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Primary education

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Original poster

Tips to help a Year 1 reluctant reader

31 replies

KitchenSupperParty · 12/06/2023 21:23

Any KS1 teachers to offer advice?

Background: DD age 6, third child, February born. No SN as far as we know. Enjoys being read to. Attends large state school in "good" area of a big city. Book band green. She's in the second to bottom reading group and seems to be very discouraged with it all.

She was doing ok with her reading, so we thought, until her previous teacher went on maternity leave and the new teacher raised concerns. Not major concerns, but, for example, sounding out words she had already read a page ago. Things like that.

It was partly our fault, we hadn't done as much reading at home as we should have. We upped this and made it a priority, getting reading books from the library and trying to read at least every other night.

Tonight was a good example of the problem. She came home, ate, played etc and then trying to coax her to read resulted in a meltdown. Eventually she read (ok ish) but it's always so hard. She always wants to put it off. Still sounding out words that are really quite basic. Making silly mistakes.

How can we help her? I'm concerned about her going into year 2 and getting further behind. I'm going to speak to the teacher but she reads fine in school according to the reading record.

Sorry this is long. All ideas welcomed.

OP posts:
HmumR · 12/06/2023 21:30

Does she know all her sounds? Does she know her tricky words? If she doesn’t, practice these.

If she knows them and I’d just blending slowly, encourage her to blend it in her head and then say it out loud.

HmumR · 12/06/2023 21:34

Also - read every day. Little and often. I know you said every other night, but coming from a teacher, you can tell which children are reading daily (though I do appreciate this can be easier said than done). Over summer is your chance to help her catch up.

You could have her read a page, then you read a page. Reward her for reading (whatever works for her - sticker chart, verbal praise etc). One child in my class was very eager to read with his older sibling and made more progress this way than through reading with me or his parents.

Pjmasksonrepeat · 12/06/2023 22:21

I've no experience yet but I've heard that it can help to read before school instead of at night as they are more awake and able to concentrate in case that's an option?

TherealmrsT · 12/06/2023 22:28

I have been doing reading support a couple of times a week with some y2s. One didn't like stories but was better with fact books, we also had some fun doing pretend cooking from a kid's cookbook. Does she like comics? Teacher told me anything we could read helped, and we played lots of literacy games/wordsearches too...all helps with word recognition I think.

Mintearo7 · 13/06/2023 06:42

Could you take her to the library? Sometimes they have craft activities and she can choose books after. Let her look at both fiction and non-fiction. My ds chooses the most random selection but one or two of these really interest him at home and we read them together. Agree with the above poster with getting her to read in the morning. I get ds to look at the book while eating breakfast then we read it straight after.

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 13/06/2023 06:48

My DD is the same age and is being monitored for dyslexia. She still sounds out most words, she could read the same word 20 times in the same book and still needs to sound it our every time. We also read in the morning before school as after school she is not in the mood as she has been trying to concentrate all day at school and needs down time.

We have been working on her hard to read and spell words a lot more than reading books (with teachers permission) and single words seem to keep her attention more than a long book.

Practice and making it more fun really does help. Have a set routine so we do reading daily (instead of the 3 times a week they say you should do) as it is more routine for her then.

wildfirewonder · 13/06/2023 06:51

Back off and read to her as much as you can for the next few months. I would advise a good half hour a day. Let her see you reading for pleasure too. Do you have plenty of books in the house, does she see you choosing a book over the TV?

Overreacting risks stressing her out and then if there is a real issue it'll be harder to address.

RudsyFarmer · 13/06/2023 07:51

The consistent drip is my advice to you. She’ll be tired after school so don’t push her then. Mornings are so much better. Even if you could get her to read two pages to you in the morning, we used to do it in the car on the way to school, it will make a difference over time.

Get involved in the library’s reading program over summer. I make the most progress over the holidays as I make reading a priority before screens. My children know that when they wake up they read for half an hour, then the bigger one does half an hour on an educational app, the little one does piano practice, then they are free.

RudsyFarmer · 13/06/2023 07:52

They are not greater depth in reading so it honestly works 💐

RudsyFarmer · 13/06/2023 07:53

*both 🤭

MrsMoastyToasty · 13/06/2023 07:54

Every time you are out and about get them to help you with reading notices and road signs.

wildfirewonder · 13/06/2023 08:00

My children know that when they wake up they read for half an hour, then the bigger one does half an hour on an educational app, the little one does piano practice, then they are free. There's a lot wrong with this approach - reading should not be something you do before you are set 'free'.

You can only get so far with this approach.

The library reading schemes are not great either. Reading for a sticker/award/prize is shallow engagement.

The aim is intrinsic motivation. It takes longer to establish but can never be undone.

yoshiblue · 13/06/2023 08:06

My son has never been a natural reader (now diagnosed with ADHD too aged 8).

Definitely agree with little and often, read out loud every morning before school. 10 mins quiet time in the lounge doing this together, when she's slept and had her breakfast. At night time when she's tired, read to her. You can gently ask her questions about the characters/story, but keep it easy going.

Encourage regular library visits and also if they have activities there. Summer reading challenge where you get stickers and a certificate.

Sauvignonblanket · 13/06/2023 08:09

My 6yo doesn't love reading but we do it every night at the same point in her evening routine. The certainty and idea it's not optional helps and the frequency is helping make her more progress.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 13/06/2023 08:09

Best thing we ever did with ours was let them have reading time after bedtime. Technically mine can stay awake in bed as long as they like (I don't do lights out), but the only option is reading as no screens.

They read to themselves a LOT and honestly are both really excellent readers.

RudsyFarmer · 13/06/2023 09:03

wildfirewonder · 13/06/2023 08:00

My children know that when they wake up they read for half an hour, then the bigger one does half an hour on an educational app, the little one does piano practice, then they are free. There's a lot wrong with this approach - reading should not be something you do before you are set 'free'.

You can only get so far with this approach.

The library reading schemes are not great either. Reading for a sticker/award/prize is shallow engagement.

The aim is intrinsic motivation. It takes longer to establish but can never be undone.

Of course you are criticising my approach!! Honestly this website never fails to deliver 🤣

GobbolinoCat · 13/06/2023 20:24

@OhhhhhhhhBiscuits @KitchenSupperParty

Oh biscuits my dd did far better with flashcards.
Fast, not boring and helped her get the first 100 words in.

Then simple books like Peter and Jane to build up the words.

Phonics was like trying to get her to read mandarin. Absolute madness.

Once she had first 100 words we used spelling to break up words and the word I Cant spell, mcnomics... Eg should.

Oh u lucky duck etc.

Reading chest to get loads of books s for here level.

GobbolinoCat · 13/06/2023 20:28

And as pp says.... Back off as well don't force and read to her something exciting but if you get words high frequency very occasionally ask her too read that word in a sentence. Then read the whole sentence back.

WGACA · 13/06/2023 20:28

Green band is fine for Year 1. Try reading in the morning when she’s less tired? Have a reading reward chart with a small treat at the weekend for reading 4x a week without fuss?

Smartiepants79 · 13/06/2023 20:32

She’s not using read, write inc is she? It’s the most deathly dull reading scheme I’ve ever seen.
I would also give some word flash cards a go along side her phonics, not fashionable right now but worth a try I’d say.

WGACA · 13/06/2023 20:32

Is everyone on here a KS1 teacher? Book band green is not a struggling reader and average to good for Year 1 at this point in the year. On green band she should have sailed through the Phonics Screening Check this week! I would want my child to have confidence when reading and enjoy reading for pleasure but otherwise I wouldn’t be worried. She won’t be behind in Year 2.

Original poster
KitchenSupperParty · 13/06/2023 20:40

It's good to know green band isn't struggling at least! Although she doesn't read with any kind of fluency.

She's told me herself she's not good at reading. I haven't said this to her to my knowledge and I always praise her when she reads. I'm a bit of a bookworm as is her eldest brother and we have books in the house so she definitely sees others reading.

We went back to basics earlier and I got her to read all the phonics sounds and we tried some alien words which she read fine.

We'll try reading in the morning and some flash cards. Maybe I'm overthinking things but it would be nice to increase her confidence and fluency.

OP posts:
Original poster
KitchenSupperParty · 13/06/2023 20:41

Thanks for all the tips. It's always good to get some advice

OP posts:
WGACA · 13/06/2023 20:49

Over the summer is the time to nail it. She’ll be less tired and you’ll have more time. Schools are really tight on giving children reading books that match their phonics level nowadays so her teacher will have assessed her as knowing all of the GPCs (sounds) and tricky words needed to read green band books. If she lacks fluency this could be a confidence issue or a tiredness issue. If school are concerned about her reading progress she should be having individual or very small group intervention and school should be supporting you to help her at home. Year 1 is essentially the year of reading and phonics because of the phonics screening and OFSTED look closely at early reading every time they inspect a school so it’s a big priority.

careerchange456 · 13/06/2023 21:30

Year 1 teacher

Which phonics scheme does her school follow and does she recall all the sounds taught so far?

Does she recognise all of the tricky words so far?

For improving fluency, lots of modelling an repetition works well. If she's not keen, on the first read of the book try you reading one sentence with her tracking the sentence with her finger; then she reads the sentence tracking it with her finger.

On the subsequent readings of the book, ask her to reread each sentence so that she can read it fluently without sounding out. To begin with, let her sound the sentence out, then read it back through together.

I agree with read every day - you need to build it into the routine at a time that always works. It's also a non-negotiable. With my DC (year 1 and 3) we read every day after showers and before bed. It doesn't matter when but a consistent time that you can manage every day works best. Much better to have a day off if needed than try to be negotiating when she will read!