arrraaaaghhhh anyone struggling to teashmy 5 year old to read......

[Nointhemood]

he just doesn't seem to have a clue and often tries to second guess the words/letters. I try to get him to sound the letters out and he say's he can't remember what the letters are or if he does sound them out he will them say a completely random word!!!! The other day i was teaching him to say 'the' as you cant decode this i kept repeating it and then when i asked him to read the word he came out and with 'cat' . Feel like im hitting my head against a brick wall. Any advice, tips, recommendations for books or hope greatly recieved.

ooops my god he's got no chance when his mother can't even type a sentence out right! I meant is anyone else struggling to teach their 5 year old to read-sooy its been a long day

My almost 5 year old DS is at a similar stage. He's a pretty bright boy but reading is just eluding him at the moment. He's done everything else in his life pretty much straightaway, as soon as he was ready and so I'm just waiting for him to be ready for this. He loves books and we do read a lots together. I point out words but don't make a big deal of it.

Um, sorry to butt in (I was just lurking)...speaking as a former primary teacher, though this was Juniors not Infants, five is no age. In various Scandinavian countries they hardly pick up a pen until six or seven - the time is spent playing, obviously structured educational play, but play nonetheless. Then by seven or eight, they have overtaken their British counterparts in terms of their reading and writing. If he's blurting out random words I would guess that he's just trying to please you, but bless him, he is nowhere near. As a five year old boy, any anxiety you feel with transmit itself to him and they need hardly any excuse to start disliking reading. Just read with him daily for the moment, with pictures and exciting themes and follow your finger along the page as you read. Sorry if this is all what you do already. Five is very young and half the battle with boys is getting them to like reading and continue to like it.

Ah thankyou that has made me feel so much better. The problem im finding is theres no real guidence from the school. He's being given homework and a reading book to read every night but im not sure what level he is supposed to be at. Maybe i should have a word with his teacher and see how she thinks he's coping and what i should be doing with him. I do agree half the battle is getting boys to like reading its a nightmare gettting him just to sit still

hi, i worked in a reception class for 9 years and my advice would be to maybe try and speak with his teacher to see how they go about it in school, also every child learns differently so find out all the different approches they use,( jolly phonics is good as it uses a multi sensory approach eg, s, tell a story about'sam' going for a walk and try and include lots of words that start with s so he hears how it sounds, include a snake and say listen thtas what the snake says'sss' whilst the snake is saying 'sss' move your hand in a snake shape.)
Prob havent explained it well but if your ds school does jolly phonics they will be able to show you.
Just get him to have fun with letters and words like playing 'hunt the letter' use sticky notes and write a letter on 2 of them and stick 1 somewhere round the house then give him the other 1 and ask him to find the matching pair.
Also point out labels like asda, tesco, etc and play spot the asda sign etc.
Also (and most importantly)don't worry if he doesn't get it yet and try not to push him to hard(or practice tooo much) as some children just don't 'click' with reading until they're older, its abit like potty training or walking, some kids do it really early, others at an 'average' age and others take a bit longer but they mostly all get there.
hope this all helps!

I just left it to the school once they had the hang of it I would read with them at home, this was year 1 for dc2 & 3 and the jury is out whether dc4 will learn to read before the summer.

dc3 in particular is now one of the best readers in her class and was within 6 months of learning to read.

My advice would be to chill and not bother teaching him at home just read to him so he enjoys books IYSWIM.

we are in nz where children don't start school until 5 and don't need to attend legally until 6. DS has just done his first term of school (he was 5 in Sept) He is still getting to terms with letter and sound connections. I have no concerns at all. I reinforce at home with games of I spy, alphabet bingo etc. I keep it fun, keep reading with him. He will click when he is ready.

I think it just clicks. We are in Italy where formal teaching to read starts at the beginning of primary school (6) I had been reading with dd since she was about 4 but apart from the odd word, obviously memorized, she was getting nowhere....within a few months of primary, she is reading fluently in both English and Italian.

I also subscribed to the Headsprout online reading project, (as recommended on here by Moondog) and dd loved doing the games and stuff on there and it really brought her reading on. Can't recommend it enough.

Try not to worry he will learn it, every child is different and they all learn differently.

I would go back to just looking at letters, try some letter games, flash cards as he may not be ready to blend words. Jocies ideas are good. Making a abc book with him, decorate each letter with a different texture which will be fun to do and he can go over each letter with his hands, great kinaesthetic learning.

Once he knows the letter sounds of the alphabet I would start with some simple books. Rhyming ones are great usbourne do a great selection.

The only way to learn words like 'the' is by sight make some flashcards with him, get him to choose his favourite colour for the cards, get him to watch you write the words. When he is older the school will hopefully teach him how to decode word or ways to remember these tricky words.

With his school reading books I would read it to him first with your finger under the word you are reading. Plus keep the book for a week repetition is important for this age. There is no rush to have a new book or go up a level as you want ur child to retain what he is learning and to have fun!

Find out how they teach phonics in his class and reinforce it at home, consistency does pay off.

Hope this helps

Thanks for posting this. Ds is in reception (one of the oldest) and also really struggling with this. Intersting about the Headsprout Bucharest, I subscribed too (after seeing something Moondog posted) Ds likes it at first and seemd to make some progress but to be honest as we got further along he started to really struggle and despite me encouraging etc I decided to leave it as he was beginning to get upset. We have gone back to it once since but it was a similar experience. I think DS is just not ready yet to be honest.

He is starting to recoegnise letters and he loves books but I really can't see him learning to read much before year 1 at the earliest.

Also Bucharest, my nephew who went to school in Italy had a similar experience to your dd. He couldn't read or write anything at all (except maybe a write his name very badly) when he started school at 5 (he was the youngest in the class). Within 6 months he really made loads of progress and was sounding out things and reading and even writing in a legible way

Every child learns differently and at different rates, what schs and curriculums say they should be doing at a certain age are only a guideline.

Try having 20mins (no more than that) a day with ur kid in a literacy activity such as a game, flashcards, u reading a book, ur kid reading a book. Try and keep it pacey and fun. Anything that gets him practicing his letters.

Try doing it outside such as get some chalks write some letters, or a bucket of water with a paint brush, hide some letters in the garden or bury in a sand pit...lots of fun visual and active learning!