Reading support

[KevinTheKoala]

My 6 year old has just started year 2, she has always lacked interest/confidence in reading. She's never been particularly bothered about books despite being read too every night from an early age, she simply never developed an interest. Lockdown and homeschooling made learning her phonics incredibly hard, I admit I wasn't great with homeschooling, I had a 6 month old at home who needed my attention, severe depression and anxiety, and she is hard to teach in the sense that if she finds something difficult, she gives up rather than getting it wrong - none of which is an excuse but I feel like I failed her from the start.

She got 1 on the phonics test at the start of year 1, I spoke to her teacher in year 1 and it was decided that she would be put on easier books to develop her confidence and given some extra support as well and as a result she got 20 on the phonics test at the end of the year (meaning she just passed). Her teacher and I were really pleased with how much she progressed and she was doing so well. The problem is that she's now coming home with much harder books that she is struggling with and not wanting to read, she knows she isn't on the same books as her peers and does want to get better at reading but she's struggling so much I feel like she's going to lose confidence altogether and give up.

I'm not sure what to do for the best, I don't want to be seen as difficult if I bring it up with the teacher this early but I don't want to leave it until she's already lost confidence. I will obviously keep reading with my daughter and encouraging her at home but I struggle to keep her focused on the task in hand (which is fair enough, it is harder to focus in her own home where all her toys are with her little sister playing around us too). She is so young but I feel like if she loses interest in school now it's going to cause problems as she gets older.

Bless her. I had the same problem with DS at that age.

I know it sounds odd but try forgetting the phonics for a bit. Leave some books lying around that she might like. DS had no interest in reading until about half way through year 2 when he picked up a Thirteen Storey Tree House book then later a Tom Gates. He also liked the Dog Man books and Captain Underpants.

What they all had in common was lots of pictures, cartoon style and relatively simple language - but they weren't a school book if that makes sense.

Also ghastly though they are and maybe out of fashion The Rainbow Fairy books may appeal.

Take a look also at subscribing to The Phoenix magazine. Again something that they have to read but isn't too demanding.

Let school deal with the mechanics of phonics and just focus on home being a place where if she reads, it's to relax unless it's actually sent home by school.

Good luck

Thank you, and the rainbow fairy books are a great call she has brought some of those home from the school library and I'll read a chapter a night at bedtime. I'll try and stop stressing out so much about the mechanics and just focus on trying to raise interest/enjoyment with different books. I must admit the bookcase is currently filled with baby board books and very childish books that might be boring for her now. I'd love for her to enjoy books because I do and I know how brilliant they can be, but I also know some people just don't get that enjoyment.

When we were at school we didn't use phonics at all as far as I can remember (I'm in my mid 40s) However, I can read and love doing it too. When you read to her let her follow along and sometimes stop and ask her to read the next sentence - you may be surprised!

If she likes Rainbow Fairies look for books about animals by Holly Webb and also Pippi Long Stocking. Although a a bit old fashioned Mrs. Pepperpot books are good for that age range too.

Is there a possibility that she might have dyslexia or something? What’s making her resistant and how does it manifest? Could it be that she’s finding reading difficult rather than just not wanting to do it? Is there any dyslexia that runs in the family?

Just wonder because my DS was really resistant to reading despite enjoying being read to from an early age. He’s just been diagnosed with dyslexia at the end of year 4. I pushed school to test him from reception as his dad had it and I wondered if it was a factor, but they wouldn’t test until age 7 and then covid delayed things.

Second the advice to keep it fun and light at home, and just observe and see if you can spot any particular reason for the resistance like muddling up letters, struggling to blend, trying to read words backwards, writing letters/numbers backwards etc. Try things like audiobooks so she’s still getting practice with comprehension and expanding vocabulary even if she isn’t reading herself.

I have wondered about dyslexia and I also think she may have ADHD but every time I've brought this up with teachers they've seemed dismissive. I know she's young but honestly it's a real struggle to get her to even look at the page for any period of time and when she does she makes random guesses at words, but it's only certain letters she gets mixed up like d and b so I think she can see the letters fine she just can't make the association with sounds. For instance yesterday she struggled with the words 'what', 'saw' and 'they'. She'll skip over certain letters too, like wanted becomes wants. So I don't know if dyslexia fits, she definitely struggles with focusing though (in all aspects not just reading). Unless it's something she enjoys doing she just doesn't have the attention span to get it done. She did suffer absence seizures as a toddler which I was beginning to be concerned had returned but I really don't think she has them anymore, it's definitely just being distracted.

I’d keep mentioning your concerns about dyslexia as she progresses through school. I’d take the pressure off reading for now. Just read to her at home, modelling pace, fluency, expression, intonation. Take away the anxiety around stories and make it a special time together where she’ll fall in love with books and stories again.

Incidentally, the Y1 phonics screening pass mark was 32/40 so if she scored 20 she will have to resit it at the end of Year 2. 1-20 word score progress is still fantastic though and a score of 20 should mean that she passes in Year 2. The school should have made this clear to you on her end of year report.

Also get her eyes tested if she hasn’t been recently.

Oh I must have misread the back of the results page I thought 20 was the pass mark 😳 but yes I'm really proud of how much she progressed in the year. The end of year report just stated that she wasn't performing at the expected level in most areas but mostly seemed to focus on some of the social aspects - which is another story entirely. I will get her eyes tested though.

She sounds similar to my DS - including the lack of focus/attention span. I had to keep nagging school to stop focusing on his eyesight and test him for dyslexia. You can get a test privately but school should do it at age 7, so there’s no reason for you to pay for one.

But if she does have it, it doesn’t really change what you need to do now. Just keep chipping away slowly at her pace and make reading as fun and low pressure as you can.