Getting a child to read

jhempel24 · 06-27-2012, 02:05 AM

Not sure if this is the right forum for this:

My fiance and her kids moved in with me recently from Oklahoma...and she has a 5 1/2 yr old that can't read and will be starting Kindergarten this year.

I'm trying to engage her, she enjoys stories and being read to, but when it comes to answering questions about the story, or even trying to sound out words (I'm talking "cat", and "up", things like that), she throws a fit and just won't do it.

She was in a Pre-K Program last year and I don't think they really did much with her regarding reading.

Today I bought a couple activity books that require the person to do a page or two a day, and I'm hoping that will help...but it's concerning.

Anyone had any experience with this type of thing?

She's exteremely imaginative and I know she has it in her, but for some reason we can't pull it out....we are both huge readers, and know the value of getting her to read.

danskmacabre · 06-27-2012, 02:24 AM

My wife and I have 2 kids. We both read a lot.
When our kids started getting to that sort of age, we did set by example that we read a lot, I.E. reading a lot around the house, which we did anyway.

I remember my kids asking what was so great about reading.
Yes we did read to them I lot. I read "The Hobbit" to both my kids, which they liked.
I also got some of the early "Harry Potter" Audio books, after that they started reading those.

Before that we spammed them with loads of really simple books with lots of picture to get a start. So really they've been steeped in the whole reading thing right from a very young age.
We've also impressed upon them how important it is to be able to read etc and for a while even gave them little presents (like worth less then £1) for each book they read until they just started reading of their own accord.

That and I like playing PC games, which require reading as well really, so if they wanted to play PC games they'd have to know how to read. Although their PC gaming time is limited to an hour a day (that includes, PC, consoles and TV and all electronic media all in that hour limitation), not including homework time though which is usually on a PC.

I think a combination of limiting the PC, console, TV time + rewards and having lots of books available helps encourage reading.

wizwor · 06-27-2012, 02:43 AM

You'll likely get some interesting responses here, but this is not the best place to look for a solution. Google 'teach a five year old to read' to find a lot of answers. Here's one...

http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/1156.html

You should also talk to people at the school as the child could have an undiagnosed learning disability. Even if this is not the case, they will have suggestions and tools for you.

In my limited experience (parent of two prolific readers), kids learn to read as a matter of course if reading is part of their world. My kids were read to each night. In the course of looking at the pictures they saw words and we pointed out words as we read and we asked what words were. We also played a game where each of us had to come up with a word for each letter in the alphabet. Make flash cards and put signs on everything in your house. Enable closed captioning on your TVs and make a point of watching Sesame Street and other programs that teach reading.

We had a lot of Living Books. There are probably better games out there by now, but these books allowed the kids to play in a story with the computer reading while highlighting the words. When a word was clicked, it was read aloud.

That's all I have for you. Best of luck.

BWinmill · 06-27-2012, 02:53 AM

I wouldn't worry about the delay in reading, but you should be teaching her the basics before she starts kindergarten.

Does she know her alphabet visually? Be careful, because a lot of children mix up 'n' and 'u', 'M' and 'W', 'I' and 'l'. Once she knows her alphabet, help her identify the first letter in words (I think they call this the onset) since it will help to establish a link between oral and written language.

After that, go with whatever works. Since she sounds like the creative sort I would suggest something like nursery rhymes. They have all sorts of made up and archaic words that make sounding out words fun.

An option for comprehension is to read read picture books and ask simple questions that relate what you read to the picture. Things like: "Can you show me Jack?" and "Why does Jack have a bucket on his head?"

Settling her into reading may involve letting her look at the pictures, and letting her tell you her own version of the story. Then you can read her the actual story and ask her about the differences between her story and the story you read, which she likes better. If she's uncomfortable with telling her own version of the story, look for oddities in the illustrations and ask her what she thinks is happening.

Most of all, try to keep it fun. I have yet to see a child who thinks that activity books are fun (a lot of them are rote exercises and some of them are just plain useless). The early stages of reading tends to involve a lot of one-to-one interaction simply because most people learn reading by relating written language to oral language.

carpetmojo · 06-27-2012, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizwor

....................... kids learn to read as a matter of course if reading is part of their world. My kids were read to each night. In the course of looking at the pictures they saw words and we pointed out words as we read and we asked what words were. We also played a game where each of us had to come up with a word for each letter in the alphabet. Make flash cards and put signs on everything in your house. Enable closed captioning on your TVs and make a point of watching Sesame Street and other programs that teach reading............

Excellent advice for the early stages, and more or less how we produced a "rabid reader" !

We also found a settled time , say morning, pre or after breakfast, and evening, around ten minutes sitting on a lap and being read a story, looking at the pictures and the words, without pushing things, led to questions about the pic's, certain "funny words" and the story. Then bringing in the element of choice, them selecting what was to be read, made an incredibly quick transition to wanting to read it themselves.

But the example thing is a great booster - I'm not so sure a little jealousy doesn't sneak in, either - "why can they do that, I want to too !"

Above all, enjoy it, the pair of you !

jhempel24 · 06-27-2012, 03:34 AM

Thanks for the info everyone!

I'll definitely be incorporating more of this into daily routines.

Billi · 06-27-2012, 06:12 AM

I'm wondering a little bit: is it really that important that your daughter is able to read? Is this something the school expects that first grades are able to do?

What I find most important in this respect is the story telling, not the reading itself. Like others wrote in this thread, read or tell her a story/tale/... each night before bedtime and you will both enjoy it very much.

jhempel24 · 06-27-2012, 06:17 AM

Absolutely its important. No question. Reading is the foundation of just about everything.

we do read every day, but are also trying to engage her and get her to sound out some easy words. Being almost 6 yrs old this year she should be reading some.

Billi · 06-27-2012, 06:23 AM

Sorry, I was imprecise. I wanted to ask if it is really that important for a five your old child?

jhempel24 · 06-27-2012, 06:31 AM

In my opinion. Yes. I don't think she needs to be reading Nancy Drew or anything. But getting the building blocks of reading in place. Being able to pick out simple words etc

taming · 06-27-2012, 06:34 AM

Don't underestimate the feelings the child may also be having about the move and living with you. The social worker/mom/step-mom in me says to ease off and let your fiance take the lead in this, for now. Read to her, for sure. Let her see the two of you reading, too. But taking the lead in an activity she might not be enthusiastic about (for whatever reason), could go on hold. She will not be the only child who turns up the first day in kindergarten as a non-reader.

jhempel24 · 06-27-2012, 06:49 AM

It's not the move....it's in general. She hated pre-school, has no ambition to learn anything. I know the move has been hard on her, no doubt.

But my fiance actually wants me to take the lead on it because she's never been able to get anywhere with her, and I have "some" teaching experience albeit not with kids.

taming · 06-27-2012, 07:16 AM

Ultimately you guys will do what you want, but I would not tackle something this big now, even if your fiance thinks it is a great idea. I'm betting that previous efforts in this area with the child have created a bit of resistance. Have fun with her, get her to really like you, and then see if she will do something she thinks is unpleasant or hard with you later.

She may have a learning disability, as others have mentioned. You can make herculean efforts, but if she has to learn in a particular way and you don't know what that might be, you may inadvertently create a problem that is bigger than whatever she needs to do to become a competent reader.

I read at 3. My brother learned to read in kindergarten. Sometimes kids just aren't ready when we think they *should* be.

applesauce · 06-27-2012, 07:25 AM

Both my husband and I where avid readers when our twins where small. We read to them all the time. I have never so much wanted to bang my head on a wall so hard so often as the year they learnt to read. I had taught myself to read before I went to school, and neither of my parents where readers. It just could not understand how somebody could not grasp reading. I will add my twins are now at uni and extremely academically gifted. My daughter reads for pleasure, my son devours twice the required reading in text books then some but will not pick a novel if you paid him.
Children learn to read at their own pace and the old jigsaw trick made no difference with my pair they had dozens they mastered in minutes. It still did not help with reading.

applesauce

jhempel24 · 06-27-2012, 07:34 AM

Yeah, I was able to read at 3, my parents put flash cards on everything, which I may do as well so they can't go into a room without seeing words.

my biggest concern is that the school is requiring them to have some sort of ability to read simple words before being allowed in Kindergarten (which I've never heard of before and sounds crazy). This is a public school, not private.

It's gonna be tough, I just wanted to get a feel for what others have done with their kids.

My own son has cerebral palsy and has the ability to pick out words and letters but can't talk/sign/walk, and doesn't have the attention span to sit still with a book unless hes litterally trying to eat it. he's going to be 5. It's very different teaching between the two, and interesting at the same time.

06-27-2012, 02:05 AM	#1
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	Getting a child to read Not sure if this is the right forum for this: My fiance and her kids moved in with me recently from Oklahoma...and she has a 5 1/2 yr old that can't read and will be starting Kindergarten this year. I'm trying to engage her, she enjoys stories and being read to, but when it comes to answering questions about the story, or even trying to sound out words (I'm talking "cat", and "up", things like that), she throws a fit and just won't do it. She was in a Pre-K Program last year and I don't think they really did much with her regarding reading. Today I bought a couple activity books that require the person to do a page or two a day, and I'm hoping that will help...but it's concerning. Anyone had any experience with this type of thing? She's exteremely imaginative and I know she has it in her, but for some reason we can't pull it out....we are both huge readers, and know the value of getting her to read.

06-27-2012, 02:24 AM	#2
danskmacabre Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 3593438 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Glo. Galaxy Tab S 8.4	My wife and I have 2 kids. We both read a lot. When our kids started getting to that sort of age, we did set by example that we read a lot, I.E. reading a lot around the house, which we did anyway. I remember my kids asking what was so great about reading. Yes we did read to them I lot. I read "The Hobbit" to both my kids, which they liked. I also got some of the early "Harry Potter" Audio books, after that they started reading those. Before that we spammed them with loads of really simple books with lots of picture to get a start. So really they've been steeped in the whole reading thing right from a very young age. We've also impressed upon them how important it is to be able to read etc and for a while even gave them little presents (like worth less then £1) for each book they read until they just started reading of their own accord. That and I like playing PC games, which require reading as well really, so if they wanted to play PC games they'd have to know how to read. Although their PC gaming time is limited to an hour a day (that includes, PC, consoles and TV and all electronic media all in that hour limitation), not including homework time though which is usually on a PC. I think a combination of limiting the PC, console, TV time + rewards and having lots of books available helps encourage reading. Last edited by danskmacabre; 06-27-2012 at 03:56 AM.

06-27-2012, 02:53 AM	#4
BWinmill Nameless Being	I wouldn't worry about the delay in reading, but you should be teaching her the basics before she starts kindergarten. Does she know her alphabet visually? Be careful, because a lot of children mix up 'n' and 'u', 'M' and 'W', 'I' and 'l'. Once she knows her alphabet, help her identify the first letter in words (I think they call this the onset) since it will help to establish a link between oral and written language. After that, go with whatever works. Since she sounds like the creative sort I would suggest something like nursery rhymes. They have all sorts of made up and archaic words that make sounding out words fun. An option for comprehension is to read read picture books and ask simple questions that relate what you read to the picture. Things like: "Can you show me Jack?" and "Why does Jack have a bucket on his head?" Settling her into reading may involve letting her look at the pictures, and letting her tell you her own version of the story. Then you can read her the actual story and ask her about the differences between her story and the story you read, which she likes better. If she's uncomfortable with telling her own version of the story, look for oddities in the illustrations and ask her what she thinks is happening. Most of all, try to keep it fun. I have yet to see a child who thinks that activity books are fun (a lot of them are rote exercises and some of them are just plain useless). The early stages of reading tends to involve a lot of one-to-one interaction simply because most people learn reading by relating written language to oral language. Last edited by BWinmill; 06-27-2012 at 02:56 AM.

06-27-2012, 06:17 AM	#8
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	Absolutely its important. No question. Reading is the foundation of just about everything. we do read every day, but are also trying to engage her and get her to sound out some easy words. Being almost 6 yrs old this year she should be reading some. Last edited by jhempel24; 06-27-2012 at 06:20 AM.

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06-27-2012, 02:43 AM	#3
wizwor Wizard Posts: 1,068 Karma: 23867385 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: kindle, fire	You'll likely get some interesting responses here, but this is not the best place to look for a solution. Google 'teach a five year old to read' to find a lot of answers. Here's one... http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/1156.html You should also talk to people at the school as the child could have an undiagnosed learning disability. Even if this is not the case, they will have suggestions and tools for you. In my limited experience (parent of two prolific readers), kids learn to read as a matter of course if reading is part of their world. My kids were read to each night. In the course of looking at the pictures they saw words and we pointed out words as we read and we asked what words were. We also played a game where each of us had to come up with a word for each letter in the alphabet. Make flash cards and put signs on everything in your house. Enable closed captioning on your TVs and make a point of watching Sesame Street and other programs that teach reading. We had a lot of Living Books. There are probably better games out there by now, but these books allowed the kids to play in a story with the computer reading while highlighting the words. When a word was clicked, it was read aloud. That's all I have for you. Best of luck.

06-27-2012, 03:34 AM	#6
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	Thanks for the info everyone! I'll definitely be incorporating more of this into daily routines.

06-27-2012, 06:12 AM	#7
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	I'm wondering a little bit: is it really that important that your daughter is able to read? Is this something the school expects that first grades are able to do? What I find most important in this respect is the story telling, not the reading itself. Like others wrote in this thread, read or tell her a story/tale/... each night before bedtime and you will both enjoy it very much.

06-27-2012, 06:23 AM	#9
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	Sorry, I was imprecise. I wanted to ask if it is really that important for a five your old child?

06-27-2012, 06:31 AM	#10
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	In my opinion. Yes. I don't think she needs to be reading Nancy Drew or anything. But getting the building blocks of reading in place. Being able to pick out simple words etc

06-27-2012, 06:34 AM	#11
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	Don't underestimate the feelings the child may also be having about the move and living with you. The social worker/mom/step-mom in me says to ease off and let your fiance take the lead in this, for now. Read to her, for sure. Let her see the two of you reading, too. But taking the lead in an activity she might not be enthusiastic about (for whatever reason), could go on hold. She will not be the only child who turns up the first day in kindergarten as a non-reader.

06-27-2012, 06:49 AM	#12
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	It's not the move....it's in general. She hated pre-school, has no ambition to learn anything. I know the move has been hard on her, no doubt. But my fiance actually wants me to take the lead on it because she's never been able to get anywhere with her, and I have "some" teaching experience albeit not with kids.

06-27-2012, 07:16 AM	#13
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	Ultimately you guys will do what you want, but I would not tackle something this big now, even if your fiance thinks it is a great idea. I'm betting that previous efforts in this area with the child have created a bit of resistance. Have fun with her, get her to really like you, and then see if she will do something she thinks is unpleasant or hard with you later. She may have a learning disability, as others have mentioned. You can make herculean efforts, but if she has to learn in a particular way and you don't know what that might be, you may inadvertently create a problem that is bigger than whatever she needs to do to become a competent reader. I read at 3. My brother learned to read in kindergarten. Sometimes kids just aren't ready when we think they should be.

06-27-2012, 07:25 AM	#14
applesauce Addict Posts: 387 Karma: 3553492 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Perth Western Australia Device: kindle oasis	Both my husband and I where avid readers when our twins where small. We read to them all the time. I have never so much wanted to bang my head on a wall so hard so often as the year they learnt to read. I had taught myself to read before I went to school, and neither of my parents where readers. It just could not understand how somebody could not grasp reading. I will add my twins are now at uni and extremely academically gifted. My daughter reads for pleasure, my son devours twice the required reading in text books then some but will not pick a novel if you paid him. Children learn to read at their own pace and the old jigsaw trick made no difference with my pair they had dozens they mastered in minutes. It still did not help with reading. applesauce

06-27-2012, 07:34 AM	#15
jhempel24 Wizard Posts: 2,157 Karma: 7068605 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro	Yeah, I was able to read at 3, my parents put flash cards on everything, which I may do as well so they can't go into a room without seeing words. my biggest concern is that the school is requiring them to have some sort of ability to read simple words before being allowed in Kindergarten (which I've never heard of before and sounds crazy). This is a public school, not private. It's gonna be tough, I just wanted to get a feel for what others have done with their kids. My own son has cerebral palsy and has the ability to pick out words and letters but can't talk/sign/walk, and doesn't have the attention span to sit still with a book unless hes litterally trying to eat it. he's going to be 5. It's very different teaching between the two, and interesting at the same time.