to be concerned about dd's reading?

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Shes 6 next week, and in yr 1.

Shes been on the same reading level since may last year ( when she was in reception) she seems to be getting worse, not better. last night she was struggling with ' was' fgs, which she knew by sight only a few weeks ago.

Shes doing well in all other areas, but her reading is rubbish, shes on otr level 4.
I know shes not the worse in her class... but just the lack of improvment for coming up to a year, and the suddenly seeming to get worse.

Ive written a short note in her book bag book, i dont know if im BU and should just not worry and it will click when it clicks... or if i should go and see the teacher, who will probably roll her eyes and tell me that yes, dd hasnt got it yet and i should just get a grip and let her be?

Could it be something as simple as that particular style of book doesn't suit her? When I was child (going back about 35 years......) I can remember my books were changed could have been Janet and John and changed to something else and then I just flew through them.

We have only started reception this year so can't offer anything else constructive or useful but hope it gets sorted. Would suggest chatting to teacher...

Do you read with her at home? If so, how often? And does she just read school books, or do you both read books that she chooses too?
Does she have words to learn as well. DD was in Year 1 last year, and every week had a list of sight words to learn, then we would spot them when we read together.
How is she with comprehension - does she understand what she's reading?

Are they taking on new things at school, like progressing more into maths and science? I've often noticed with my DC that when they're learning something new other things that they've been able to do before suddenly fall behind for a bit.

You don't say how much you do with her at home, but as others have said the more time you can spend helping her the better, - sometimes they just don't get it as quickly in the classroom and they need back up at home.

we do read at home - maybe 5 nights out of 7.

no sight words anymore.

i dont know, she tends to just look at the picture and sort of guess what it says. Somehow most of the time she is right..or she isnt, but it makes sense. i cant seem to get her to break this habit and look at the words... for example she will read ' wilf looked at the' and the next word will be balloon. - but she will say ' hot air balloon' which is what is in the picture, rather than actually read the word. then she gets in a strop when i tell her its wrong ( or anyone tells her its wrong) and then she just sort of stops.

i dont know if its normal for her age? or what really.

Agree with the others about helping her at home. It isn't just the teacher's responsibility.

shes a wizz at maths and science, her handwriting has just improved massively ( got a headteacher award recently), she can spell ( so she can sound out) her reading however, is just rubbish.

How much reading did you do with her in the Summer holiday?

Do you read regularly with her at home?

It's worth having a quiet word with the teacher if you're worried about anything so YANBU to want to do that.

I'm sure they'll put your mind at rest and give you some hints and tips.

The looking at the picture thing is how they're taught in my DS's school.

It used to wind me up because I'd prefer they sounded out the words like they used to...but the teacher said it's all about familiarity and recognition, linking the picture to the word.

I don't know how it works, but in my DS's case it just did.

yes, we read ( her school book) 5 days out of 7.

we read at least one book a night. sometimes we read together, like i will read a line and she will read some...

we did read in the summer hols, we read in all the hols.

...dont know, she tends to just look at the picture and sort of guess what it says.

That's what they're supposed to do. That's why the pictures are there, it's all part of early literacy learning.

Somehow most of the time she is right..or she isnt, but it makes sense.

That's good.

I cant seem to get her to break this habit and look at the words...

Don't. When she is confident she will do this herself. Never cover up the pictures. They are important cues.

for example she will read ' wilf looked at the' and the next word will be balloon. - but she will say ' hot air balloon' which is what is in the picture, rather than actually read the word. then she gets in a strop when i tell her its wrong ( or anyone tells her its wrong) and then she just sort of stops.

Try, "you got a lot of that exactly right, well done. Shall we try this word again?"

My dd is the same as yours, in yr 1, nearly 6 and still on lowest band which at her school is pink. We do reading with her at home every day but she too is really struggling, however we are currently in the process of haivng her assessed for special needs.

If you are worried I woudl talk to the teacher and see if they can give you advice on other things you can do with her.

I note you are doing home reading which is great. There are other ways to stir her interest, too.

Audio books
Watching children's story time on TV
Reading to her
Asking her to tell you stories from pictures she has drawn
Word spotting when you're out and about, make it a game.

Children come to reading when they are ready. At this stage it is important that your dd is able to see books as a source of enjoyment wherever possible, perhaps you two read together curled up on beanbags.

She needs to gain confidence in order to build the habit of reading.

It is frustrating when it takes forever to get through a reading book but you will get through this patch.

hmmm - the teacher wrote in her book that she needs to stop this habit - so this has come from them.

ok - thinking about this, she does not react well to being told she is wrong, she takes it very personally, and just shuts down. Maybe looking and talking about the pics first, might get that out of the way.. and then i could try the '"you got a lot of that exactly right, well done. Shall we try this word again?"

so its a lot more positive. because i think its the lack of confidence and being told she is wrong which is what is making her go backwards

( ever so helpful when you start a thread, suddenly, you can see the whole picture)

and yeah - we do all that - and go to the library - she loves books. we have 3 bookcases full at home. we always read together, weekend mornings are breakfast and books in bed - always have been. she doesnt hate reading at all.

Loving books is great, you're most of the way there.

Being told you're wrong is tough. Try to point out what she's got right and maybe just be quiet on the wrong ones till she's picked up confidence. Or "it is a hot air balloon, isn't it. Well done. In the words here it's just called a balloon, can you see that word?"

Sometimes there are hints in the back of the readers for questions and techniques.

All the best

we used to practice our spellings on the walk/drive to school, or spell out words of things we saw

play games like countdown

yes, we do too. and shes really good at it.

just, when we sit down with her reading book it all seems to go to pot.
Like the ' was' thing yesterday, shes known that word for over a year, never stumbled over it ( bar a short time when she was pronouncing it as WAZ'
so i was a little shocked when she said she didnt know and then wasnt able to sound it out...

Looking at the picture for cues used to be a popular method as it fits in, to some extent, with flashcards/whole word learning. It now isn't in vogue as the focus is now on phonics and sounding out, rather than guessing/context.

Definitely work on her confidence and yes, talking about the pictures first means you can broaden the discussion from 'just' the text and allow her to (hopefully) then focus on the text. Do you point to the words as you're reading to her? Don't do it with every book you read, but about 1 in 3, read more slowly than usual and occasionally stop to 'sound out' and 'blend' a word - especially one she knows. So read

'"Ellie looked at the tea p-o-t", mmm "p-o-t"'... hopefully she'll jump in and say pot, but if not you say it and you're modelling how you deal with words that you're not sure of.

Otherwise, give her lots of praise when she sounds out/points to words as she's reading (or does other reading behaviours that school have said she should be practising. :)

If you look at the chart below you will see the ORT 4 is within the expected range for Year 1.

www.readingchest.co.uk/book-bands

So she is not "rubbish" but if you feel she is struggling with these books and not progressing you would be right to be concerned.

What type of books is she getting? My DD gets four different types (one of each, per week) and though they are all technically the same level she responds quite differently to different types. I also think some of them are harder than the others. The poetry seems to be trickier to me, and the non-fiction often has the best visual cues so she finds it easier.

Have you tried the "Learning to Read" section in the library, you might find a series that suits her better that you could borrow lots of to increase her confidence.

she gets one book a week. thats it. same book. i dont think it helps because she has an incrediable memory, and after we have read it just once, she recites it.

my friend gave me some ort books in the summer, i could do these with her, mix it up a bit.

i think its about giving her her confidence back, im sure thats what it is. because i know she can do it ( she was nearly top in her class in reception).

We found the Apple Tree Farm books great at this sort of stage - we got a box set from the Book people or similar - not too £££. Each book starts exactly the same - so we read that bit together with me showing the words as we read with my finger. We then read together. Quite often to start with the only thing DS had to do was to work out whether it was Poppy or Sam saying whatever.... then we included another word or two - but one that needed to be looked at first - always finger under word, but also time to look at the pictures too. Eventually progressed onto him reading the top, larger font sentence and me the others, or alternate pages etc. I think he read the words as he wanted the story to progress which, for him, was a good incentive.

However, school reading books in Yr1 were awful, it was a battle to read them with him - complete turn around in Yr2 thankfully.

I have found with ds that he goes through periods of going backwards before he picks up again. Keep listening to her read and keep reading to her.

It is worth having a word with the teacher as you are concerned with the lack of progress.

Oh dear, one a week is pathetic! If she knows it by heart, I wouldn't read it again unless she wants to.

Get a load from your library.

Does you library do reservations? At ours, reservations are free for children, so if I find a series I like, I think reserve all the others in the series to read when we have finished the four school ones. Maybe if she is losing confidence, get a load that are far too easy for her and work your way back up. e.g. the Tiddlers series only have about fifty words per book.

She might also like the Usborne Very First Reading books as the adult reads the bulk of it and the child only some (the adult / child proportion changes as you go through).

I find that reading skill comes in fits and starts- they seem to plateau for ages then suddenly shoot up. On the other hand I sympathise as my Y1 son seems to have regressed too.

What schemes does she get from school? Our school has loads ORT, Floppy Phonics, Rigby Star, Bug Phonics, Collins Big Cat... and ds2 (who is in Y1) can easily read some but struggles with others. I think that ORT is really pointless as a reading scheme and I'm not surprised that children end up guessing. On what planet is a child whose been reading for a year or two meant to work out words like sausage?