6 yr old ds will not pick up a pen/book/read

[Clare123]

unless we have a huge fuss or I bribe. I know he finds school work difficult and has no interest (although he does love to be read to). Is this normal? Or should I be concerned? Does anyone have any ideas on how to encourage him? My dd has always enjoys story and letter writing so I'm not sure how to handle his aversion!

Is it just a matter of finding the right book? Could you ease him in with comics, or joke books or something like that?

Does he have a TV, DVD player, Games console, computer?

My DS is a it like that although he has finally grasped reading, how ever he spends hours building the most amazing lego models. I did bribe him, that if he read 4 days a week In the holidays I would buy him a lego figure and it worked!

my daughter said earlier in the holidays 'if someone hadn't invented playing then I would read all the time' which about summed it up to me. She likes reading but if she can be playing in the garden with her sister or doing art/craft stuff she is more likely to pick that.

I agree about trying comics, different styles of books, non fiction ones etc to see if you can find what he does like (usborne see inside/lift the flap ones are popular here)

unlike last year we have had the weather to enjoy outdoor fun

I'd be very concerned, what have his teachers said about this?

Ds1 hates writing, we have done a summer scrapbook this year and each dc has done one piece of writing a week, I have 'made' him, but let him decide what to write. he has now started writing a detailed instruction booklet on How to play Minecraft ( yawn) and is slightly more willing.

I think it is worth pushing, as they see the need to practice, but try not to compare your children as they are all different.

p.s He has needed no persuasion to play outside and run like a mad thing, build dens,, climb trees etc and I think this has its merits to!

Good luck with that. My DS will not do any of the above, he has only read twice these holidays no matter what I do to encourage him. If he isn't allowed screen time then he isn't bothered at all. I've tried all sorts but none of it has worked :(

morgause "I'd be very concerned, what have his teachers said about this?" - really???

At 6 lots of boys still find it really difficult to write well, so it's not very satisfying for them - too much effort for too little output. Why would they want to do that when they can build a lego model or play football which is much more gratifying. Similarly if the OP DS is average at reading, it's still quite a lot of effort to read books which aren't particularly riveting.

I do agree that comics can give more pay off for an early reader. Dorling Kindersley (I think) do a range of early readers based around well known characters (Star Wars, Iron Man, etc) so those might be worth trying.

Isn't it called a holiday for reason...

My DS wasn't interested until a couple of months before he was 7. He would draw, but not in detail- it was always an action picture, which told a story (think cave drawings!). He would enjoy being read to, listened to story CDs. We bought a subscription to The Beano and insisted he read for a few minutes a day.

Now he reads a lot, at least an hour a day over the holiday. Often it is a comic, but can also be books, my history magazine, his dad's Warhammer stuff...

I am assuming he is about to go into Year2, I'd give it until Christmas. If it is still causing you and his teacher concern, that is thetime to worry in more depth. However, I do understand your concern-as a teacher, I knew the reading thing would probably come in time, as a parent I was panicking.

Keep reading to him and encourage a love of stories. My dd was similar and then hit yr 2 and her reading took off and now at 9 is streaks ahead. Ds is now 6 and is much the same as your ds. He will read at school and so we just keep reading to him.

Ds is 5, his reading is great and though he'd often choose to do other things he does enjoy bedtime books, where he reads to me and then I read to him.
However, I cannot get him to write. He isn't great at writing and still reverses some letters, he just will not sit still enough and really doesn't enjoy it. We had some minor success with treasure hunt clues and writing little notes to each other, but he refuses to attempt writing any word without asking us exactly how to spell it - it's like he's scared of getting the spelling wrong even though we've told him it doesn't matter, it's better to have a go.
Maybe you would have more success with treasure hunts or notes as yours is a bit older- we had interest for a nano second when I pretended to be a cat and he was a mouse and we were writing notes to each other!
It does concern me a little as I can't ever envisage him sitting down and writing a story, for example, and isn't that sort of thing expected in year 1?

Re the reading - when he wasnt interested in doing it we didn't push it, just read lots to him (but he's always enjoyed being read to) and then just encouraged him to read a page or even just a sentence at a time to us. As he got better he became more interested.

My ds is still like this at nearly 9. He loves to build endless Lego models, to draw complex battle scenes and can cook meals independently. He is also doing very well at reading and comprehension at school and loves to be read to. Reading fiction books independently is just not his thing he'd rather be wielding a sword!
He does love a good factual book (history and animals) and will study those for extended periods so could be worth a try if your son has any specific interests.
He has never got the hang of writing though despite a huge amount of support at home and school and going into Yr 4 the school are now concerned about that.
If you are limiting screen time and reading to him try not to worry it will most likely just come in time.