Read write inc failing my daughter

[Blondiemum32]

Hi I have read a few threads on RWI and how wonderful it is but my daughter is really struggling with it.

She is in year 3 at school and when she was in year 2 at our first parents evening in oct we were told she wasn't where she should be with her reading and that at this point they weren't sure whether it was an ability issue or whether she couldn't be bothered. The school advised she would be getting extra help with reading in school. Next parents evening in the feb we were told she was doing great and that everything had seemed to click into place with her reading now. Great we thought. We were then advised in the June that her reading had gone down again. So we went and found her a reading tutor to go to after school once a week to help her gain some confidence in reading.

The reading tutor does not teach my daughter through the RWI system, she just went back to basics and daughter continued to see the tutor throughout the school holidays. Tutor says our D is getting along great and the work we have seen her do is really good. So she will continue with tutor.

Daughter starts back at school in sept and gets moved down a group in RWI and did not get any spelling correct in the recent spelling test, I was shocked as the spelling test was words like Read teach speak etc, all words my daughter can spell and gets tested on regular basis with tutor. I ask my D what she finds tricky with reading and spelling at school and she says her teacher goes too fast when doing the spelling test etc, fair enough, I'll ask her to maybe wait a little longer between each word. My D says she hates RWI it's boring and they do the same thing over and over again.

I have been researching RWI, something I wish I'd done sooner and yes it can get fantastic results for children who are progressing and whiz through all the levels but I'm shocked to learn that if they don't meet the assessment criteria to move up to next level, something I believe is tested every half term, then the child stays in the same group for another
Half term and simply repeats everything they have done before until
They get it right. There are 10 books in each level so my daughter could of read a lot of them only to have to read them again and again. No wonder she's bored to tears, I would be too.

Anyhow I'm going to school for meeting this afternoon armed with all my daughters work she has done with reading tutor. I want the school to know that it's not an ability issue, it's a RWI issue and how boring and repetitive it is for children that are struggling. Ofcourse I don't expect the school to remove RWI but they have to understand and maybe take a leap of faith with my daughter and make their RWI lessons less boring and repetitive.

Rant over!

[Methren]

Blondiemum32 it must be very frustrating to see your DD struggling with reading, but in the nicest possible way - why are you blaming RWI?

Your DD's reading and spelling remains an issue despite whatever reading programme her school used prior to Year 2, despite extra help in Y2, and despite a 1-to-1 reading tutor who uses a different method from RWI. She is still struggling despite interventions that use multiple different approaches. Clearly she needs more than just repeating levels of RWI endlessly, but imo your first port of call should be to speak to her class teacher and the SENCO, not to blame RWI for the problem.

[Blondiemum32]

RWI is the only way my D has been taught at school, the school started using it when she was in reception, so my point is, why is she getting good results with her reading tutor yet struggling at school?

Keeping children who don't pass the assessment criteria to move up to the next level in the same group is understandable but when they could potentially stay in the same group for a term say, where they are going over the same books etc is not the way forward. My D doesn't have the longest attention span (what 7 year old does) so if she is doing the same thing over and over again, seeing the same books etc then yes, RWI is to blame. The very fact I get told one minute that she needs a little extra help then the next that all is fine and it's all clicked into place, then told again she isn't where she should be is a clear indication that RWI is boring the hell out of her and not an ability issue and more of a I can't be bothered issue.
She never says reading is boring with her tutor and has fantastic results and not struggling.

Like I said I am seeing her teacher after school today. Don't really feel the need for senco, she is not special needs but by no means a great reader compared to others in her class. I will add that in all other aspects in school she's excelling, maths etc, I therefore can only see the problem being RWI

[admission]

I agree with Methren. You should not be blaming RWI here, you need to be questioning the school as to why your daughter is not making the progress she should be making. The whole purpose of RWI is that they do not progress through the groups until they are secure in the teaching targets of the group they are in. The question needs to be why is there no progress, why is she bored? That sounds to me like there is an issue over how RWI is being taught in the school and those that are doing the teaching.
I would also have to argue that you may also be contributing to this situation by employing a tutor. By using different techniques there is a real danger of confusion in your child's mind as to what she should be doing.

[Methren]

There are lots of reasons why your DD might perform better with her tutor at home - 1-to-1 attention, the right lesson pace for her needs, fewer distractions from friends or a noisy classroom. But for whatever reason these improvements aren't translating into better performance at school.

The question isn't really "Why isn't RWI working?", but "Given that it isn't achieving the desired results, what is school going to do about it"

RWI isn't a magic one-size-fits-all formula. It works well for lots of kids, but there will be some who, for whatever reason, don't get on with it. It's not constructive simply to blame RWI because it is just a tool, which has to be implemented by a person, your DD's teacher. If RWI isn't working, the teacher should be looking at what other approaches can be used to help your DD. What approach is the home tutor using? If that seems to work better for your DD, is it something the teacher could use in class? Differentiation of work shouldn't just mean tailoring difficulty to ability, it should be about using the best approach for each individual child.

Repeating the same level of RWI over and over again is likely to be boring for the child. But progressing to the next level before the skills at the present one have been mastered isn't going to help either. It sounds as if either your DD needs a different approach and/or something about the classroom environment isn't allowing her to perform at her best.

Getting the SENCO involved wouldn't be about labelling your DD as having SEN - the SENCO might have access to additional resources or 1-to-1 time that could help her.

It's clear from your posts how frustrated you are. I hope you get somewhere with this by speaking to your DD's teacher.

[Methren]

X-post with admission

[Blondiemum32]

Can see your point but at least i know she is progressing with her whilst she's currently not progressing or learning anything new at school.
I suspect the school needs to get new books and improve their teaching of RWI, in my Ds case anyway. It's more frustration for me as I know she can read and spell and put sentences together, my husband and I put in the time with her and so does tutor so it's frustrating to constantly have the school say she's not progressing or she is then not again.

[StripyBanana]

BUt she obviously isnt able to spell when asked at school, so its not a case of you vs the school but you need to work with them.

Have you had her hearing tested? Sometimes children perform differently in school if they can't hear so well, or have problems with the noise in the classroom.

[Methren]

Hearing test is a good suggestion. Vision check too - can she see the board properly?

If she is really able to do a lot more at home (and it's not just that she's getting more help from an adult) then it isn't a case of "Why can't she do it?", but "Why can't she do it at school?" That is the issue you need to work with school to solve.

[cailindana]

If you go into school criticising RWI and telling them to change their books you will be totally wasting your own time and the school's time. Schools are required to follow certain programmes when teaching different subjects and one parent complaining won't cause them to change the entire school policy. If your DD is doing well at home but is still struggling at school then clearly RWI isn't to blame.

How often do you read books with your DD? What's her favourite book?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I am about to say the with the benefit of hindsight.
Your daughter says that the teacher goes to fast, it would be worth considering a slow processing speed.
My hindsight is in year 2 my DD complained the teacher went to fast, all though years 3,4 and 5 she was told she needed to speed up in comprehension. Her reading is great (though how it appears she learnt to read is another matter), her selling does not reflect her reading. I have thrown all my toys out of the pram and school has assessed DD her processing speed is well below average. She is almost certainly dyslexic ( I am), but is sufficiently bright that she has developed coping strategies.
I raised the concern in year 2 and was slapped back. I wish I had thrown my toys out of the pram then.

[Blondiemum32]

Thanks everyone. I agree I need to work with the school instead of going in all guns blazing (which I can do sometimes ha)

Hadn't even thought of having her hearing or vision tested so will def get onto that too.

She does get distracted easily so I can see that a reason why she gets on better with 1 2 1 sessions.

We read every night with her and read all the usual girly princess books or books with animals, the books she reads at school are rather dull, both daughter and I were losing the will to live with all the Floppy dog books we read last year, daughter also said there were hardly any books for her level in her class room so I will bring that to teachers attention today. I shall also be asking if Senco can help after reading your comments.

Daughter is a chatter box(gets told off for talking in assembly etc) and she's on a table with her best pals in class so I'm going to request she moves tables just so she can concentrate better during the weekly spelling tests

Thanks so much for everyone's replies, feel a lot better about how the meeting will go now

[Methren]

That plan of action sounds really positive, OP.

Unfortunately the books do tend to be pretty dull until a certain level of proficiency is achieved. What sort of books can she read by herself at the moment? Can she manage Dr Seuss? If so, those are great because they are funny, and also contain lots of nonsense words that are great for practising phonics. Even if these were too easy for her, they are useful for practising fluency and expression because the silliness makes them engaging.

[mrz]

It's interesting you say she has only ever been taught using RWI yet she gets ORT books it sounds as if the school aren't teaching RWI as it is meant to be taught. Personally I'm not a fan of the programme but it does get excellent results when followed faithfully.

[maizieD]

They might be Floppy's Phonics, mrz. Though a bit odd to teach RWI and not initially use the books that go with the programme.

[FlowersForAlgernon]

Maizie - RWI books are done in class, and they have to send other books home for reading at home. So that's prob where the ORT books come in.

OP - The problem is not RWI. You need to be speaking to the SENCO at this point.

[Fiveways]

RWI was produced with the best intentions and follows sound principles BUT the feedback I have from many Headteachers is that wholesale introduction of the programme squeezes out much of the excellent multisensory activities and the pace of of RWI is often too fast.
Children who need more individual approaches to early literacy may lose confidence, are often bored and they do not make the progress with spelling/ writing skills which they are capable of. RWI may be good for the majority of children but if your child needs a different, structured multisensory approach you should ask for a dyslexia assessment and hope/ push for a dyslexia specialist teacher to give DD confidence back in her ability and engender a love of literacy through activities which are both fun and challenging.
Contact BDA and consider a BDA course yourself so you can find out what works best and then you can enjoy the activities together. She certainly deserves to have some fun learning with you and there are lots of spelling games which you can share together without lists and commercially produced apps!
Good luck

[mrz]

Yes they might be Floppy's Phonics but if a school is following RWI faithfully they would use RWI books.

I would also say OP if the reading tutor is as good as they say they are then this should be reflected in your child's school work.

[Ferguson]

Sorry to hear that DD is having these frustrating difficulties.

Is she making the expected progress in numeracy, ICT, science, art, music etc, and is she happy in school apart from reading and spelling?

A useful book that might help her, and that she can either use on her own, or with her tutor if you wish, is reviewed in the MN Book Reviews. In the "Children's educational books and courses" section, the Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary is described, and you can link to view sample pages from it, and purchase if you so wish. It may clarify aspects of Phonics for her, to help her understand 'how it all works', rather than just memorising words. This may make her more confident in decoding words, reading more fluently and spelling more accurately.

I hope she manages to overcome this hurdle.