Help me please!?

Question

My son is nearly 12 and does not enjoy his Englilsh lessons. I cannot get him to read much. The little reading he does is in vain as he's not interested in comprehension. I wanted him to get some private lessons, but his class teachers are against it. They say that it is a waste of money. The boy has never been interested in English at all however, he is excelling in maths and enjoyes it immensely. He seems to block every thing to do with English.
I'm awfully desperate, so therefore would be grateful if you can help me.
Many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Private tutors are useful for eager but struggling kids. In a case of motivation, they can do more damage than good as they turn the whole thing into a battle of wills- adults against kids. I am a very experienced, dedicated teacher who does not 'deserve to be shot' or need condemning by a trainee. I will eagerly recommend tutors to parents if it will genuinely solve the problem (for example if they just need more time on their English than other kids, or need 1-1 tuition the government cannot provide) but in your case it genuinely could do more harm than good. More English lessons might put him off- seeming like a detention or 'grounding' in his 'own time'- that is why they might be a waste of money in the long run.

Approach it from the angle of getting him to read to assist his real life. Boys of that age usually appreciate the idea of 'relevance' as opposed to 'fantasy' (a more female trait at that age). Use magazines and newspapers which tie into interests he already has, and use biographies of role models (such as sportspeople) to encourage extended reading. Writing to magazines, or contributing to online communities relating to his interests are good ways of encouraging writing.

Also, if you choose to get him tested for dyslexia, be careful about how you raise this with him. I've had students who tested negative who will insist 'there is something wrong with me' and tell me they are dyslexic so 'can't' read, before they realise that of course I have the reports from the tests myself. It can be a catch 22 where the child believes the label (whether or not it is true) and doesn't try to overcome it because it suits them. Never appear eager for it to be a 'condition', as private Ed Psychs can give a name for more money (disreputable ones) - go for one hired by schools, as they are more likely to be genuinely interested in your boy's learning. if it is dyslexia, present plenty of positive role models (the dyslexia society has loads of stuff) so he views it as something to overcome, not another reason why he 'can't do' English.

Remember- the more he sees 'extra lesson' the more he will kick back from it. Take the subject out of the school room, so he can see how it is useful.

Answer 2

That has always been my problem. I'm 16 and I have extremely poor reading comprehension abilities. I've found that audio books and movies work best even if they are less accurate. If your child is a hands-on learner then private lessons may be the way to go. Another thing that I've found to work well is to walk around while I read. Usually, before we begin a book, I will look for background information so that I understand the situation behind the story and so that I can relate better. For example, if he has a book set during Word War Two, get him to find information about the area in which the book is set such as important battles and statistics. That kind of information should apeal to his personality.

Answer 3

The new literacy framework that is being introduced is more geared towards motivating boys into literacy, and it does this largely by using a greater range of media than just book.
You could get him to do some writing about a film, for example, you might find this gets him going a bit more.
Then you could focus in on a film that is also a book, so he works on the two simultaneously, that might be a good route in.
Other than that, try getting him to work on texts that he enjoys more - you can get a lot of good reading practice from any books or magazines, let him start with football magazines or computer magazines or anything just to give him a starting point.
Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I am not saying English isnt important but maybe you shouldnt force him into it, the worse thing you can do is make him do something he doesnt want to and create bad feeling.
As suggested earlier find something he is interested in and try to read about it. Also setting a good example for him is useful, Do you ever read books at home? Try one day reading a book and acting as if its the best thing you have ever seen, maybe your son will be curious and come to find out what its about.

As a trainee teacher I have seen many children just not interested in subjects and their parents ask why they are not clever. But if you look at Gardner's 'Multiple Intelligences' theory he states that Linguistic is only 1 of 8 ways you can be 'smart'. Maths or logic being one of them, as your son.

As for your son's teachers who said that a private tutor is a waste of money - they should be shot!

Answer 5

Have him tested for learning disabilities. The fact that he excells in math and enjoys it suggests that he has at least normal intelligence. He may dislike reading because it is difficult due to a disability. Even if he has no disabilities, try getting him a private tutor and see what happens. It may turn out to be a waste of money, but if you do nothing, the situation will only get worse as he gets older.

Answer 6

english seems to be disliked my most students around that age
it canbe hard to grasp all the technics , to get your son instrested
in reading it doesnot have to be books .find a hobbie or sport even and idol . get him book onwhat he likes and he read it find out information on his favorite topic butdon,t push it.
try and find out what it is about it he does not like . it might be itdoes not find the topics intresting and that why he swiches off.
try and find a fun way of teaching him . like if he likes rap music
get him towrite a rap and puncuate that and help learn the basics
were a full stop goes ect. i work in a high school and i dealwith students that have readng ages of 5 and 6 year old and i have to teach them the basic through wordgames , get them to read.
you need to find a topic that will stimulate his mind. maths is very challenging and he likes the logic and the thinking behind the finding solution and the answers . i would never say no to private lessons but before you pay your money you need to find out what hedislikes it could be as simple as the teacher not stimulating him enough and given him a hard enough challenge.
unfortuntly most students are not going to tell the teacher that there lesson put them to sleep,because they get into trouble.

I am also assuming he is in issecond term at high school and they is also a lot to take in about this subject ,you could get a copy of his work that he is ment to be doing sent home and have a look at it and get him to talk through , if it a poem his doing ask if it can be changed to a rap . if its writing a story try and tie it in to a hobbie it not easy gettingkids intrested in certain subjects butyu have make it intresting and maybe the teacher will comprise .you have to do this topic but the next one you can choose what you want to do it about. just until he starts to take and intrest.

Answer 7

They say the brain only remembers and absorbs what it finds to be important. And it is natural for boy to excel in math but not in english and it is said to be just the opposite with girls as they are more annalitical. Try getting your son some good adventure books to read like the "Hardy Boys" which is perfectly suitable for young readers. you can even get him some mystery books. Start small though..you don't want to ovverwhelm him with to many pages.You will find better luck looking at the older books some of the newer childrens books are somewhat cheesy

Answer 8

I agree about having your son tested for dyslexia. I don't know what sort of school you send your son to, but we went to the local comp and they are not interested in testing for learning difficulties if the child is achieving above average.

My brother went through his whole primary and secondary education and the first year of a chemistry degree at York university before he himself requested the test. He is moderately dyslexic but scored in the 99th centile for intelligence. He too is very good at science and maths.

Answer 9

Don't listen to your son's teachers who are already doing a miserable job inspiring your son. Find a college kid who is majoring in English to help your son and find interesting fun things for your son to read. It's okay if he doesn't excel in it. He's obviously more math-minded. But he does need some type of boost.

Answer 10

Find out what interests your son has. For example if he enjoys cartoons ie; The Simpsons, Family Guy etc. then buy him some comic books to start with and get him interested in that. Then the next step would be to find a website about how that comic is made such as "For Better or For Worse" by Lynn Johnson. Her website http://www.fborfw.com/features/makingof shows the step-by-step process of how she creates and gets her comic strip made each day. Once he is interested in that process then buy a hard/soft cover book on either the comic book character or the creator of the character. Then have him read that. Eventually, without him even knowing it he has discovered reading.
You can do this with anything he is truly really interested in; His favourite movie, his favourite sport, his favourite sports player, his favourite music or band.
Believe me it works. My boyfriend's 12 year old daughter hated reading. Then a few times she saw me watching two different movies. The first one was the story of Miss Jane Pitman and the second one was the Diary of Anne Frank. She sat down and watched both of them with me and had a million questions to which I did my best to answer. When I told her that they were true stories about read people and that I had to read the Diary of Anne Frank when I was in school, she was amazed. Shortly after that she came home from school and showed me a book that she got from the school library during a class assignment to pick out a book to read for a book report. She read it cover to cover. I was so proud of her. She seems to enjoy reading about true stories but more importantly she seems to enjoy reading about history. Since then she has went on her own to the school library and gotten, on 2 separate occasions, books from the Scholatics Canada Dear Canada Series. They are diary type books which are true stories about Canadian girls, around her age, who have written their diaries about different events in Canadian history such as The War of 1812 Diary, The Word War I Diary of Eliza Bates etc. Of course the girl's words have been re-written by other authors who have transcribed their words into a book format. I am so thrilled to see her getting excited about reading now and it all started by her watching a couple of movies with me. She's now talking about possibly reading about the story of Helen Keller.
So, as I was saying earlier, just find something that your son is truly interested in and go from there.
Be excited about it and watch his excitement about reading grow fast.
Good Luck with everything.