Helping reluctant reader 7.7

[bearminimum]

I'm at my wits end with my 7 yr old who is in year 3 and on band 8 books. Teacher says that's a good level for his age. What bothers me is that D'S cannot be enticed to read. He likes us to read wimpy kid and Roald Dahl books and will read a bit if those to us now and again . I wouldn't mind if I felt my DS was putting effort into reading but he seems to want to get away with the absolute minimum. On the positive side he is very sociable amOngst his peers, enjoys going to school and behaves well in class. Half of me thinks u should just say bugger the reading and leave ur for abit whilst the other half thinks I should start a regimented programme of reading with him. Am at a loss here.

[MollieO]

Can you read a page and he reads a page? Find some books he enjoys? My ds is the same age and loves Captain Underpants books. Very funny and written in a mix of text and cartoon style, so more interesting to read.

Ds is a reluctant reader. He can read well but won't pick up a book to read by himself. He much prefers doing things.

I wouldn't try implementing a regimented programme as that is more likely to put him off.

[PastSellByDate]

Hi bearminimum:

I wasn't familiar with numbered bands (we use coloured bands) but looked up Longman book bands here www.longmanbookproject.co.uk/fiction/lbpf01.htm and Level 8 is actually reading for typical Year 3 (England)/ P4 (Scotland) students - so ages 7/8.

So first off your DS is reading at the appropriate reading age (ideal being to having a reading level equivalent to your chronological age - so not quite 8 & successfully reading books designed for typical 7/8 year olds). So that actually looks good.

I suspect it's the reluctant reader bit that may actually be more of the problem. Several suggestions:

Does he like magazines? Comics? Sure they're not high literature or school books, but they have all sorts of reading to do and can encourage vocabularly. My DD1 (age 9) is a keen Dr Who fan. She's always after us to buy the magazines - we cave in once or twice a month. We thought it was totally useless until one day she said:

Mom, you'll never believe it. Mrs. X has changed our writing groups and I'm now sitting with my arch nemesis XXXXX

Trust me our DD1 would never have used such language pre Dr. Who magazine. There's a huge range of magazines out there for all interests - have a look, this may help.

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We've also found with DD1, who was struggling with her reading (reading age roughly 1 year below chronological age and found reading out loud very difficult), that basically she found school books boring, so we've started incorporating our own as part of school reading (with school's blessing - although we actually didn't ask, they've been pleased with results and now widely encourage this approach).

Given your DS is reading more or less at the same level as my DD - can I recommend Lynne Reid Banks' excellent novel The Indian in the Cupboard - info here: www.lynnereidbanks.com/books/indian.html which we're currently reading. It's a total 'boy book' as my DD1 would say - but that doesn't stop her begging to read the next chapter - it really is a brilliant idea/ story. Some of the vocabularly can be tricky (Iroquoi - the name of the Indian tribe, etc..) so would highly recommend you read this with him and when he hits a difficult word, assure him that's a tricky word (or an American word) so he doesn't feel it's an issue that some words are difficult.

There are a number of websites that can help give you ideas for reading (as we've found school book selection is pretty dreadful, and our DDs actually crave a story with a bit of plot & excitement).

List of Classic books for children by age: www.kidsreads.com/lists/classic-lists.asp

Booktrust bookfinder also very good: www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/children/

The Guardian also had a nice insert about building a children's library: www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/building-a-children-s-library

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Several things we do to support reading.

We find school books pretty dire, so we limit reading school books to at least 2x a week, unless it is one that catches our DDs interest.

We are reading the Lemony Snicket Series to them out loud - we do bulk of reading, but are getting DD1 (age 9) to start to read a page or two (our usual ploy is to say we're a bit tired so can't manage to finish the chapter tonight - usually DD1 can't bear that so volunteers to read out loud to us). Info on Lemony Snicket here: www.unfortunateevents.com/ Wikipedia summarises review & criticisms also discussed below that: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Series_of_Unfortunate_Events#Reviews. Lemony Snicket isn't everybody's cup of tea - it's very dark - it's definitely not sentimental - but it's adventurous, the fact that children outsmart adults and always work out the problem first is a huge attraction & most chapters end on a cliffhanger - so it's very exciting reading.

Try and let your DS read something he choses and get the school to agree that he can write about what other things he's reading in the reading diary (if your school uses this). Our school has a clever ploy of asking children to recommend books for other children - this ends up with them discussing the book in great detail with the teachers, all of which benefits literacy. You could also suggest a library recommendation form is created for children so they can fill information in: Title, author, illustrator, publisher. Brief Summary. What you liked about the book. How you rate the book out of 5 stars. That kind of thing. Aside from creating the form (which an older year could design frankly) it involves the school in very little effort and means that the library is getting suggestions for new books.

Finally don't rule out your own childhood favourites.

[3duracellbunnies]

Much of the same as above, we bought dd some of the books that she loves being read to her, but said that we wouldn't read them, she had to. (was fairly confident she would cope with them).

If you want to use rewards and he likes lego, we are finding it is a great 'grown up' alternative to sticker charts. Buy a little pack (the under #5 ones- or chepo alternatives from poundshop), tell him each time he reads a certain amount to you that he can have one piece, so he slowly constructs his toy and gets a visual indication of his progress.

[Runoutofideas]

My brother - who was extremely bright as a child and is now a highly successful adult - didn't read at all for pleasure until he discovered Agatha Christies at about age 12. He could read, but didn't hugely enjoy it. It hasn't held him back in any way. I would say forcing the issue now could cause your ds to really resent reading rather than being a bit ambivalent about it. As the skills are clearly there, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[redskyatnight]

My DS was the same until very recently. (he's the same age as your DS).
He (grudgingly) read his school book and enjoyed being read to, but wouldn't voluntarily read anything.

We've found encouraging him towards non-fiction (so you can read bits of things rather than being overwhelmed by loads of text) and also things he is interested in (e.g. DK readers do some books on Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc) has really helped.

I also went to a presentation at school which pointed out that when we(as adults) read for pleasure we don't always go for War and Peace - we might just read some chick-lit - which made me realise that the books we were giving him were always at his current reading level - so although he could read them it was hard work for him. He's much happier having more access to books that are quite simple for him to read. (including 2 year younger DD's reading scheme books!)

(DS was also encouraged to read by the realisation that it meant he could read the instructions on computer games without always having to ask an adult )

[bearminimum]

Thanks muchly for all the suggestions. I knew the idea of regimented reading sessions was a bit daft. He has brought home a stage 9 ort book tonight which he enjoyed and sailed through. I am going to stick to reading school books twice a week and key him choose his own book from
Home and then comment upon that on his reading record. We already do a little book review on each book.
I am a bit confused by the level of book he has.... It's an ort book band 7 (turquoise) but it also says it is a stage 9 on the back. Is this a reasonable level for his age, teacher is not unduly worried

[redskyatnight]

What was his NC level at the end of Y2? "Expected" level is 2b. That will probably give you the best guide as to how he is doing relative to where he shoudl be - very hard to judge on 1 reading book especially as reading is about lots of things!

[bearminimum]

His nc level was 2c

[noexcuses]

Go with his interests - if it's dinosaurs try the Dinosaur Cove series.
Dr Seuss eg Horton hears a hoo - they rhyme even though longer stories so you can get a rhythm going & it's still a picture every other page.
Agree with you read a page, he reads a page strategy at bedtime.
I loathe them but the easy Horrid Henry?
Non fiction about football, space, bodies etc

If he has a DS you can get a few stories for that. This was a breakthough with DS. Easiest that I know of is
www.amazon.co.uk/Flips-Faraway-Tree-Stories-Nintendo/dp/B002RWJMJY/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327664657&sr=8-1-spell&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
DS is just rereading it (with a little help) now also in yr3.

[PastSellByDate]

Hi bearminimum:

I found this regarding coloured book bands and National Curriculum (NC) levels: www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.asp?GroupID=976642&ResourceId=4032623

So according to that turquoise is working to national curriculum 1a (children need to be working to NC level 2, ideally 2b by late spring) so his book does appear on target.

I'd continue to support reading at home but maybe let the teacher know through the reading diary how accurately your DS read the book first time - 100% word perfect, 95% a few words tricky (maybe write some examples) to disaster: reduced child to tears, much too difficult (which I doubt will happen, hopefully). Apparently 95% accuracy is ideal - so if your DS is struggling a bit first go (maybe 90% accurate), but then doing well second try - the book choice is about right. If he's word perfect first time round - then the book choice is not much of a challenge.

However, sometimes teachers wait for entire group to be reading book band at 95% accuracy before moving everyone up. Also bear in mind that sometimes the entire class reads a book (so might be significantly easier) for purposes of whole class exercises. It is important to support this - since especially for children struggling, doing the same thing as the 'bright kids' builds their confidence.

[redskyatnight]

PastSellByDate OP's DS is already in Y3.

2c at end of Y2 is "slightly below expected level" but he's not wildly off. Whilst it's encouraging that his teacher is not bothered (does she see him making good progress perhaps?) it may be worth asking how you can support his reading at home and how they are supporting it at school. I have an idea that at DS's school he would be getting extra support in reading at that sort of level, though not sure where the exact cutoff point is.

[bearminimum]

Hi and thanks for the further comments. We have horrid Henry which he enjoys so I will definitely give the idea of reading alternate pages a go. He has been having extra support in year 2 but not in year three. He is on the bottom table for ability. The teacher says he is very happy with the progress he has made. The turquoise book he went through last night was definitely too easy. The children now choose their own reading book so I think maybe this may have been in the wrong box. The year 3 teacher seems to organise books by stage not coloured bands which the year 3 teacher does. I will be having a quick word tonight to see if the school can giv him further support. Thank you again

[Bonsoir]

I agree with the poster who suggests you read alternate pages with your DS - my DD (7.2) reads independently/silently to herself (currently devouring those Darcey Bussell Ballerina stories) and then we read harder books (Ballet Shoes, Charlotte's Web) by alternating.

[bearminimum]

Hi there again, DS is on book band 9 gold books of ORT so 2b at Nc levels if that helps

[GrimmaTheNome]

Whatever you do, don't make reading a chore - it will be counterproductive.

If he doesn't like fiction, see if he'll go for comics (love that 'arch nemesis' ) - my DD was a reluctant reader but loved (and at 13 still loves!!!) the Beano.