My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Education

anyone with a child who won't read

6 replies

Bronte · 16/11/2005 19:03

dd1 now nearly 7 has never enjoyed the process of reading. Getting her to read her book from school is a daily battle. I try not to get frustrated and make sure she notices written words elsewhere/reads her sister's baby books etc. Her shelves are stuffed with lovely books which she rarely opens herself.She will happily listen at bedtime to stories but reading seems to be too much like hard work.
I teach 5 and 6 year olds and many are way beyond her in their reading ability. School have never suggested she may have a specific problem and I tend to think it's probably lack of application and practice.I tried a reward chart over half term and that worked OK but she's lost interest in that now. Any advice or parents with simlar experiences?

OP posts:
Report
Redtartanlass · 16/11/2005 19:37

Bronte, I've had a similar experience, but afraid can?t offer any advice. My ds1 (now 20 years old) was surrounded by lovely books when he was growing up, had stories read every night, watched me reading in the evenings instead of watching TV. But exactly the same as your dd1, never took to actually reading by himself.

I tried everything from buying comics to talking tapes, but he never had the love of reading that I have. Before I discovered mumsnet I would read about 5books a week only joking (just), so I used to be upset that he wouldn?t get the joy from reading that I do.

However I just had to accept that everyone is different, he doesn?t enjoy reading and it hasn?t really affected his education as he is now at university.

Report
HRHQoQ · 16/11/2005 19:41

I thought that DS1 wasn't keen on reading (he's only just starting out, in Reception so still early days) but chatting to his teacher today (on discovering the 3rd new book in less than 2 weeks in his bag) apparently he zips thought them at school and is really confident.......a lot of my concerns about him not being able to 'fit' words together looking at the letters appear to be unfounded - he just won't do it for me or DH.

Report
starlover · 16/11/2005 19:42

have yout ried taking her to the library to choose books herself?

i used to LOVE being read to. I used to tell my mum i couldn't read so that she would read to me!
I went on to become a very avid reader

Report
Bronte · 16/11/2005 20:01

thanks for your replies. Yes we go to the library but it's generally me who does the book choosing .dd1 heads for the videos and dvd's!
Reassuring to hear about your son Redtartanlass.
I just need to accept she's not a natural book worm.

OP posts:
Report
neolara · 17/11/2005 19:57

Hope you don't mind me butting into your thread. Often children don't want to read because they are being asked to read books that are too hard for them. A good guideline is that the child should be able to read 18 out of 20 words accurately. If they experience more difficulty that that, they are likely to become frustrated.

Another technique that might be worth a try is Paired Reading. Lots of parents who use it say that their children find it very motivating. There are two stages to paired Reading. Stage one - You and child child read a book aloud simultaneously. Stage two - Your child makes a sign (e.g. clicks her fingers, taps the book) to show she wants to read by herself, so you stop reading and the child continues by herself. If your child makes a mistake or pauses for longer than 3 seconds, you simply correct the mistake and carry on reading with her simultaneously again until she tells you to stop. There's been loads of research on this technique, and on average if a child is heard reading using Paired Rading for 10 mins a day, they improve their reading age by 3 months for every month they do it.

Report
Bronte · 17/11/2005 21:06

Thanks for your message. Funnily enough I bumped into a description of that approach earlier today but your explanation was miles better.Will aim to give it a go before school tomorrow, time permitting.

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.