Feeling a bit down about DS's reading

[LurcioAgain]

DS (yr 2, nearly 7) is lovely, but very much an outdoorsy, playing sports, climbing trees, playing with lego child rather than a sitting quietly child. He's always been reluctant to read school books, and I've largely let it go on the basis that I'd sooner he associated books with being nice and enjoyable (I read to him every night) than something that is a chore. And I thought we'd really had a breakthrough over the Christmas holiday, because all of a sudden he wanted to read to me (okay, only a few pages a night, from some of his "toddler" books).

But now I've had his school report and according to school he's still at exactly the same level he was at the end of yr 1 - i.e. no progress at all in a whole term. So he's now significantly below the average level of his class (yes, I know someone has to be...) I'm presuming that by the time he starts junior school next year this is going to start to be a problem for other subjects, because he'll be expected to be able to read maths problems, history books, geography books, etc.

What do I do? Going to have a word with the teacher when I get the chance, obviously, but not sure what I can do. Do I go with the largely carrot, try to encourage him to read when he feels keen, read to him when he doesn't approach I've taken so far? Or is it time to start being very firm and saying "this is just something you have to do"?

Maybe find out if there's a specific reading problem and go from there? If there's not then is likely your ds will catch up. Either way I would try to build in practise somehow. We tried things like Dd choosing the book and then taking it in turns to read bits. Or she would read the speech and I would read the rest. Fwiw I was quite shocked when my dd didn't just click with reading the way her older brother had. She's just one of those kids who finds phonics more tricky. She only just passed the yr 1 phonics yeast at the end of yr 2 Now in Yr3 she has started to read more fluently but her spelling is not good at all!

Sorry for the typos due to phone and my own error on 'practise'

My dd is y1 and has made zero progress since starting school in September 2013!! She doesn't know all her phonic sounds, can't blend anything. I have no advice but you are not alone Op!!

When mine were reluctant to read, I would share their reading book. I read one page, you read the next and so on. When we finished, I would read him a book. That worked for a while when they were not keen to read. It may be worth a try.

Do you have a more specific knowledge of where the difficulties are? How did he do in the Y1 phonics check (assuming he's at a state school)? Are the books he's getting at an appropriate level so that he canread almost all the words without having to guess from the pictures?

If you can give more detail, there are loads of people on this board who can give suggestions.

In the meantime, definitely try to keep it fun and relaxed, with loads of praise. One thing that motivated my DD was using 'secret messages'- I'd write a very short message on a whiteboard before I went to bed, so she could read it in the morning. Something like 'We will go to the park.' But only using words and sounds that you know he is confident with.

Maybe next term, or the one after, he'll leap forward.

Don't put him off reading by making it a chore, definitely not.

Go to the library, get some books that are very fun, read to him a lot, and sometimes stop mid flow, to go and do something for five minutes or so, and tell him to keep reading, and to tell you what happened when you get back. Be excited about the character and plot. Talk about it to him, talk about books, about the characters and say "I wonder what's going to happen to the lomax now?" For example.

I used to use a. Lot of 3d books, too, the children loved those. They don't need pressure, they need to be genuinely inspired.

Do you think it's can't read or won't read? If it's can't read then I've had really, really good results using Dancing Bears phonics intervention - could well work for your DD too MissPricklePants. If it's won't read, then based on my experience with my DS then I would suggest bribery all the way in every way you can think of!! My DS was a perfectly capable reader who didn't actually start to read for pleasure until the end of year 4/start of year 5. We did lots and lots of audio books (from the library) so he was still enjoying books and getting all the benefits of reading (vocab, sentence structure, plot development, characterisation etc) without actually having to read anything!

Thanks for all the replies. It is really comforting to know I'm not alone.

I think it's "won't read" rather than "can't read". The other thing is I suspect he's slightly frustrated by his own slow progress - he will guess words rather than sounding them out (not guessing from the pictures, guessing from the first few letters and context).

I can't remember the precise score, but the level 1 phonics check was okay (he was about average I think - it's the complete lack of progress since that's the issue: he just seems to have stalled).

We've been doing a bit of "I'll read the descriptive bits, you read the speech bubbles" with some of his books at home. I think bribery might be the way to go (I've been trying a bit of that - 5p in his money bank for every page - helps with his 5 times tables too).

As a TA working with 'reluctant' readers, I would sometimes share a harder book with the child, so that he pointed to each word and read it or sounded it out if he could. If he didn't know the word, he would hover his finger over the word and I would read it for him.

That way, quite difficult books could be tackled (including non-fiction), giving the child more satisfaction in his achievement. Don't stop to analyse things, but try and keep the flow of reading going.

Something you would both find useful, and quite entertaining:

An inexpensive and easy to use book, that can encourage children with reading, spelling and writing, and really help them to understand Phonics, is reviewed in the MN Book Reviews section. Just search ‘Phonics’.

I'm a TA /HLTA (depends what day it is!) too and I've tried everything.I usually do. Dd loves books she just can't read them! Or.spell!

Have you had his eyes checked? Not the school screening, which is very basic, but by a behavioral optometrist or opthomologist? It is perfectly possible to have perfect vision in both eyes yet still have trouble making them work together. This would make reading very hard work and can make the words jump about.

My DS had this issue, once he had some glasses his reading took off.

I think all children should have a proper check to rule out problems.

My Ds was exactly like this. At the same age too. So frustrating battling every night to get him to read. He seems to have turned a corner now, through persistence on our part, support from school, and being given more interesting books. We've had a few non fiction ones sent home. He loves facts! And for the first time, today he brought home one that he genuinely seems interested in reading. It does happen eventually.

I'm a relaxed sort of parent myself OP, but it sounds to me like you do need to start being a bit firmer here. Why don't you have a chat with DS about it? Ask him what he thinks would be OK for him (how many minutes / pages? What time of day would be best for him? Take turns to read a page - he can choose who goes first. Small bribe at the end - what does he suggest?) so that he feels he has bought into the idea.

I do think regular reading is the only way for him to make progress, and the teacher simply hasn't got enough hours in the day to spend enough time with each child.

An eminent ophthalmologist with a special interest in neuroanatomy once told me that the human brain isn't designed to be able to read until the age of 7. Obviously you will have those early developers and those who work very hard at it (are pushed more)

I am hoping he is right and my ds also nearly 7 will develop his natural ability soon :)

Remember lots of other European countries don't start formal education until this age !

The human brain isn't designed to read at all ... Reading and writing are artificial processes

Thanks everyone. Yes, I do think longingly of the way things are done in Finland and Scandinavia and think DS would be happier under that system!

Anyway, I got him to read 5 pages of one of the phonics readers I picked up - Harry and the Dinosaurs United (I was right that the football tie in might draw him in), and he asked me for more of his bedtime book because the chapter ended on a cliff-hanger and he wanted to know what happened next (handling narrative isn't a problem - he can definitely follow quite complex stories, and has even started to pick up on some of the recurring themes in children's books and comment on them - it's just reading the words himself).

I'll also look into maybe getting his eyes tested.

Ok maybe designed isn't the right word !

I can only speak from personal experience, which is, that did not learn to read until I started school, which was in the year I turned 7.

So that was 30 odd years ago in South Africa, but I have just asked our German Exchange how old she was when she learnt to read (she reads and writes German, English and French fluently) and she said, I was late to read, I did not like it much, I only learnt to read after I was 8.

I've found with my DS is he will/can read if he thinks I'm not paying 100% attention. But if I sit next to him while he read (I am paying attention really) then he can read/blends most of the words properly.

U can't compare us with Scandinavian countries or the rest of Europe, because none of them have spelling systems which make learning to read as difficult as the English one. None of their spellings are ever used for more than one sound as is often the case in English (go do, on only, the he...). All English-speaking countries start the teaching of reading earlier, because it's well known that in English it takes longer (10 times longer than in Finnish).

But try to keep relaxed about it and keep it fun. And explain, very gently, that being able to read well becomes more important as he goes up through the school years, that it makes life much easier, and the more he does it, the easier it will get.

He seems to be doing pretty well from what u say. And progress is not always constant. Many children make sudden leaps forward, then stick on the same level for a while, then move up again.

My ds was the same, so I found a medium heat enjoyed mainly: Hard backed comic books (from amazon), football fact books and amazing facts book. Lots of words he didn't know in the fact books but this challenged him and the variety of comic books available made it easy to find some at his level and just above. The comic books made him very popular at school.

What is he most interested in? Find a fact book, builds something and let him read the instructions. This will help expand his vocabulary and better his reading.

Sofedup has a point - we're in Germany, and although DD learnt to read at home before she was 5, DS1 wasn't interested and started school a week before his 7 th birthday only recognising most letters and having a very basic ability to blend very short, simple words without digraphs. He's learnt to read well enough to read Horrid Henry and cartoon strips etc in English (which he hasn't even been formally taught as his school is German only) as wellasto have a go at quite difficult factual texts in German in 4 months.

Personally I think that for some children it's too much too soon oin the UK - however as OP' s son is 7 it is worth a bit more of both carrot and firmness (if not stick) soon. Maybe you really did have a breakthrough atCChristmas - try to roll with that and encourage - he might just now be ready to fly with it. If no progress by easter start serious follow up with school then?

Is his reading ability out of sync with everything else? How is his writing? Although yes he may just be reluctant and it will suddenly click if it was my son Dyslexia would have crossed my mind by 7.

I've worked in education and it is quite common that boys (not all but a lot!) just don't fancy reading (or writing!) and even if they do the majority of book they come across in schools are quite feminine...

I think you are on the right track getting him some phonic-friendly types books in subjects that interest him. My boys loved the 'I can read' batman books and scholastic also do a variety of superhero levelled books too

I agree that you need to ask the teacher more specific questions -

• what was his Y1 phonics test score (you said it was 'average' but did he meet national expectations, if not, what is being put in place to address this?)

• what does 'below average' in his class actually mean? Assessment should be in terms of national expectations, not individual class averages, as they vary so much.

• what assessment have been done, if any, and what is being put in to place, if anything, to help him progress to where he is expected to be?

• how does his reading abilities compare to his writing, maths, problem solving etc?

Try to focus on the specific help/support he needs in the hear and now, whether it's focusing on phonics, or obtaining books that he enjoys.