Is there anything on here about key stage one?
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Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
And a few more...
He is six. He is a wonderful boy. In most countries he would only just be at school. My six year old DS1 wasn't because I took him out. 'No harm done'. Which is the title, coincidentally, of DS2's favourite poem when he was six (with apologies to the author, who I don't know):
When I went out the other day
My head fell off and rolled away;
But when I noticed it was gone
I picked it up and put it on.
That is the level my now GS boy enjoyed at 6. It is still very young.
He is six. He is a wonderful boy. In most countries he would only just be at school. My six year old DS1 wasn't because I took him out. 'No harm done'. Which is the title, coincidentally, of DS2's favourite poem when he was six (with apologies to the author, who I don't know):
When I went out the other day
My head fell off and rolled away;
But when I noticed it was gone
I picked it up and put it on.
That is the level my now GS boy enjoyed at 6. It is still very young.
Last edited by Amber on Fri Jan 04, 2013 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
Amber wrote:Two words- Mr Gum.
is he my alter ego?
Learning (is, and) should ALWAYS be fun and when it isn't I will give up
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
Just continuing .... maybe it leaves you with the feeling that if he depends on reading to you he is not reading as much as he might do if he read to himself? Is that what is bothering you? If so I wouldn't let it, because if you do have the time to hear him read 10 to 20 mins each day it should be enough for his reading to improve over time. Eventually at some point he will want to read to himself - it's unlikely he will still want to read to you each day at the age of 14.
What happened with me and DD1 was that for a long time we shared books at bedtime by me reading a page, her reading a page etc etc (because I got bored with listening to her 100% of the time
and also it enabled us to move on more swiftly through a good book ... I binned the school reading books as they didn't really do it for me or her). Sometimes during my reading I'd ask her to read the next paragraph in her head to herself, then I'd carry on reading. That way I knew that she could read to herself, but she knew that she was still getting the time with me. Very occasionally when it was time for me to go she would ask to carry on a bit by herself if it had got to a point where she really wanted to know what happened next.
When she was a bit older and I was sure her reading was up to it and she was just being a bit lazy I'd get her to sit down and read for 5 minutes on her own each morning before school -- a book I knew she should enjoy. I worried that I was "forcing" something that should be a pleasure but in the end it didn't matter. She'll read for hours in bed by herself each now given the chance.
Sorry we still don't really know what your son's reading is like so it's hard to suggest anything that might really work for you. I'm intrigued that he doesn't want to listen to any audio books whatsoever. Is it just a case of being a bit awkward like my DD1 ... he's not going to do anything you appear to want him to do?
I still find it hard to know what books she will and will not enjoy. I buy loads and have a dodgy hit rate still.
Regarding Just William - terribly high flown language for today's 6 year olds, and the sorts of things the first chapter covers is highly unlikely to interest most 6 year olds - terribly long descriptions of some 1930s films he goes to see.
OK so he does watch TV - he watches Horrid Henry. Have you tried Horrid Henry audio books?
I'm wondering really if you are hoping he will read stuff that is too difficult for him. How much effort for him is reading a Horrid Henry book to you? Reading has to be a very automatic process (like watching the telly!) before it becomes enjoyable.
My DD2 enjoyed learning to read. My DD1 only enjoyed reading for herself once she could easily read things that she wanted to read. In the Autumn term of year 2 it is perfectly possible he has not reached this point yet, particularly if the things he would like to read are beyond an "above average" reading level for a 6 year old. It's difficult for an early reading book to be as interesting as watching Horrid Henry.
Sorry that was all very disjointed.
What happened with me and DD1 was that for a long time we shared books at bedtime by me reading a page, her reading a page etc etc (because I got bored with listening to her 100% of the time
and also it enabled us to move on more swiftly through a good book ... I binned the school reading books as they didn't really do it for me or her). Sometimes during my reading I'd ask her to read the next paragraph in her head to herself, then I'd carry on reading. That way I knew that she could read to herself, but she knew that she was still getting the time with me. Very occasionally when it was time for me to go she would ask to carry on a bit by herself if it had got to a point where she really wanted to know what happened next. When she was a bit older and I was sure her reading was up to it and she was just being a bit lazy I'd get her to sit down and read for 5 minutes on her own each morning before school -- a book I knew she should enjoy. I worried that I was "forcing" something that should be a pleasure but in the end it didn't matter. She'll read for hours in bed by herself each now given the chance.
Sorry we still don't really know what your son's reading is like so it's hard to suggest anything that might really work for you. I'm intrigued that he doesn't want to listen to any audio books whatsoever. Is it just a case of being a bit awkward like my DD1 ... he's not going to do anything you appear to want him to do?
I still find it hard to know what books she will and will not enjoy. I buy loads and have a dodgy hit rate still.
Regarding Just William - terribly high flown language for today's 6 year olds, and the sorts of things the first chapter covers is highly unlikely to interest most 6 year olds - terribly long descriptions of some 1930s films he goes to see.
OK so he does watch TV - he watches Horrid Henry. Have you tried Horrid Henry audio books?
I'm wondering really if you are hoping he will read stuff that is too difficult for him. How much effort for him is reading a Horrid Henry book to you? Reading has to be a very automatic process (like watching the telly!) before it becomes enjoyable.
My DD2 enjoyed learning to read. My DD1 only enjoyed reading for herself once she could easily read things that she wanted to read. In the Autumn term of year 2 it is perfectly possible he has not reached this point yet, particularly if the things he would like to read are beyond an "above average" reading level for a 6 year old. It's difficult for an early reading book to be as interesting as watching Horrid Henry.
Sorry that was all very disjointed.
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
mystery..all very true - but at my very advanced age -I have come to realise that children are wonderful - they advance at different rates ( hush my mouth ofsted/HMG) in the grand scheme of things...BUT the vast majority, if loved, encouraged and nurtured get there in the end
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
My DS always preferred 'factual' books e.g. simple science, planets, space - have you tried this?
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
Mine loved books with stickers. Books about castles, animals, plants, French words, anything with stickers!
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
Yes sure they all advance at different rates - wonderful general kind of phrase. But there's something bothering the op. she clearly feels he is capable of reading on his own, and so does the teacher. I'm trying to explain there are many, many reasons why he might not wish to even if he is able to, but also that it might be advantageous not to go off and read on his own at this stage and age.
It's very hard to say anything useful though as we don't know what he can and can't read or what he enjoys. Only concrete thing we know is that he enjoys watching horrid Henry.
There are two different types of horrid Henry books - early readers and the rest. Even to read the early readers accurately you need to be pretty much capable of reading anything unless you have a big "sight vocabulary". The reasons could range from him personally not feeling ready to read on his own as it is not an automatic and really fluent activity for him through to having all the technical accomplishment needed but not wishing to because he prefers to read to you. This could be for many reasons including not liking doing things without mum. Schools very much emphasise that reading should be to a parent. This alone may make him more reluctant to do so.
As long as books remain a pleasure he will ultimately wish to sit and read on his own. He is still very young. In the meantime make the most of the time together for enjoying the books, bonding and building decoding skills and new vocabulary.
My year 2 dd will hardly ever read to me anymore. As she doesn't always ask about words she can't decode or words she can't understand this is the reverse side of the coin to be wary of.
It's very hard to say anything useful though as we don't know what he can and can't read or what he enjoys. Only concrete thing we know is that he enjoys watching horrid Henry.
There are two different types of horrid Henry books - early readers and the rest. Even to read the early readers accurately you need to be pretty much capable of reading anything unless you have a big "sight vocabulary". The reasons could range from him personally not feeling ready to read on his own as it is not an automatic and really fluent activity for him through to having all the technical accomplishment needed but not wishing to because he prefers to read to you. This could be for many reasons including not liking doing things without mum. Schools very much emphasise that reading should be to a parent. This alone may make him more reluctant to do so.
As long as books remain a pleasure he will ultimately wish to sit and read on his own. He is still very young. In the meantime make the most of the time together for enjoying the books, bonding and building decoding skills and new vocabulary.
My year 2 dd will hardly ever read to me anymore. As she doesn't always ask about words she can't decode or words she can't understand this is the reverse side of the coin to be wary of.
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
I am not sure why you need to be 'wary' of this happening... does it matter if a 6 year old chooses not to read to its mother (whom it can see is rather anxious that it does so - first rule of parenting: a child soon learns what a parent really wants and uses this to its advantage)? Most adults can decode unfamiliar words or look them up if they don't understand them and want to - much is available from context, so if I inserted the word 'amphiprotic' in this sentence, many readers would have to slow down to decode it, and might or might not go and look it up. But if I were writing about acids and bases, the meaning of the word would probably become clear to anyone interested in Chemistry who didn't already know what it meant.mystery wrote:My year 2 dd will hardly ever read to me anymore. As she doesn't always ask about words she can't decode or words she can't understand this is the reverse side of the coin to be wary of.
There are other things in life than reading, especially when you are 6.
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
My ds would not read much at that age - but was very happy for me to read to him- we went through all the Narnia books, harry Potters, Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage, Muddle Earth and all sorts of other books. DS was fine to read in school but always found something better to do until he was 9 and we got a kindle.
Suddenly he was reading on from where I left the story and then he was finishing the book. I have since discovered DS is dyspraxic so maybe just holding the book was enough to put him off. Any way now he is an avid reader and is working his was through the Shapeshifter books by Ali Sparkes having read all the Hunger Games, CHERUB and henderson boys books.
So keep reading to them if kids aren't happy to read to themselves- they are getting new vocabulary and improving listening & comprehension skills and enjoying some quiet time with a parent.
Suddenly he was reading on from where I left the story and then he was finishing the book. I have since discovered DS is dyspraxic so maybe just holding the book was enough to put him off. Any way now he is an avid reader and is working his was through the Shapeshifter books by Ali Sparkes having read all the Hunger Games, CHERUB and henderson boys books.
So keep reading to them if kids aren't happy to read to themselves- they are getting new vocabulary and improving listening & comprehension skills and enjoying some quiet time with a parent.
Re: Is there anything on here about key stage one?
Hi everyone,
I'm grateful and astonished by how many replies and how much advice you all have, when you're all at the 11+ and beyond stage - mind you, I suppose you've all been through key stage one.
Yes, I worry that ds2 is capable of reading aloud to his teacher, and me, and happy to do so. But he won't read anything to himself. He is so active that by the end of the day after a story he just falls asleep, he is much too tired to read to himself.
I think he's doing ok reading at school, he is on gold level, stage eight/nine Oxford Reading Tree (anyone know if that's ok for his age - he's almost seven). He could certainly read some simple books to himself.
You have all got me worried about one thing though; he doesn't like Roald Dahl books very much, and is simply not interested in books like The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe ... I think they are too old for him. He still enjoys (don't be too shocked) books like Harry and the Dinosaurs .... I know, they're for dc much younger than seven. He is more interested in non fiction - wild animals - geography - space - but not keen on reading to himself. I tend to get books from the library that are at the level he is reading at - they are not very exciting but I need something not very difficult to progress on to. He does listen, we do talk about the story, as his teacher says he tends to guess what the meaning is rather than understand - he has a good imagination.
He is happy to read to me every weekday though, for about twenty minutes first thing in the morning. I wonder if that is because there is nobody else round at that time (the others have left for school) and he's not too hyped up, also it's a routine we have got in to. So maybe so long as he reads to me five times a week he is not going to fall behind. Mystery, you're right, he won't want to read to me by the time he's 14. He is very competitive and desperate to move up a reading level to be with his friends. He is also very stubborn and doesn't like doing what I suggest; it's ok if he suggests it, but not if I do. Awkward is an understatement. DD2 was reading to herself in year one.
Learning should be fun, though, and he is six, and very active. Thank you all for your advice. Moved, going to work with the stickers, he likes the sticking, he might enjoy reading about the stickers. Thank you and I'm sorry, mystery, if I didn't make myself clearer.
I'm grateful and astonished by how many replies and how much advice you all have, when you're all at the 11+ and beyond stage - mind you, I suppose you've all been through key stage one.
Yes, I worry that ds2 is capable of reading aloud to his teacher, and me, and happy to do so. But he won't read anything to himself. He is so active that by the end of the day after a story he just falls asleep, he is much too tired to read to himself.
I think he's doing ok reading at school, he is on gold level, stage eight/nine Oxford Reading Tree (anyone know if that's ok for his age - he's almost seven). He could certainly read some simple books to himself.
You have all got me worried about one thing though; he doesn't like Roald Dahl books very much, and is simply not interested in books like The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe ... I think they are too old for him. He still enjoys (don't be too shocked) books like Harry and the Dinosaurs .... I know, they're for dc much younger than seven. He is more interested in non fiction - wild animals - geography - space - but not keen on reading to himself. I tend to get books from the library that are at the level he is reading at - they are not very exciting but I need something not very difficult to progress on to. He does listen, we do talk about the story, as his teacher says he tends to guess what the meaning is rather than understand - he has a good imagination.
He is happy to read to me every weekday though, for about twenty minutes first thing in the morning. I wonder if that is because there is nobody else round at that time (the others have left for school) and he's not too hyped up, also it's a routine we have got in to. So maybe so long as he reads to me five times a week he is not going to fall behind. Mystery, you're right, he won't want to read to me by the time he's 14. He is very competitive and desperate to move up a reading level to be with his friends. He is also very stubborn and doesn't like doing what I suggest; it's ok if he suggests it, but not if I do. Awkward is an understatement. DD2 was reading to herself in year one.
Learning should be fun, though, and he is six, and very active. Thank you all for your advice. Moved, going to work with the stickers, he likes the sticking, he might enjoy reading about the stickers. Thank you and I'm sorry, mystery, if I didn't make myself clearer.