Off to School

Reading to children — Reading to Children

Reading books with children is far more than just the words on the page.

It’s about building experiences and learning new vocabulary.

Simple rhymes, from Nursery Rhymes to songs, are great for capturing the attention of the young listener.

But stories are also about the imagination, the discussion and the time to look at the illustrations.

It’s about building memories and experiences too.

You can change the words or omit words to suit the occasion or reader, you can simplify or expand the story ideas through discussion and if you know the text you might know which words to skip over.

Alexander Days and Reading

Over the last few years, I have shared several books with my grandson and we have loved talking about them.

We have acted them out, changed the words to suit us and have read some over and over again.

My grandson goes to the library with mummy, he also has lots of books at Nursery and at home, so the books we read with Nanny have to be different.

A book for school As he was soon off to big school and reception, I found an older book by Shirley Hughes called ‘Lucy and Tom at school’. Perfect I thought.

I bought an old copy and we read it together.

Yes, it was dated.

“What’s a satchel?” he asked.

But I also remember that was how it was when my children (Alexander’s daddy and Aunty Elly) went to school and how they might remember going to school too.

We read it through and then Nanny thought, with a few changes to the vocabulary and names, it would be more relevant to him. I read it and changed it as I went along.

So, I then wrote out and changed the book for Alexander and his sister Isabelle.

Alexander's adaptations

The story is about aa little girl going to school while her younger brother is not yet old enough, I switched round the two children for Alexander and Isabelle. Lucy and Tom

I changed the friend in Alexander's book to George, his friend from Nursery.

I also added a bit about jumping like a Wallaby as that's what Alexander did on our last Tuesday playdate.

The book is almost the same as the original in all other ways apart from satchel/backpack.

Alexander asked “What's a satchel?” for him it is a backpack.

There was a bit about a bully boy but I didn't want a bully boy however, Alexander said there was someone playing unkindly and broke the model he had built with his friend George, so I've added that.

A few more adaptations

I then remembered that my niece’s son was also starting school too, so I wrote a second for ‘Ezra and Orion’.

And what about ‘Riley, Harper and Freya’ in Australia? Then of course there was ‘Harriet, Georgia and Mable’. In both these cases it relied on adding in an older sibling already at school, the friend in their cases was either Alexander or Isabelle.

It didn’t take much to change them.

My own book ‘A Spooky Tale’ was originally ‘A walk through our neighbourhood’ with the children named in the story being children from my class. The book was adapted and updated with the names removed, but I also wrote a special edition naming my family, for my son’s wedding. You can do that as a reader it’s called artistic licence.

Alexander and I love bubbles; Isabelle seems to like them too. We bought a lovely book called ‘The Magic Bubbles’, with a few changes in the reading Oliver became Alexander and Mummy became Nanny.

Indeed any book is more than just the words, we certainly had a few discussions about starting school - with Daddy too.

Do you remember your first day?

I remember mine. book Lucy and Tom

Here is Alexander and Isabelle's story. (Thank you Shirley Hughes for the original book published in 1973)

Alexander & Isabelle

At School

(adapted by Nanny Sue)

Alexander and Isabelle were two little children who were not yet old enough to go to school. When it was fine they played in the garden. They looked over the gate and see what was happening in the street.

Often Alexander would have a pretend school. Alexander was the teacher and if Isabelle was in a good mood she would be one of the class.

But sometimes, especially when it rained, Alexander was bored. He was tired of playing with Isabelle. He was tired of his toys.

His mummy said that he was nearly five he would soon be going to a real school.

Alexander had his school things ready. He had new grey trousers, a pair of shoes, a school sweat shirt and a backpack. Isabelle wished that she had a backpack too.

Alexander and Isabelle knew where the school was. They had seen the boys and girls going in, and heard them shouting at playtime.

On the first day of school Alexander held his Daddy’s hand very tightly. In the school playground there were a great many children waiting to go in.

They saw Alexander’s friend George. He was peeping out from behind his mummy and holding on to her coat.

In the cloakroom Dad helped Alexander to find his peg and hang up his jacket. Alexander’s peg had his name and a picture of a teddy bear above it.

In the classroom was a smiling teacher. She was writing down their names.

She said, “Hello, Alexander! Hello, George!”

She was called Mrs Wickstead (_________)

The classroom was full of children and a great many interesting things to look at. There was a little toy shop with pretend money.

Alexander and George started to play in the shop with three little girls.

The mummy’s and daddy’s watched for a while. When it was time for them to go and get on with their shopping Alexander did not want them to leave. Alexander’s Daddy gave him a hug and said, “See you at home time. Look after George, won’t you?” Alexander wasn’t feeling specially brave, but he went to play with George. Isabelle yelled on the way out because she wanted to go to school too.

At playtime Alexander had a snack and some milk with a straw. The playground was very noisy. Some children were chasing about and some were walking and talking with their friends. Alexander and George had a quiet game in a corner and ate their snacks.

After Playtime Mrs Wickstead (___________) read a story. They thought she was a very nice teacher indeed.

Later Alexander sorted some shells and coloured a picture.

“What did you do this morning, now I am a schoolboy?” Alexander asked Isabelle at dinner time. Isabelle had done some colouring too.

Alexander’s best thing at school was music and movement. He liked pretending to be a tiny mouse and then growing into a huge giant. He also liked jumping like a Wallaby.

He liked it when they dressed up and acted out their stories.

He liked Assembly too, because of all the singing.

Alexander didn’t like it when children were playing unkindly and spoiling games or breaking the models he had made.

Some days Alexander looked forward to going to school and some days he did not want to go very much, but he soon got used to it.

Now Isabelle was bored at home. She missed Alexander and he was often too tired to play when he came home from school. She followed Mum about wanting something to do.

Mum said that Isabelle could join a playgroup in the mornings. She bought her a backpack just like Alexander’s. She put into it some spare clothes, some toys and an old teddy.

At the playgroup Isabelle painted and sang and played with toys. There were plenty of boys and girls there to be her friends.

Isabelle liked the playgroup so much that she ran ahead of Mummy every morning to get there first. Now Isabelle was a schoolgirl too.

The story certainly did encourage a lot of discussion about going to school.