Shocked by son's reading

[Aria2015]

My son is nearly 8. We have been told that he is quite behind with reading (1-2 years behind). We read daily, but he’s a reluctant reader. He complains the books are boring and babyish (I see his point!). Getting him to read with any enthusiasm is almost impossible.

We read daily to him. Chapter books for an older child (10+) to keep him interested in books. He loves us reading to him.

Randomly tonight I challenged him to attempt to read a page of the chapter book. To my astonishment he flew through a chapter with relative ease!! I could not believe this was the same child who had ‘struggled’ to read a book aimed at 6/7 year olds in a monotone and bored voice earlier in the day.

How is it possible he can read a significantly harder book easier than his school books? He wants to continue his reading practice with the chapter book and not read the ‘easy’ books. I’m really confused and unsure what to do. Shall I just let him read the harder books? He seems so enthusiastic for it in comparison to the school reading books.

It feels like a lightbulb moment for him. I don’t want to mess it up!

Do you take him to the library?

Let him read the chapter books. He needs practice. If he hates the school books, he won't practice and will have limited opportunity to get better.

Let
Him read the chapter books, he's
Probably bored senseless of the school books

Also turn on the subtitles helps reading..

Interesting! Assuming you know for sure he isn't just memorising the story, I'd definitely let him crack on with the chapter books!

Half the battle is finding a book they like. You did, he found his wings. Let him fly.

How thrilling for both of you. DS loved the Spiderwick Chronicles at that age. The library or a good bookshop should be able to help.

@Nodeepdiving definitely not memorised. This is a new book. I've read the first 30 chapters and so he's familiar with the story, names etc... but doesn't know what happens in it.

I was honestly astounded. It felt like he can secretly read and had been keeping it from us. I'm excited and freaked out about it! 😂

This!!

@RosesAndHellebores I honestly feel so excited I can't sleep! I have been so confused at his struggles to read, given how bright he comes across. I was convinced he was maybe dyslexic or similar. But he's blown me away tonight.

There’s no reason why he can’t read both. A word of warning though - there’s a big difference between being able to decode a book and being able to read it properly. Does he read with expression? Can he answer comprehension questions about what he’s read? Can he make predictions and compare it to other books / films? If yes, he’s probably ready to move up at school but he’ll need to show his teacher that he can read his current books fluently so don’t abandon them completely.

Thank you so much for the replies! You've confirmed what I felt in my gut, but it's hard to break away from school instructions and expectations. I hope so much that this is a turning point for him. He was so lit up tonight!

My daughter (teacher trained) once helped her friends reluctant reader child, giving "lessons" for free.

the child was interested in football, and we had a couple of footballers boigraphies, so she started the child on that. Within weeks, he was reading enthusiastically.

I wouldn't read a book where the subject matter wasn't of interest to me, so it's logical, to me, that neither will a child.

@VashtaNerada this is part of what shocked me. With the harder chapter book, he seemed to pay so much more attention to the grammar etc... so his reading flowed so much better, he was also laughing as he read funny parts so was definitely understanding what was going on. It felt like I was watching a different child. I'm very genuinely shocked!

One of mine was reading really well at home whilst we were told they were behind at school. They were just bored of the school books. As soon as they were allowed to free read at school they suddenly went above expected.

Let him continue the chapter book and take him to the library when he's finished to choose the next.

@user1471453601 yes! Me too! I feel foolish for ignoring him when he repeatedly told me that his lack of effort was due to the babyish / boring nature of the books. I naively didn't think to deviate from the books he was being given at school.

Pleased for you... but do you mean surprised, not shocked. Shocked usually implies something bad.

Apologies for being pedantic, you sound so (understandably) pleased

@fku that's so interesting and gives me a lot of hope! I would love for him to wow his teachers next term! I'm definitely going to be led more by him on what books he reads. I asked him tonight how did he enjoy reading, and he said 'it was 10 put 10 because I liked the story and wanted to know what happens next!' - talk about music to my ears! 😊

Ask school to bench mark him in the higher books.

I would also record his reading to who his new teacher.

@Vintagecreamandcottagepie if I'm honest, I was shocked, in as much as I feel like I've under estimated him massively. I didn't anticipate he'd get through a page, let alone a whole chapter. I set him the challenge simply to squeeze in a bit more reading time (every bit counts!). However, it's all a very pleasant surprise!

*pleasantly

(Excited typing!)

Sounds like he should be moved up a year in school

But does he not read anything else at home bar the school book he's set? Up until tonight I mean?

Shocked implies surprise. Expectations being subverted. Not only 'something bad'.

Is the book Harry Potter? I found it had a similar effect on DS, he kept reading because he wanted to find out what happened next.

I love this story. We all do the same with school and books, but something a child is interested in they learn so fast. But I can feel your excitement when your child finds their thing x