Reading at home

[lucyb162]

Hi
Does a reading programme/app exist for children who are competent on their phonics but would rather do something that is lesson based on the computer than read an actual book? DD is 5 1/2, has a good grasp of phonics so is steadily working through the ORT bands, but doesn't yet enjoy reading those type of books to me/with me. I looked at reading eggs, but it looks like that is based more at learning phonics?

Thanks in advance!

Have you looked at teach your monster to read? Still quite geared to learning phonics sounds at the start of it but builds up quite nicely (or you can tweak starting levels). Have a fiddle about with the PC version that's free and see what you make of that and then keep an eye on their FB feed and they post on there when they're offering the app free from time to time.

Even my very able reader enjoyed playing through it because of being able to do things like earn coins to make their monster dressed up ever more ridiculously.

Worth asking at school as well - I know we have parental access to one website with activities linked to some of the reading books that the school use but I forget which one it is because they were meant to be sending out new passwords and haven't done that yet.

Nothing is a substitute for books. Try the library to stimulate a love of books. Great choice too so maybe simething to stimulate rather than more screen time?

That wasn't what I asked @BubblesBuddy
I'm fully aware of what libraries offer and how much screen time my daughter should and does have

Is she averse to all books or just ORT?
What about comics? Magazines?
The problem with alternatives to books is that reading books isn't just about improving the ability to read words. It's about general literacy too. So for example putting the words into context, comprehension of the story, preempting what might happen next etc. It would be difficult to replicate that without actually reading a book.

Does DD enjoy being read to? I think kids do become more into reading as their ability to read catches up with the kind of material they might actually enjoy reading. You could try more advanced books and alternate pages?

There are various online websites for example literacy planet that she might enjoy although the focus tends to be on just reading and spelling rather than other aspects of literacy.

@lucyb162 reading eggs!

Helping my 5yr old son who has autism and development delays.

It's a free 30 day trial and £6.99 a month after,

It also includes something called maths seeds which is brill aswell!

Trial it, i don't think you will be disappointed.

Sorry should have read your post properly, you've looked at reading eggs.

It has a lot of books to read based on your child's current level and caters for much older children (there is a section for 9-13 year olds, so I think it's not all phonics based.

It's a free trail so you could try it see how you get on, they do a mini test to start with to see we're your child needs to start.

@friedspamfritters I'm not exactly sure what her problem is with physical books, she's just reluctant to read anything in book form. If I get ones that she's interested in, which I have done, then she'll read the odd page and get me or her dad to read the rest.

She does Bug Club through a school subscription, which is basically reading a banded book online with a few questions interspersed to encourage comprehension. We usually do one of those a week. Could do more but the books are banded 1 level below her normal level as the emphasis is on the understanding, so it's not really challenging her to improve her reading. I'd say her comprehension is excellent and we don't really need to work on that, it's just a matter finding something that she's happy to do with me where she'll read more than the odd page so is improving her reading fluency really and her preference is for something computer based rather than book based.

She's always loved being read to and we do that every day, regardless of whether she has done some of her own reading or not. She would panic at the moment if i asked her to read from anything much more complicated than her banded books, not because she couldn't do it, but just the sight of all the words on the page would scare her.

I'll have a look at literacy planet, thanks.

@danni0509 I'll definitely have a go with the free trial, just wondering if there was anything more along the lines of what I mentioned really, possibly Reading Eggs may work out

Hmm tricky I wouldn't go for more advanced if she'll be put off! It's great she enjoys being read to and to be honest that's the most important thing. Will she dip into books (e.g. the see inside books) where there's no pressure to read the entire story?

Do you live near a library or not?
I have found this website helpful. www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-tips-parents-kindergartners

Make reading fun. Ask questions about what she is reading. Borrow books from the library and discuss them at home. Reading is a good hobby for children. Be a positive role model or influence. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childrens_books

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