Reading help

[yggdrasil]

So I need to get my 7 year old up to speed quickly in maths and English and anything else a 7 year old kid in the UK school system "should" know.

He is just about to finish at a (private) infant school that does only free play. So he has had no instruction in reading, writing or arithmatic except for what we've done with him in panicked moments.

We are planning to homeschool for junior school, but then he will very likely end up at a state comprehensive for secondary. It is especially important to dp that we keep broadly in line with the NC, so that is what we are going to do (I have a huge amount of sympathy for autonomous HErs but it is just not going to happen for us, for myriad reasons)

SO, I need to get him up to speed fast in Maths and English.

I gave him some SATs papers today ,really just to see exactly what we need to work on. His maths seems ok, he seems to be pretty securely at level 3 in the ks1 papers which I think is about right for a nearly 7 yo? Some gaps, but nothing huge.

English is entirely another matter, he can basically read, slowly, CVC (?) words, some "sight" words and a few other things, but I think we need to urgently do something about this. No idea what level he is SATs wise, I am not sure he could read the questions . He knows letter names and so on.

He is a very, very methodical child and I think needs a very structured approach with lots of practice.

So can anyone recommend a good reading scheme, preferably free.

We've just tried Reading Eggs (he tested out of this) and Starfall (seemed a bit too basic). His basic phonics seem secure but he is SLOW.

Oh and the other problem-he basically is not very motivated to read. He prefers maths.

Any thoughts?

[WildistheWind]

I would try Whizz.com for Maths ...they did wonders with my DD.

[yggdrasil]

mathswhizz no good because reading level required is too high-did trial.

His maths is about average for a 7 yo, as I say, but the problem is his reading isn't.

[stressedHEmum]

My 7 year old does Maths whizz even though he can't read very well. I just read the questions for him. His maths is quite advanced (well ahead of my schooled niece and nephew of the same age) but his reading skills are very basic and he can't write at all, really.

We do starfall, progressivephonics.com and he loves the MAgic Key books with Kipper and Floppy. We mostly just read stories and play word games. You could try Teach Your CHild to Read IN a HUndred Lessons. This is very methodical and starts from the very beginning, but my DS4 hated it and we got less than a third of the way through before we gave up. It as more trouble than it was worth.

If he knows his sounds and can sound out CVC words, the rest will come if you keep just drawing his attention to sounds and blends as you read. If you get stressed and worked up about it, it will put him off even more (speaks from long and scary experience!)

[MathsMadMummy]

for some reason I can't find it online now for a link, but there is a book in the For Dummies series, called 'teaching your child to read for dummies' or similar. we have it and it seems pretty good, loads of game ideas etc. may be worth a look.

it's from the US so obviously there are a few differences with spelling/pronunciation, but nothing major.

[itsstillgood]

www.amazon.co.uk/Ordinary-Parents-Guide-Teaching-Reading/dp/0972860312?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

We have this and while we have not done much seems okay. Very methodical.

If he is not very motivated then you may find a reading scheme is counterproductive as quite often stories aren't that interesting.
We used the Oxford Reading Tree a little bit, which is okay. Magic Tree House are good - they are aimed at developing those who can read a bit and are longer chapter books.
Personally I would forego the reading scheme. Do some games and practice through something like the programme above. Then get books he's interested in (Usborne Beginners are great)and share the reading of them (either pick out words or ask him to read a page).

[maverick]

You don't need to use American reading programmes which are likely to cause problems with accents/spelling (think dog /dawg!) -there are several very good English reading programmes.
This page lists the best -scroll down:
www.dyslexics.org.uk/resources_and_further_10.htm

Reading book-wise, it's important to use decodables:
www.dyslexics.org.uk/resources_and_further_11.htm

I use Dandelion books:
www.phonicbooks.co.uk/

HTH

[SnackTime]

I used Jolly Phonics, mainly because we live abroad and it's easy to get hold of on Amazon. But I've found their Grammar workbork great for revising phonics and providing a structured approach to teaching spelling and really basic grammar (punctuation, what's a verb, using capital letters, etc). It's helped both his reading and writing, and it provides worksheets, lesson plan, etc so you can just follow it for a couple hours/week and don't need to do the lesson-planning yourself!

Then you just need to hit the library and find some great pure phonics reading books. I love ORT Songbirds. The JP ones are useful, but dull. If you can find them, Magic Schoolbus do phonics reading books - more interesting for a math-mad 7-year-old boy maybe?