Getting concerned about reading

[LJaydow]

Good afternoon ladies,

My son is nearly 5yrs old and is reception - hes been doing great with his reading until recently. There have been a few hiccups along the way with a couple of particularly troublesome children in his class, but for the most part its been okay.

He gets 2 reading books on Monday, they get changed on Wednesday and he gets to pick another book that we read together from the library in addition to his two new reading books, and then the two reading books get changed again on Friday. A couple of weeks ago he has decided to take a dislike to the letters "M" and "I" - and won't read any words with those letters in them. I informed his teachers, and my son came home from school saying that he had been told if he did not read them, he would be sent to the headteachers office. That night, he read them, but since then he will not. I mentioned this to his TA and she said theres a chance he could be bored of them, but I am starting to think its more that its too much? He tells me its his homework, and last night said he had to read them for tomorrow as they would be changed.

Im getting a little worried that its having an adverse effect on him - hes mentioned that they dont help him with his letters and he gets confused at school. I have no problem helping him, but didnt want to have him come home from school for me to then start more learning activities with him too.

Any words of wisdom here much appreciated!

 

[SarahBear]

Not even 5 is a bit early to be pushing reading. It may be that it's too much as not even 5 isn't a developmentally appropriate age for teaching reading. Sure some kids can be taught and learn. My neighbor was decoding words at 3. But it's developmentaly inappropriate to expect reading and to push reading. Either way, the most important thing at this age is to create a positive experience with literacy activities so that he will enjoy and be able to learn to read when he's ready.

 

[caz_hills]

Hi, my son is 4.5 and in reception. Like you we had a good start at the whole of the first term he enjoyed reading and we did it nightly. Since Christmas he has really gone off it and sees it as a chore. He delays it, asks not to do it etc.

The teachers told me to encourage him just to read a few pages at a time and not to force it. Encourage and praise etc.

I have found it tough as - like you it sounds - that my son can do it! And they progress so impressively which is amazing.

So i go slowly slowly. I have no idea if that's right or wrong but it seems to be working.

His TA told me to bribe him with biscuits! I've not done that but that was her advice!

 

[OmarsMum]

Sounds like a lot for his age, we used to get a book on Sunday & another one on Tuesday in reception.

When my son goes through those phases I read a page & he reads another and we make it a fun activity & I encourage him to ask me questions about the book. I also sound some words wrong or I pretend not to know how to read some challenging words & I ask him to help.

He gets excited when he moves to the next books band, and he brags about it, I use this to encourage him to finish on time, then I ask his teacher to re-assess him to move up. It keeps him motivated. Some books are really boring, but the higher bands are more interesting.

I'd try to build a habit rather than just reading as a homework xx

 

[sabby52]

Not even 5 is very young to be reading, when Declan was in primary 1 (reception) they didnt start reading until the second term (after Halloween), by then Declan was already 5, they spent that term using books which had no words and they made their own story. It wasnt until January of primary one (third term) that they actually got books with words in them (by them Declan was 5 years 3 months old) and even then they only got one reading book for the whole week, actually Declan (age 8) is now in primary 4 (year 3) and he still only gets one reading book a week.

 

[londonangel]

Can he decode the words with his phonics etc? I think refusing to read words with particular letters in suggests either he struggles with the pronunciation or that it is just a behavioural issue. Can you do phonics work with him instead when he gets home?

My daughter is in reception (she is five in June) and loves learning to read so it isn't the case that it is not developmentally appropriate as one poster suggested. Some children will of course need more help and support than others. My daughter's school does a lot of phonics with the children but they only hear reading once a week and parents are expected to hear reading every night and get children to learn sets of words each week.

I would ask to speak to the teacher to get a suitable plan in place to support your son to develop his skills without being put off reading altogether.

Good luck!

 

[londonangel]

Oh and it sounds like they may be pushing him too hard. My daughter's books are only changed once a week but she reads other things with us so it doesn't really matter. Six books a week is a lot for a four-year-old!

 

[DCS]

DS is in reception. He gets a book on Monday and they swap on Thursdays. Usualy he asks to read it. But if he doesn't want to we don't force it. He always gets a story at bedtime and we often find, even on nights when he doesn't want to read his book he will pick out sight words in his bedtime story. I wouldn't force it. Maybe mention to the teacher that he has mentioned he gets stuck. My DS always confuses d and b and it really stresses him out. Sometimes we just egnored the words and he makes up a story using just the pictures. 5 is still so little.

 

[LJaydow]

He can read the words, break them down and stuff. We read at other times during the day and he picks the books and has always had an interest in reading. The words he was refusing to say were "it", "I'm"etc.

Interestingly he was given two red level books (the one up from those he had) and read both himself perfectly, including the "M" and "I" words?!

I hope it lasts, he's definitely not struggling with the words themselves just delaying reading the book!

He mentioned more on what the teachers don't help him with - on Monday mornings they have to write in their book what they did at the weekend and he said he has asked them to help him get it started (again seems quite a task for one so young!). I'm meeting with his teachers after school with him tomorrow to go over this with them too

X

 

[LaughOutLoud]

DD loves reading an they get 2 books each week but she is advanced and each book is 40 page each. We have to sit with them through it but it takes time as she likes to look at the pictures an I end up rushing her because they get homework too. It's always been like this an she's in yr1. They say they want parents to do this as as there's 30 kids to get through at school an I think she only reads a couple of pages there. We currently have a lot of stuff going on at home so I'm struggling with time an then trying to stop the toddler from interfering when we're trying to get things done.

 

[Cangaroo]

DD1 is 4 and in reception. She gets 2 books a week on Tuesdays. There's always one she's read with the teacher, and an extra to read with us that she hasn't seen before. She is doing very well with her reading and is progressing steadily without having to do too much at home. We do read with her and play word games etc but I'm wary of doing too much out of school. Of she doesn't want to read, I don't push it. Reading shouldn't become a chore...

Many 4-5 year olds just aren't ready to learn to read. Reading readiness comes at different ages, and pushing before they're ready is not helpful. I'm very glad DD1 suddenly got the hang of phonics just before starting school so I felt confident she was ready. I'd have felt very uncomfortable with pushing reading were this not the case.

 

[Natsku]

Really don't like pushing reading that young. If they're interested then yes, but not if they're not. 5 is still very young, the age for reading readiness can be as late as 7 with some children.

 

[Cattia]

My DS is 5 in April and also in reception. His reading is not that good. He can read some simple words but isn't really good at blending sounds and can't retain tricky words. He is also quite delayed in his writing and has had a lot of extra intervention already just to get him holding a pencil and writing something on paper that might bear some resemblance to a letter. I am pretty sure he has some learning difficulties - probably dyslexia as my DH has it severely. Even though he is receiving extra support at school, I do very little with him at home. I feel that he has to focus harder than other kids at school because it doesn't come naturally to him and I don't want home to be a battle. He enjoys school; he is very sociable and verbally bright and articulate. I worry that I will put him off school if I push him too much, but I also worry that he will start to notice that he is behind a lot of his friends. I just try to encourage him to do the things he is good at at home and give him lots of praise. He is very creative and great at making models and doing art so we just focus a lot on that to build his confidence that he is really good at things.

 

[noon_child]

Good afternoon ladies,

My son is nearly 5yrs old and is reception... A couple of weeks ago he has decided to take a dislike to the letters "M" and "I" - and won't read any words with those letters in them. I informed his teachers, and my son came home from school saying that he had been told if he did not read them, he would be sent to the headteachers office.

I think that is an awful reaction by the teachers. No child should be frightened in to reading. If that was the only technique they had to encourage him I would start questioning their skills.

DS is in reception. He gets a book on Monday and they swap on Thursdays. Usualy he asks to read it. But if he doesn't want to we don't force it. He always gets a story at bedtime and we often find, even on nights when he doesn't want to read his book he will pick out sight words in his bedtime story. I wouldn't force it.

We do this too, and in week when we've been really busy and haven't done much reading I've never once had the teachers complain that she wasn't keeping up. She had a Birthday party the other week and got a book with chapters and very few pictures. I said excitedly "Oh a story book" and my DDs best friend said "No its not a story, its just reading" in a really depressed disappointing voice - it broke my heart that reading should have been drained of joy so early in a child's life.

He mentioned more on what the teachers don't help him with - on Monday mornings they have to write in their book what they did at the weekend and he said he has asked them to help him get it started (again seems quite a task for one so young!). I'm meeting with his teachers after school with him tomorrow to go over this with them too

X

I agree that sounds quite difficult! However I wouldn't mind them trying it IF they help appropriately - leaving him to flounder seems unfair.

 

[SarahBear]

He can read the words, break them down and stuff. We read at other times during the day and he picks the books and has always had an interest in reading. The words he was refusing to say were "it", "I'm"etc.

Interestingly he was given two red level books (the one up from those he had) and read both himself perfectly, including the "M" and "I" words?!

I hope it lasts, he's definitely not struggling with the words themselves just delaying reading the book!

He mentioned more on what the teachers don't help him with - on Monday mornings they have to write in their book what they did at the weekend and he said he has asked them to help him get it started (again seems quite a task for one so young!). I'm meeting with his teachers after school with him tomorrow to go over this with them too

X

What are they expecting from this "writing." At this age I'd expect some pictures and for some students a sting of either letters or pretend letters. If this is what is meant by "writing," I think it's appropriate. If they're expecting real letters and for the kids to be sounding out words for writing, this is not appropriate.

 

[SarahBear]

Really don't like pushing reading that young. If they're interested then yes, but not if they're not. 5 is still very young, the age for reading readiness can be as late as 7 with some children.

Or later! I've done some reading on self-paced learning of reading and some kids will start learning as late as 10. Even then, they're surely picking up and learning without realizing it before then.

 

[Natsku]

Really don't like pushing reading that young. If they're interested then yes, but not if they're not. 5 is still very young, the age for reading readiness can be as late as 7 with some children.

Or later! I've done some reading on self-paced learning of reading and some kids will start learning as late as 10. Even then, they're surely picking up and learning without realizing it before then.

Yeah they'll be picking up the pre-literacy skills before then. It seems its just rush rush rush for reading in some places, I thought it wasn't supposed to be like that now in the UK. I'd like it if Maria could read now but not going to push it.

 

[tommyg]

Sorry I've nothing useful to advise but its so sad that kids are being pushed so hard so young in the UK. England is currently worse than Scotland but I fear the reintroduction of national tests will push us in the same direction.

I think I would have a word about slowing down to 2 books per week rather than 4. And I would be upset at him being threatened with the head teacher - what exactly were they going to say to him?

The fact he is reading the higher level books ok sounds like he was bored / protesting / realising he could control with the other ones.

 

[morri]

I think it is interesting with the books... Here you have 1 book full of stories(the first twenty pages focussing on each letter, the others are stories) and in year 2 up to year 9 you get 2 books one dedicaed to grammar, the other one with stories, poetry rhymes etc. most provinces only start school at 6y old though, my lo is a nov birthday so shell be 6 3/4 by the time she starts school.

 

[tommyg]

Morri that is it exactly where you are kids are 6 starting school. The youngest English kids are just turned 4 starting school and are pushed long before they are really ready.

From my understanding they use to be the term they turned 5, but with changes to a single intake they now start at 4. Scotland is 4.5 with the youngest having the right to defer.

I wanted to get to the bottom of why the kids in the UK start so young the answer lies with MPs in 1870 who wanted kids to get 5 years of education before leaving school at the age of 10. Hardly a scientific rational reason why it is so young or why we insist in sticking with it other than the push to get mums out to work and the need for childcare. Still not exactly in the kids best interest.