How can I help my DS 10 improve his reading and comphrehension this summer

[Goldenfigs]

After a terrible parents teacher chat and the realisation that my 10 year old son is struggling. How can I help him over the summer to improve. Ideally little things I work, am knackered and have about half an hour each day. I feel that I have not supported him enough but am going to try harder.

many thanks

first, ask him what he likes to read.
My brother has always hated fiction, he likes anything non fiction, so football annuals, minecraft annuals, Guinness book of records, Beano comic strip. If he likes fiction, things which are fast and exciting, ds loved famous five for a while, Beast Quest is good. Mr Gum.

Obviously you need a balance of levels, (above books are all quite easy for average 10 yo) what level is he? What can he read? Does he like reading at all, or are you fighting a negative attitude?

I would say that fluency is as important as comprehension, and that fluency then feeds into comprehension. So he needs books he likes that he can read successfully, and some that will push him on.

So, I would say that TV, computer etc all go off at a certain time. I think this matters because given a choice I have yet to find a boy who will volunteer to turn the computer off to read, but if the computer isn't on, they are more willing. Or, turn TV off at dinner time and make after dinner your reading corner, make it a mum and son time, curl up on sofa, keep it friendly and fun. Get him to read aloud for one chapter, chat about the story, ask him what he would do next etc If he finds it heavy going, then do alternate chapters, he reads one to you, then you read one to him. Hold the book so he can see it, get him to look as well as listen. Get him to ask you questions too.

You local library does a summer reading challenge, so you could go together, enroll in that, to give him some encouragement.

I'd work to discover what he likes to read. I'd step back to easier to read books if need be. I have two dds no sons, but my personal experience is that just reading anything helps. I wouldn't worry about it being "stretching." Just try to build up a habit and confidence. Diary of a Whimpy Kid is fine, or even Mr Stink books, if he will actually read them.

Last summer, when we had boring days to fill (I appreciate that you may be more time pressed than I was), I instituted reading time. Before lunch we all sat in the living room and read for 30 minutes. Each our own book. It was nice for me . And in the absence of anything else to do, the girls happily read books of their own choosing.

I agree with steppmum, if his fluency is good, it's likely his comprehension will improve too.

love the reading time - EVERYONE reads, good modeling behaviour too.

My dcs all read in bed at night, so in bed early enough, no tv/screen in bedroom, and you can have 1/2 hour extra before lights out if you are reading.

My son was the same! His teacher recommend the 'Diary of a wimpy Kid' books, he loved these books as they were on the same wave length and has read the whole series. Some times it more about founding something they click with!

Do some shared reading together. You read a page, he reads a page. Make this a regular nightly thing. He gets one-to-one time with you as well as practising reading. You can talk about the story together along the lines of "what do you thing is going to happen" "I think x is heading for trouble here don't you" etc and also pick up on words where he is unsure of pronounciation or meaning.

Does he see the siginificant men in his life reading? - This could also be important, whether it is Dad reading the paper, or Grandad reading a library book or whatever.

YY to shared reading time, a page each is brilliant. And lots of chat about the story too. My sons love sharing a book.

Also agree about seeing men read.

What kind of books is he interested in? We've had major reading breakthroughs with 2 of our 3 after finding the right book that really made them want to do it. If you give us a rough idea we might be able to suggest books to try?

Btw if a page each is too much to start with you could try a paragraph each or even just pick out sentences you think he could tackle.

Watch stuff on tv. Sounds bad. As you are watching: "Why might that person be doing that? Feeling that? How do you know? What words might describe how he feels?" and so on.

Lego manuals. How can I build this following instructions?

The (probably too young but massively readable) Sam Silver pirate books. They love them. You can talk about what he might do next and why endlessly after each chapter. They're very filmic.

What happens next? After every film / tv show, book.

Instruction books. There are lots of them, how to build this that whatever. A good manual of outdoor activities, get him to read the instructions and be in charge. REALLY encourages proper reading of text if you say "I'm only doing what you say!"

I do the above with my Year 5's if they have written instructions. They love it.

What about getting these and doing one a day?

Hi Lo

In MN book reviews, "children's educational books and courses" section, there is a review of the Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary.

This is an easy and attractive book for children to use to boost their reading and spelling skills, and will take a child right up to Yr7 or Yr8 standards.

(I'll try and come back some other time with more suggestions.)

My DS 9 was an able reader early on but it turned out he wasn't taking in what he was reading and so he was really struggling when it came to comprehension. On the MN Special Needs board this online programme is highly recommended [http://www.headsprout.com/parents/parent-comprehension-results/ Headsprout Reading Comprehension]. We bought it and DS worked through just over half of the episodes between February and May. Something clicked and his reading comprehension test results went up 3 sub-levels

It hasn't given him any more enthusiasm to pick up a book tbh (and we've tried every format and genre) but it's definitely taught him the process and methods for tackling comprehension and the need to read carefully.

It's quite expensive - $99 about £65 - but well worth it in my experience. It's designed for DC to use independently online and each episode took my DS around 20 mins. There are 50 chapters in total.

I think you can do a free 14 day trial too.

PM me if you want any more info.

Sorry link fail

Headsprout Reading Comprehension

Audio books when out and about. Help with comprehension, concentration & vocabulary. Then get another by the same author to read. Libraries stock audio bboks. Mr Gum, Narnia, the David Walliams books.