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.

Db hated reading until he figured out he could read the tv guide by himself. He liked very much reading something that he could see was useful to him.

He has been a voracious reader for 5p years now.

6 is still little. I hate that there is such a massive push by the govt for schools to get kids reading so young. Its a major turn off for many. Its standard in various
other countries to leave the teaching of reading until they are older - which overall doesnt negatively affect them, in fact its been proven to be of benefit.
If he isnt ready, he isnt ready. Id focus on reading aloud to him as much as possible (chapter books, picture books etc) and ignore any demands by the school for him to be reading aloud everyday - when he is ready, he will.

I had one who could read at 4 and loved it and the second who was exactly like your DS. It began to feel like the pressure was going to ruin his desire to learn and enjoyment of school. I totally backtracked and we left his school books alone. I let the teacher know we wouldn't be doing school work at home.
Eventually I found he loved non fiction of any kind and that was the way in.

Both adults now and ironically he is now an avid reader and the older one hasn't read for pleasure since he was 10.

Leave it be. What is achieved by trying to force this down his throat? Certainly not a love of reading.
One of my DDs had zilch interest in reading school books; then one day I found her in a corner reading The Wind in the Willows. "Can you read that?" says I? ... "Of course" says she.
She was waiting for something worth the effort.

I'd stop the reading homework and tell the teacher that he doesn't co-operate. There's no point in forcing the issue, because he will learn to associate having to read with being told off. If he hates having to do it, then he hates having to do it and you don't want to foster a lifelong loathing.

You will just have to find an inventive way of making him work out for himself that actually, he wants to be able to learn about things he is interested in, and that the information is readily available if only he could read it. That could motivate him and kick-start his learning.

In the last few years Ofsted have had a massive focus on early reading, and look badly upon schools who do not have robust phonics schemes and books matched to that for each child’s phonic ability. Sadly, the phonic books are pretty dry.

Agree with all the above; reading to him, games with CEW etc until he regains interest. If he comes from a house with a love of books, it’s likely that he’ll come around.

We went through this. I found doing very small bits (even just one page a night) worked. It became part of the routine. Then resorted to bribery. Every book she reads gets 50p. That really worked! Reading Eggs is also great. Also when she is really reluctant then I read a word, she reads a word and carry on alternating.

I wouldn’t force it. I think live of reading is much more important. He can learn phonics from things like the teach your monster to read app. I’d focus on getting books he likes, going to choose things at the library etc.