My 6 Year Old and Reading - What Gives?

My 4th grader excels in school, but struggles with homework whenever she is tired. Just a thought, maybe do homework earlier or even in the morning.

He may not like the books at home. My friend had to struggle and fight and argue with her son to get him to read at home. She finally decided she needed to buy some different books. She got him adventure books for his age group and he took off reading and has never looked back. It took finding a venue he liked for his to get interested.

It may be maturity but I'd watch him. Our son could read before he started kindergarten and then stopped reading once he started. It turned out he learned differently than how it was taught in his school and this shut him down. Homework was awful and took him ten times longer than seemed necessary. I was told by his teacher he was "top of the class," yet I watched him struggle and I watched his self esteem plummet. First grade got worse, and that's when I pulled him and put him in a private school for kids with learning differences. The struggling disappeared and our lives got much easier.

Kids do this because
a) they feel stressed and pressured
OR b) they want more attention
Is he milking it for extra attention from mom and dad?
I would talk to his teacher about your problem and elicit her opinion as well.

Our 6yr old daughter is in kindergarten and does the same thing at times. She has a collection of 'sight words' (in, the, and etc) and we are supposed to be having her study these. Well when we break them out to have her read them to us, it's like she's never seen them before. It was like the pressure of "ok, now perform" was causing a mental block. She DOES know all these words and can spell them with ease. So homework is now a very laid back event, no pressure and she breezes right through it. She writes sentences, even puts together little books that she reads to us after dinner. Good Luck

It's likely that he's really NOT struggling at home...he'd just rather be doing other things and he know if he acts like he doesn't understand it, M. and daddy will end up prompting him with the answers!

My ex's son did this ALL the time. Grandma was practically doing his work for him. When I was there, I would make him do it himself. Teachers don't want to see what PARENTS can do...they want to see what the child has learned. So back off a bit and let him do his own work. You can check it and offer some advice, but I strongly advise that you interfere as little as possible.

My suggestion is to take him to the library and have him choose books he'd like to read or a bookstore same concept. My child is in first grade and doing homework can be a task. I try to find an area that is calm and structured to get the homework done. Our teacher said no more than 20 minutes for homework and most nights is it much quicker than that. It's the first thing we do when we get home and then it's time to play. Our child is a great reader though his writing is not on par with his reading so we are having him journal to develop his writing. Suggestion from his teacher who we love...

It sounds like he can read and that is half the battle. Is it that he is just not reading for you? Is he struggling with the work or is he procrastinating and having a give and take with you when he is asked to do the work? I am not sure, but maybe try an incentive chart with stickers for completing homework. After he earns 3 stickers that night, he can earn a favorite activity. Keep in mind that he will get the activity but just remind him when you finish these three items, you get a sticker, then you get this favorite activity.
If you just want to get him reading more in general, see if you can find ways to make it fun and not work-like. For example, tell him you need to make a grocery list and ask him to write the list for you, or tell him to write down what items he wants from the grocery store, toy store or resturaunt etc. If you get new toys or appliances, ask him to help you read the instructions. But do all of this casually and without pressure.

wow...are you writing about my son???
The theory my husband and I have is that he is afraid if he shows us how well he reads... we will stop reading to him.
Also as someone else said.. they do work all day and just want to come home and play.
I have no real advice for you.. but wanted to let you know his "brother from another mother" is in Pa LOL

he is doing so well in school because he is being praised constantly, girls arent typically praised constantly for being smart, then we wonder why girls fall behind in school..hmmm. if the child can read ( at home) but chooses not to, because he feels like he isnt being praised enough , then the thing to do is to simply wait until his desire to be praised at home overwhelms his stubbornness. course you could always tell the child, well, i heard you read to the class, but yet, you decided you cant a book at home, oh, well, i guess you dont need those books you were promised for your birthday/christmas/chhakkah, after all. we will make sure that the books will go to another child who will actually read them..too bad . if you tell the child, that he can ONLY read at school, he will quickly change his mind about reading at home.
K. h.

Your child will behave one way at school and another way at home. He's testing you, he's testing his teacher, he's testing himself, it's a part of the learning and development process for many children.

The environment is different. Is he really struggling at home? Is it that he's just distracted by other things? He it that he's looking for your attention and he wants you to spend more time with him? At school, does in enjoy being put in the spotlight?

I suggest a conference with the teacher. She may be able to give you some insight.