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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

1 2

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

reluctant readers thread

47 replies

Cappuccino · 04/01/2007 11:15

just wondered if there was a need for thread for parents of reluctant readers; seems to come up quite a bit

my dd is 6, in Yr 1. She fannies around when reading and we want to kill her. Though she does enjoy word games and flash cards

come on in

OP posts:

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Lucycat · 04/01/2007 11:16

Does she mind reading? or does she fanny around to irritate you?

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Cappuccino · 04/01/2007 11:16

I think she finds it hard tbh

so the fannying

OP posts:

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Helplease · 04/01/2007 11:47

DD just blanks anything when she trieds to read...then gets upset, so Im now going to take a step back, as its only upsetting her more,without you lot I would still be fretting!

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Labradora · 04/01/2007 11:48

Have you tried rewards?
Have you tried picking different time of day when not tired, needing the loo etc.? HTH

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themildmanneredjanitor · 04/01/2007 11:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

krabbiepatty · 04/01/2007 11:55

ooh, I would like to join. DS1 is 6, in Y1 and seems reluctant to even try reading. have tried not to impose own anxious academic overachiever baggage on him but feel there must be something could be doing to help him feel he wants to read...

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Jelley · 04/01/2007 11:57

I'll join.
DD2 is 6 and yr1. She was truly appalling last year, but last half term her school did an intensive "Early LiteracySupport" course with her, and she has improved massively. It finished at Christmas, so I need to keep her going now.

She barely knew her letters, and had no interest or motivation before, spending any time I tried to get her to read sliding onto the floor and doing silly voices.
Now she knows her letters and can read very basic stuff, but the motivation is improved.

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throckenholt · 04/01/2007 12:02

janitor -

unti;l his expression improves and his fluency....but he reads well for me! its just when he reads school books.... very frustrating

tell the school that - sounds like he is bored senseless with the ones he is doing at school - ask them to mix his books up a bit and give him a bit more interest and challenge.

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Bozza · 04/01/2007 12:20

Hmm DS sounds a bit like yours themildmanneredjanitor. He is 5 and in Y1 and will quite happily stand in the bathroom reading my conditioner bottle ("what does that word say mummy?" "protein") but seems to turn off at his reading book. But when he settles down he can do it. Very frustrating.

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Enid · 04/01/2007 12:22

dd1 is mildly dyslexic and has a terrible terrible memory

she also is a masterful fannier

we do 10 mins a day with a timer - 15 successful sessions means £2.50 for her. It has worked a treat.

She is having extra lessons outside school and has improved HUGELY

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KathG · 04/01/2007 13:40

Do you switch the timer off when she stops concentrating? I am sure we could spend 10 minutes discussing - for instance this morning:"why doesn't Father Christmas bring presents for the cats?"

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Bozza · 04/01/2007 13:59

Yes kathg I make DS read x number of pages and it is largely up to him how long it takes. Very frustrating that on days I work he wastes so much time on it and then doesn't have much left to play.

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Labradora · 04/01/2007 14:09

Have just been browsing the net - has anyone used easyread? It's a website learning scheme based in Oxford particularly good for dyslexics and reluctant readers.

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saffy202 · 04/01/2007 14:11

DS2 was a reluctant reader. Would mess around with his school book although he still managed to be on top table for literacy. He just didn't seem to realise you could read for enjoyment. He is now 8 and dh started to buy him the Beano comic once a week, we have never looked back. Since November he has read all the Horrid Henry books and now gone onto Captain Underpants. I think some children just discover reading a little later than others.

DS1 much prefers to read non-fiction to fiction.

I have always been a bookworm so it was very alien to me that the children just didn't seem to 'get it'.

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poppyknot · 04/01/2007 14:17

themildmanneredjanitor - this seems a bit like DD1. In P1 she was confident and now in P2 she is slipping and not at all fluent.

Reading from her schoolbook seems to bring on tears and we can rarley get through the 5 or so pages. Have spoken to teacher and she is uncertain what exaclty to do.

The confidence thing seems to be the main barrier. She talk of the 'clever girls ' in her class who she knows are on the next stage.

Writing seems to pose a similar scenario (I dno't want to say problem !).

Having said all that a couple of days ago for the first time she picked up a Dora book and actually read through it like a story to me and her sister.

I just have a feeling that with reading there is a eureka moment which will come at different times which you can't force upon them, just assist with offering clues and encouragement. A lot of the mystery of the written word will suddenly fall into place.

Everything seems so geared to tests and levels (to whose advatage?) but I have to remind myself that she is still only 5!!!

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themildmanneredjanitor · 05/01/2007 10:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

krabbiepatty · 07/01/2007 22:13

Am trying Enid's ten minute thing and seems to be having some effect though am ashamed to admit that DS1 has pushed the price to £5 for ten sessions...

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MorocconOil · 09/01/2007 15:04

Both my sons,reception and Year 1 are reluctant to do their reading. With ds1 I think he got demoralised by the competition between the pupils to move up the Oxford stages. I am still positive that it will suddenly click although it is really sad when he says he is rubbish at reading. I have found with ds2 that a chocolate reward at the end of reading his schoolbook makes him more amenable. I try to read as much to them both as poss as people have said this has a huge influence on a positive attitude to books and reading.

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anemone · 09/01/2007 19:21

Same story for me - DD (Reception) doesn't seem to understand anything beyond reading out some letters, she just works things out from pictures. She can't connect letters to words (THE is a great mystery after what seems like months on end. OK, so it isn't obvious at all). She also still thinks you read books and pages in all sorts of directions. I wouldn't mind but I've been reading 3 books a night for 2 years and she always seems to follow the orders of pictures. Her teacher's put her onto level B (red square) Oxford, whatever that is, and she's upset because other kids are on level something - red star. Sometimes the books are just too hard and she gives up - I've written it in her reading diary, but the teacher persevered with an even tougher book!
I want to be relaxed but it's nagging at me (bookworm mum, perhaps I put her off?)

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hotandbothered · 09/01/2007 19:41

I find this all so sad....
Think there is an argument for getting rid of reading schemes after all if this is what is happening in so many schools...
Nearly all of you have said there isn't really a problem reading 'real' books at home,it's the school reading schemes which seem to put many children off. Reading should be a pleasure, not a chore or competitive.
Advice? Well I'd start with letting your children read what they want to read at home (I'm sure you all do this!) Any reading is valid - cereal packets, bus timetables, chinese takeaway menus etc etc. I'd worry less about the school books - read them to your children/share them informally etc - and write in the book what you have read at home... Your children should get a huge boost in self-confidence to realise that they are reading stuff their peers aren't! Keep on with the phonics games when you are out and about - who can see a red 'b' etc, learn the words if you can and take the emphasis off what number book they are on. HTH. Will come back if I think of anything else...

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NorksBride · 09/01/2007 19:57

The school books are mostly drivel. The complete lack of story does not encourage the excitement of getting to the end of the book. DD has been reluctant, & like Poppyknot, there has been talk of the 'clever girls'. (I know who she's referring to and they are bossy show-offs!).

DD was also exhausted by end of last term which didn't help.

I have started putting 'secret messages' on the fridge and she is loving that. There isn't a word that she hasn't been able to sound out yet. And the messages are really exciting - 'there are sweets on the log burner' etc!

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ipanemagirl · 10/01/2007 11:16

I empathise with loads of these posts and had lots of advice when I posted yesterday here:

Primary :My Year 1 ds is not progressing in reading - should I panic?

My ds is yr 1 and very reluctant to do writing practice for his weekly spelling tests but he does seem to be able to read some of the simpler school books (level 1) but we wonder whether he's half memorised them. Today he couldn't find 'Wednesday' for his magnetic fridge calendar - he just can't seem to distinguish M and W or like b and d unless it's a word he knows like mum or dad.

But he's about to start 10 weeks daily 20 mins extra coaching in class with the teaching assistant in a small group. I panicked thinking this must mean he's struggling terribly but the teacher said she thinks he needs an intensive boost to move on. I think he is befuddled by all the different methods as well though.

If I had another child I would try to get the alphabet really mastered much younger before the Attitude From Hell starts!

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prettybird · 10/01/2007 12:13

My ds is 6 and in Primary 2 (roughly equivalent to Y1). He has to be encouraged with his reading - but loves his numbers. It is frustrating for us as he is so close yet so far.

We'd raised it with the school last year that he could recognise all the letters but that he couldn't "blend" at all. Any "reading" he was doing was purely by word recognition and memory. They told us not to worry until he was 6 and that it was a developmental thing - some kids are just not ready until a bit later.

This year they have tried really hard with him - they gave him a load of extra one to one sessions for a couple of months in an attempt to keep him with the "top" group of readers (where most of his friends are), as they acknowledge he's bright. However, although he did improve - and with effort, could read the books that they were doing (although again, a lot of it was from memory after the first, painful, read through), he couldn't really cope with the extra work they were doing around it - the free writing, describing what was going on etc. In consultation with us, we agree that he should move to the next group, so that he didn't continue to be frustrated and potentially damage his confidence 9as he hates not being able to do something).

The problem is that really he is between the two groups - he is not being stretched at all by the new group - but at least our reading "homework" is no longer as painful. We are doing our best to try to encourage him to read other things at home - although he is a bit reluctant and gets annoyed at being ?pressurised?.

However, he has started ? off his own bat ? writing his own wee stories and working out the words for himself by ?sounding out?. Sometimes he gets it spectacularly wrong (eg flying is something like feya) ? but they are getting gradually better ? and the point is, he is trying.

We are torn between wanting to push it (he can do it if he puts his mind to it, but he is not good at doing things if he might be wrong) and not pressurising him (as two academic, book loving parents).

Having said all of that- he loves his numbers, is in the P2/P3 group and finds it easy.

It?s all swings and roundabouts!

Interestingly, his closest friend is nearly a year older than him (ds was 6 in September ? his friend, whose parents chose to hold back and start school a year later, was 7 in December) ? and his parents say he didn?t click till about a year ago.

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MorocconOil · 10/01/2007 12:25

Since posting yesterday my ds1 has started wearing glasses for reading etc and last night was absorbed with the Beano for over an hour! This is the longest he has ever 'read' for. He had complained at not being able to see small letters for a few months and I just thought he'd been using it as an excuse for not doing his reading. We had his eyes tested last year for a similiar reason and the optician said they were fine. Now I am wondering whether he's just not been able to see the words properly and that has slowed him down. However I do think they all learn at their own pace and it does sometimes seem like it's a race to learn to read with SATS etc. I don't sense a feeling of enjoyment about learning to read for my sons. I can't remember it being like this in the seventies.

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ipanemagirl · 10/01/2007 13:43

does anyone know why we start earlier than some continental countries and yet produce far poorer literacy levels at school leaving age? Is it historical that they have to start reading 2 years earlier than those countries? It seems a real shame for the children whose confidence gets so knocked by our system. I wonder what they do with children in Europe who can read earlier than 7?