How can I help my reluctant 6.9 yrs ds with reading & writing and is he v. 'behind'?

[ilovehugs]

My DS is aged 6.9 and in year 2. He's a really happy character and seems to enjoy school. He loves numeracy but finds handwriting SUCH a challenge. Just trying to get him to do his little bit of homework every week is painful for both of us. So much so, that I haven't done any other practicing with him. To be honest, I don't know where to start.

He is on the 'red level' reading books and enjoys being read to, but finds the books uninspiring and muddles through them without making much effort.
Again, it can be quite painful, so up until now I haven't really intervened - hoping that he would get there in his own time.

His teacher say's he is progressing and doesn?t want to refer him for any special measures yet. She also said that making him does more writing at home could back fire.

I feel bad that I haven't done more to help him at home but want to change that now. What can I do to?

ilove I think it depends if you think there are any underlying problems or not. My son started Yr2 sub normal National Curriculum levels. The school said not to worry, but to make sure his love of books continued. They were right, as by the end of Year 2 he was reading well and he's now totally got it in Year 3.

I found that not putting pressure on at all, but just enjoying reading was the way forward. With his writing, we said so long as he tried we wouldn't stress over it. I used to reward him for effort - so a promise of a trip to the park after he'd done his 10 mins or something similar. If it was messy I didn't even comment so long as I thought he'd tried.

''He is on the 'red level' reading books''

Sounds as though he's being given whole language scheme books to read rather than phonically decodable readers.

If he's on L1 books in Y2 he is very behind.

Does he know all the sounds the letters make? Can he read simple 3 letter words? ( ie all regular 2 & 3 letter words.)

If not then he should be on the SEN register by now.

I think you should be concerned even if school are fobbing you off.

You could start with Bear Necessities. It takes 10 minutes every day.

But you should also make an appt with the teacher and SENCO and be more proactive with them.

How are his phonics? dd struggled with reading and writing at this stage - she went onto School Action and received extra help, mostly in the form of extra phonics sessions. She still has an IEP in yr 4, but her reading is much better.
If your ds is on the red book band, he is fairly behind, sorry. I'd make an appointment with his teacher and the SENCO, and see what they can suggest.

Thanks for all your responses.

Smee- That's very reasurring and the tact I'd prefer to take really.

maverick - I'll have a look online and see if I can buy him some 'phonic decoaders' - never heard of these before.

Indigo and Paddington - Scared to think he is that behind. Indigo - he can read all the letters, knows the sounds and can read three letter words etc. I spoke to his teacher today who said she is going to assess him tomorrow and thinks he is probablly ready for stage 5 which shows progress. She has asked me to just watch and wait for the time being.

Have started a new regime today with DS: Home from school. Treat (wotsits). Writing task. Before bed: He can be the big boy and read his book to DD with me. Going to get him to do it every night now without fail. Hope this will be enough. If not and he falls further behind/doesn't progress. I'll just have to go and have a word again.

Thanks again for your help :)

Stage 5 is very different from red band :)

If by stage 5 she means green band, then it's not nearly such a worry.

Here are some age / stage links :)

www.readingchest.co.uk/book-bands

www.oup.com/oxed/primary/oxfordreadingtree/chart/

Thanks Indigo. His current book is red and says "stage 4" - Its an oxford one.

Oh

Red on Oxford Reading Tree is 'blue band'. And green band is the next band after blue...... (Where the books are yellow)

So I he's a bit behind, but not very behind.

Some ways to get him to do small ampunts of writing at home ate things like shopping lists, birthday/thank you/any kind of cards, letters eg Santa although I know that's not very helpful at thistime of year, anything on a whiteboard, write his name on any pictures he draws and give them a title.

Another thing you could do is help him to write labels/signs for everyday objects around the house and then stick them on. This will help his reading and writing - if he sees the word toilet everytime he has to go he will soon learn to recognise that word.

Just some ideas, hope they help. I think you need to keep the writing tasks short, heap praise on him for any reading or writing he does and stop if he starts to get upset, bored or frustrated.

We write rude notes to one another. We also make a paper airplane and fly messages to one another by unfolding and writing inside. Things like that they don't even notice they're writing.

You may want to ask his teacher if the school has a reading recovery scheme and if so, if he could join.

Reading Recovery is a quick fix but not long lasting

My dd was similar to this in Year 1, we used to have such a battle and I really felt at a loss to know what to do.

She was put on a Reading Recovery scheme and suddenly started really enjoying reading, she was taken off the scheme slightly early as she had caught up with her peers.

She is now in Year 2 and has just started reading 'little Animal Ark' books at home and other 'chapter' books. In fact, I had to go up tonight and tell her to stop reading and turn her light off!! If you told me I would have been doing that this time last year, I wouldn't have believed you.

I desperately hope that RR is not a quick fix, her reading seems pretty established.

It may be the same for your son, so don't worry too much, when I was in your position a friend said to me, 'she will never be a 'non reader', she just needs a bit more time to make the connections'. It helped get it into perspective.

Our experience is that reading recovery is not a quick fix as long as parents read daily to and with their children.

sorry ilovehugs I did assume you meant red band, didn't mean to scare you! My dd was at a similar stage in yr 2. She's still a bit behind but is catching up, and really likes her books now. She didn't mind the ORT books but some kids find them really dull - maybe go to the library and pick some different ones? dd got into Horrid Henry, which I find painful to read but she loves them!!

dikkertjedap -I'm afraid that there is plenty of evidence from the States, Australia, England that Reading Recovery is a quick fix - and what is more it is harder to untangle its mixed strategy teaching at a later stage than it is to help a child who has simply taken longer than usual to gain fluency through the decoding route. And much more expensive.

Of course some children do benefit as they do from one to one help with a volunteer tutor, with a parent etc. But it really does create major problems for many children at a later stage.

To whoever says the Reading Recovery scheme is a quick fix, I completely disagree. My son started Year 2 on the Red band - stage 2. He simply couldn't read really at all despite my best efforts (I was not happy with the school though).

He changed schools and did the Reading Recovery Scheme. Within 4 months he was on the white level. He is now Year 4 and one of the best readers in his class and loves reading. In fact, I am one of the greatest fans of the reading recovery scheme!

Unfortunately, you have to be very lucky to get a space on it as it only is available for very few children.

Oh and by the end of Year 2 he was at level 3 for his reading - way above the national average. He now reads fairly complex books aimed at year 5.

What's his spelling like?

His spelling is good too. I think the reading recovery scheme gave him the boost he needed and without it he might have always been struggling.

sorry, I realise you were asking the OP not me.

Reading Recovery isn't a scheme it is a 1 to 1 intervention method
THE most common remedial reading program used in Australian schools is failing the students who most need help and some studies suggest the gains produced are lost in the following two years or so.
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/reading-recovery-is-failing/story-e6frg6nf-1111113770263 "The success of the program appears to be inversely related to the severity of the reading problem. A student with a severe problem is unlikely to be a success," it says.

Remember in most European countries children start to read and write in school at the age of 7 years (and surpass ours in a very short time).

Also: boys often are slower than girls at this.

Encourage him (but maybe not rewarding with Wotsits- fruit flakes much healthier and very tasty)

Sounds as if you are doing fine with him-the main thing is for his reading/spelling etc time to be associated with warm cosy family time ( and the small rewards)

Enjoy your time with him- they grow up so fast! Mine now happily at uni and would swear it was only yesterday he was struggling with his first letters...

I am worried now, we seem to have come so far with the RR.

I must admit, my dd still spells phonetically sometimes, although this was encouraged at her old school, they didn't interupt the fluency of writing an her new school sets more of a emphasis on spelling - but old habits......

I sincerely hope her reading doesn't falter in the future, is there anything I should be looking out for?