To ask for a meeting with DDs teacher in week 2 of term!

[2girls2dogs]

All of her peers seem to reading books, harry potter etc and such like - but she is at key stage one still. She has always struggled and i have worried but my DP just says "she'll catch up". The school haven't seemed overly concerned - she has extra help and goes off during lessons for this.

Im starting to worry this isn't enough

I don't do tht much reading with her at home because she doesn't like it, this is because she gets frustrated sad I have been concentrating more on getting her to read signs out and about, reading things on games that we play than sitting down wiht books with her. She likes to be read to and i read alot to her, im reading her a book from my kindle and she loves it, my DP is reading harry potter to her at bedtime. She does read to DP but its the same books over and over - she is clearly just memorising and wont read other books, she has 100s of books to choose from as i buy them from charity shops.

in one way i think she will catch up, it will just click but i'm kidding myself. I sat and read her school book tonight (she only "remembered" to change it today because she had to read to her teacher and ive nagged her every day) and she was fine with what she had read to the teacher (she memorises it) but when it came to reading the new stuff she really struggled so then got upset and didn't want to do it. The way she sounds things out is illogical, she will sound out the begining of a word ok, and then try and fill in with something either random or what she thinks it should be - so earlier, Stand = St an ball????

Ive worried that she is dyslexic since before school but i think they think im mad, but her dad is dyslexic although he wont have it tht he is, i know he is and she has had "signs" since she was very young.

Its only week two of the term, do you think its too early to make an appointment with her teacher, i feel like I am letting her down sad Ive asked for her to be assessed for dyslexia but they keep telling me they don't do that yet sad The school is an excellent school, by far the best in the area, she very very happy there, but they don't have the best records for special needs

I think if you are worried (which you obv are) then make an appointment. How old is your dd?

shes 7, year 3 - one of the youngest in the year but she is well over a year behind, ive just kept hoping it would right itself but its not going to, i know this.

I would love to have an assesment but i simply can't afford it, i know someone who had to do this for her child and it cost over £200, i simply don't have that sort of money just now - i'd struggle to find £20.

I've just read the other thread and think the OP's dd is in year 3..

are you sure her peers are reading Harry Potter? pretty sure that they're not, well not by themselves anyway... my dd3 is in year 3, in top group for literacy in oftsed outstanding school and she's no where near reading HP by herself

not unreasonable to ask for a chat with the teacher though, might be able to give you more ideas on how to help her at home

But if she's the youngest in her year she is nearly a year younger than some of her peers so it wouldn't be at all surprising if she is a "year behind". My dd (July birthday) is now in Year 4, in the top set for literacy and has only just started reading proper chapter books by herself. There is absolutely no way in the world she could have read Harry Potter this time last year - at least not read it and understood it.

thanks bumpy - maybe not harry potter, poor example but those children's books - usually about ballerinas or kittens.

I feel really shit because i had such good intentions to read with her over the holidays but they just flew past and she just didn't want to do it, we had a lovely lovely six weeks together with no pressures of school and now i am back on the daily reading battle - she is such a good girl and tries but is getting grumpy and unco-operative already and i am at a loss.

The memorising thing reminds me of my brother who was only diagnosed with dyslexia when he started secondary school. He was so frustrated throughout primary school and my patents felt guilty for not getting him tested sooner. It helped to find something he enjoyed reading (obvious I know) - have you thought about offering her any wordy computer games?

She is a year behind though neo, becaue she is at the end of year two, her SATs said 1c which is what she should have been at the begining of year one :-(

Thanks threewheels, she likes the computor and does do well with the maths games on here, i think she would balk at it if i did the reading but she navigates her way around the web really well, but again, she's memorising.

I'm going to ask for an appointment with her teacher tomorrow, i have to do something now. I did ask what to do at the open evening, you know, over the summer, but the teacher said just to read with her.

frankly ballerinas and kittens are overrated!

is there anything she does like reading?
comics? shopping lists? recipes so you can cook together? argos catalogue?! non fiction books on a topic she enjoys? doesn't matter what it is, just try and get her to start reading something

have you asked to speak to the senco about assessment?

I think u should keep on reading to her & also getting your dd to read signs, shopping lists, food labels. Make it fun & not like a chore.

My dd is 8 & in primary 4. For the last year and a half - two years shes been reading novels by herself. She loves reading. Not everyone does. Maybe your dd doesnt like reading.

You know your dd & if u feel like she has a problem then id speak to the teacher & see if theres anything you can do to help your dd.

Thats who i need to ask for bumpy, the senco - i'll do that tomorrow, ask to speak to, or be referred to her. I just feel so sad for my lovely, sweet DD - she is going to be left behind :(

my dd's dyslexia was spotted in year 1. But thats because we have a brilliant and passionate SENCO, who just happened to be dds class teacher for 1 day a week

We have been advised that it is not really 'worth' having a formal assessment until she is older (is now 7 yo) I think because it can be more specific when they are a bit older.

I think that having 'extra reading' can be really frustrating and demoralising for them. Its just another opportunity for them to fail at it again

Dyslexics learn in a different way. Our school brought in a specialist teacher for an hour a week, and dds reading took off after 3 sessions with her.

I cant remember what programme they follow....'Something Phonics' but it is excellent...i will find out the name for you, and we were also recommended an excellent book which explains how to DIY at home, and has games in it...

BBL

she wont be left behind because she has you fighting for her

IME kids with dyslexia- learning is done in 'steps' rather than a smooth curve....They do encounter obstacles and its hard and they fall behind....then they find their own methods and work round the obstacle and then they fly until they hit the next obstacle.....

Do you know that something like 75% of self-made millionaires in the UK are dyslexic...because they are used to being innovative and thinking outside the box! Richard Branson is dyslexic

Have you had her eyes checked? Could be a problem there that the quick 30 second chart hasn't pick up on.
Also, when you are reading to her, is she able to see the words and are you running your finger under the words so she can associate the stuff you are saying to the words.
Subtitles on the tv is also another good way to expose words.
Also talk to the SENCO about what other options, including various learning aides that are available.

and IMO lay off the reading at home with her...or let her read. Don't pester her to read every sign/ shopping list/ recipe. Its really important to preserve her self-esteem

I don't think it is because she doesn't like reading, she loves to be read to, she likes things like "the pheonix and the carpet" "five children and it" so pretty heavy going classics. She loved the lion the witch and the wardrobe - i want her to be able to read these things for herself while she is still young enough to get the "magic" of them. I could read fluently before i even started school and i remember my first book i chose from the school library being "born free" but the librarian woudlnt let me take it out because i woudlnt be able to read it, so i stood there and read it too her!

She doesn#t like reading because she struggles so

i meant let her lead, not let her read

imonthefone tht is exactly how i feel, and pretty much why i didnt push it over the holidays, i don't want this to become a negative.

imonthefone again, yes, that is exactly what she does, it not so much a learning curve as a ladder, she plateaus and then leaps - i have goosebumps reading your posts as you could be describing my DD. I sadly think i am going to have a fight on my hands to get her the help she needs though.

and she is far from stupid (i know dyslexics tend to be bright) she makes some really logical observations and her spoken vocabulary is very broad. She said to me the other day though "mummy, im stupid" it was like a knife through my heart

i hear sounds, yes, i had her eyes tested last year, no problems ( i was almost disappointed )

www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Reflex-Foolproof-Method-Teaching/dp/0140280383/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347394608&sr=8-1

Phono-Graphix, is the teaching method. I cant recommend it highly enough. The games in the book are what the teacher was doing with dd

I could also read before i started school, despite being youngest in the year. I really really struggled with dds inability to read and was really upset by it

she still gets fed-up and tired quite quickly, but she can read

She said to me the other day though "mummy, im stupid" it was like a knife through my heart

this is why i think it is important not to push the reading

come back after you have spoken to SENCO, and let us know what they say..ask what they have in place to help dyslexic children learn to read. Its important that they have something in place. And if there isn't anything, ask what they are going to do to help your dd. You do NOT need a formal assessment to get help. How far behind is she now?

Did you see the programme that Tara Toignton (that actress from EastEnders/ Strictly) made about being dyslexic? You should find it on Youtube/ IPlayer...it is really insightful

go and be a squeaky wheel.
my dd2 was verbally very good but struggled to read,write and spell. I kind of accepted the brief assurances I had from school and was open minded as to her ability. I was an idiot.

I had her assessed by an educational psychologist at 11 who identified her dyslexia and the fact that she has practically no short term memory ( so 5 years of her memorising tables wasted then!). What i didnt realise what that having finally got a diagnosis, the school couldnt give a hoot. The fact that she had a reading age of 8 was "in the normal range". Incidentally, she had some areas, such as cognitive reasoning where she was assessed at more than 16 years of age. If she had been picked up at Lower School, she could have had early intervention and things would have been easier. She also wouldnt have decided that she was stupid and labelled herself in this way.

GO AND MAKE A BIG OLD NOISY FUSS