Finding it hard to squeeze reading practice in for my reception child

[paepatto]

My DD is in reception. She's at after school club until almost 6 pm and we don't get home until 6- 6:30 pm, depending on the day. I used to just practice reading with at weekends, but she's started refusing it entirely pretty much.

I never really tried practicing during the week, but 6:30 seems so late.

Does anyone have any ideas / tricks advice on how to get her to enjoy practicing ? Ideally I would want her to practice reading every day, for 15 minutes or so. I'm sure it's doable, but she flat out refused at the weekend and also this evening..

At the weekend over breakfast. A simple rhyming book. You read 99% of it while she follows the words with your finger and you pause a long time.on some rhyming words to allow her to fill them in.

Also, post it notes on things around the house. She has to collect them all but has to read them out loud (she will already know what the thing is they are on, so will be able to say the word. After a few days, add in putting the post its back on the correct things, so she will have to recognise the words)

Another thing that I thought of. We are in frequent correspondence with the tooth fairy, so I leave a little note under DD's pillow which she reads and then she writes a reply at bedtime. She has only lost two teeth but we've written a lot of letters! She loves reading them by herself. Could be worth a go?

Word games are more fun than dull reading books. There are loads of ideas for making your own online. It can be very simple, no need for elaborate creativity.

Spot words as you are out and about. Give her a few flashcards for the journey home and ask her to spot them. Bus, dog, gate, tree, that sort of thing.

Mine loved those little magnetic words, Poetry on the Fridge or something like that. We had a basic set and they would make up simple sentences.

If you are going out for the day or on holiday write a simple packing list then send her off to pack. Write a list of things you need to do on Saturday then get her to prompt you.

Just incorporate it into your daily life and read stories as much as you can.

My DD loves the Roald Dahl books, we read them to her in reception and half of year 1 then suddenly the reading clicked and by the end of year 1 she was off the phonics scheme and reading the next Roald Dahl book to us! Keep going as the more you focus on it the quicker they'll be able to read and then they can read the books themselves as well. The phonics books get better as well as they move up the scheme

Another vote for the Teach my Monster to read app, it's the only app my daughter is allowed to play on my phone so she thinks it's the best thing ever and it's very good at teaching them phonics/high frequency words.

Is she in after school club 5 days a week til 6pm?

@User67556 she gets picked up between 5 and 5:15 most days, but we don't get home until after 6 as the school is far away.

Oh that's a shame why choose a school so far away? Genuine question - our school is a 5 minute walk. Poor girl is too young and too tired for extra reading. My year R child wanted to go to bed at 6.30 after school it's so tiring for them.

She loves her school, it's a good place for her.

She's been doing those hours since nursery as do most of the kids and they absolutely love it, especially crèche !

I literally never did reading practice with either of my DC. I'm an avid and voracious reader and didn't want to put them off a lifelong joy by fighting with them over it.

DD1 (12) now has to be told in no uncertain terms to turn off her bloody light and go to sleep because she's reading too late, and DD2 (8) is heading in the same direction.

You can do other things to support it - read signs and adverts while you're out and about, model reading, have marginally more interesting books around the house and engage with your DC when they look interested in them.

I'd just get her to read her school book every night when you do bed. If she's onto the stories rather than words, it shouldn't take very long, then spellings out loud in the car

We used to arrive at school 10 mins early in the morning and do it then in the car.

Also to reassure...I would say at the point you're at now in reception, I was a bit despairing. DD just didn't seem to be getting it with phonics and didn't enjoy reading practice, then by this half term something clicked and she charged ahead. By summer holidays she was independently reading her first proper books, as in non-picture books and actually cried on holiday in Scotland because she had finished her book and wanted another one to read (we were sailing around the islands so not near towns with bookshops for days at a time). I know they're all different, I just wanted to share as the thing that felt like a battle in January of reception was a complete joy just a couple of months later.

It’s not too late. Do it before bed. It’s a very relaxing way to wind down.

It sounds like it’s a chore that needs to be ticked off the daily list of chores. As others have said, approach reading in a fun way with games, little notes you’ve written, etc,. Share a book in bed and read a bit of her school book at the same time while you have a cuddle. Books are supposed to be enjoyed but schools can often make reading feel like a punishment.

5mins a day is best

short and repetitive is the way forward

same with

Ed shed - spellings

rock stars - maths

we do 5mins a day either after breakfast or as soon as in from school - so 330 ish

then it’s done

obv you not getting in till 6 makes it harder

as it gets lighter can she read to you in the car for 5mins on way home

tho May be words she gets stuck on but she can spell them out

We do it at bedtime. We snuggle in bed with the 'school book' and another book of his choice. When he was in Reception we used to take turns: I'd read one page, he would read the next and the opposite the following night.
Now he's in Y1 he reads the whole book by himself. Occasionally he's not in the mood and I don't force it, and sometimes he pretends one of his soft toys wants to read it and he basically reads it in his soft toy's voice!

@paepatto Does she see you or your husband reading?
I remember school recommending family reading or DEAR (Drop everything and read) time, as the kids are more likely to read if they see family members reading.

I don't know how you find that time, but worth considering.

Alright, but some responses here imply that it's not happening. It was a general response to this thread.

We did some in the car, (when the book from school was easy) and something of our own choice at bedtime. Even me reading them bedtime stories helped to keep them keen/ see a point to it.

You can also fit some in with getting them to help with reading recipes or food labels later on, or sounding out words on signs when out and about.

Reading together really makes a difference, the kids in my son's class who didn't read at home are now year 11s who struggle to read GCSE questions (some having very low reading ages (below 9).

If she's in Green group currently then she is well ahead 😊

Don’t? She’s tiny. Likely if she was in Scotland she wouldn’t even be in school yet.
I struggled with it with dc1 and he’s 17 now, can’t say it has affected him, he’s on for an A in higher (a level) English this year.

Try 3 times a week for 5 minutes in the morning with her reading book. At bedtime, read to her a story and ask her to sound out some of the CVC words or shorter, decodeable words with a single digraph that she knows. It's important to get reading in to your routine and also build an enjoyment of stories and reading.

My youngest had to wear an eye patch for 2+hrs a day. It wasn't fair to make her wear it at school because her eye was so weak.
She couldn't read well with it on and after it came off her eyes were tired and she struggled.
We'd read a bit with her at the weekends but struggled when in KS1. I fought with the school about it a lot as I asked them to put her on the list for reading with helpers and explained the situation.

Reading became a bit of an issue.
She is now 16 and reading all the time, she likes to read out loud