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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be disheartened at parents evening - Yr 1

83 replies

ScattySuze · 02/03/2017 23:39

Had PE yesterday and was told my daughter of 6 1/2 born in Septmeber so the oldest in the class is only just emerging YR 1 work
She is still struggling to read to the teacher yellow level books although reads this pretty well at home although concentration is lacking and scored 21/40 for the phonics practise test
Her maths is below average and she guesses rather than works it out
This has come as a bit of a shock as at the end of reception she was meeting all points and exceeding in 5!
Now I'm thinking maybe the reception teacher over estimated her capability.
The teacher even mentioned getting a tutor might be beneficial if she struggles to concentrate at home like she does in class.

OP posts:

ElvishArchdruid · 03/03/2017 10:56

My personal opinion has always been that education, is something that takes place both at home and school. So perhaps collar the teacher and ask if you can have a few copies of the work DC struggles with, then go through at home.

Usually by Juniors they have set maths & English homework. As tempting as it might be to really help, in order for marks to increase, basically doing it for her won't help. I'm guilty of doing this with English with DD.

You can get targeted books from Amazon cheap that follow the new crazy system. To be honest I consider myself highly educated and I have to use google, to ascertain what is being sought.

Don't be too disheartened, DC is still very young. We'd like our children to be able, I think working both at home and school helps. If I can be of any use, please drop me a PM, I'd love to help. I've offered my services to the home ed'ers and they didn't pick me up on it. I could create some friendly worksheets and email them over.

SaltyMyDear · 03/03/2017 12:18

An eye test doesn't check for convergence problems so it's perfectly possible to have a vision problem which makes reading hard for her which isn't picked up by the opticians.

She needs to do the convergence insufficiency survey: dyslexiagold.co.uk/Blog/ConvergenceInsufficiencySurvey

Convergence problems are really easy to fix. But you need to know she has a problem.....

WildBelle · 03/03/2017 12:30

My dd2 is 6.5 and sounds very much like yours. She is excellent at reading but according to the school is 'below average' in everything else (she is end of July baby so in year 2). I really couldn't give a fuck what they say. She can read pretty much anything, she is always working out sums in her head when we're out and about, her memory is incredible and she absorbs everything she learns at school, as well as remembering stuff from a long time ago. She really doesn't seem to me like a kid who is struggling in any way. She has ants in her pants and her concentration isn't great but I'm sure that will come. I agree with pp's that kids all develop at different rates and I know dd will 'catch up' with the ridiculous expectations of school at some point. At 6 they are subjected to enough learning all day at school, and then practising spellings and reading at home, that's enough IMO. I think she's far too young to start stressing that she's going to fail academically.

nat73 · 03/03/2017 12:38

We have 2 friends with children in Year 1 who are having tutoring! So I don't think its the end of the world at all.

As everyone says keep practising the reading, try to make it fun. If she's not interested in books try other stuff - comics, magazines, word searches etc?

DC1 does really well when we do work at home but I suspect is easily distracted at school and finds it more challenging to concentrate when there's lots going on.

Original poster

ScattySuze · 03/03/2017 12:41

I'll look into that eye test thanks

OP posts:

Aeroflotgirl · 03/03/2017 12:44

These skills are still developing, she is very young, reading is a skill that develops over years, my reading is much better than when it was 20 years ago, and writing to, it has certainly improved over the years. I think schools expect little ones to master it and be good straight away, reading, writing, maths are skills that take time to develop. Some will get it straight away, some will not. Ask the school why the sudden dip, especially when in R she was performing well. Ask them how they will support her with this at school, and what you can do to help her at home.

Original poster

ScattySuze · 03/03/2017 12:50

They put the dip down to the change of yr R to yr 1
I suspect the previous teacher didn't assess her properly what with the amount of time off sick therefore over estimated her capabilities

OP posts:

PoohBearsHole · 03/03/2017 12:53

I haven't read all the thread BUT I have this, except in yr 2 as my dc is 6.5 but August so at the same point as yours but with children nearly a year older! (really impacts confidence)

The HT discovered that phonics for my child weren't working and the reading books were off putting.

Classic example - why don't you want to read dc2, "the book is boring and doesn't have a story" to be fair who wants to read a jip the fucking purple monkey???????

Concentration can be a problem but hold in there. 6.5 is super young, also it could be that she doesn't gel with this current teacher. There was a big jump in scores from R to YR1 and then YR2 with all dc2's year.

Original poster

ScattySuze · 03/03/2017 13:02

She loves this teacher although I suspect she feels very comfortable with her which unfortunately doesn't always work well for her as she can take a mile if given an inch if she thinks she can which is a shame

OP posts:

Originalfoogirl · 03/03/2017 13:07

At 6 and a half, our girl was just finishing her first year at primary school - we start a year later here.

If her teacher had said she was struggling at that age, I wouldn't have worried. Its so young and the most important thing is, whether she engages in the education progress.

Do not get her a tutor. That's ridiculous at her age. If she is struggling at all, the school should be offering her plenty of help.

Look at the things she is struggling with and keep them up at home. If she is reading well at home, that's fine. Go to the library together and find some books she loves. Use every day things to work out her maths issues. Pairing socks = 2 times table, that sort of thing.

Relax, it will happen.

user1487519954 · 03/03/2017 13:10

I used to tutor and the youngest I ever had was 8, which was really just keeping practising maths and reading over the summer holidays. I'd say 6 was a little young.
But on the other hand in my experience - the more behind a child gets the worse they feel about it, which has a knock-on effect, so it can be better to sort it out before it spirals downwards! Sometimes tutoring is less about teaching the material and more about teaching learning techniques and confidence.

RedAndYellowPeppers · 03/03/2017 13:10

Dc2 was the same.
The best way forward IMO is work with the teacher. If her teacher is good (enough) she will be happy to give you some work to do with your dd at home, based on what she knows your dd is struggling with.
So it could be working on the different phonics and recognising them, learning number bonds etc...
I had also looked at games designed for children who are dyslexics etc... which helped a lot (not that dc2 was dyslexic, it's just that the approach worked well iyswim)
Then daily work is your friend. We did some work everyday for about 10~15mins
Each time I found something that dc2 was struggling with and we couldn't quite address at home, I told the teacher who worked on it at school. Every time we had finished xxx, I told the teacher so she could assess dc2 and give us more work.
Plus of course the normal work that dc2 had to do anyway.

I have to say, I would look at that now. Yes yur dd might well just be struggling a bit this year but moving from being ahead to being behaving is an issue. It means that she hasn't progressed at all this year. She might even have gone back a bit (assuming the evaluation last year was right). The only way to move on from that is work at home with her.

Btw, dc2 is now in secondary and is doing very well in English....

IAdoreEfteling · 03/03/2017 13:15

Only read page one. I agree learning is not linear at all. Esp at this age.

One summer I found some flash cards super cheap in charity shop and picked them up, they gave dd an enormous boost, really it was incredible! Nothing wrong with her eye sight at all but she really liked the whole format of them, the quickness - rather than trudging through book.

I would not worry I would do as much as you can to make sure she doesn't fall behind, there are great fairy maths and English books on amazon, like magazines etc she might like - magazines have lots of good stuff in them generally to support curriculum. My dd took a while for everything to click, we never pushed, fought or anything - we kept at her pace and just did what little I could without making it a chore as described above. She is now in top sets and doing very well. Dont worry!

Itscurtainsforyou · 03/03/2017 14:25

Op I wrote a very similar post after our last parents evening. We went from 12/17 "exceeding expectations" in reception to "he tries his best" in year 1.

We were a bit shocked but made another appointment to discuss with the teacher once it'd sunk in. She said that there's a huge gap between y1 and yr in terms of what is expected of them and gave us some pointers on what we could help him focus on (writing wasn't great for him) at home.

You've had some good advice on here, we've also used a few apps to improve his spelling, encouraged him to do puzzle books, used some read&listen books and audio books to encourage his love of stories.

I think you can only do so much, I'm sure it will click for her eventually given time/the right learning angle.

Good luck

Original poster

ScattySuze · 04/03/2017 12:29

I did contact a tutor after PE who has said year 1 is her most common group to offer tuition for as if they're behind throughout year 1/2 SATS then become an issue as she might not be able to read the paper 😁

OP posts:

HPandBaconSandwiches · 04/03/2017 12:49

Agree that all children are different.

But if you want a bit of extra help and aren't averse to an iPad, the Reading Eggs programme that LiveLife mentioned is superb. You can do a free trial to see if it'll suit her. Both my DC love it. Bite size games and letter recognition which takes them from zero reading skills up to critical appraisal.

I do think it's outrageous the teacher has suggested a tutor but is unwilling to give her extra help now. Why shouldn't she have the extra tuition from the group for those struggling.

Do get her sight (including colour sight) and hearing checked though. Easy to miss these.

BlondeBecky1983 · 04/03/2017 13:25

The reading level of the year 2 SAT paper (paper 2 in particular) requires stamina and fluency in order to complete it. It's a challenge for the stronger readers so I can understand the teacher's concerns. For those saying we put too much pressure on children of this age etc. that's probably true but it's a fact of the education we are in so not really helpful. Ask the teacher for the digraphs/trigraphs she doesn't know or do a little assessment yourself and try and do loads of work on them.

BlondeBecky1983 · 04/03/2017 13:25

education system I meant to write

Original poster

ScattySuze · 04/03/2017 19:18

I will take her to get her eyes tested again, and will book a hearing test at the GP too thanks

OP posts:

SaltyMyDear · 05/03/2017 06:47

Scatty - an eye test at the opticians does not check for convergence problems, which is the problem it sounds like she's got (being able to read single words easier than books)

So an eye test won't tell you what you want to know.

Original poster

ScattySuze · 05/03/2017 07:47

Where does check that then?

OP posts:

Youallpissmeoff · 05/03/2017 08:07

Don't get a tutor. She is too young and the school need to work out what the issue is, not get you to employ someone to put a sticking plaster on.

OpalFruitsMarathonsandSpira · 05/03/2017 15:22

I did contact a tutor after PE who has said year 1 is her most common group to offer tuition for

This is a disgrace. God help our next generation of nervous wrecks.

Original poster

ScattySuze · 05/03/2017 22:56

I know, I was saddened by it

OP posts:

IadoreEfteling · 05/03/2017 23:05

Yes and no it's a disgrace, I am one of the ones who did fall behind (not reading) but everything else. I was moved into new school but have huge gaps in my knowledge I wish I had been given a tutor. Pp said it can be vicious circle to fall behind.

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