How can I help my DS read

I'm 100 percent not pushing.
I was also asking him to recognise the words in the book and he said ' mum just read it !
You are pushing if you are asking him to recognise words in the book instead of just reading to him

He's working hard at school, he's learning a lot every day. Just read to him for now and let him enjoy this phase.

Being able to read the words is only part of reading. The thing you want to foster the most at his age is a love of books.

Share them together. Picture books are great books with no words are fantastic - talk abut what you can see, ask him how he thinks the characters feel? What does he think is going to happen next?

Take him to the library. Share a menu with him when you go out for dinner so he can see the point of it.

@doero my son will be 5 in December and is about the same. He loves books and we've always read to him daily. Percy park keeper/Winnie the witch type ones in the daytime and now longer chapter books like Olga da Polga and animal ark type books at night. He's definitely got loads better at recognising words/letters and sounding them He's always remembered things from the stories we read and can easily answer questions or "correct" us when we're talking about stuff so I know he's really following the stories and enjoying them. He likes to work out what will happen next etc.

He was never ever fussed about phonics, writing, even drawing when he was at nursery. He hated alpha/number blocks! But he's always had a great imagination and can play out long scenarios with toys or with us.

Since school started, he's loving learning and picking things up really well. We don't really push it at home though, we still read, we try more craft stuff now he's more interested and keep doing things like playing doh and baking to help his hands get stronger.

One thing he loves is "playing school" where he's the teacher and we're the kids. He tells us what to do "hang coat up, write your name" etc and he "helps" us with writing and we ask him to read us a story - his reading book he brings home from school that they do every day.

Just keep things fun and engaging, don't push it if he's tired or maybe even just had enough of it after school (D's is much more enthusiastic about this stuff at a weekend compared to after school for example) and I'm sure he'll be fine! Try not to worry or compare, there's always at least one parent with the kid already reading war and peace and good for them but it doesn't take away from other children's progress!

Sounds absolutely fine and on track. My son was exactly where yours is last year, and today he got an early reader chapter book out of the library, determined to read it. (I don't think he'll get far as he'll get bored, but he can read a page of the easy-ish text.) He also passed the mock Y1 phonics test they do the check levels already - actual test is next summer.

Just encourage a love of reading, take him to the library, let him read what he likes.

He's been at school for 3 months, it sounds like he's doing great. The most important thing at the moment is encouraging enjoyment of reading. Lots of reading with him and reading to him. Real world reading (and writing) too, not just books - signs, shopping lists, board game instructions etc.

This is coming from more than 30 years primary teaching experience and mother to two adult DC one of whom is dyslexic.

Just relax. Let him look at and talk about the pictures! He's only little! It's all part of building up a love of reading and learning to notice detail and interpret meaning from a page.
You could try flash cards for 'tricky words' but I really wouldn't push it. Read to him lots and lots. That's it!

I read in school as a volunteer and there's a significant proportion of year 2 children who are at that stage - please don't worry just keep reading the school books regularly with him. Little and often will improve fluency naturally.

Also read to him regularly and ask him to follow the words along to model fluency.

Just read to him. Lots. It's easy to put them off at this stage. And let him see you reading. More importantly, let him see his dad and other men in his life read-a lot of boys are put off reading early because they see it as something girls/women do.

Hi, he’s doing well for reception.

I have one that really struggled with reading and was still on reading bands in year 4 and another one that was one of those early readers smashing through all the levels.

One thing that is really important isn’t just reading but comprehension. It sounds like your son is enjoying the story and looking at the pictures because he’s taking in what’s actually being read to him. This is a really important skill.

Let him enjoy being read to, seeing the pictures, going to the library, reading signs, making shopping lists etc. This is all reading and it’s all going in.

Flash cards are great if he enjoys them. Otherwise I’d make labels for some things around the house with simple words like ‘pens’, ‘toys’, ‘books’ etc. I did this for mine and it really helped.

They all go at their own pace and all have different strengths. He’ll be absolutely fine x

My advice from experience would be take the pressure off. Make sure it's fun. If he doesn't want to do it, don't push it.

It will come. He's only been in reception 2-3 months.

My son didn't like it, but now in year 4 he's the best in his class.

Reading at home should be all about fun. Please don’t worry about flashcards or phonics, certainly not yet. One thing my mum used to do, which had us all rolling around in hysterics, was change each word in a story that began with an ‘s’, into the word ‘sausages’. So, ‘the boy ran along the street’ became ‘the boy ran along the sausages’! We all became desperate to have a go at reading aloud, and change the words into other silly words ourselves, and things just rolled on from there.

That's a perfectly age appropriate level of reading. Just make sure that after he's (laboriously!) spelled out a sentence, that he goes back and says it again, ideally with a bit of feeling. Eg "ch-i-p w-a-s s-a-d. Chip was sad!"

Remember in some other countries they dont atart formal schooling til 6 or 7

Please relax OP. He isn't struggling, he is learning at (the top end of) a completely normal pace if he can segment and blend already. He has only been doing it a few weeks! He doesn't need to be sped along at this stage. Just have fun, let him read words in the books that you're reading together, point out words on road signs etc. One thing when one of my kids got a bit behind in phonics, we looked at what phonics sounds she was learning (eg 'oa' in boat, goat, toad, foal etc) and I'd draw pictures on one sides and the words on the other for her to match (by drawing lines from the words to the picture). Sometimes with a couple of letters missing when she was more confident. It helped when there were specific digraphs and trigraphs she was struggling with and she loved it for some reason

He'll be absorbing more than you realise. Just read a picture book eg The Gruffalo. Do the silly voices. Make it loads of fun. As he gets to know the story, start to run your finger under the line as he reads.

A book at bedtime is plenty. If you both enjoy it, more is fine.

But honestly, IME a child who is heard reading regularly at home will almost always nail reading by the end of Y1 - by which I mean, they will be reading two syllable words, sounding out more complex words readily ('It was a gi-nor.... girnormous pumpkin!') and moving steadily through whatever reading scheme the school has.

The exceptions will be DC with issues like dyslexia. It doesn't sound as if you have this issue so just keep it fun and light for now.

I think you're overblowing this quite a lot. He's four years old. He will learn to read at school with someone qualified in phonics to teach him. Just concentrate on daily reading to him – 10 minutes is enough – and then follow whatever phonics support the school gives you.

He's doing exactly what he should be doing at this point.

The trick is to make them see what a wonderful super power being able to read is!
Join a library and make a trip there a treat.
Read to him every day and re-read his favourites over and over. Talk about the words, the illustrations, the author etc so he learns the conventions of a book. If you can afford a trip to a beautiful book shop, that's great
Above all, open up the wonderful universe of books, always make it fun, praise prolifically and never make it look like hard work.

DC4 can read fluently and flashcards were a huge part of that. Look up the philosophy behind word recognition in books like Peter and Jane. The idea is that a huge percentage of what we read are made of the same few words (and, the, it, is, but, etc). Learning to recognise them speeds up reading immensely and boosts their confidence.

They still can use phonics to sound out new words but recognising some core words really helps.

We used these ones:

First Words Flashcards: Ideal for home learning (Collins Easy Learning Preschool) amzn.eu/d/6gDMtFv

He is reading! Calm down, you’ll be amazed at what he’s doing by the end of the year & in another year or so. This sounds like normal progression to me (ks1 teacher).

He's finishing his first term at school. He is doing fine. Just hear him read regularly, and read to him eg at bedtime.

I hear a lot of readers in Y1 and Y2, and it's the ones who aren't starting to have some fluency at the end of Y1 that you need to start to worry about.

And I've known dyslexic children not 'get it' until some focused help in Y4, and go on to do vv well at SATS.

So don't panic.