My son can’t read

[cc99xo]

My son is just finishing Reception, he’s not even 5 yet (he’s the youngest in the year) and he is behind on his reading

He knows all of his letters / phonics - and can read very basic words like cat, mum, dad etc - but just struggles to blend the sounds together to read the actual word

I know it’s probably not relevant but it’s just odd because he is extremely clever when it comes to maths - knows all of his times tables, addition, subtraction etc - he’s typically a very bright kid, was talking full sentences before his 2nd birthday - but cannot read?

Was anyone else in this position, particularly with a summer-born child? Any tips on what I can do to help over the holidays, seems like all of his friends are flying through these stage 1 learner books and he’s struggling so much 🥺

For example “Mess” he’ll know how to sound out the ME and the SS separately but just struggles to actually blend it together when he’s looking at the word. He was meant to be in 1-1 intervention groups this term but the TA has been off long-term sick so they just haven’t been happening as they should

We read together every night and also practise his books at home but he gets frustrated 😣

How is his phonological awareness? Can he hear syllables and rhyme? Can he identify initial sounds in words? Might be worth checking that and seeing if he needs a bit of support in that area before focusing too much on reading. If you Google phonological awareness assessment, there's a good resource from Hertfordshire council. Sadly lots of schools don't ensure that phonological awareness is good before moving on to reading and writing.

I would play with blending separately from reading, just orally. So ask him if he wants a s-n-a-ck, time to get his sh-oo-s, etc.

If you've got time to kill waiting for a bus or appointment or whatever, it can be good then (nothing like a captive audience!), make it part of a game (I see a c-a-r, I see a d-o-g, etc.). Classic I spy is also good for practicing initial sounds, and you can also make games of naming rhyming words (or 'words', I didn't worry too much about whether or not it was really a word at the beginning).

My son was the same so I read to him as that is what he prefers. I did the sounds and reading books school sent and spoke about letters and words out and about but I didn't push as I wanted him to like reading and I know how stubborn he can be. He has just finished year 1 and can now read, they must do a lot more focus on it. For the first time ever he chose a book from the bookshop today and was very proud of himself because he can read it. He doesn't read as well as his friends but he is happy and I have seen massive progress between this year and last. Your son will get there, some children just take longer than others.