Yr 1 not progressing with reading - help

[Didiplanthis]

Hello,
My Dd is 6 in yr 1, she is very able but I wouldn't say gifted, she works very very hard. In reception she flew with her reading, and has great comprehension but this year she doesn't seem to have moved on at all. I wondered if she had been pushed too hard was ORT 10 at end of reception and fast so put her back 3 levels and took it slow, but she is just not getting any better ! Her phonics are secure she understands it all but it is just laborious and she doesn't really enjoy it. I have bought her all sorts of different books as the school books are quite frankly dire, but nothing is doing it for her. Her friends are all avid readers but I am lucky if she reads a few pages before losing interest. I read to her every night at bedtime which she enjoys to an extent but she prefers listening to songs on the iPhone. Her dad is not a natural reader ( very clever , loads of post grad qualification etc but never reads for enjoyment ) so am guessing she might just be like him ? Any hints tip or just stories of similar children who are doing fine please !!!

Magazines or comics? If she's ORT 10 she should manage NG Kids which has articles about animals, jokes etc. All in bite-sized chunks. It may be worth taking a look over summer.
It's really difficult to do, but I would try not to stress too massively. Don't force her - just make things that might interest her available. If she feels forced it becomes a chore. I know three boys now Y4 who were finding reading challenging then suddenly just clicked. No apparent reason, but it just suddenly happened. As long as reading material is there for when she's ready....

Ps - I didn't mean by that 'stop reading to her'. Just see if she can go at her own pace for a bit.

Dd2, while also very able - started YR able to decide most texts, also took a long long time to start reading for pleasure. Despite observing her sister - Dd1 - constantly reading. Dd2 is also in Y1 now and now started to read a lot on her own, but only recently.

So, here are some things to consider:

• check her eyes - sometimes kids can be a bit far sighted and reading for extended periods is actually unpleasant

• if her choice is to read OR to listen to songs (play) on iPhone/iPad - the electronics would win most times. So - limit electronics and TV.

• leave books everywhere. Keep trying different kinds.

Dd2 ended up not liking most of the books her sister liked at her age (and that I kept for her). I thought she wasn't interested in reading and almost gave up. Then, somehow she wanted to get a shiny kid edition of the Guiness World Records (!) and kept reading it. Then came superheroes books. Then Horrid Henry. Then the new picture edition of Harry Potter.

• when you are reading to her - get her to read at least a bit. Or parts of dialogue. It's nice for them to read from real books - not only the school ones. Makes normal books less daunting

I'd say too that progress/development is not linear and that we teach too much too young currently.

Is she sounding out words aloud in the books she reads? That can be a barrier to really getting into the story.

What sort of books have you tried buying her? Could you be pitching it too easy or too hard?

Have you tried letting her choose at the library? You might be surprised. I have a very strong little reader, and some days she just wants to read baby board books! Summer reading challenge maybe?

How about reading together, you do one page she does the next? That used to get DS into a story quicker. Or I'd read the first chapter and then he'd be desperate to know what happens next so he'd pick it up again.

But perhaps music is going to be her real enthusiasm. That's okay too!

Would second string comics/magazines/graphic books.

Also non fiction books about something she is interested in, and poetry.

Take her to the library and let her choose whatever she wants. Whilst there, sign her up to the Summer Reading Challenge, which runs in most libraries.

String means reading!!

Make sure she sees you reading for fun around the house too :)

We're a family of readers and lovers of books but DGS aged 8 hates reading. He's surprisingly good at it (reading age 12) but just won't read. Maybe an encyclopaedia or other factual book that takes his fancy that week. He listens to audio books before bed and loves bring read to. He's very bright and brilliant at maths. But won't read. When he reads aloud he is so monosyllabic that it's boring to listen to. But he'll get there and one day he will choose a book to read and enjoy it. We hope!

I don't think it should be a choice of the iPhone or story time / reading. Great to listen to music but if you read to her before bed then that is what you do, no electronic alternative. Reading is catching so does she see you reading the papers, books, magazines every day? Do you take her to the library or book shop every week - we used to have a 'books don't count' attitude to spending in relation to pocket money. I agree with the point about sharing reading, DS had an advanced reading age but lacked reading stamina at first so we each read a few pages. Also, I would say no TV in the bedroom until 6th form at least.

There's some really good advice here thanks ! We have literally hundreds of books from simple story/picture books to chapter books in a huge range of subjects which are all accessible. She has almost no electronics - no access to tablets/phones/ computers at all and no interest in them but likes a to hear song she can sing along to at bedtime but I agree I think she needs to have a story every night so that's somewhere to start. She is excited about the summer reading challenge which is good - she does love a certificate ! I think I need to keep the books she chooses fairly easy to keep it fun . She does enjoy poetry and reads and understands surprisingly complex poems. She doesn't really sound words out at all now - hasn't for about a year, just the odd unfamiliar one. She is currently ORT 13. Her reading age is around 8-9 but she just doesn't seem to have any stamina or tenacity. All your helpful comments have encouraged me though. I shall just continue to provide options and encourage her and not worry too much ! I love reading and have bought a load of cheap books so she sees me reading more but hadn't made time for it - good suggestion

As a retired TA I'll add a couple more ideas:

When reading harder books with a child, get him to point to words as he goes along. If he knows the word, or can sound it out, he can say it. If he doesn't know the word, he can hover his finger over it, and YOU say the word for him. Don't stop to analyse or discuss the word at this stage, but try and keep the 'flow' of reading going. Review difficulties at the end, if you wish to. This way, he has the satisfaction of reading more difficult books, without the fear of getting 'stuck' on words.

For slightly older children I sometimes recommend what I call "Value Added" books, that is they have an aspect in addition to just reading a story.

The best one is Arthur Ransome's "Coot Club" set on the Norfolk Broads in 1930. All the places in the book are actual locations, and can be found on the Ordnance Survey 2-1/2inch map of the Broads. All the villages, rivers, lakes, pubs and windmill pumping stations can be seen on the map. Apart from some railways being closed, and there now being more main roads, little has changed. It also gives interesting insights to the social history of the '30s: the children want to contact friends in a nearby village, and say if they post a letter in the morning, it will get there by the second post in the afternoon! When they buy provisions at a riverside shop, the shop-boy carries the goods down to their boat for them.

Another book in a 'real' place, is "Watership Down". The rabbits' home threatened by development is actually on the outskirts of Newbury, in Berkshire. There are several web sites about the locations, and even guided tours sometimes to places featured in the book.

It may be as simple as not finding her genre yet. DD2 didn't seem interested in reading. Then she started reading Beast Quest books and found them a bit more interesting. Now she's discovered Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series' - she's finished his first Percy Jackson series and has moved onto the Heroes of Olympus series....she's devouring them. I can't get interested in fantasy at all, but she takes after her Dad!