Child stalling with reading - what can I do to help?

[MizzyDazzy]

My year 1 son (5yo) seems to have really hit a wall last few months with reading, he’s not making any progress (sometimes feels like we are going backwards!).

He is blue level / ORT 4, which he has been since November. I read with his class so I know this was about average in the class at the time. However, nearly everyone has now moved on to green or above, meaning he is in the bottom 7 of 30.

I know he read with the teacher two weeks ago when she moved most people up and I don’t disagree with her decision not to move him. I think the problem is his pace and he still sounds out longer words - I believe they are looking for more sight reading at this point.

We read with him every day without fail, I do flash card phonic sounds and a phonics game with him 2-3 days a week and a dedicated phonics activity book 1 day. He spells really well in his writing (or at least way better than his sister did at this age).

He is the same level reading as his sister was at this point, although we didn’t read with her or do as much supportive phonics work at home, and she is dyslexic. So I guess that is playing on my mind that he could be too.

What more can I do to support him and get him progressing again?

And Bunny v Monkey really ignited DD1’s passion for learning to read by herself. The Max and Chaffy graphic novels by same author are really good for early readers as they can do them without much input but they are much more visually accessible (and interesting) than most other early reader content.

I know many parents don't like phonics but as an infant teacher I do. If he is still sounding out words and it is just that his reading is slower, I would say he has a good understanding of decoding but is still in the process of this becoming more internal and faster. How is he with the sight words in ORT? As a pp said, some children do lean towards reading the whole word. Regardless you sound like you're doing a great job and he is making progress. And to the other pp who said her dd didnt like RWI... is there anyone who does? I swear to god, I would have ripped up Ken's stupid cap. I make sure the classroom assistant takes that group every year because it makes me so mad!

Our school only send two books home a week but my son won’t read them twice as he says they’re boring so I’ve supplemented his reading with library phonics books his level and buying bundles off Vinted. Maybe I should get him to read them twice for fluency but I know he’ll fight me on that hmm

ha ha thank you yes who would like the phonics books! He is excellent at remembering sight words. I have done flash cards of the sight words for reception and then year 1 with him and they stick very quickly. So we’re onto year 2 ones which again he remembers well.

If he reads a word on one page, say a name of someone, he will easily remember it by sight on the next one but keeps decoding the book. I wonder if the decoding is almost a habit with him? I do think he’s also quite bored as he’s constantly trying to distract by making up a different story based on the pictures.

If he’ll fight you, I don’t think it’s worth the fight. I had the same problem with my son, totally refused to read any of the books more than once and he got there with the reading just fine. As long as he is reading every day I really don’t think it matters whether it’s new books or repeating.

Thank you I will check those out

Just to say you are doing a brilliant job and obviously are very involved in your children and their learning. My son spent a lot of time just paging through books he liked and then one day he just started reading them - so you might find it just clicks in pretty much overnight as you have clearly laid a really solid foundation. Personally I'd stop with the school books and the boring phonics books just because you don't want him to associate reading with boring and take him to a bookstore/library and look at the graphic type books - or even get him a subscription to the Phoenix comic (where a lot of them started) as that was really, really beneficial for my son. They aren't cheap but are super, super motivating for some kids (my daughter just wanted to read Rainbow Fairies nonstop but my son is really keen on silliness and pictures)

I think that’s just it - I know there’s a high probability that he will be dyslexic and this feels like a sign we’re going that way. I’m dreading doubling all the extra effort everything takes just to keep them up 😩

You are certainly putting loads of effort in! You sound like a great mum and your DC's are lucky to have you.

Thank you 🙏

Thank you. I will check those out and have ordered a bunny v monkey book to see what he thinks of those

Dogman is your friend.

School books are shit. Find a book that sparks a flame of interest so he WANTS to learn to read.

For more phonics friendly stuff try the My Bum series.

Honestly. It's about the material as much as the method.

Bunny v Monkey is a touch old for yr1 if I'm honest.

See Dogman and Investigators first. There's a couple of other series in the same vein which are well promoted by Waterstones which are better suited to a slightly younger age group too.

B v M is probably end of yr2 start of yr3.

Thanks, I just googled dogman and investigators - to confirm these are two different series rather than one called Dogman and Investigators?

Dogman by David Pilkey - large series (usually cheaper in likes of supermarkets like Asda than online)

Investigators by John Patrick Green - (completely different series).

Thank you 🙏 i will check those out

I think Dogman is after Bunny v Monkey but maybe thats just my kid.

What’s he interested in OP? Can get lovely early readers on pretty much any topic.

B v m has content which is definitely older (clever wordplay and substitution of swear words whereas DM is just more silly).

There were yr5 kids who didn't have the maturity to deal with it last year but have all be fine with DM. It got banned at one point in DSs class (I was unimpressed at this)

Find something that he is really interested in. As a former teaching assistant I saw so many children who had no real interest in reading. Finding a book that was relevant to them made such a huge difference.

Yeah DD1 didn’t gel with Dogman humour really and got bored with it very quickly (I also think it’s a bit rubbish) but has loved BvM for about a year now (she’s 6 soon to be 7). I read most of it to her at the start, but she’s increasingly reading bits herself now, she and her pals play it in the playground, she draws the characters and makes her own comics. I find it really amusing too which makes me keener to read it to her too!

Max and Chaffy is definitely before BvM and a good entry point though, the humour is a lot more gentle in that respect.

I volunteer in my primary school's library and the other one that is checked out a lot is Bumble and Snug... seems perhaps earlier reader level? My son wasn't interested but there are a few reluctant readers who have checked it out lately.

We're dealing with something so similar with our daughter, who is also in Year 1. She's also been stuck on Level 4 for some time, as her fluency and stamina have been very slow to develop. What I've noticed is that she doesn't have the patience and groundedness to really focus on what she's reading. Often, she tries to guess her way through words, which I know, if she gave a little more concentration to, she would be able to read correctly. If she's tired, this impulse jumps exponentially. I can't point my figure at exactly what it is, but there's almost an agitation when she reads. In contrast, my 4 year old son, who's still in nursery, is completely and utterly calm when he reads. It's not that he's a better reader (he isn't yet at least), but there is a smoothness to blending words in his head, which she lacks. He seems less strained.

Bear and Bird is lovely and without the same humour issues as Dogman.

Your daughter does sound similar - hopefully it is just a phase!

Thank you to everyone for their responses and I totally understand what everyone is saying, but I think this article perfectly sums up my fear of where we might have reached with my son.

https://blog.dyslexia.com/finding-fluency/

This is so very much like my dyslexic daughter who never developed into that “automatic” reader despite loving books, loving stories and being desperate to be able to do it. I know the suggestions here of finding the right text and demonstrating the fluency by reading to her would never have worked as we did do those things, but it was always so much effort for her to read (still is in year 4 even though she reads every single night and does enjoy it. It’s still not automatic - she’d still hand me a menu to read and asked me to read all the descriptions a museum the other day, despite much younger children doing it independently next to her). And I think that is going to be the same for my son as again, he loves books, he understands the pace and I know what he wants to read, he has the books available, it’s just so much effort.