Bear with me here. When my brother was about ten years old, he had his book confiscated my our mum. I thought he was being punished for something. I found out a while later that, actually, his teacher had said the book was too advanced for him and Mum kept the book for the best part of the year. It was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. My brother wasn't exactly the best reader and writer in the world, but at this point he had read the first three books already and loved them! It was a very odd thing for our mum to do, even as a punishment.
The reaction to me reading them at the same age was totally different, but, I couldn't take them to school. Not because I didn't want them damaged or nicked, but because my teacher said I could only read books from a certain box in the Library. I didn't always finish them very quickly because I was reading other things outside school and my teacher said I was a slow reader, although my Dad did emphasise that I read other things. In Year 6 I was moved up a reading group or something and allowed to bring books from home and I can remember getting much more enthusiastic about reading because of it. Here's my question:
Is it possible that Primary Schools could hinder students progression with reading?
In truth, my dear old mum was definitely NOT in awe of that teacher. In later conversations, both my brother and my parents have agreed the teacher was Useless.
Mum was a total bookworm at one point and he reaction to me suddenly getting into reading, because of the Potter books was totally different. She took me book shopping for Enid Blytons.
If you're wondering where my dad was in it all, I think he was working. He doesn't remember the book confiscation episode or why it happened, at least he says he doesn't. I don't know if my dear brother was fibbing or has remembered things a bit crooked but if he was being punished, mum took the book for stupidly long time when she should have taken the PS1. Oh and Dad took us to the library every weekend so we were never discouraged from reading which makes the whole thing more baffling. I could ask mum about it but I can't be guaranteed a sane answer (sadly she has brain damage developing into dementia)
Anyway, my year 5 teacher had it in for me, just like brothers year 6 teacher. I went to a different primary school for those last two years because we moved and the schools were utterly different. My teacher acknowledged that I behaved well, but she seemed to think me a total dunce. My year 6 teacher was better at getting to know his students. HE actually sat down with the students every now and again and listened to them reading.
It's something to be aware of though. Two different schools and both created problems when it came to reading. And everyone discovers books at their own speed. I found a true love it when I was in my teens but I stretched out more in the last few years. My dear brother did mostly stick to the potters but about four years ago he got stuck into Game of Thrones and the Hunger games. LOVES them. Then not everyone is into reading. I know a few who aren't but that doesn't mean they're idiots, they just have other interests.
I had remedial reading classes at school because I was so behind in my age group.
Once the penny dropped I became an avid reader and have enjoyed creative writing ever since.
I left school at sixteen with few qualifications but my enjoyment of reading carried me on. I now have a first class degree, am a qualified physics teacher and run my own business.
My advice for any parent, especially those with sons, is if they find something they enjoy reading then go with it. If it's a graphic novel then buy them more, never ever stigmatize any form of writing. I left teaching because the constant drive to force kids down a narrow academic curriculum resulting in multiple pointless exam results kills the joy of learning.
Too many academics/parents/politicians have high blown opinions of what is 'worthy' reading and what is beneath them. It is all tosh, if your brother has read the first three Harry Potter books then he has imagination and intelligence. If his results at school do not reflect this it is probably because he has disengaged and who can blame him.
I have never read Shakespeare and have no particular desire to. My mate in top set English had to and hated it. I was in the lower set and we were given Of Mice and Men, The Silver Sword, Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies and I loved English.
Screw the system read, read, read whatever floats your boat just read and enjoy - it saved me from a lifetime of labouring.
Hi, Amelia!
I am replying to you as someone who
a) loves [well-written] books for children (the 2 Alice books tie for 1st place with an adult novel, Marge Piercy's Woman On The Edge Of Time, as my favourite books of all time);
b) hates shoddy books aimed at children;
c) is willing to lose money publishing the former; AND (more to your point)
d) wanted to be a teacher from the time I was 13yo... then dropped out of [an EXCELLENT] teacher training college [where I was doing really well and was a favourite with my tutor: a man who wanted to teach 3s-to-6es] largely because I realised that what the SYSTEM wanted was
i) pupils who conform, don't ask difficult questions, don't think for themselves;
ii) "teachers" who were really police to the children: belittling those who didn't conform, ignoring those who were "below standard" and NOT challenging (in the positive sense) those who were quicker than their peers.
It's MUCH easier to control a class of 35 children if they act as identically as possible. And control is largely what the school system is all about.
So, to your question: "Is it possible that Primary Schools could hinder students progression with reading?", the answer is: "Not only possible, but programmed".
"Education" comes from e/ex [out] + ductare [to draw]. So "to draw out". The modern "education system" is a misnomer: it isn't interested in drawing out. It's interested in hammering into shape.
Rant over.