....its me again!
As you all know ds1 is struggling with reading. He had no confidence due to school and his experiences there and has never really "got" phonics although we have tried 3 different schemes.
Anyway, I read Liz Waterlands book "an apprenticeship guide to reading" and saw the sense of it, but doubted it would work for ds1 as he HATES reading now.
Yesterday we were looking at his atlas (trying to find the Scilly Isles) and when we looked at london he saw the word "Thames" and said
"That says Thomas mummy" (his name)
Well, it didnt but obviously thames is very simialr in pattern to thomas and it got me thinking....
What if ds1 needs to learn the shape of words and not phonics?? How do I go about it? At the moment I am reading to him when he asks me too and when he watches his dvds I put the subtitles on. Can I do anymore or do I need to just leave him to "get it"??
Had his eyes tested this morning and he has been prescribed reading glasses as he is slightly long sighted (but has almost 20/20 vision) and his 3d vision is at adult level.
Was a bit of an epiphany for me, tbh. I knew phonics wasnt working for him (I have known since reception when he just couldnt grasp jolly phonics!) but of course that is all schools teach now and kids who dont get phonics are left behind and labelled 
Any (more!) advice/experiences gratefully received x