6 year old and reading

[Criteria16]

Not sure what I am asking here, probably just a crystal ball reading!

I love books and loved reading all my life. Our house is full of books and I have taken DS to the library and bookshops since he was an infant. He has lots of books, enjoys peaking new ones every week and we read to him in bed every night.
This said....he doesn't like reading. He's doing ok with it in school, he's on an average book band for his age and can read lots of words by sight vs spelling them out.

The problem is he's sooooooo reluctant to read himself. Reading the school books is a battle, Reading Eggs he does but has no patience to read full sentences (even if he actually can) so he tries to guess the answers, and even reading his beloved books is something he's not interested (but loves we read them to him).

I am not sure what's going on, so I appreciate any experience from anyone who's been there.

My theories:

• he's competitive and excels in other areas at school - does he feel his classmates are more advanced in reading and he's deflated by that?
• he's not into reading - that's it and I need to accept it
• he's afraid if he'll read well we will stop reading with him (which I reassured him he won't happen)

It's early days yet. Reading is still work for him. He isn't fluent. Just keep practicing with him. Let him see you reading. Keep reading to him. If there is a subject he's interested in, maybe get a couple of books about it from the library and leave them around for him to find Even if all he does is look at the pictures now, he's getting the idea that books have interesting stuff in them. And he might be surprised by how much he understands.

Try to avoid any pressure and making reading seem like a chore. Set a time limit for “reading homework” followed by a fun/ chosen activity.
Actual reading books are often more functional than gripping to teach required skills.

I’d avoid any pressure at this stage. Some things to try/ introduce

Comics or Annuals
Non fiction photo books linked to his interests
Noisy/interactive books
You Choose series
Books he loved when much younger ( repetitive text/ rhyming)
Books with funny poems/ jokes
Quiz type books
Reading recipes/ craft instructions
Environmental print
Treasure hunt with written clues
Interactive books on a tablet e.g. Collins Big Cat
Writing Wizard app ( you can create lists he can trace over words with his finger or a stylus pen) multisensory and reads the word aloud

Have fun.

He's so little things could change many times in the next few years.

My son was a reluctant reader - just liked maths and lego and that sort of thing more. What worked was graphic novel type reading. We got a subscription to Phoenix comics and got him a bunch of the books from it (Bunny v monkey etc) and also got him some graphic novel type star wars books that he loved. He's also a fan of fact books - the usbourne lift the flap books on topics he likes were a big hit at that age (we had a whole bunch of them - space was a massive hit). He then got super into beast quest and is still reading those now (he's almost 9). They aren't exactly well written amazing books but he loves them and is reading so that's great with me.

I actually remember being anxious about this with my daughter at the same age and talking to her teacher about it and she said that I should remember that reading for work and reading for pleasure aren't the same thing. Asked me to think about what books I read at home and then extrapolate that to a child - after a long day at school they aren't going to want more work so you should just let them lead the pace a bit and remember that any reading is good reading. My daughter liked making new recipes so we'd read through a recipe book and then she got into rainbow fairies (which I hated as much as beast quest) and now she's a prolific reader.

One gets the best benefits from reading when they enjoy it. Lots of children like my son can't read properly till the age 6-7. This is one of the reasons formal schooling starts age 6-7 in Scandinavian countries. English schools are brilliant at killing the joy of reading, in my experience

I would completely take the pressure by doing absolutely minimal reading school work.Read for him if this is something he enjoy. Take him to the library. Get him to see you reading for pleasure.

This is the approach we took with our son. His afterschool club lady still remember as a child who was always reading whilst the other children were playing.

Following. I could have described my son in the exact same way!

My dd has a learning difficulty that makes reading extra difficult and she therefore really dreads reading BUT she loves books and storytelling. Some of the things that have helped her hang onto a love of books:

• keep reading to her. We do 5-10 mins of her reading to me, and then we pickup a more exciting book that I read to her. Usually something much harder than she could manage on her own but with an age appropriate story line
• audio books - first yoto and then audible, which again allows her access to fantastic story lines, builds her vocabulary and a number of the comprehension skills critical for reading
• lots of comics and other books with manageable text to visual ratios. Initially she mostly just looked at the pictures but gradually she’s doing more reading. Something a bit cheeky - beano or dogman, for example, that have a bit of an illicit thrill . I make a bit of a fuss about how awful they are and how they are rude and I want no part of reading them, so she has to read them on her own.

Sounds normal to me. They're not fluent yet so reading will be tiring, even if they enjoy the books themselves.

We try to go low-pressure, even with the school reading homework. If my daughter is tired/reluctant, then we'll share out the book e.g. she'll do the words in speech marks, or I'll ask her to do the first couple of pages and I'll do the rest. She is still ahead of her expected reading level at school - I think teaching them that reading is fun, is more important than slogging away at homework just for the sake of it.

Thanks for the great replies! And apologies for all the grammatical errors in my first post - I didn't re-read and can't seem to find how to edit it grrrr.

I am relieved this is not just happening with my DS. I can honestly say I am not putting any pressure on reading and, while we follow the school's guidance of reading the WRI books 2-3 times a week, I tend to be quite relaxed about it: some days we read a page each, others he wants his teddies to read them, and we always read something more enjoyable after.
I do take him to the library regularly, and to the bookshop as a treat. We moved from picture books to story books at his requests (from Julia Donaldson to Roal Dhal specifically!). It was a big change and he enjoyed one book, but then lost interest in the second one, so I introduced him to comic books which he adores (Bunny vs Monkey, as mentioned by someone above! but also Dog Man and others). It's all fine and all good, except he doesn't want to read them himself ha ha!

I will just carry on doing what I do and keeping him exposed to books (yes, I also make sure he sees me reading books for pleasure, I often share a summary of what I am reading and why I am liking it). I guess he will need to be more fluent to be able to enjoy them in full.

OP we are big readers and we were the same with our DC. The oldest one now at 12 loves books the middle DC isn't too pushed. As an aside in I'm Ireland and my just about to turn six year old hasn't started readers or anything like that yet in school so he is still very young.

If he likes something specific like Star Wars or superheroes or animals or rocks or whatever you can get books on that theme with good pictures and that will encourage casual reading alongside enjoying just looking at them.

My son liked these sorts for this stage
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Escape-Reader-Readers/dp/1405277777/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1P2BYULGAFZL2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.0nP600zcokc7wt2zFWe4vWU_lLIiOFgm_0lc-lVi3-BC3jQrb-qf19SiAce56UUq8G0gIy5Ig6PSLtVMO9G9KRw7CvZs7gp30Jb85a8cKMhykrHJn6O7Fne7kuYEHnmtkVgMvwN0qG3lhz_sVdF2hDv6WXPgU89CYJ4JqLQavh9UPQzKzrZX2ovp212D7v9mkyQm7fRTdeC2aYQjYMFv6EedGz61-3dVCj7wOCiTNdA.czBS4lHlagInxpGYPiYgtmmnyXcFdrJ2gfTx4MVRDZU&dib_tag=se&keywords=stage+1+star+wars+books&qid=1741703802&sprefix=stage+1+star+wars+books%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-4

but there are plenty of themed options for whatever he's into.

Hello!

So I believe, firstly- you're doing everything right, keep reading to him and encouraging him in his reading.
I have two boys one who’s now 11, as a little one LOVED books and being read to (every night and in the day too) loved looking at pictures and exploring books. Started school and had ZERO interest in learning to read. None. He would draw lovely fact books from the school library and pour over the pictures - ask us to read the script to him but no buy in for trying himself. Year 1 was Covid and he didn’t advance in learning to read at all. I was starting to panic. He started year 2 at reception level reading - then amid another lockdown (was slightly different here as we’re on an island) he got it, it just clicked and he started to enjoy leading to read. Year 3 we discovered he’s dyslexic. But then.. he worked so flipping hard. He’s now year 6, has the highest reading level in the school and a reading age of 15.5. He reads for pleasure and loves books.
Then came number 2. 0 interest in anything other than running and climbing until he went to school, was a struggle to get through a picture book at bedtime. Started school and BOOM was reading a year ahead by the end of reception - he’s now year one and at end of year 2 levels. He LOVES reading now and reads for pleasure also, but he’s still more interested in climbing!!
moral of the story is, let them run their own race, don’t compare and be assured- he’ll get there xxx

Also.. the beano!!! Both mine love getting it and it really encourages reading for pleasure in a low key way. Xx

Just keep on doing what you're doing which is all great. However just wanted to say my daughter was very much like this and it's turned out she's dyslexic and also has an issue with how her eyes work together as a team. She would never voluntarily read a book until very recently, she's 10 now, and it's still rare. Obviously this mighty not be the case for your DC at all but I just wanted to say. Might be worth an eye check at the very least. Although DD has 20/20 vision so not all opticians would spot this.

Stick with it and keep low pressure. Keep lots of bunnies/monkeys and dog people around. It will come.