Reading Ability.

WH BONNEY

My six year old son is in senior infants and currently using the songbirds phonics books. I'm a little concerned about the progress or lack of it that he seems to be showing.

From what I can see the main way he has of progressing through the book is by memorising the sentence. He does not seem to be able to tease the word out in his own mind.

Is this standard for children of his age and should I be concerned ?

byhookorbycrook

yes, it's standard enough,no need to panic!You could make sure he is actually reading the words by asking him to point out different words to you, get him to read the sentence backwards etc.

KateF

Its normal so long as he is not simply memorising the book, I mean, if its the words he is memorising then thats fine. When you think about it,do you tease out a word everytime you read? You don't unless its a particularly difficult word, most of our reading skills depends on memory

E.T.

It's still early days for a child in Senior Infants so it's difficult to say if it could be a problem or not. If you are concerned, please go and talk to your child's teacher about it. As a teacher, I really appreciate feedback from parents about their child's progress at home, because it helps me get a better idea of their level. If you are concerned you could try making some simple cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words eg cat, bat, rat or sun, bun, fun and see how your child gets on at sounding the words out. Most children in Senior Infants would be able to have a go at these words by now, but without knowing your child personally, it's very difficult to give you concrete advice. If it were my child I'd definitely ask their teacher.