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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

I know that reading will click eventually....

30 replies

LadyMuck · 23/01/2008 22:46

...but ds2 has been on the same level 1 readers for over 6 months. I'm getting bored. And I think that we've been through the starting level of every scheme written!

He just isn't getting the hang of decoding. Sigh. I know it will click eventually, it is just there are so many more interesting books to read.

Given we get a book home very day (and he reads to teacher/TA every day), at what point do I get concerned?

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FAQ · 23/01/2008 22:47

how old is he, what year is he in??

Psychomum5 · 23/01/2008 22:47

how old is he?

Original poster

LadyMuck · 23/01/2008 22:49

He's still a baby, just 4.8, in reception. But he started reading in last term of nursery and we kept up the practice over the summer etc.

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ChasingSquirrels · 23/01/2008 22:52

what does the teacher say - presumably SHE isn't concerned?
Are books the best way of doing this though - he isn't reading by the sound of it - so maybe it would be better to have sounds and leave books (with you reading TO him lots of course).

FAQ · 23/01/2008 22:52

DS1 couldn't read at all when he started school and reading didn't really "click" until around the start of the 2nd term of YR1 - he's in year 2 now and has over taken most of his peers.

I remember the frustration of being stuck on the same reading level for what seemed like forever - the first book he brought home still rings in my ears

"I like Rice"

"I like rice with beans"

"I like rice with sausages"

etc etc etc

Original poster

LadyMuck · 23/01/2008 22:57

Oh for the variety of "beans" and "sausages"!

Tonight we had a 12 page book where the sentences were the same on each page except for the last 2. And even then he couldn't get "not" on each page! It was the same sentence!!!

I did have a word with the teacher, though very briefly. When I mentioned that I noted that he was on the same level for over 6 motnhs, I think she thought that I wanted him put up a level, so I tried to correct her on that one. When ds1 was in reception they used to have word boxes, and I know that he could read all his keywords by Christmas. Now they've introduced Jolly Phonics and ds2 just hasn't got anywhere at all.

OP posts:

jennifersofia · 23/01/2008 22:59

As you say, still young. However, maybe the teacher could suggest other ways to help him. It sounds like the bit he is finding difficult is the blending of the sounds (eg. pushing the sounds together and hearing that 'huh' 'aaa' 'tuh' is 'hat'). Is that right? He/she might have some ideas of games you could play to help with blending. Sometimes approaching it from a different angle can help.

pukkapatch · 23/01/2008 23:02

ds2 started year 2 on level 2..
.

Psychomum5 · 23/01/2008 23:03

I wouldn't worry about him if he is still a 'young' reception child. as long as he is wanting to learn, and trying hard, then he will 'get it' very soon.

I have a very young YR1 child with my DS2, and he STILL cannot 'get' reading/words/matching word sounds, at all! He knows his phonics well enough, and can do 'a-n-d' and 'c-a-t' for instance, but 't-h-e' throws him completely and so he sits there telling me/teacher that he is bored. we are so frustrated with him, and I have to say that now I will not try with him at home, as I get wound up and that would be detrimental to him and me!

I read to him, he loves books, he will pick out letters and even small words like 'to' 'it' 'a' 'and' 'in' etc, but to give him a book and expect him to read it makes us all want to bang our heads against a wall.

I am so hoping that for MY DS, reading and words will 'click', but so far nothing so we are now on a waiting game.........

you are doing the right thing tho, as you are still encouraging him

as for me, I can try to encourage, but it drives me to drink, it really does.

Original poster

LadyMuck · 23/01/2008 23:06

I think that if I had to put my finger on the problem it is that he can't cope with swapping between sounding out, and then the "tricky" or sight words. He knows his Jolly Phonic sounds, but words such as here, to, go and my throw him. Because we're going through so many Level 1 books we seem to end up stuck heading between very phonic books (Jelly & Bean) and other keyword type books (eg tonight was Ginn 360).

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Original poster

LadyMuck · 23/01/2008 23:10

Psycho, I feel your frustration!

I'm also trying him on some different books at home (Read Write for example because they have the tricky words in a different colour), and I using some word boxes as well, but I don't want to do too much more with him as it is a long enough day with school as it is.

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LynetteScavo · 23/01/2008 23:15

Lady Muck - DSis in reception, and the class havent' even been given reading books yet. They don't bring them home untill Feb'.

Psychomum5 · 23/01/2008 23:16

see, I do wonder if it is the phonics that throw my DS too.

I never really had this 'problem' with my others, as they all did their reception year at another school who didn't do phonics, and altho DD2 is dyslexic, as also may be DS1, they never even had this issue with phonics that DS2 has.

they all seemed to do 'sight words' and had a box of words each to learn, and one they had progressed to books suitable for them and their interests.

DS2 however........word blands and letter blends just sometimes don't match up to the 'sounds' he knows they have, and so we have confusion! I would be confused too if I had to learn like this.....

YET, for nearly all the other kiddies in his class, they don't seem to have such trouble (well, DS2 is a little git wee bit unusual with telling them he is 'bored'!)

heyho.......they all get there eventually.....(don't they??)

BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 23/01/2008 23:22

LGJ waves to Lady Muck.......

DS was exactly the same age, presuming your DS was a May darling boy.(Too tired to do the maths(sorry numeracy))

I got right Royally peed off with school waiting to realise DS was ready to read, based on their ........Tilak sees a balloon....oh look Tilak there is the balloon............Well Tilka just burst the F..ing balloon...........

We jumped ship to ORT at at home the very basic level...........but he loved it. We then set up a system a few times a week of you read us a Magic Key story( and if we are still awake) we will read a longer story to you.( Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, etc.,)

He soared............and now has a reading age of 9-10 years of age. He is 6.5

Original poster

LadyMuck · 23/01/2008 23:26

At the dcs school they get reading books home once they know all their JP sounds (which Ds2 had done last June). Last child was onto reading books by mid to late November I think.

I do remember the whole learning to read stage was painful with ds1 as actually going from knowing your letters to reading seems such an enourmous step. But in the light of this, he was probably a very quick learner.

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BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 23/01/2008 23:29

LGJ checks deodorant.....

Original poster

LadyMuck · 23/01/2008 23:34

Hi Bree/LGJ!
I guess that the thing that might secretly worry me is that I'm not that sure he does want to read yet. I think that he is actually quite a lazy toad at heart. We do read to him - His current bedtime book is Harry Potter and the Philospher's stone, though we'd just finished off the Rainbow stories (he's more than a little pink bless him). These are his choices btw, and ds1 hasn't read Harry Potter yet. But I think that the gulf between the books he likes to listen to at home and the books he has to read is so great that he just can't be bothered.

I'm not that bothered about the longterm. The school pushes reading in a big way, so even if they're not worried yet, if he doesn't make progress by the end of the term then he'll come under scrutiny as it were. I just think that Year 1 is a much easier year if you can read reasonably well. Certainly in the dcs school there was quite a jump from reception to Year 1 but Year 2 was a doddle by comparison.

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Viggoswife · 24/01/2008 12:49

DS is almost 5 and can read and write his name and thats about it. He knows the alphabet both by sight and sound and probably can read a couple of words by recognition - bus, mum, car. I wasnt at all worried tbh. We read together all the time and he often looks at books alone as well. We also do a lot of flash cards pictures/words etc I just sort of think it will click for him when the time is right.

Am I being unrealistic? Should he be further on than this? I look at the primary school threads on reading and it all seems quite complicated and serious. Maybe I am being too casual about it.

Sorry dont mean to hijack this thread but it seemed very relevant to what I wanted to ask. Thank you.

newgirl · 24/01/2008 12:58

i think he sounds entirely typical with the reception in my dd's school

some children are more fluent readers at that age, some were hardly reading at all - he sounds absolutely fine - id just chat to the teacher about it at next parent's evening

newgirl · 24/01/2008 12:58

i think he sounds entirely typical with the reception in my dd's school

some children are more fluent readers at that age, some were hardly reading at all - he sounds absolutely fine - id just chat to the teacher about it at next parent's evening

newgirl · 24/01/2008 12:58

i think he sounds entirely typical with the reception in my dd's school

some children are more fluent readers at that age, some were hardly reading at all - he sounds absolutely fine - id just chat to the teacher about it at next parent's evening

Original poster

LadyMuck · 24/01/2008 13:03

No, he's fine, but he is in a range, and he won't be as advanced in that range as some of the other children are. Ds2 has some superb readers in his class - eg can already read chapter books, but there are plenty of others who are at a similar level to ds2. And it does seem that at some point reading suddenly clicks - quite often in Year 1, but for some earlier than that. And within a month someone who was struggling with simple words can suddenly be reading fairly fluently.

I guess my concern has been that ds2 has known his sounds for ages, and has been reading a few words daily for over 6 months, and yet we don't seem to be anywhere near clicking. If I was homeschooling I would actually have relatively few worries, and of course reception is about far more than learning to read, so in other areas I have seen progress. But in this particular school, which is fairly old-fashioned in a lot of ways, I do think that early reading gives some advantages to Year 1, which I happen to think is an exceptionally challenging year.

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haggisaggis · 24/01/2008 13:14

I sympathise - my dd (nearly 5.5 but Scottish system so only started school last AUgust) is really struggling. She does not know all her sounds yet and struggles with level 1 ORT. For some reason I don't understand, her school teaches Jolly Phonics - but initial sounds only - and doesn't encourage sounding out until later. Instead they want dd (who has poor visual memory!) to memorise long lists of words so she can sight read them. I KNOW she'll get there eventually - but it is so frustrating watching her struggle.

smartiejake · 24/01/2008 13:15

He's not even 5? I wouldn't worry at all. Perhaps he's just not quite ready for it. DD2 didn't actually start school till she was 5 (September birthday) and she took quite a while to really start reading. Seemed to be behind some of her peers and the level her older sis was on at a much younger age but she got there. Now in Year 4 at age 9 has caught up with where her older sis was and achieving level 4 on the NC (average year 6 level).

The most important thing is that he wants to do it and isn't getting disheartened- this can be a real problem. If little ones are not ready and pushed into reading too soon, and lose their confidence it can put them off for life- especially boys (so the research says.) Reading with him IS important but so is reading to him.

Good luck!

Reallytired · 24/01/2008 17:51

He is very little. I think there is too much of a rush to push children into reading books. If I was you I would get him to practice blending with simple word boxes using sounds that he knows.

If he can not blend then model the blending to him. For example say the first letter sound quite loudly and then whispher the other sounds quite quickly. Hopefully your son will hear the target word.

Its important to make it fun. For example I made my son a letter box and he got to post words that he got right. Making letter shapes out of playdough or using magnetic letters to spell out words. I got my son to crack blending with words like "bum", "poo", "wee". With diagraphs like "oo" or "ee" it helped my son to underline them.

It takes time, but if you spend 5 to 10 minutes a day your son will get there

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