Reading Concerns 6 year old

[happymumof22019]

For info we live in NI so the schooling system is slightly different. My child started school at just over 5 and is now going into what we know as P2 at 6. I'm going to try and keep this brief but include as much info as I can....

From an early age B (child) was interested in books and we always read etc. However B never showed much interest in letters/phonics etc. On the advice of a family member who is a teacher we never pushed it and were told it would come when ready, don't make an issue etc.

B started school and is well behaved, never causes any problems etc. At the settling in meeting I expressed some mild concern that they weren't interested in learning but was told again not to push, clearly a bright child in terms of understanding the world around them etc and it would come.

From the get go reading was a struggle. Phonics have come but B cannot blend sounds and at the end of his first year could only reliably read 6/7 sight words. Again mentioned to teacher, seemed surprised as B is always keen to do reading homework, rarely gets it wrong etc. But I suspect they let other children go first then copies.

Over the summer my family member who is a teacher (albeit 8 year olds) said they would work with B to consolidate and make sure that B didn't forget the phonics, words learned etc - nothing new. We also did reading eggs. Family member came to me today and confirmed that they do think there is a problem (which I mentioned months ago) and agreed with me that it's as if there is a block that is stopping learning. For example if you go over words like are/and - come back later they just won't have a clue what they are or how to figure it out they just stare at it get frustrated and say something that doesn't even begin with the same letter.

B isn't interested and gets really frustrated if you suggest reading - I used to think this was a lack of interest but we are now in agreement that it is because they find it difficult/know that they can't do it.

I will raise it again with school once they are back but can anyone offer advice? I was thinking in the meantime I would maybe get a tutor to see if one to one outside the family would help?

Is there anything else I should do - has anyone else experienced this?

No issues with maths and does wear glasses and doesn't seem to have any issue physically seeing the letters.

Thank you in advance.

My children both dragged their feet with reading. My ds is 5 and still drags his feet, but my dd, who is 7 now happily reads. The change happens when they can read more fluently and more difficult interesting stories. They start phonics young here at age 3/4 and reading at age 4/5. Neither of my kids were interested in this. My son manages to blend and read, but he never wants to. I have to make an effort to get him to read his books, but 3 times a week seems to be enough for him to progress. Its normal I think for children to resist something they see as a challenge. Perhaps ask why he does not want to? Explain that the more he practices the better he will get and it will become easier and he will enjoy it.

Have him tested to ensure he’s not dyslexic or had other issues. If he doesn’t, try reading very simple texts with him each evening, with no pressure. It will eventually click.

Oops has any other issues

Also in NI. P1 could not get head round blending phonics or remembering key words. Carried into P2. Over summer holiday before P3 I tried to key words loads but still couldn't do the 100 they said he should. No interest in reading himself although he would listen to us reading and loves fact books. All of a sudden in P3 it just all clicked and he will read all the time now. I was really worried in P1 and P2 but it just seemed to take mine longer.

What helped mine is that he loves horrible histories and he got the set of books bought to him for his 7th Birthday. My husband reads them to him every night but made him read the cartoon strips himself. His reading really came on from then

Thank you everyone for your advice and reassurance. I will give him a few weeks to settle then talk to teacher. We do read lots together, visit the library, he picks the books etc.

My kids were vaguely similar to this in that they both were unable to do phonics. School was unhelpful largely in that at first they just said they will learn in their own time then they said your kids are very smart but they're not learning to read, try reading with them more at home. (Was reading half an hour a day with each of them already, 22 year old kid can sod off)

Both my kids were diagnosed with Dyslexia at 9 and 8 and both had very low reading ages until I did Dyslexia Gold with them which worked well.