Yes, I have been in a similar situation. And I am not the one to cause a fuss my son always is... He is not easy going and certainly would balk at Thomas the Train. He has always hated Thomas and Thomas books so this would have been especially problematic. It has been a problem for us since kindergarten. However, it has always been the 'independent reading' time. Anyway, I tell the school I am sending in books for him. I spend so much time and money finding books at approx. his level (according to the school) that are also his interest level and satisfy his craving for challenge. Last year - teacher was easy-going and flexible and it wasn't much of a problem. This year the teacher is more into teaching "obedience" rather than "reading" and kicked up a fuss. I finally put my foot down and just told them I'm sending in books and the\y need to just deal with it. They (teacher AND principal!) kept arguing with me and I just kept saying over and over "I am sending in books and DS is not to be punished for that." I explain that it's not costing the school anything, it's not only no using school resources but contributing and clearly what I do works because my son's reading scores are the highest in his class and continue to go up. I had to repeat this ad nauseam at the last meeting. Their only argument that had any teeth was that they feel uncomfortable because other kids will not be able to read those books but we told them we would absolutely make them available to others and/or donate the books... however, the fact that no one else is on DS reading level and therefore not permitted to read the books DS is reading anyway whether school-provided or parent-provided makes their point moot anyway. That's what I am doing. The school hates me but they hated before this anyway. Really it makes no sense. Anyway, that's what I did. Good luck. It wasn't easy!
Last edited by Irena; 02/11/14 09:03 AM.
