Half a term of reception has put DS off reading 😓

[PenelopeChipShop]

My DS turned 4 in June so he's a summer baby who's just started reception. It's gone better than I expected emotionally, he seems to have some friends and is happily bouncing into school most mornings which tbh is all I could ask fir at this point!

The school doesn't do homework as such but does expect us to 'hear the DC read' daily - which in theory I totally agree with but he can't actually read! So obviously I read bits of his books and try to get him to sound out words I think he could do - he can do simple phonics like 'cat' if in the right mood.

He has always loved me reading to him and still does like it but trying to get him to read/sound out words is like pulling teeth and I think it's putting him off books sltogether. They get a wordless book every week to bring home just up look at and we're at the point now where he won't even look at it - he's even thrown it across the room!

Should I push him to do it or just leave it and read to him?

Don't want to hold him back but I'm a bit dismayed by him not wanting to look at books when he's loved them since he was a baby 😓

Also agree with stepping back.

My DD was in reception last year and initially showed no particular interest in reading. She started with no phonic sounds.

I was determined not to put her off her love of stories, having spent the previous 4 years reading daily and making up stories with her. At the first parents evening there was a bit of pressure to encourage her to read more at home. However, I told the teacher (nicely) that I didn't want to put her off and would continue reading to her until such time she wanted to do is herself. Gradually she started to read the speech bubbles on the pages, whilst I read the rest, then would do alternate pages, and by the end of the year would mostly read the book herself. She just needed a bit of time to be ready for it. The teacher did say at the end of the year that she felt this had been a good approach for DD.

Reading's definately a long game, it would be a shame for 4 year olds to be put off so early, especially when they're still coping with the new environment of school.

If the wordless books aren't working for your DS I'd drop them for now. They're not really reading anyway. In the early stages of Reception DS preferred playing phonics games rather than reading books. Making words with magnetic letters on the fridge; making nonsense sentences out of (decodable) flashcards; i-spy and similar; and computer things like teach your monster to read mentioned above, or alphablocks.

Don't dismiss Biff and Chip. Adults hate them but they are subversive enough for a lot of kids to love them.

They're also the failed Look and Say method

Oh god, the wordless books. We just skipped them and I went back to what we were reading anyway. And DS hated Biff and Chip.

I totally agree with the posters upthread who say 4 is very very young (many countries, quite a few of which outperform the UK in education league tables, don't start formal schooling till 7), and that the last thing you want is to put your child off reading, or give them the message that it's a chore. Keep reading the sort of books he likes to him, rather than forcing him to do stuff he's not enjoying.

It's really important to remember that lots of children arrive at school with much less experience of books and stories than most mumsnetters children. Wordless books can be brilliant for some children as a way of introducing them to storytelling in a non threatening way.

Oh, I don't dispute that for a moment, Bertrand. But OP's asked us about her child in particular, not the average child in the class.

Maybe carry on reading to him but skip the books for now.

Have you got an iPad? If so I'd get the free Sounds-Write ap and let him use that as his " reading homework". You might find he likes reading books he can decode once he understands what it's all about and Sounds-Write will teach him.

My kids hated Biff & Chip so I didn't bother. We just have lots of books in the house and hit the libraries a lot. I read to them every day. I found hitting the charity shops & stocking up on all manner of kids books so there was always a huge selection helped. Love of reading is so much more important than 'learning' to read at 4.

And even implying to a child that bedtime cuddles with books would be off the table if they didn't read their school book is counter productive and ridiculous.

I really didn't push DS at all. We did reading when he was happy to do it rather than daily as advised. We read to him every day. After a fairly slow start, entering year 2 he is a very good reader and says he loves reading. There's a lot to adjust to with school and first half term is hard. I was of the attitude that most places in the world schooling starts at 6 or 7. He made steady progress but was a little knocked with confidence that other people were better at reading initially. I would take a bit more of a relaxed attitude but appear excited by what book he's brought home and mention you would be interested to look at it with him, if he wanted to show you

"I was of the attitude that most places in the world schooling starts at 6 or 7."

My DS is also summer-born. He is 6 and just started learning to read this term (we're on the Continent). He has an advantage in that the local language is phonetic, unlike English, but I've been shocked by how quickly he's picked it up - in fact all the children in his class have. It's lovely to see them all come in in the morning, grab their readers and get started!

OP, my personal feeling is that you definitely shouldn't push it. Go back to making reading and stories fun, not a chore. You can't force him to learn to read before he's ready, but you could really take all the pleasure out of it if you force the issue. Considering how much reading has to offer us all, that would really be a tragedy. So I'd wind it back down to where you were before. He clearly has an active and engaged parent who wants to help and support him and foster a love of reading- that's half the battle for most children so I wouldn't worry about an artificially constructed curriculum. If you lived where we do, he wouldn't even be starting to identify letters until next term.

I got what you meant Frogusha and will try that too! Bedtime stories are a really important time to him so it may work.

I am honestly not anxious about him being behind at all, I hope he doesn't think that... I was just trying to do as asked by the school but perhaps have overestimated what they actually meant! (He's my oldest do not done this yet.)

Basically the school sends home a wordless one every Monday so you have all week to read it, but they also send an alpha blocks one daily, so I've been trying to get him to read that bit perhaps it's only the non word one they want the kids to 'read'. Going to check with the teacher!

The biff and chip books make me want to poke my eyes out. Much better to inspire them with stories along side teaching the mechanics. At some point it clicks and they get that they can access magical books on their own.

The worst thing is there's nothing you can do with a lilac level/wordless book that you couldn't do better with a good quality children's picture book. Wordless or not. It would be much better for schools to have spent their money on a selection of good quality texts for children to share with parents.

DS is in reception, and his teachers have been very explicit that anything that comes home is entirely optional and should never be done if child is not enjoying it.

I think I've had his letters out twice so far, he's quite excited to point them out when he sees them on signs etc. He's changed his book once (he likes the current one so doesn't want another one). This seems the right pace for him. They'll start sending home books for him to try reading after half term, again optional, only if he's keen.