Ideas to teach stubborn 5 year old how to read?

Question

My 5 yr old son will not grasp words!
I have been reading to him since birth
I have been (trying to) teaching him since 2
but he seems to just have this block,
after a painful hour, he will memorize most of a page, but then forget them again
It is driving us mad! we have tried what seems like everything, we don’t get angry, stay calm & reassuring (i must admit have tried telling him off & bribe's too! but it seems like he doesn’t want to learn,
he is in his first year at school, & they are not concerned but bearing in mind they think it is ok for the children to only be able to count to ten, i don’t hold out much hope, the school is trying to teach with phonics, but it just doesn’t work, there are words you just can’t sound out, he is so bright at everything else,2 years ahead in maths, but can’t read, he was writing his name at 2, so don’t get me wrong he is not slow, i have mentioned dyslexia to the school cause I’m dyslexics but they say it's too soon to tell & he's normal ??

i didnt mean it to sound like we are pushing him, the hour would be time i am reading to him, then getting him to do some pages or words.

Answer 1

Buy this book: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

It is awesome -- each lesson is only about 10 minutes long, so even a small child who is easily bored or distracted can learn. You have to carefully read the instructions so that you follow the lessons exactly, and know how to use it before you start.

I used this with both my children, and one has learning disabilities and ADHD.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

First of all - don't panic. Kids are all different and your boy may just catch up when he is good and ready - other things seem OK so it may be just something about words.
For our son we used little cards with words on - flash cards I think they were called - show a bunch of them one after the other saying the word out loud, repeat the bunch just a few times in a session - make it fun - try doing it faster and faster - don't worry if he does not get it at first. It helps if you can show a card and the real object to tie them together, but it is not essential. The idea is for him to recognise the whole word and associate it with the sound of the word. Soon he should be saying each word as you flash the card. Apparently we see whole words when we read - only using phonetics to read a new unfamiliar word.
There is a classic example of this where a list of words are shown, deliberately mispelled in that some of the letters are in the wrong order, but with the right number of letters and the correct first and last letter. Nearly everyone can read the words without any problem. This is supposed to demonstrate that the brain 'pictures' a word and can recognise the length, right letters, and start/finish letters. As long as all of the 'ingredients' of the picture are there then the brain recognises the word.
Long explanation, but I hope you get the idea.
Get some 'flash cards' from somewhere like Early Learning or WHSmiths and give it a try.
Good Luck

Answer 4

First off you started trying when he was too young. Your son was learning to talk and you went to a more advanced skill. Next you are spending way too long on reading on a daily basis. Try going for about 10 minutes at a time. Make very sure you have books he can have success with, books that say early reader on them should be okay. Phonics works and will enable him to read bigger and harder words once he gets the knack. Right now, he should be working on sight words. Words like the, and, it, and is. You get the idea, words he will see frequently no matter how old he gets. A good way to practice these is to use flash cards. Kids seem to get excited when they start being able to read these words and want to be able to read more words. It is a building process. Just like math, first he could count now he can add and subtract. Soon he will learn about multiplication. It is the same in reading. At 5 he is just starting the process, I would not worry about him quite yet. If he is still having problems reading at 6 I would have him evaluated for dyslexia because that is a hereditary problem. So try shorter times, try flash cards and one other thing take him to the library help him find books in his reading level and allow him to choose the book. It is always more fun to read something you are interested in. Good luck.

Answer 5

The best way to teach a child to read is to teach them the basic words first rather than whole sentences. You can buy key stage magnetic words from places like WHSmith. Your son will be on the reception stage. The school should provide him with the same words, but I found the magnets handy and my daughter enjoyed learning with them. One your child has learnt the basics, reading sentences and eventually paragraphs will become much easier.

It is frustrating when you spend ages teaching your child and they seem to forget it five minutes later, but their attention span is small. It's not that they are forgetting it altogether but they have had enough. My daughter was the same, we would work on one particular word for a long time, she would master it and then half an hour later she couldn't read it. But now she is 6 and she is doing brilliantly with her reading and is at the top end of her class. You just need to be patient.

I would suggest getting the basic words and concentrating on a couple a day, for no longer than 20 minutes. Once he has mastered a few words you can start trying to make sentences with them, and then take it from there. Try to make it fun and your son will respond better. Good luck!

Answer 6

I think you need to take it easy with your son. He is only five...most five year olds barley know the alphabet much less how to read a whole book. Dont push him so much. He sounds very bright and he will learn when he is ready. I am sure the school is doing the right thing by teaching with phonics. Your job is to just coninue reading a story to him every night and go over his homework with him. But please back off a little sounds like you worry that he could have a problem such as dyslexia. But there is no way to tell at this age. As you have described he sounds very smart and I wouldnt worry if I were you. Good luck!

Answer 7

Phonics is essential when teaching a child to read. Phonics addressed rule breakers and helps children read tricky words. There are also "sight words" that need to be taught in addition to phonics. If you google "sight words" you'll come up with lots of list. These basically need to be memorized. Pick like 5-10 per week and work ONLY on those, even if he has them after day one. The best way to teach your child is to make it fun. There's a CD by a guy named Jack Hartmann (Shake, Rattle, and Read) that is excellent. You could just let him listen to it for fun. Also, there's a site, www.starfall.com that is very helpful and would make learning to read fun. It's important that you read to him and point to each word as you read. Read books on his level sometimes too, not just hard books and always point to the words. The more you force him to learn to read the more he's going to feel like a failure at it. Make it relaxed and fun and don't let him know he's not doing well. He'll get it.

Answer 8

My daughter's school used zoo phonics. You can find the program on the internet. It goes through all the sounds of the alphabet by using animals. Like Alli the alligator goes a (the sound) and it has hand motions that go along with the letter of straight arms clapping together as an alligator shutting her mouth. After they master the sounds they use the motions together to make words. They then have other rules of silent e and things. Also we had flash cards of rule breakers that were called sight words that the kids went through to memorize. My daughter loved the program and it really worked at her school. She was reading at a 4th grade level by the end of 1st grade.
You could take him to a private program to have him tested. I think my mom called the Sylvan learning center to find where testing could be done.

Answer 9

If your goal is to teach your son or daughter becomes proficient in studying both money and lowercase letters. You then will be needing this system, Children Learning Reading from here https://tr.im/1r84J .
Children Learning Reading shows your son or daughter phonemes therefore they've a really strong base in the abilities that may allow them to go on to be a prolific reader. With Children Learning Reading will even is targeted on making on the abilities discovered to permit your child to get their examining skills to another location level.
With Children Learning Reading is easy to show your child just how to read.

Answer 10

I would never sit a 5 year old down to read for a whole hour, they only have a short attention span. Do his reading in short bursts so he doesnt get bored and disruptive, It doesnt matter what he reads, the back of a cereal packet will do, find something to catch his eye like road signs, tv or adverts, it all helps.