Starting to read- Is this normal?

[Thistledew]

I'm sure it's not abnormal, but is amusing and frustrating in equal measure and I'd appreciate any ideas of how to help DS.

He is 4. July birthday. Bright, but given that DH and I are both dyslexic, he quite possibly is too.

Going through his reading book

"T.O.M. - Tom G.OT -got a P.OT. - pot"

"Great DS, now try the whole sentence. Sound it out if you have to but try to read the whole words."

"Tom gets his jar."

He's able to sound out and blend without help, and is obviously comprehending what he reads, but rather than read it back is coming up with his own interpretation!

Any ideas of what is going on here and how I can help him?

Totally normal! Is he in reception?

Basically identifying sounds comes first, then blending them together, all of which he's doing. Next step is remembering what you've read and rereading the sentence. That's just more practise.

Yes, he is in reception. He struggles with concentration when he finds things difficult- will happily spend hours on making a Lego model or doing a jigsaw, but getting him to focus on reading is painful. I'm setting a 10 minute timer at the moment and just doing that much at a time.

I'm glad to hear it's not out of the ordinary!

Mine does this all the time! Very frustrating but very normal

Yes normal. I'd get him to re-read the whole sentence pointing at each word, not sounding out if possible. Also night help to get him to re-read the sentence so far after each new word - e.g. T-o-m, Tom, g-o-t got - Tom got a p-o-t pot, Tom got a pot. (Hope that makes sense!)

I assume this is a "songbirds" book ... and I'd also assume that he's using the pictures when asked to read the whole sentence even though he's capable of decoding the words.

It could be the school is encouraging this as a strategy but regardless I'd discourage it. When he replaces a word point to the word and in your example I'd ask him what sound 'jar' begins with then point to the first sound in pot and ask is that a /j/? Once it's established get him to read it correctly.

From your example it seems he does have appropriate phonic skills and knowledge.

One of our kids can use his phonics to work out how to pronounce words, another can sound out his phonics but has never been able to turn that into a word (neither can I). Now he’s older, he has now been identified as having dyslexia and can read ok but has basically just had to learn words in their own right and uses his memory rather than any phonics.
The key to reading in reception IMO is to make it fun and give your child a desire to do it rather than pressure to learn the words. Our youngest is still learning to read and partly owing to lockdown is still at an early stage. I just ask them whenever we read together if they want to read or do they want me to take the lead. I praise effort rather than output and sometimes we just discuss the pictures and don’t read the words at all.

I think this is largely memory. He has sounded it out but not retained the information, so when you ask him to read the whole sentence, he basically has to start again. It's reasonably normal. I would try PPs suggestion of adding on each word as he goes or just keep practicing, with you reading back the whole sentence when needed. I also think 10 mins at a time is plenty.

My DS is a couple of months older than yours so just turned 5. He tends to sound out the words and I read back the whole sentence to him at the end of the sentence. Repetition helps - at first I didn’t understand why the school was only giving us one book a week and telling us to re-read the same book every night but it really helps with his comprehension to re-read.