By Lucy Carroll
Frustrated parents have criticised a decision by an inner west public school to ditch physical books and instead ask kindergarten students to read on screens as part of their home reading program.
In a letter to families, the school’s staff told parents there would be a “slight change” to the reading homework for kindergarten students, saying that instead of sending home books, children would be accessing an e-library.
The decision to swap traditional books for a digital library prompted some parents to lobby the school to overturn the decision, urging it to reconsider due to concerns about limiting screen time for four and five-year olds.
Rosa Brown was concerned when her local public school switched from traditional books to an e-library for kindergarten students under their home reading program. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
“We value the idea of traditional books, and didn’t want to use an iPad to help teach our son to read,” said Rosa Brown, whose son was in kindergarten when she was told about the switch in term 2 last year.
The move to home e-readers comes as parents are battling to limit screen time for young children and primary students are increasingly using iPads in the school classroom, for homework and assignments. Some public schools ask parents to buy the latest generation iPad and accessories – at a cost of more than $500 – for year 3 and 4 students under “bring your own device” policies.
Research has shown that reading on screens doesn’t have the same benefit as reading print books, while excessive screen use for toddlers can damage language development.
Some studies have indicated increased screen time for toddlers can hinder language development.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Schools have for years given kindergarten and year 1 students printed “home readers” – short books for beginner readers to help build fluency that students can rotate each week.
In 2021, every kindergarten class was given new readers under a syllabus overhaul that intensified focus on literacy and mandated the use of phonics.
Brown said she was surprised when her school notified parents that rather than sending home books, the school had “subscribed to an e-library”, and would give kindergarten students individual online logins.
Another parent at the school, who spoke anonymously in order to speak freely, said they were trying to cut back on screen time for their kids, “so to be told home kindy reading would be done on a screen was not ideal.”
‘We want to build a love of reading, not a love of devices. We want the kids to love books.’
A parent who is critical of the e-library decision
“There was no explanation from the school. So we’ve taken on more responsibility, we’ve bought our own sets of beginner readers and get them from the library. The main thing is we want to build a love of reading, not a love of devices. We want the kids to love books,” they said.
Brown said while she had a “strong preference” for teaching children to read at home with physical books, she understood schools under budget pressure may be trying to save on costs, offer a greater variety of books and reduce the possibility of lost or damaged books.
“Some parents were less concerned, but we were really hoping for a choice. We were told individual families could request a printed book for home reading, but were also told those books were old, outdated and some parents were reluctant to single their children out,” said Brown.
“We are grateful for the dedicated work the teachers do to support the students, but the concern was that the school was limiting the options to take physical readers home.”
Some schools have shifted primary aged homework online.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
A spokesperson for the NSW Education Department said schools and teachers make decisions around the use of technology in the classroom in consultation with their parents and carers.
“If parents have questions about the use of technology at their child’s school they should contact the school,” they said. “All NSW public schools have libraries with physical books. Some schools also provide e-books and e-readers.”
Pamela Snow, a professor at La Trobe University school of education, said it was unnecessary to introduce screens in teaching beginner readers.
“They are a distraction as they have other apps on them. We can teach children to read perfectly well without them, and if we are introducing technology we really need to prove it adds value. I’m not aware of any evidence that tells us it helps young children learn to read above and beyond proven approaches delivered by teachers,” she said.
Snow said about a decade ago schools “became very excited about the use of technology”. Some school classrooms became crowded with screens, and primary-aged students using iPads at school and for homework became normal, she said.
“For reading instruction, there may well be apps that make a contribution, but for frontline reading instruction there is no established reason for five-year-olds to have screens,” Snow said. “When we have very effective approaches to early reading instruction, parents are entitled to see evidence that the use of technology is warranted”.
The Department said they do not have data on how many laptops and iPads on average are in public schools as the devices are not centrally managed.
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