I just can't say no to a book. She has taken in her own books many times as she also likes to read them on the bus as she is one of the last ones off the bus each day so even after finishing her homework there is time to read. It's just frustrating as I know many kids don't have the access she has to books. We read bedtime stories every night, a chapter or two of whatever we are currently reading, as well as every morning as she gets dressed. We love to read and she loves to read but hates to have limits imposed on her. She wants to be able to pick what she reads and is just not getting that very well in the library at school although she is thrilled to finally be one of only 3 kids in her class allowed to get a chapter book.