6 year old son not interested in reading

[Coffeep]

My son is in year 2. He is on turquoise level at school. He has limited interest in reading. He will read the books the school send home to read and he will read book band books (oxford reading tree or Rigby phonics) from the library if i ask him to but he wont read any longer / chapter style books. I have brought Dahl, horrid Henry, jermery strong, captain underpants etc but he has no interest in reading those. I have tried the you read a page and i will read a page but he isn't interested. Book band books he is happy to read and can read purple level at home. Am i doing something wrong. He turns 7 in Feb so should I be pushing him to read longer books?

We're all different, some kids like to read while others don't... I have three kids, one reads a novel every three days and loves them and another can't stand reading but does it because the school sets them books to read and she doesn't like getting in trouble. ;)

My ds 6 is not passionate about reading. He's good at it and does it for school but my Dn also 6 is already reading David Walliams type books... I wouldn't worry op

Try audio books too. You can download the library app. My children love them, I fall asleep to them unfortunately!

I think it sounds like the books you are choosing are too hard for him- especially Dahl. I think if you picked books that are easier than his school reading books he might be more willing to read them for pleasure to himself.

One of my dc is on purple book band at school and he really enjoys some of the shorter “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. I think the series is called Dragonlarks. They are not too challenging and obviously enjoyable to read over and over again because you can change the story each time.

Hi thanks all for the advice.
I have have purchased some non fiction reading books for him and i am going to encourage him to read some more picture books rather than chapter books.

My DS was 7 in July. He's year 3 youngest in the year and he's on purple books although I think he probably should be higher As he seems to read better at home to me than he does in class he's just not interested he was on a higher band at the beginning of lockdown but dropped back so I think he's having the teacher on sometimes. We have read to him from being born but it is a chore for him and not something he enjoys. He is very clever his teacher commented that his general knowledge is brilliant when she is chatting to him but reading at the moment just isn't his thing I'm hoping it will be in time but I've decided not to push it. He has plenty of books he can read if he wants so my advice would be do the 10 mins a day but don't push further as he will just rebel against it.

I would just read to him, a love of stories can come from just bed time reading to him.

The main thing for any "reading" activity is comprehension of what they are reading. Sometimes they concentrate so hard on decoding that they don't take in any details, hence they read the school book but you or Dh/Dp reads to them at bedtime. You can discuss the story. Why does John dislike the man or why does Jane feel sad? If he can't tell you then you tell him.

Ds2 didn't start reading for pleasure until the summer after year 2 and then it was Beast Quest books. His year 3 teacher told him very tongue in cheek that she had finished teaching him as by Christmas of year 3 he had exceeded his end of year 3 reading target. He is now 14 and still loves books.

I read to Ds1 until he was 16. We shared books and so I would read to him as he was reading enough stuff with GCSEs. It is a lovely thing to share a story. We read a 9 book triple trilogy.

I nearly burst into tears when reading this. It could have be written by myself!!! My son is exactly the same. He is in year 2 and on purple book band. His peers are mostly free readers now..they read books like beast quest etc. I love reading as a child and have been reading to him ever since he was a baby. I read to him every night (after he read his school book to me). He reads his school book okay and is getting more fluent. (He struggled with fluency in year 1 but got better). It's the fact that he would never pick up a book by his own will worries me more.

Sometimes when he moans about being bored, I would suggest to go and read something...He is getting into an age of not so interested in toys but has not found a new passion yet. He would be happy to play a board game with us but with a young brother it's sometimes not possible for all of us to play together so I just wish he could like reading and be able to entertain himself. Lego is still too hard for him(another sigh) but he does enjoy building freely with Duplo and can entertain himself for half an hour if he suddenly has a good idea on what to build.

I used to be more relaxed about it but starts to get a bit anxious as he is getting older. His spelling isn't great either and I wonder whether there is some learning disabilities involved... The teacher has never said anything but I always get a shock when I see his work.

I guess I'll just have to keep trying and hope one day he will click.

as ^^pp said reading is not just 'chapter books' comics, shopping lists, game rules anything

As long as you don't think he's struggling, maybe find some comics and magazines that he might enjoy xx

I think he is still very young to be reading much on his own. I would say DS (9) isn't a great reader but when he was about 7.5 or 8 he discovered Diary of a Wimpy kid and Tom gates and he loves those. He also likes the tree house storey books. He'll read those again and again, dipping in and out of them without always reading again from start to finish. DOWK are his favourite. Despite loving those books, being good at reading and enjoying plenty of other books I read to him getting him to read anything else is a chore. He will read a couple of chapters a day for school but reverts to his favourites for reading for pleasure. I don't think he read any books except school reading books at age 6.
He also loves listening to audio books so you could get some of those instead. We use borrow box. Whilst it isn't improving reading skills it is still encouraging a love of stories and feeding imagination.

He might enjoy audiobooks with text on YouTube.

If libraries open, go to a library. Does the school not have a library? Browse through books. Let him choose. I remember a teacher said to me once that DC don’t always have to be stretched when reading for pleasure. It’s hard work if you cannot read the story fairly fluently. Would you like to be challenged with hard words when you read a novel? Probably not and children are the same. So try books with easier words. Try comics and fun rhymes. When reading to him, share the paragraphs. It breaks reading down into smaller chunks than a page.

DD was put on the reading scheme at school in Y3 for a bit. I thought she read very well and was surprised but it made little difference to overall attainment that some DC were off the scheme in y2. Very few and definitely not most of her friends though.

Go to a local library. Look at the books together as well. Borrow some and talk about them etc. Purchase some more storybooks from bookshops, and at fairs. Try to take his hobbies into account when selecting books to read at home, reading must not be a chore.

At his age, I recommend only child friendly books, you can ask a librarian for recommendations and so on. Pick up a current newspaper from a supermarket on your way home as well and read that out loud to your child.

Make some brief notes on the novel in question too. You can even find a limited set of story books at garden centers. Leaflets count as reading material for the purposes of this reply. I still read textbooks.

@OrangeGinLemonFanta

I know in Mumsnet world everyone has a child reading Dickens by age 5, but I think six is still very young for chapter books, and they are quite intimidating for children that age. DD is 6, in year 1, is reading pretty well and enjoys having longer books read to her, but is nowhere near mentally ready to read them herself. She is one of the oldest children and one of the better readers in her class. I would back off the chapter books with not many pictures and get shorter books with lots of illustrations.

Agree with you - 6 is still very young for reading chapter books!

I also have a 6 year old DD in Y1 who is a very proficient reader, but she is not ready for reading chapter books yet. She adores reading and reads all sorts of stuff all the time, chapter books will come in time :)

Mine is also 6 (late July) and on purple. He's in the top half of the class for reading but not remotely interested in reading for pleasure. I downloaded Mr Majeika on my kindle to read to him at bedtime and (considering it's quite dated) he loves it. Yesterday he asked for another chapter and after that he wanted another chapter. I said 'no' and he promptly picked up the kindle and started reading the next chapter himself - I was delighted but of course didn't let on I was!

We've given up on the Floppy books he brings home from school (I couldn't cope with yet another magic key adventure)and instead I've bought a book of 1 page texts with comprehension questions and we are working through those. He loves the fact he only has to read 1 page a day!

Relax, he just hasn't found what sparks his interest yet! I've had both extremes with mine, first was reading before he was 2, chapter books like Enid Blyton naughty amelia Jane at 3. Middle one just wasn't interested, could do what was needed at school but never read from choice at home except comics until he discovered goosebumps and junior horror books at 9 and he devoured them and that turned him into a fluent reader, it was Harry Potter with the third son that made him read from choice. As adults the first one is still an avid reader as is the third but I don't think the middle one ever picks up a book, we are all different! What about trying word games or word searches, puzzles, bake together but get him to read the recipe out, dictate your shopping list ect make him read without him noticing😁

Another vote for read to him. Both mine are very good readers but still love being read to. If you read chapter books to him he’ll get into the longer plots and learn to love reading that way. Then he will do it when he’s ready. 6 is young and boys especially catch up later and quickly.