tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post184662124277486656..comments2024-02-27T10:50:27.922+00:00Comments on Books, Mud and Compost. And Horses.: More on age brandingJane Badgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-68671814949996133632008-06-12T20:49:00.000+01:002008-06-12T20:49:00.000+01:00Hmmm, Scholastic, perhaps I'd better not comment t...Hmmm, Scholastic, perhaps I'd better not comment too much about them...<BR/><BR/>Vanessa, I can only tell you about the school where I work but we do a LOT to encourage a reading culture in school. I wish I had time to type in everything that we do, it's not all educational - quite a lot of it is really fun stuff, and reading is beginning to be seen as a normal activity. It's not cool exactly but neither is it uncool these days. Of course, the huge variety of teen fiction and the excellent quality of most of it makes our job a lot easier!winniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11604372915138254345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-35821800578757609682008-06-12T16:44:00.000+01:002008-06-12T16:44:00.000+01:00Winnie - I hadn't thought of that. My daughter bo...Winnie - I hadn't thought of that. My daughter bought a Bratz book from a School Book Fair which was exactly what you say: "low ability, high interest". The literary quality was so low I complained to the school and to Scholastic, who said they would do something about it. They didn't. <BR/><BR/>Vanessa - but our children both have us there, bookish mothers, with homes filled with books, and lives in which the book is entirely normal. Our children might wobble, but I don't think either of them would be put off completely. I asked Miranda about this, and her opinion was that if you were seen with the "wrong" book that would matter, but you could do what you wanted at home. The sort of child Catherine is talking about has zero support from home, or even active discouragement. A lot of schools do try very hard to reach these children. One of the points I was trying to make (not very well) is that it is parents at whom the labelling policy seems to be directed, and that education needs to be aimed at them too. I think labelling should be part of a much broader scheme, not just a sales push.Jane Badgerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02628233623713926723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-66217384989830568702008-06-12T15:28:00.000+01:002008-06-12T15:28:00.000+01:00But it isn't necessarily going to be removable and...But it isn't necessarily going to be removable and any labelling will put off children who are hugely susceptible to peer pressure and stigmatisation. My son is the youngest in his class and would hate to be seen reading/wearing/whatever something that might be considered 'babyish'.<BR/><BR/>That children get to 11 and don't know how to pick up clues about a book's contents is perhaps a sign that more needs to be done in schools to instill a love of and knowledge of books rather than causing problems for a larger number of kids with such a clumsy policy age-ranging.Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05202371837109856183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8782167599693788794.post-14754009703647016682008-06-12T10:02:00.000+01:002008-06-12T10:02:00.000+01:00I still can't make up my mind how I feel about age...I still can't make up my mind how I feel about age banding. Wasn't it the Dragon Books (of my youth) that were banded - this would be back in the sixties/seventies? I'm tempted to lapse into a cliche and say 'it never did me any harm'!<BR/>I think the biggest fear that people have is that struggling readers would feel stigmatised if they were seen reading books for much younger children but these days there are so many books produced for different age groups which are 'low ability, high interest', that I think this stigmatising argument is not all that strong.winniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11604372915138254345noreply@blogger.com