5 year old refusing to read

[Oysterbabe]

My DS has just started Y1. He'll be 6 in a couple of months. It is such a struggle getting through his reading books each week. He rolls around on the floor, refuses to look at the page, talks about random things, makes up the words. We finally agreed to take it in turns reading sentences and he can do it, but started yawning within a couple of pages and genuinely really struggled to focus long enough to get through it. It's an 8 page book.
He's a bright kid and doesn't have any behaviour issues, just when it comes to reading he has a block.
I'm not sure on the best approach.

Try at a different time of day? Or a book he's interested in?

What’s his focus like around reading in general? What kind of books do you read to him (eg: at bedtime, at weekends) and how well does he focus for these? Being honest how often do you sit down and look at books together? How often do you read to him? Does he focus on these stories? Enjoyment of books and reading is really important at his age, more important than ploughing through his reading books. I would make sure you have routines where you are reading books he enjoys together and modelling reading and literacy skills in your day, his school books should be part of this but make sure that mostly you’re reading books and stories he is interested in.

Check out Five Minute Mum - she has loads of ideas on her website.

Maybe he is bored/ the book isn’t challenging enough. Does he pick them himself? Maybe giving him a choice will help.

I used to put rude messages (poo bum stuff likely to get a laugh) on the fridge or make them read words to 'unlock' treats . In fairness the phonics books are bloody boring.

This was my DS(8) too, right from Reception and he suddenly decided to try learning to read towards the end of y1. No behavioural problems either, although dyslexia was suggested at the start of y3 but that’s almost been ruled out now.

Some children are simply not interested in sitting still and reading a book at age 5, especially the school phonics books which can be pretty boring. I’d suggest take the pressure off as you want him to grow to appreciate and love books himself, rather than having it forced by school and at home.

Go the library every week and let him pick several books for you to read to him at home. Read, read, read to him - he will be absorbing the vocabulary even if he can’t demonstrate that yet. Try reading the school books at different times of the day as sometimes when children have just got home from school the last thing they want to do is sit still and do more schoolwork.

Some people like websites like Reading Eggs and Teach Your Monster To Read. Also speak to his teacher and let her/him know he’s not interested and for any suggestions they can make.

Have you tried the library for books he might find something he prefers more or if you are doing biff chip and kipper my Ds used to read online sometimes .

DS has only just started reception but looking through the phonics books on the settling in with parents sessions, god they are dull. We read to him every night, we've just finished fantastic Mr fox. He is very able to follow the story, he recognises letters and some short words. He regularly goes and gets a book and just goes through it. Even if he's not reading the actual words following the pictures and habit of reading is a good thing. I don't want school reading to put him off, so we will still go to the library regularly, still read lots of other things. DH is also really into comics as that's good his mum got him reading as a child. They go to the comic book shop once a week and choose a comic, currently he loves scooby do. Try and instill a general love of reading outside of the chore of phonics books. Are there TV shows or sports he likes? Try and find books around these

Back right off. Read to him. Make sure there are plenty of books around of a level he can read(preferably on the easy side). Make sure he sees you and his dad reading for pleasure. Abd give it a month or two.

I often have more joy reading with DD before school rather than after. Or if we’re doing something like waiting for the bus. As others have said, the phonics books are quite boring (shout out to RWI grey level, exceptionally dull this week).

The time of day doesn't seem to make any difference. We tried this morning after a good night's sleep and he was yawning almost immediately. I do read a bedtime story with him each night. We could read more. He is very interested in history, anything involving ships in particular. He sat on my lap and we read a book about Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar yesterday and he loved listening to that. I'll try letting him choose some and finding some that align with his interests.
I remember his sister being reluctant for a while but she switched to loving reading fairly quickly.

As others have said read lots of books to him. Read a couple of pages of his reading book to him following the words with your finger then get him to read a page or ask him if he can find a certain word on the page. Perhaps read a line and he has to read the last word, try to make it a bit more fun. Sometimes you just read it and then ask him questions about what he thinks will happen next. At age 6 my little boy became obsessed with The Beano and kept wanting me to read that. I hated reading comics aloud but he loved them and then read them himself. Boys very often prefer non fiction so try to visit a library and let him find books that take his interest. You mentioned your daughter and I think in general girls prefer reading and they are all different.
You don't say that he has a problem with reading apart from not wanting to do it. As long as his teacher is happy that he reads to them at school and is making progress I should concentrate on more non fiction at home.

Is he summer born, recently turned 5. The academic pressure of year 1 can be too much for some younger children. In many countries, formal schooling starts later and 5 year olds are still in preschool like settings, playing for most of the day.

Tell the school the books are too much and play with him instead. Choose your own reading based on what he enjoys. 5 year olds are too young for homework!

Both of my boys were like this. Stop the school books for a while and switch to books that they are interested in. Mine both like the big DK books with lots of pictures.

DS2 has just started year 2 and with a new teacher engaging with him in a different way is very happy reading the school books again - and he can do it easily so all the skills were definitely going in!

Ignore the school books, they are super boring and it doesn't sound like he's ready. Read to him, lots. Picture books, history books, whatever he enjoys. Point out words and see if he recognises them. He'll get there at his own pace.

Honestly? I told the school we weren't doing the mandatory reading. I absolutely love books, I read voraciously, and the drivel they send home for kids would put me off for life. I don't want my DC to see it as a chore, it should be a joy.

Things I did do with them were: model reading and book engaged behaviour (lots of things to read all over the house, openness to buying them / borrowing for them a book when in shops or libraries if they saw anything interesting). I made sure they had Reading lamps next to their beds and said that as long as they were reading quietly in bed they could stay up 'later' to do that. Got them to help me with activities which meant they had to read me instructions.

My eldest is ten and works her way through series of books happily. My younger (7) is now getting to that point too, loves reading, borrows her sister's books, likes reading things over my shoulder on my kindle.

I'm not saying that some children don't need extra support, but this is what worked for us.

Definitely try get books, comics etc that are about anything he’s interested in.
Do you have a pet? If so, would he read to the cat, dog, hamster?
Does he have a favourite soft toy? I used to pretend DSs bear wanted to be able to read but being a bear it was quite tricky for him. I’d get the bear to attempt to read but make a real hash of it and found DS starting to help and correct him. Bear would say he was stuck/tired and ask DS to read the next page to him or ask if they could read a page each. DS would praise bear if he tried hard or got something right and this seemed to really help at the worst of his reading reluctance. It does take a leap of imagination for DS and some Oscar worthy performances from whoever is in charge of bear though. I was desperate by the time I got to this point though.

If it's the Biff and Chip type books from school then they are dull with dated illustrations. Most children find them soooooo boring and have zero desire to read them.
Read to him, buy him a comic, write a simple shopping list and get him to read it when shopping, buy trading cards in whatever he likes (Pokémon/Football etc) and you will soon find he can read and tell you 25 fascinating facts about Pikachu/Man Utd.

Thanks for the thoughts. As soon as I suggest reading his school book he gets upset and says he doesn't want to and it's too boring. It's frustrating because it would be over in minutes if he didn't make such a fuss.

I hadn't really thought about him not liking fiction as much, because for DD (and me!) it's the exact opposite. He is definitely much more interested in real historical events. I've ordered some kids books on Christopher Columbus (they have a project coming up at school on him), Napoleon and Henry VIII. He's shown an interest in Henry VIII as we went to visit the Mary Rose in Portsmouth. I'll also take him and let him choose some books for himself. I'll try and take the pressure off and stop forcing the issue, maybe just read a page to him then see if we can spot any di and trigraphs or words from his Common Exception Words list.

Is he the same with reading at school?

Op my DS was a exactly like this (now 11) , the more I pushed it the worse he got. I wish now that I hadn't stressed so much over it. It'll come.

The only way I ever got him to read was if it was right at bed time, in bed, as he saw it as a way to stay awake longer.

Really don't upset yourself over it though if you can.

Yes!
They have parents go in to read with the children and the mums are always telling me how they have to bargain with him to read anything and he's always trying to distract them by asking random questions.

I let DC1 ink stamp my arm once for each page that they read. It's amazing what a good motivator that is.

We also sometimes read the books with DC1 hanging upside down from the sofa like a sloth and me sat on the floor holding the book upside down so they can see it. That also works well.

If DC1 doesn't know any words, we write them on the floor (wooden floor) in washable marker and DC1 has to wipe them off afterwards while I turn my back and try to guess which word has been wiped off.

Can he read? Like if you put some simple words in front of him can he read them?

Yes he can read many simple words and he's also good at decoding words and working out what they are. He just really doesn't want to.