Reading hell

[Ifyoubuildit]

My DS is going into year one. We've been reading with him over this summer and he's going backwards. He won't spell out words, just tries to guess them and even when he does spell them out he says all the wrong letters. He knows his letters so it's not that. What can I do move on? He's getting frustrated as am I!

Leave it alone for a couple of weeks.
When he's ready he'll be ready.
Focus on other skills and that one will slot in when its ready.

Just to check by 'spell them out' you do mean 'sound them out' don't you?

I used Read Write Inc cards with DD2 (which is the phonics system used at her school). Each card had a separate sound on it e.g. /a/ or /ch/ and we flashed through them. If she knew them she posted them into a cereal box letter box, a game which she enjoyed. Then we counted how many she knew.

Leave him be! Dd2 has just started p1 ( Scotland) and they have just done a and m, and 1 and 2 in the past fortnight!

I would focus on reading to him in that case - the most exciting books you can find. You may find he's keen to try the odd sentence himself but don't push it, just focus on making reading something fun you do together.

To be fair to the OP, I am assuming her DS has done a whole year of reception so should know a lot of sounds by now. It would concern me if he has forgotten his phonics.

In Year R and Year 1, DS resolutely refused to read.
I have his reading record from then and the frustration of the teachers drips off the page.
Then about half way through year 2 he decided it was time to read and got a 3 in his KS1 sats

pick your battles
little kids are learning so much compared with what they knew a year before
counting might be the "thing" or accurate colouring, or learning how to use a sharp knife when helping you cook or folding clothes
lots of skills to learn in no particular order

Thanks! Yes he's done a year in reception and had just started level 3 books at the end of term. Now he can't even do level 1. I know he hasn't forgotten, I think he just doesn't want to do it so won't even try. I find it so frustrating, he seems to be going backwards!

Try the Oxford owl website which has free ebooks online.

The novelty of reading on a computer might help

Good idea! He loves the computer...

Simpson, I could kiss you! It worked a treat, we did some easy books but he read four of them off his own back! He loved clicking through the pages on the computer... Thank you :-)