2008-09-10 The good old days

I have 2 daughters. My elder daughter (now aged 9) learned to read solely from the Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) scheme at school. No extra support from us was required other than listening to her read when the books come home from school. I thought my second daughter would 'pick up' learning to read as easily. However, it was abundantly clear after she started reception that she had difficulty remembering high frequency words and that the phonics did not come naturally to her. I browsed through Amazon and saw that these books came highly recommended so thought I would give them a shot. I purchased both sets (1 - 4)and was quite disappointed when the old 'Peter and Jane' books arrived...not quite what I expected!! However, my daughter and I have persisted with them over the summer(a couple of pages a day) and they have been fantastic. They start very simply 'I like Peter' etc. Key words are repeated over and over again and the vocabulary is built up very slowly. She can now read the book 4's pretty fluently (she is 5). I do not think she would have been anywhere near able to do this had we left it to the school. We still read the school books and they provide more interesting stories & stretch the vocabulary. From my perspective, the ORT does not provide a solid enough foundation for a child who needs lots of repetition. I have also felt more in control of her reading - doing it little and often in a structured way (rather than when the school randomly want to send a book home) and feel that these books have boosted her confidence. Having said this, I would not use them if your child is 'bright' as they can be dull and old fashioned. They have succeeded in getting us over the reading 'barrier' (getting her from a non reader to a reader) albeit for simple books. Finally....the reward came when she started in her new class (Year 1) last week and received a certificate for her great reading. I thank Peter and Jane (and who could forget Pat the dog..who we all like very much.....).