Child reluctant to learn (Junior Infants)

jos_kel

Hi,
A few weeks ago we got the school report for our 6 year old son. Among other things it stated that while he knew most of the phonics for the letters, he was struggling with blending to form words e.g. c-at, ig-loo.
I've since started to read Horrid Henry books to him each night which he's very interested in. I've also tried to 'wean' him onto flashcards. What I'm finding is that he is protesting at the thought of doing anything 'educational' and underneath it all he does actually know the words.
My goal is to get him to the point where he has a desire and appetite himself to learn. As far as I can see his ability is fine for his age.
He just has this reluctance to participate and learn.
Does anyone have any ideas how we can light that spark within him?
At the moment, I'm pretending that the manager at work gave me homework and that I needed him to tell me certain words starting with a,b and c.
He didn't actually participate then and that's how I know he knows the words.

silverharp

At home we found Dr Suess to be a good transition from the phonic stuff to actual novels. once it clicked they were under their own steam. Can you take turns as parents? Sometimes boys resist learning things from their mothers

jos_kel

silverharp wrote: »

At home we found Dr Suess to be a good transition from the phonic stuff to actual novels. once it clicked they were under their own steam. Can you take turns as parents? Sometimes boys resist learning things from their mothers

Thanks for that I'll check it out. I'm actually his father. To be honest I'm trying to take a slowly-slowly approach and even at that my wife seems to think I'm overdoing it.
A joint effort is as good as 3 I think.

isitraining

jos_kel wrote: »

Thanks for that I'll check it out. I'm actually his father. To be honest I'm trying to take a slowly-slowly approach and even at that my wife seems to think I'm overdoing it.
A joint effort is as good as 3 I think.

Your wife has a point. He is six. He's just finished his first year of formal education. What he needs right now is a break. It's absolutely fine to read books with him and to sound out words in the book that he might know but don't force him. He has at least 13 more years of education ahead of him. The worst possible thing you can do is make learning a chore at this stage. He needs to enjoy learning to encourage him to continue it for as long as possible.

I fully understand your concern and know that you only want the best for your son. There are so many who don't care a bit about what is written in the school report and it's great to hear of a parent who is so eager to help. For some children though it just takes a bit longer for everything to click. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

jos_kel

isitraining wrote: »

Your wife has a point. He is six. He's just finished his first year of formal education. What he needs right now is a break. It's absolutely fine to read books with him and to sound out words in the book that he might know but don't force him. He has at least 13 more years of education ahead of him. The worst possible thing you can do is make learning a chore at this stage. He needs to enjoy learning to encourage him to continue it for as long as possible.

I fully understand your concern and know that you only want the best for your son. There are so many who don't care a bit about what is written in the school report and it's great to hear of a parent who is so eager to help. For some children though it just takes a bit longer for everything to click. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Yeah I fully agree to a point. It's just that the school report also suggested an assessment of needs. I met with the teacher and was both surprised and concerned with her reasons eg understanding instructions, lack of focus, concentration, daydreaming, lack of awareness of personal space, very tactile.
The teacher seems genuinely concerned so I think as a parent I have to be proactive and rule in or out these concerns with an assessment.
Teacher and parent both agree that he's pleasant, happy and fun loving.
Through reading, playing snooker etc. I can tell he's clever, I just think he doesn't want to read or add numbers.
You mentioned that it's important to get him to enjoy learning and not have it as a chore. But that's exactly where I want to get him to, by reading joke books. I'm hoping to light a spark in him.
I've also pretended that my manager is asking me about words beginning with different letters and that I need my sons help. This is literally 2 or 3 flashcards/letters a night. I'm trying to make it into a little project for him to help me and not a chore. He's a great little kid, his last project was helping me get the garden in shape and now his job is to help me think of words to pass my managers test. Is this too much? I don't think so. I'm just trying to create a space for learning.

freshpopcorn

You seem like a really good dad, if only every kid had a parent who cared as much as you the world would be a better place.
There are lots of ways you can get your son reading without him even know he's reading. You could bake a cake or cook something with him. He'd have to read the ingredients/method with you. Whilst he'd be spending time with his dad doing something that he mightn't associate with reading/education.
I had a speech impediment when I was younger and it took a lot of work from speech therapy, school and at home over the years. Some teachers were also concerned that I had other difficulties and I went for educational assessments and I was average/above average in them.
I know primary teachers now are very well educated and sometimes they might pick up on an issue with a child and they might recommend an educational assessment. Sometimes these might show up an area in which a child might need an extra bit of help in an area and when they get this they can excel in other areas because they might have being held back without the help.
I've spoken to teachers about this and they've all told me some of the brighest children they've taught might have had difficulties with reading/writing/spelling.

jos_kel

freshpopcorn wrote: »

You seem like a really good dad, if only every kid had a parent who cared as much as you the world would be a better place.
There are lots of ways you can get your son reading without him even know he's reading. You could bake a cake or cook something with him. He'd have to read the ingredients/method with you. Whilst he'd be spending time with his dad doing something that he mightn't associate with reading/education.
I had a speech impediment when I was younger and it took a lot of work from speech therapy, school and at home over the years. Some teachers were also concerned that I had other difficulties and I went for educational assessments and I was average/above average in them.
I know primary teachers now are very well educated and sometimes they might pick up on an issue with a child and they might recommend an educational assessment. Sometimes these might show up an area in which a child might need an extra bit of help in an area and when they get this they can excel in other areas because they might have being held back without the help.
I've spoken to teachers about this and they've all told me some of the brighest children they've taught might have had difficulties with reading/writing/spelling.

Thanks I do my best.
I'm also thinking of getting him comic books, doesn't seem to be much info on the web. I remember loving comics when I was younger, never once equating them with learning. I also remember my parents had these set of encyclopaedias and for some reason I was fascinated by them, and wanting to at least look at them.
My whole aim is to get my son into that mindset and not see any if this as a chore.
One thing he wants to do every evening is play snooker (we got him the table last Christmas). This helps him add which is great.
However, he also wants to watch snooker on YouTube and always requests different matches and different frames. He seems to have a good memory for matches and sections of matches.
While it's probably a good interest, maybe it mightn't be helping his attention span by watching too much YouTube eventhough it is a cerebral game such as snooker.

silverharp

my kids were early readers and it was great for them , once you get them over the hump there is no chore and it guarantees to give them confidence in school. For instance mine never work on spellings during the school term , they get everything right from reading. From memory one of the first series of novels they read was the Astrosaurs, genuine laugh out loud from their perspective.

jos_kel

silverharp wrote: »

my kids were early readers and it was great for them , once you get them over the hump there is no chore and it guarantees to give them confidence in school. For instance mine never work on spellings during the school term , they get everything right from reading. From memory one of the first series of novels they read was the Astrosaurs, genuine laugh out loud from their perspective.

Thanks. What age were your kids when they read Astrosaurs. Also did they read something prior to this.
Today I just bought my kid an old batman comic which I'm sure he'll enjoy.
Obviously these are just stepping stones to generate an interest in reading for him.
As you say it will also lighten the workload during school term. I know it's summer time but I want him to see reading as fun.

silverharp

jos_kel wrote: »

Thanks. What age were your kids when they read Astrosaurs. Also did they read something prior to this.
Today I just bought my kid an old batman comic which I'm sure he'll enjoy.
Obviously these are just stepping stones to generate an interest in reading for him.
As you say it will also lighten the workload during school term. I know it's summer time but I want him to see reading as fun.

My wife was the brains behind this as its her area , I do the maths :pac: , but around 5 . My wife got a phonic series of books and then it was onto the Dr Suess, its a good starting series because of the rhyming in it, I think we just took turns reading it and it was normally part of the going to bed routine. With the Astrosaurs my wife started reading it to my son and then he just took over. He probably didnt get all the words but it didnt bother him.
Funnily enough we never used comics although I do get him the occasional comic annual now. Have fun with it , its very rewarding all round.

jos_kel

It's getting a little frustrating now. I've told my son that my manager tests me on 2 letters everyday and if I get them correct he rewards me with e.g. Football tickets, so I need his help.
Yesterday evening the letters were "H for House and I for Igloo".
I tried everything to coax him into telling me. Finally after I resigned myself to not having an answer for my manager and missing out on the tickets. He very reluctantly told me, even grunting as he told me.
Is this just plain stubborness?
Maybe this is what his teacher is misinterpreting as inability to understand instructions.
I don't think 2 letters a night can be classified as a "chore" for him.
However I am open to any suggestions as to how I could modify my approach if necessary.
On the positive, he is now very eager for me to read Horrid Henry books in bed and even asked me to buy more.
My plan is to use these books as a starting point in his reading journey, I've also looked at some Dr Seuss books as the next step.
For the moment I would just like to see him enjoy learning and not see it as work.
I've seen enough of him to know that he is definitely above average intelligence. I know being his parent I would say that anyway, but I've made a conscious effort to be objective about all of this in terms of his school report, behaviour, abilities etc.

afkasurfjunkie

What type of learning style might he respond best to do you think? Plenty of boys at that age are mostly into active learning and pointing to or reading a letter at a table may not appeal to them. I taught a little fella who had no interest in sitting at a desk sounding out his letters but if you drew them in chalk on the ground outside and got him to run to each one he had no problem doing it. Everything had to be as active and as fun as possible.
He also may not be buying into your manager at work story. It puts pressure on him to get all the answers correct so that you don't get into trouble at work. Sometimes kids know the answer but would rather not attempt it than get it incorrect.

jos_kel

afkasurfjunkie wrote: »

What type of learning style might he respond best to do you think? Plenty of boys at that age are mostly into active learning and pointing to or reading a letter at a table may not appeal to them. I taught a little fella who had no interest in sitting at a desk sounding out his letters but if you drew them in chalk on the ground outside and got him to run to each one he had no problem doing it. Everything had to be as active and as fun as possible.
He also may not be buying into your manager at work story. It puts pressure on him to get all the answers correct so that you don't get into trouble at work. Sometimes kids know the answer but would rather not attempt it than get it incorrect.

Thanks for your reply.
Firstly I know he understands the words, over the last few weeks I've managed to rule that out. Trust me on that. I'm satisfied that's not an issue.
Secondly that game sounds like a good idea. I'm guessing you asked the child to run to the "house" then to the "igloo" etc.
Some things are obviously hard to draw but the flashcards I have are big so I could do something similar indoors.
The real issue here though is that this learning style probably won't be facilitated by a teacher in class.
I know you said you were/are a teacher, so I'm open to more ideas on getting my son to engage more in the learning process

silverharp

Kids like playing games and computers , there might be some software or websites on line that might make the process fun? Or find ways of making a game out of the points you are trying to get across. I used to play a game with junior called "electric chair" when I was teaching him multiplication tables, he would sit on my lap on the ground and I would throw questions at him, if he was too slow answering he would get a dose of tickles. I also remember using an etch-a-sketch to play games like hangman normally again in the evenings when they will do anything to delay going to bed

byhookorbycrook

https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/read-biff-chip-kipper.-complete/id563906937?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/jolly-phonics-letter-sounds/id897894552?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2

hilarymcl

I've had a lot of success with a computer game called 'teach your monster to read' . You can create a free account for your child and play with him or check in on his progress and see where it's at - it adopts a phonics approach and works ups from letter sounds to blends and words - junior and senior infants I've worked with have really enjoyed it. It might be worth a try.

katydid

jos_kel wrote: »

Hi,
A few weeks ago we got the school report for our 6 year old son. Among other things it stated that while he knew most of the phonics for the letters, he was struggling with blending to form words e.g. c-at, ig-loo.
I've since started to read Horrid Henry books to him each night which he's very interested in. I've also tried to 'wean' him onto flashcards. What I'm finding is that he is protesting at the thought of doing anything 'educational' and underneath it all he does actually know the words.
My goal is to get him to the point where he has a desire and appetite himself to learn. As far as I can see his ability is fine for his age.
He just has this reluctance to participate and learn.
Does anyone have any ideas how we can light that spark within him?
At the moment, I'm pretending that the manager at work gave me homework and that I needed him to tell me certain words starting with a,b and c.
He didn't actually participate then and that's how I know he knows the words.

It's the school holidays. Give the kid a break!!!