Help with year 5 english

[Pinkpeanut27]

My year 5 son is not making as much improvement in English as his teachers would like .
He has gone off reading ,
He is not coping too well with the grammar and punctuation that they are learning .
He knows some of it like capital letters and full stops - I know way easier than he 5 but can’t be bothered to use it !
I think he is struggling with comprehension.

When I say struggling he is just about where he should be but isn’t progressing .
His hand writing is also not so good .

Maths on the other hand he is flying with .

I’m not new to parenting and have helped 2 other kids through this one of whom is dyslexic, I’m also not looking for him to be super high achieving and understand kids grow and develop at different rates .

My problem is I can’t seem to get him interested in learning . With maths he likes to use apps especially for practice and tables .

I’m wondering if there is anything similar for English.
I have tried audio books , letting him
Pick books getting his siblings to help him , Ive asked the school
Librarian to help and he just won’t . He won’t even let me read with him or to him .

Have you looked at graphic novels for him? I've got these in the past for reluctant readers. (Google Reluctant readers KS2 for lots fo other help/guidance)

I would do short 10minute bursts of learning for him at home. Explain it's 10mins, that is all, with a reward at the end of the 10mins (extra half hour on a game or something that he enjoys). Or he could save the rewards and use them for a big treat (cinema with friends for example).

But as well as the above carrots, you need to use a bit of stick if he refuses. So he will lose things like earlier bedtime, less time on gaming etc.

In school kids are sanctioned if they refuse to work, so it should be the same at home. It's important he knows that you take this seriously because you care about him and want the best for him.

You could sign him up to Toppsta toppsta.com and LoveReading4Kids www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/kids-zone/

Ok my opinion of primary school reading is the following:

1. It is quite difficult
2. There's a lot to get through and it's quite highly pressured.

Because of this, children are put off reading

Try your best to make reading enjoyable and fun at home. My y5 son likes The week magazine. We also watch documentaries, listen to match commentary for descriptive language. We try to discuss as much as we can so that there is depth to what they're reading or watching. Even a chat about a particular part of a film after watching it will help with understanding.

Reading is high up on priority because how well children read is directly related to how well they can access other subjects, so you are right to focus on it.

Thank you ,some good ideas there .
He started reading badly as his friends didn’t read and was in the ‘ intervention group’ in yr 2 . At Christmas he switched schools and got new friends and a number of those were readers so he upped his game !

I think part of this problem
Is he doesn’t want to do something he is not good at . At his old school he was constantly being told ‘that would be too hard for you , ‘ and one day he completed something first he was told to do it again as I couldn’t be right as X hadn’t finished . I was in school that day and he had finished and it was correct as he showed me asking what else he should do .

He also has a bit of a gaming addiction , I do restrict his online time very strictly but he dad and brother play and he plays on line with friends and cousins so I can’t stop totally .

I do have graphic novels for him which I’m ok with but he needs to push on a bit from these at times to widen his vocabulary and to understand story telling and language use .
I have audio books for him and I’ve offered to read with him or to him with the more advanced books .

I’ve also suggested fact books rather than fiction.

His older brother is a total book worm and has been suggesting things .

I feel I need to keep up with the reading and that if he gets grabbed by a book he will be away . I feel though he needs to practice his English skills to become comfortable with them and that online will suit him
Better .

You said your ds has gaming addiction. It depends on what kind of game he plays, but can you use that as advantage?
My dc is massive game addict, but it only done them good. gained massive vocabulary, needing to read text/info was good for reading, inspiration for writing own stories, artwork and music. Understanding how the story flows helped with comprehension. Lots of unfamiliar names and stuff helped with decoding and spelling.
Overall, my dc got so much positive influence from playing games, especially in literacy.