DD ending reception soon and still hates reading

[Chestnutx3]

Will she get it eventually? I'm at a loss what to do, signed up to reading chest for the holidays, she gets a book a night at school to read but she doesn't seem to have the love of reading.

I read all the time, house full of books. I was like Matilda, a house with no books but I was very academic, I just can't understand her.

She would never read given half the chance. She loves listening to book CDs, and loves all sports but doesn't like picking up a book. She is read to every night. I've tried everything. I'm so sad she doesn't love reading. She loves being with people, she is a real extrovert I think its her ideal of hell curling up in a corner and reading a book.

I've tried backing off for a term but she got worse at school and seem to go backwards in reading level, the teachers noticed. I do feel like giving up again as I think she has to get there on her own but she is falling behind at school.

OP - reading one of your posts above I feel I can identify with your childhood. We didn't have many books in the house, my parents worked very hard and priorities lay elsewhere.

I discovered a love of reading at about 8 or 9, loved Enid Blyton, but didn't get to the library very often. In my teenage years I stopped reading and re-started in my 20s.

I feel reading is very important, and in Britain there are so many good children's books and I would love to share with my DC. Luckily DD 3 loves books and is interested in most things, so there is another chance.

Chestnut It makes me sad that a good many bright and happy 4 and 5 year olds are pushed into reading, writing and a too formal education before they are ready.

You say she loves listening to book CDs - that's great! Encourage that, read to her. She will expand her vocab, language, concentration...

You seem to model that reading is fun, so in time I am sure she will copy you. But if she is not into fiction she will hopefully read other stuff.

I think it is that early preassure to read that puts many off.

If I tell my 3 3/4 year old DD to write letters she will probably refuse and run off, but then sometimes she sits there and draws letters and pretends to write. If she was 2 months older she would be starting R in September - a horrible thought.

I agree. Think they shouldn't teach reading until Year 1. More damage done than good stuff starting early IMO.

I think it was Seeker who said that it takes longer than you think for the children to get fluent enough to enjoy reading.

DS was a natural reader who was always enthusiastic about it. Now in Y3 he's a total bookworm. DD is in YR and didn't have his enthusiasm in the beginning, but I was firm about her practicing her reading each night and wouldn't let her get out of it. It helps that the school use bribery: initially it was a prize for each week of reading, now it's every four weeks, but it does work with dd. And as her fluency is improving her enthusiasm is increasing.

I think that she was pretty lazy but capable and needed to be pushed. The balancing act, of course, was working out just how far it was safe to push. :) Now she mostly looks forward to her daily reading. Strangely, DD really does like the Biff, Chipp & Kipper books, but she also likes the other reading scheme books from the library, the Ginn ones we've had have been good as have the Usborne and the Reading Corner ones. She's even liked the Ladybird Peter and Jane ones we've read, although it's very interesting watching a phonically taught child read those.

One last thing. It took me a while to work out when the optimum time for doing her reading is. With ds it was as soon as we got in from school, any later and he was just too tired. With dd it's in the after tea/before bed slot, but I also have to take her to our bedroom away from any other distractions otherwise she's too interested in what's going on around her.

My DD wouldn't read in yr r and as a result couldn't read, at end yr r she could read her name, "the" and "Dad" and had made zero progress in phonics, she knew single letter sounds but had known these since nursery, where she was happy to learn. She preferred playing in the sand pit. In yr 1 she has really come on and zoomed up the levels, enjoys making progress and even better has learnt lots of phonics and is using it effectively on unfamiliar words.