good books for encouraging reading?

[thisisyesterday]

ds1 is a bit behind with his reading. he is only in reception, so i'm sure he'll catch up, but i just wondered if there is any point me buying some of the ORT books or similar to use with him over the holidays?
part of the problem is that they very, very rarely read with them in school. he has only been read to about 3 times this year!
while i do try and remember to read his book with him at home i often forget as I have 2 younger children as well and it's pretty hectic after school!

now, clearly i will endeavour to put a bit more effort in this end. a lot of the books we have here are not really suitable for him to read himself though.
either too few or too many words

i realise that we have plenty of opportunity to read all the time, on signs etc etc, and we do this. but he does also enjoy sitting and reading a book so any suggestions?

[anonymousbird]

I am that they don't read with him at school???? Only 3 times this year?

Our school is 3 times per week.. every week. And I think that is the norm. You need to be asking about that!

Anyway, sorry for the lecture.

We bought a batch of ORT books from ebay and my son loves them, Biff and Chip rock in his world. And it doesn't matter if you go over and over the same ones as it is all about repetition and confidence and familiarity. Start with ones that he won't struggle too much with, better a bit easy than a bit hard and I know the difficulties of having the younger ones as well - but even 10 minutes a day will help.

Any you get will be useful for the younger DC's. My DD (about to start Reception) cannot wait to get stuck into the ORT books she sees her brother reading.

Oh, and flash cards. You can down load the top 100 words on the internet and stick them to cards and have them to hand. We had a sticker chart to do 10 words per day to get us started, and then the next day we did the same 10 again. As he remembered them we moved on to a new 10 etc....

[thisisyesterday]

god i'm so stupid, i just remembered we have a whole set of "phonics readers" that a friend bought him from the book people which will be perfect!

i only remembered while i was googling and saw one on amazon lol

i am also at the lack of reading within the school. they say they don't have time to sit down and read with them a lot!!! admittedly they do other reading (ie, reading on the board, reading instructions and things on small group tasks etc etc) but yes, other parents have brought it up but nothing has changed.

[anonymousbird]

They sound ideal, good luck. Bet you can cover loads over the hols, and your son will absolutely love the regular one to one reading if he isn't getting it at school...... Very rewarding experience for you both.

[mumtoabeautifulbabyboy]

The school teach the children to read, but children need to practice this skill by reading out loud. This can be done by anyone and it would not be an effective use of a teacher's time to hear 30 children read aloud every day. She should be spending the time teaching. It sounds from what you are describing that the children are being heard read during guided reading sessions. Now ideally a TA or parent helper would be able to hear individual readers in addition to this but that depends on how much support the teacher has.

Children who practice their reading skills (learnt in school) at home frequently tend to flourish and children that don't can flounder. You don't need any particular skill to listen to your child read. Instead of buying ORT books can you ask for some from the school scheme to take home over the summer. I never mind sending some home as long as they are returned! The more practice the better!

All the best

[Feenie]

Excellent post, mumtoabeautifulbabyboy.

(It's 'practise their reading skills', though. Sorry!)

[LimaCharlie]

In reception DD was only heard reading by her teacher once each term to assess her progress.

There was insufficient TA help to listen to readers so it was down to a rota of parent helpers (I was one so this is how I know) to come in and listen to readers to make sure that each child was heard reading once a week in school.

DD read to me / DS / DH at least once a day and flourished, however I did see children with no entries in their reading logs other than the parent helpers and it seemed that these children did not progress so well.

Not at all judgy as life does sometimes get in the way of small stuff, but it does seem to be a skill that needs to be practised daily - perhaps you can get your DS to read to the younger DC to encourage him?

[mrz]

I certainly wouldn't buy ORT books or download flashcards instead let him choose books to borrow from the library and spend 5 - 10 mins a day practising his reading. Don't forget to practise his sounds too

[treas]

OP - you may find that ds will enjoy the following as a bedtime story with you reading mostly and him reading the odd sentence or page:

These are all books my dd came across in reception -

Q Pootle 5 and Percy the Park Keeper- Nick Butterworth
The Tiger Who Came to Tea - Judith Kerr
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly - Pam Adams
Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
Burglar Bill - Allan and Janet Ahlberg
*The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business - Werner Holzwarth
*Dirty Bertie - David Roberts
Dogger - Shirley Hughes (don't worry it's about a lost toy!)
Not Now, Bernard / Elmer / King Rollo - David McKee

*My dd loved these 'naughty' stories and they encouraged her to want to read for herself.

[nwmum]

hi
my ds in reception has been very keen to read the Dr Seuss books himself and they've bought him on in leaps and bounds

[mumtoabeautifulbabyboy]

Practice/practise arrrggghhh. I am usually so good at this - comes from years of report writing. Maternity leave is turning my brain to mush! Roll on September!

Also, I couldn't agree more about reading a range of books for pleasure and not worrying too much about ORT over the holidays. The libraries usually run a reading challenge over the summer and librarians are usually great at finding books suited to your child's level.
Enjoy