Parents’ perspective on their child’s reading progress during the study

4.4.3.1 Nigel

Nigel shared that he believed Kevin’s reading skills had improved during the intervention. Nigel also reported that the reading itself had an impact on Kevin, “In a few of the reading sessions we did some Amazon books and that is the theme at the moment. He is beside himself with knowledge. He knows all about canopies and how things grow on the forest floor and he loves knowing things.” Nigel positively compared Kevin’s current persona to the child he used to be. Nigel attributed this change in part to the reading intervention. “You would not know the Kevin of last year and the year before. He was a difficult one, he would not open up to anyone. He would definitely not talk to strangers. He would just sit in his room and play with lego and that has changed a lot. He can talk with authority on a lot of subjects at the moment. That has come from reading and his mind has become more inquisitive. If I had to take Kevin back to his South African school now, the teacher would fall off her chair. She would not recognise him.”

Nigel also perceived a change in Kevin’s attitude towards reading. He identified that Kevin had become keen to read, “He takes out six books a week from the library and he finishes two books on the first day… I’ve seen him get excited about books and about reading… Initially I thought the routine of going to bed at night with a book was going to be not fun because he loves TV and I thought he would rebel and it was absolutely the opposite.”

4.4.3.2 Leanne

Leanne revealed that Adam now enjoyed being read to and frequently initiated reading himself. She reported that Adam always, has a good attitude toward it reading, enjoys being read to and reading to others, understands what he reads, can discuss reading, and makes attempts at words that make sense. Leanne

shared that Adam frequently, enjoys receiving books as gifts, and discusses the book during reading.

Leanne also commented about Adam’s changing attitude to reading: “Reading used to be such a pain in the arse because he just was so frustrated with it. He used to get annoyed, ‘Stupid book, stupid words’ and now he’s not mad. To see him frustrated with it was not nice, either. So, now I’ve seen him happy to read. He even enjoys it. It’s been fun.”

Leanne frequently commented throughout the intervention about Adam’s growing skills. She was proud of his new achievements.

4.4.3.3 Gwen

Gwen appeared disappointed with Naomi’s limited progress. She commented: “I think an improvement is always going to be a good thing no matter how much. Moving forward is good. The comprehension is a big concern for me with Naomi. And it’s a source of much frustration for her when she reads and I don’t think that it helps her want to read.” I was surprised by this revelation as Gwen had only mentioned comprehension once before to me but I agreed that the new assessment results point at comprehension being much more of an issue than had previously been apparent. Gwen continued;

She’s not capable of reading what she wants to read. She’ll say to me that she’s read something but I just don’t believe her because there is no understanding of what she’s read so I’m not sure in that respect if we’ve made a lot of progress… We go in fits and starts on things. She’s now interested in doing Raz Kids on the computer.

I reminded Gwen, “You’ve had a good run with Naomi reading Horrid Henry books.” Gwen replied, “Yes but mostly that has been me reading to them not Naomi reading.” Again I was surprised as this was not what Gwen shared with me previously. She carried on: “There has been more of me reading to the kids which is good because at least they are hearing stories and how entertaining they can be.”

Gwen commented on the school’s view of Naomi’s reading;

When I talk to Naomi’s teacher she says, ‘She can do it, it’s just about confidence.’ but I don’t think so. In some ways she may be being pushed to read things that are a bit beyond her grasp and may be losing interest because she is not understanding.

I kept the conversation going by saying, “That sounds logical.” Gwen recalled, I watched her do a Raz Kids thing yesterday. She only got two questions right out of ten. She was so annoyed with herself ... There were tears and a tantrum and a big show about how bad life is. I can see her frustration and I can see that to be able to read the words and not understand must drive her mad.

I suggested some strategies with Gwen that she could use to support Naomi with Raz Kids such as having Naomi retell the story to Gwen before she

answered the questions. We also discussed and shared with Naomi some tips for selecting the correct answer in multi choice questions.

4.4.3.4 Eve

At both the intervention meetings that Eve and I had, she expressed surprise at how easily the goal had been achieved. Eve was (in my opinion) overly grateful for my input. She was tearful as she shared that she could now see a new future for Jack as a reader and as a successful learner.