Hi Mom23-- I just thought I'd chime in here, as I could have written your initial post myself when my dd11 was in Kindergarten. I think her issue was a bit of perfectionism. (If I can't read as well as my friend, well then I just won't read. I'll do more math!). For her, the impetus to read was the promise of a big party at the beginning of the next school year for children who had read a certain number of pages over the summer. She started the summer with Bob Books (beginner readers) and ended it with My Side of the Mountain.
There is nothing quite like the power of a well-timed bribe.
This made me think of a comparison. My DS refused to be taught how to write by us parents. He started writing letters when he was 2ish, and things didn't come out how he liked, and so he went on strike. We occasionally would try to get him to write some stuff, to major protestations. We thought kindergarten would be a great place for him to learn to write - that's one of the kindy teacher's major jobs. He still isn't great at writing, but it worked wonderfully to have the teacher at school teach him this. Maybe the same thing will happen with your son with reading and the first grade teacher.
I also am a big fan of well-timed bribes.
