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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

What age did your child start to read?

65 replies

StephanieByng · 15/12/2008 12:28

Reading another thread just now about whether to teach your child to read or leave it to the teacher....my DS is 6 yrs 4 months old and he can't read - he's in year two.

he can sound out some words, but very very slowly; and if he comes across the same word a few words later, he still needs to sound it out, again painfully slowly!

His teacher has said that she feels he's making 'baby steps' of progress; when pushed she said she might consider it a problem if no more progress by the spring term.

He's read to daily, btw, loves being read to but HATES having to read.

I just wondered if I would be able to get a picture from here about how common this is, whether he's VERY unusual and whether I should be more worried than I am about his lack of reading?

Thanks!

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ramonaquimby · 15/12/2008 12:31

dd was reading in Autumn term of reception - but her birthday is Sept, so oldest in class. progressed very quickly to rainbow fairy books by the summer - I'd say your son is unusual and I'd press the teacher certainly by fab half term if she hasn't come to you first

saadia · 15/12/2008 12:35

OK, well ds1, now in Y2, will be seven in January. He can read pretty fluently and I would say he really mastered reading towards the end of Reception/start of Y1. Ds2 on the other hand is in Reception, will be five in March and has pretty much taught himself to read (probably by listening in on ds1's reading). He is able to sound out most words pretty well, it also helps that he has a good memory.

What kind of books is your ds reading? Would it help if he picked books that he was interested in?

NotDoingTheHousework · 15/12/2008 12:36

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Fennel · 15/12/2008 12:37

You should look on the national charts, like the Oxford Reading Tree online charts, cos on Mumsnet you'll get a skewed picture of many children who read early. I think 6 is quite normal for not having really started reading.

one of mine was about 5.5 when it really clicked, one was just 4, the 3rd is 4.5 and has no inkling of literacy whatsoever.

Original poster

StephanieByng · 15/12/2008 12:41

thanks everyone - I wanted to get a picture from others so that's helpful but I see your point Fennel; I will have a look at the online charts; didn't know they existed, will google.

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cory · 15/12/2008 12:45

Ds was later than this. Is now reading fairly confidently at age 8.

dearprudence · 15/12/2008 12:52

My DS a very similar age to yours. I would be very concerned if he was only able to sound out some words, as you say. I would be pushing this quite hard with the teachers - perhaps the teaching method doesn't suit him and/or he needs extra support.

I'm not one for pushing children too hard, but reading is such a key skill and your DS must be some way behind most of the other children in the class, which could affect his enjoyment of the whole school experience.

throckenholt · 15/12/2008 12:56

I was told that year 2 is when most kids start to take off with reading.

Mine is a July baby so slightly younger than yours - but at that stage he was similar to your DS - but by the end of the next term he was reading fairly fluently.

He reads quite well now - a year on - but still would much rather be read to than read himself.

Stay patient (hard I know) and he will probably get the idea in the next few months.

Marne · 15/12/2008 12:57

Dd1 was reading at 3.4 years old (at nursery), Dd2 will probibly be a late reader (if she ever reads). Most of dd's freinds cant read (aged 4-6). Dd1 has the oxford reading tree home pack which has helped.

Original poster

StephanieByng · 15/12/2008 13:02

thanks everyone. It is so hard to know how much to push this or not with the teacher specially in view of the people who say their child was similar; the teacher herself has said that she 'hopes' he will start to fly with it soon.

At home we read to him daily, he loves loads of books and poems and he's actually very good with words, making up little rhymes etc, usually quite funny! I think maybe one of the problems is that his slow sounding out frustrates him. At 6 he can understand so much more than he can read.

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throckenholt · 15/12/2008 13:04

in most of Europe they don't start them reading until 7.

TheButterflyEffect · 15/12/2008 13:18

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PlonkerTeatowelOnTheirHeads · 15/12/2008 22:23

Dd1 was 7 (mid Y2) - she scored average on her SATs though so soon caught up.

Dd2 was 4.

coppertop · 15/12/2008 22:27

I think the summer birthday will probably be skewing things a little. Your ds is only about a month or so older than some of the children in my ds2's Yr1 class. Ds2 is just coming up for 6yrs and was at your ds' level only very recently (he's had a sudden spurt of progress since half term so really only a matter of weeks). I don't know where that is in relation to the rest of the class but ds2's teachers seems to be happy with his level of reading.

mimsum · 15/12/2008 22:42

what a spectacularly unhelpful comment from ramonaquimby your ds is not particularly unusual especially as he's a summer-born - in fact I'd say that reading fluently by the end of reception is far more unusual

he's only slightly older than many of the children in dd's y1 class and very, very few of them are reading better than your ds

if he's being read to and enjoys books then that's a good start - if he's still made no progress at all by the end of y2 then there might be a problem

I help a variety of kids from y1-y3 with reading at my dcs' school which has been a real eye-opener as to how much variation there is in reading levels at any particular age

Clary · 16/12/2008 00:57

Hmm

I listen to a class of mid-range (age-wise) FS2 children read ie they are all coming up to 5. Some can read ORT books well (ie read a story of about 30-40 words without hesitation).

Others are struggling to read much at all - but all I would say apart from those with SN can manage at least the characters' names.

A younger class last year were broadly at a similar level by about spring term.

What can yr DS actually read Steffy? Does he do ORT in whcih case can he do Biff, Chip, Kipper etc?

Can he manage cat, dog, hat, and, etc? If so is it only by sounding or can he read them at once?

I might be a bit concerned tbh - this is intended in a supportive way but if he can read nothing much at all after 2 years learning then I might want to find out why.

It's great that he loves stories btw - yr post suggests that the book she is reading to you are not grabbing his attention - how about getting him to read bits of the stories he does like?

Original poster

StephanieByng · 16/12/2008 09:48

thanks for the comments! This thread has been really helpful. Yes at school DS does the biff and chipper books etc; yes he can read cat, hat, etc BUT not at sight, he still has to sound them out and if he was to read "Biff has a hat, chip has a hat" he would have to sound it out both times in the sentence, he wouldn't retain it.

We do try lots of strategies to keep him interested, he loves Roald Dahl so we get him to read us the chapter titles, or the first sentence etc.

I am happy to see how he goes in the spring term, I think. But I think I've decided we'll ask for some sort of assessment in the summer term if no progress.

Thanks all.

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TeenyTinyTorya · 16/12/2008 10:38

There is such a wide variety in ability - I was reading at 2, but my brother didn't learn until he was nearly 8.

The most important thing is that your ds enjoys books and sees reading as something that he would like to do - the actual reading itself will come.

Original poster

StephanieByng · 16/12/2008 10:41

It's funny Teeny but I have that exact situation in my own family (I read at 3, my brother at 7!) but when it's your own child and you can see their classmates reading novels while your child is trying to sound out C-A-T it's SO hard to keep your nerve. Thanks for your post. We will keep on sharing brilliant books with him

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Amey · 16/12/2008 11:29

Stephanbyng,

You might want to try an excellent book on how our brains learn to read: 'Proust and the Squid' by Marianne Wolf.

She explains that before a child can read, all the relevent neural pathways need to have developed in the brain. This typically happens between 3 years and 7 years old. Which is why many countries wait until all children are ready before starting to teach reading in schools.

Wolf's book gave me better perspective on dd's reluctance to become a 'reader'. It also made me appreciate what a complex mental process learning to read is. It's actually a modern miracle that most of us achieve it at all!!

goldFAQinsenceandmyrrh · 16/12/2008 11:32

DS1 didn't "get" reading at all under 1/2 way through yr1 - he's a September baby so was 6 1/2yrs old before it really started to click at all. He's now 8 and flying with it.

DS2 has just turn 5 (in reception) and is starting to piece things together - think at the rate he's progressing he'll probably have a fairly decent grasp of basic books by the end of Reception.

NotanOtter · 16/12/2008 11:35

teeny - did you 'peak too soon'??

FarmerChristmas · 16/12/2008 11:40

StephanieByng, my eldest DS is 12 now.

An avid reader, all he asked for for Christmas is books.

Loves reading fantasy novels and genuinely gets a huge amount of pleasure from reading

BUT he only started to do it at 8!

it is so hard to stay calm about it but any sign of concern or feelings of pressure didn't help DS at all.

DS had a huge vocabulary before he could read and a great imagination. He could make up fantastic stories just not read or write them down. So I knew he had it in him to do it one day and just had to learn to step back from him and trust that he would 'get' it one day.

Then it just clicked for him and he went from not reading to reading every Harry Potter book in a row!

He started high scholl in September and went into the top stream [proud]

Not much advice but thought it may help to hear how well a non reading 7 year old can go on to do

FarmerChristmas · 16/12/2008 11:41

LOL at high scholl!

Original poster

StephanieByng · 16/12/2008 11:46

thanks so much for your posts. I really feel it has helped me decide to keep my nerve and wait it out longer! FarmerC our ds's sound very similar - the vocabulary and imagination thing is very familiar..

Amey I will have a look for that book - thank you for the recommendation.

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