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Original poster

6 year old can’t read.

41 replies

KnoxValentine · 09/10/2018 20:34

Just that really, year 2 knows all the phonics sounds through repetition but can’t blend a single word, not one!!! Have any of you experienced this?

OP posts:

AutoFilled · 09/10/2018 22:22

My year 3 DC has never got the hang of blending. I think she just memorised the words? It is obvious she sees a new and long word. She struggles and comes up with guesses that include sounds not even in the word. She has a very good memory however.

Is the school also doing list of common words? My DC one is and they aren’t taught as phonics practice. Just a list of words to memorise and spell. Maybe an approach like this would help?

HairyToity · 09/10/2018 22:22

I'm in the same boat, although my DD is Year 1. Thanks for the suggestions.

ZigZagZebras · 09/10/2018 22:25

I'd really push for extra support ASAP, like pps mentioned it could be a sign of dyslexia, and even if it isn't it must be disheartening for him not being able to read at all during lessons.
When he's doing the sound like the the example you said, have you tried getting him to repeat it more than once until hes almost saying the word (eg. C - a - t then gradually saying it faster until he's basically saying the word with the sounds?)

He's recognising the sounds so I wouldn't worry that he wont learn to read, its just that basic blending is usually beginning part way through reception so the school really need to give him some extra support and maybe adapt the teaching style to a way he can understand for some 1-1s as it doesn't sound like blending is working for him.

Interested in this thread?

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6 year olds General education Primary education

GreenTulips · 09/10/2018 22:25

Try Nessy.com
Alpha blocks on you tube

I'd also push for a dyslexia test, suprised school haven't done one

Try signing up to Oxford Owl audio books (they follow the words as they are said)

KingIrving · 09/10/2018 22:28

Could you try the syllabic method at home?
DS2 learned to read using this method while we were living in Barcelona. When we moved to Sydney , he didn’t speak English but would easily read anything. Pronunciation and accent were of course wrong but not after a few months when he learned the language.
In the syllabic method it is about combining letters so B+A= BA, B+E=BE and so on. You start with the vowels and than You do a letter / day. So you for example M, you would do ME, MI, MA, MU... and try to find short words that start with this letters. So for MA you could do mad, mat, map.

There are several reading methods. It seems the Phonics isn’t working so either try at home another one or look for some help. Don’t wait.

sproutsplease · 09/10/2018 22:37

I am also surprised the school haven't done a dyslexia test, my ds was tested with out me asking and his issues were less severe. That said he went through the phonics system twice and never got a handle on it. He enjoys reading though now. How is you dc's spelling, handwriting and mental maths ?

cushioncuddle · 09/10/2018 22:43

Buy a book called - toe by toe. It's a reading scheme costs about £20.
Do it for 15 mins every day.

Ask for your son to be tested for dyslexia or another similar learning difficulty by schools Ed psychologist.

Tiggles · 09/10/2018 23:08

How often do you practice blending outside of reading?
For example if you give him a pen and say here's a P.E.N with a tiny gap between the letters can he get the blended word at all?If he can, gradually increase the gap until there is actually a pause between the letters. I used to do a lot of blending with mine without having a book at all, just to practice.
Or we played eye spy but with the first sound rather than letter name e.g something beginning with 'sh' rather than s.

EchidnasPhone · 09/10/2018 23:16

I agree with cushioncuddle. Toe by toe has been an amazing resource for us and has literally been a game changer. Getting help as soon as can save a lot of anxiety/school refusal/self esteem issues in the future. Also nessy is good but nothing helps better than one to one support.

StarShapedWindow · 09/10/2018 23:41

Sounds like your FC could be dyslexic like my own DC. They don’t like to test until DC is 7 but just keep going at their pace and make sure school are giving extra support.

StarShapedWindow · 09/10/2018 23:41

Sorry - DC not FC!

shouldwestayorshouldwego · 10/10/2018 05:33

They probably haven't tested him for dyslexia yet because he isn't 7. It certainly sounds as if treating it like dyslexia might help and pushing for an assessment as soon as he turns 7.

MrsPear · 10/10/2018 08:09

I would push for a hearing test - I picked up on the i’d guess it is ok. Not all hearing loss is the same. Ds1 jumps at noise but still wears two hearing aids and is at a unit. His affects how he hears speech.
Also confirm no eye sight problems - again a proper through test not a 5 minute read the letter one.

If physically fine then ask for a meeting with SENCO. In context ds1 couldn’t blend due to hearing loss but even he was reading by year 2.

Good luck

widgetbeana · 10/10/2018 09:52

Can he spot words that have similar pattterns? For example cat, hat, mat etc.
If he can do that then he can learn to read by pattern. My brother learnt this way as phonics didn't work for him.
First he learned a number of words by flash card sight. Common words (as, an, at, in, to etc) and then some base words (cat, hop, tin) so he had a point to jump off from. If he could recognise it to be similar to cat but with a 'h' he started to sort of blend them using what he already knew. So he basically made a giant web of words that linked together in his mind.

He is now a speed reader! He reads at phenomenal speeds!

bigKiteFlying · 10/10/2018 09:59

DS was five and near end of reception when we found this.

His hearing was borderline though.

We started with Bear Necessities and worked through.

Best tip they had was shouting out to blend - no idea why but that helped.

There was lots of practise - of sound and blending in the book - ten minutes a day was aim - so we did that every day for months.

They put in some help in year 1 in school and by end of year 2 was in higher reading groups - and of my children the one who reads most.

sproutsplease · 10/10/2018 16:15

widget that is really interesting, I am dyslexic and didn't learn to read until I was at least 7, I then somehow learned very quickly and read very fast, faster than anyone else I have ever met. This evened out English at school because although my writing was slower I could read everything at twice the speed. I have decided that it is pretty much the same process of predictive text on a phone, I only read the first few letters of most words and often don't need to read every word in a sentence. The brain can work in odd ways.

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