BRP FAQ
From Usefulwiki
Frequently Asked Questions
Add your questions about the programme and we'll do our best to find an answer for you. I've started us off with a few questions and answers from the last five years.
Please leave any questions or comments you have on the discussion page.
What is Better Reading Partners?
A ten week intervention programme to improve the reading skills of children reading just below average. It works best for children whose reading age is about a year below their chronological age. These are often children who have some grasp of the mechanics of reading but have not 'taken off' as independent readers.
Who are the reading partners?
The programme relies on a trained ‘partner’ reading with the child 1-1 in a highly structured way for three 15 min sessions per week. Partners may be teaching assistants or other adult volunteers. Sometimes local businesses are happy for staff to take on the role of partners as part of their commitment to supporting the local community. These volunteers have to meet the same police checks as other school staff.
Is it expensive to set up?
Setting up a Better Reading Partners scheme can be quite expensive. Buying all the books new from a school supplier can make the costs seem very high. You may well be able to get funding to seed your BRP library but you are going to need lots of books. There are several ways to counter this:
- Use books that you have bought second hand. Try our Amazon Bookshop.Some second hand books on Amazon are even free, you only pay for postage. Your local Oxfam bookshop can often be persuaded to sell large quantities of books at a considerable discount, especially if you explain what it's for!
- Send out an appeal for good quality illustrated books amongst the staff and parents. It's surprising how many people have been hanging on to books and are only to glad to see them put to good use. Make sure people know the kinds of books you are looking for.
What if the child doesn't read at home?
If the child comes to sessions not having read it makes things very tricky. If there's a problem at home then try to find an alternative person to read with the child. Ideally this shouldn't be the class teaching assistant but a fresh face. Learning mentors are often happy to take on the role. It's also worth trying after-school or breakfast clubs.
Why are so many of them picture books?
It is important that most of the books are richly illustrated. There are lots of reasons for this. Picture books:
- Provide another layer of cues to help the child to work out the meaning of the text or to identify difficult words.
- Help to make the book look interesting
- Colour pictures can be reassuring to a child who is short on confidence about their reading skills.
- Learning to read diagrams and derive information from photographs is an important skill in itself.
Aren't these books too babyish for my child?
Picture books may seem babyish to adults but please be reassured. Each book is chosen to be exactly the right, best, next book for the child to make progress with their reading. Sometimes the actual reading age of a picture book can be quite high. Books that might be read by an adult to a child of three or four (sometimes even less) can have a reading age of as much as ten or eleven. The partner who is working with the child has been trained to work out your child's strengths as a reader and to choose books to help them build on those.
Obviously if your child is rattling through the books, making no errors you should make a note of this in the Home/School diary. This should be in your child's book bag and you should feel free to use it to make comments about your child's progress. The child's partner will be delighted to get this sort of feedback!
How can it help my child?
The chances are your child has been chosen because they are reading, in school, at a level just below average for their age. The programme helps by building on the child's strengths as a reader, increasing their confidence and improving their attitude to reading.
In a few rare cases parents may disagree with this assesment of their child's reading progress. There are children who seem to like books and read quite happily at home. Sometimes this happens because the child chooses books which are familiar or which don't challenge them to move up to the next stage in their reading skills. Other times it can be an issue of confidence in school masking their true reading abilities, especially in reading aloud in a classroom setting. Very occasionally the child has picked up the habit of skim reading just enough text to get an idea of the story but when asked for details of what they have read they can't provide them.
Finally, it is just possible that the programme can alert the school to overlooked, deeper reading difficulties the child may be experiencing (e.g. specific learning difficulties, eye problems, mild dyslexia).
All of these issues can be addressed by the programme, though some will indicate the school will need to arrange further interventions.
My child is doing this at school. What do I need to do?
Have a look at the Parents Page for tips on working on the programme with your child.
My child's school isn't running this programme. Can I use it at home?
Ideally if you'd like your child to take part in the programm you should approach their school. Many schools are being encouraged to take up the scheme by their Local Authorities.
Perhaps you could get involved in raising funds to buy books or even train as a partner yourself?
The scheme works best if there is a home/school partnership. Trying to use the scheme on your own would be daunting both for you and the child. The 15 minute sessions are intensive and it would be hard to be objective enough about your child's progress to really make it work.
However, some homeschoolers (especially in the USA) have made similar programmes work. This can be achieved by co-opting someone else, idealy not a family member, to take the partner's role. This person should really be trained but, at a pinch, might be able to use the resources here to support them.
If you are considering this route please leave a message on the discussion page for the FAQ and I will get back to you.
I don't have time to read with my child every night. Does that mean he'll miss out?
It is vital that the child reads the books to an adult (parent, carer, grandparent or even an older brother or sister) between sessions. Another adult in school can often be found to share this role with the parent. After-school club, breakfast club, learning mentors can all be useful for this. If you are given the chance to take part but are unsure about it try to talk it over with your child's school.
My child says we have to read all these books every night! When am I supposed to find the time?
This often happens at the start of the programme. Your child is probably enjoying the high level of positive attention they are getting from you! But it doesn't have to be so demanding. You don't need to read all of every book every night. You'll find that the partner has noted in the home/school diary in the reading bag exactly which (short!) passage she'd like you to hear your child read before the next session. If you have time you are free to hear your child read more than that but there's no compulsion. Just try to hear the child read for about 5 minutes from one of the books every night and make sure you've heard him read the starred passage before the next session.
