I'm angry with the school that my son can't read

[Teamumizumi]

my DS is 5 and has just finished reception. Reading has always been a struggle and he has "progressed" to level 1. I've been trying to get him to read appropriate level reading books over the summer and have now given up. He can only read basic words like "and" " to" "for" "at"..... I'mwondering what the school has been doing for 2 years -he started in their kindergarten so he has been "reading" for 2years. What he does is get the teacher/us to say the word out loud, then he memorises it. Now that he has read a couple of books cold i have discovered he cannot read at all. WHAT DO I DO???????

In the very basic phonics stage yes, but not after they have also learned about the vowel-lenthening role of , as in
came, dame, same, plane.... like, bike, strike ...etc.

No masha in every stage ... they are taught to look for the simplest way first and if that doesn't sound right try the alternatives.
camel is straightforward it it 4 sounds c-a-m-l (spelt el)

(The only words I think of (off hand) that has the /ay/ sound ending in are bagel, navel and hazel most have the short vowel sound)

And acc. to your definition, the 205 graphemes I listed are all graphemes.

perhaps you can explain how ought is a single phoneme or how tial is a single phoneme or ry is a single phoneme

ent is THREE phonemes and THREE graphemes not ONE!

Mrz
(The only words I think of (off hand) that has the /ay/ sound ending in are bagel, navel and hazel most have the short vowel sound)

• and 'label'. Your method of always trying the short vowel first would initially lead children to misread 'able, table, stable, gable...' too.

The ending patterns of many words are undpredictable and have to be learnt word by word. Phonics is of no help with many of them:

-ought is an unpredictable variant of -aut and -aught (taut - bought - taught)

-ry is an irregular spelling of the more common -ary/ -ery endings (solitary, voluntary...blustery, mystery - chemistry, carpentry....)

-ent (confident, fluent...) is undermined by 'defiant, giant...'

But your quibblings and my replies to u are irrelevant to the concerns of the OP, so I won't indulge u any further.

Masha I really suggest you sign up for some phonics training because you seem very confused.

I'm sure even you can recognise the difference between cable and camel

ought is two phonemes (and 2 graphemes) ough +t -au+t - augh +t

ry is 2 phonemes (and 2 graphemes) only some of your examples have ar+ee, er+ ee and r+ee

ent is 3 phonemes e+n+t

please get some help with phonics because your replies will only confuse people

I agree with Lynette that if it is unusual for a school to have children with reading problems it is more likely to be a complex problem and not due to poor instruction. However, just because the majority of children in a school learn to read it does not mean instruction was good. I would be suspicious if a school has a significant minority that fail each year. This is because learning to read with mixed methods works better for children that have less to 'infer', if they come to school with good phonological awareness for example or parents, knowingly or not, give the right support.

"- and 'label'. Your method of always trying the short vowel first would initially lead children to misread 'able, table, stable, gable...' too. "
I thought that's how all children started to read? My DS3 (5) might read that the dinner was on the t-a-b-l-e, but would quickly correct himself with the right a sound as otherwise it would not make sense to him. The fact is that he can break it down and recognise the sounds and blend them together - always getting the right pronunciation takes a lifetime! I often see people's names and sound it out , then think if I've ever heard it before, then give it an 'educated guess". That's all down to practise and reading different types of literature.
It's the basics the OP was concerned with - phase 1, basic initial sounds and blending. Higher phases where irregular endings etc are discussed kind of assume that you have got phase 1 and have moved on.

I disagree that it is unusual for schools to have children with reading problems. In some schools large numbers of children are still working on phase 2 & 3 of letters & sounds in KS2 . You only have to read TES boards to know this is a sad, shameful fact.

Mrz I said that IF it is unusual for that school to have reading problems then a child that struggles probably does have issues that are not instruction related. I agree entirely, lots of schools do have real problems getting children to read (while a significant minority don't).

Sorry I missed the IF

It's the vast variation in the success of schools to teach reading, even when background that is taken into account, that is the reason I feel strongly enough to keep posting. I first saw the contrast in dcs different schools then from talking to friends and family and from browsing forums. Given this situation developmental readiness is a convenient explanation when some schools need to ask questions about the success of their methods.

No problem!

My DS didnt read till mid year 2 with help of interventions, my DD is starting year one now, and fluent. But you should have really noticed this before now, does he not get books sent home for you to read with him??

I looked on ebay at phonics stuff blimey theres loads.

which ones best? do schools use jolly phonics or some other brand of phonics.
Im guessing they all same despite the brand

ebay had lots of stuff books, flash cards..

I know one child can be faster than another.
im always amazed at kids starting secondry not not the basics.

My dd started nursery at 3 yrs old. She didnt start being taught how to read until she went into Primary 1 at school when she was 5 years old.

Nursery dont teach them those things. So i would say your son has been learning to read for a year and cant. Hes still quite young.

What i would do is read with him over the summer & when you go back have a talk with his teacher, mention your concerns & see what they say. Dont blame the school.

"do schools use jolly phonics or some other brand of phonics. Im guessing they all same despite the brand"

No they aren't all the same and some that claim to be phonics aren't as they use mixed methods, schools use different programmes. Many schools use Letters & Sounds (because it's free but doesn't have any resources). The school where I teach has used Jolly Phonics in reception for almost 20 years but we are going to use Sounds-Write next year because we feel that it will raise standards.

I haven't read any of the other replies so apologies if this duplicates anyone else.

Whilst i have every sympathy with you being angry with the school, it's really the lack of communication that you should be annoyed with rather than their inability of teaching him to read. Have they ever commented on his reading skills? Or is it something you feel he should be doing better by now?

Most schools simply do not have the time to concentrate their efforts on teaching one child to read confidently at the expense of teaching the class as a whole. Reading should be part of the school/home partnership. My DCs school expects parents to listen to their DCs reading every day and we have a reading diary that sent back & forth from school which we have to sign.

You must remember he still quite little. There's not many children that are reading confidently at 5 years old. Children progress at different rates so whilst one 5 year old might be reading early readers by themselves, another might be struggling with more basic books.

I know this from my own children who have been brought up in a house stuffed full of books. My DD could read simple words before she started school and is now 10 with a reading age of 15+. DS on the other hand has always been more hesitant and my patience has definately been tested. He's getting better but only because i have put a lot of effort into ensuring he does.

If i were you i'd get some basic phonics books from the library and spend the rest of the summer holidays reading together each day. Little and often is often the key at this stage. If he gets tired, don't push him. Better to do 5-10 minutes 3 times a day that 30 minutes of 'torture' in one sitting. Let him pick the books if you want to and make sure you read to him too. Most of all - make it FUN!

if you say the sounds can your son hear the words ... /c/- /a/ -/t/ would he know cat? If not I would firstly get a hearing check just to rule out simple hearing difficulties (more complex hearing issues won't be identified by normal hearing tests) If the hearing test is clear I would begin doing lots of aural blending you saying the sounds as you point to the letters and him blending.

Yes he can do that fine. He did have a hearing tests due to his speech delay/disorder. Sometimes I just wonder if I'm paranoid as my dd 13 has recently been dx ASD/dyspraxic/ADHD/demand avoidant/SPD/auditory dyslexia/auditory processing difficulties and low muscle tone/hypermobility and the same school always old me there were no difficulties in school. I think it's my trust in the school and lack of communication that's the bigger problem.

I'll give this a try. He finds it so hard to read that it's really putting him off reading and he started to refuse to look at books so we've gone back to me reading so he can enjoy books again.

Thanks mrz