Dd4 getting work wrong at school

[MelThomas1]

Hi,

Just wanted to know if anyone has been in a situation where their child can do the work at home but isn't doing it at school.

My daughter is 4 years old and she's been struggling with her phonics. She's in the higher ability group but the teacher said she isn't keeping up with the pace of the group. She has a spelling test twice a week with two different lots of spellings. She's been getting 1 or 2 or 0. But we haven't been practicing, tbh, as reading and other homework takes up enough time. But the teacher says she's getting simple spellings wrong like black, crab, train, etc. But at home she writes these words in a sentence with me just emphasising the letter that she can't hear, c-r-ab, b-l-ack.... She's writing amazing sentences at home using her phonics knowledge. But at school the teacher says she's not hearing the sounds and I've told them she has glue ear and is under a consultant for this, in the meantime she needs to lip read as well as hear.

What makes a child do the work at home but not in school? They keep saying they can't help her more. They've already put her next to the teacher and she's still getting the words wrong! I've uploaded photos on class dojo of the work she's done at home but they haven't said anything back.

What do I do?!

My dd says she doesn't want to make her teacher sad because her teacher gets sad if she gets her words wrong and she has a panic in the morning saying we didn't practice our words enough. And I have to tell her that it's okay to make mistakes and nobody should be getting sad by you getting your words wrong. We learn through mistakes.

I feel so sad for her. She's a capable girl and I know she has trouble with distinguishing between th and f and if a w word begins with wh or w and she will ask me to repeat again but aside from that I don't see the problems at home that they're mentioning.

As others have said, your 4 year old should not be feeling this pressure. Definitely raise it.

She's 4 for God's sake!! Leave her be, let her drift, let her be a child.

This sounds like a bad school. Not only are they pushing the children too young but they are putting them in the wrong groups, as your DD clearly is.

Your job in this situation is to provide some balance in her life and make no comments whatsoever on school work - read to her, play with her, jump in puddles with her - absolutely anything but reinforce this factory farming approach to education.

Keep on at the doctors. She might just need grommets, or further hearing assessment to check it is glue ear and that she isn't hearing impaired and needing aids.

I'd also speak to the SENCO and make them aware she's having difficulties hearing in class. There will be special arrangements further up the school if she still can't hear the sounds by then. For exams she would so any spelling/oral/listening tests 1:1 facing the teacher so she could lipread, or have other access arrangements.

You could also ask the teacher to put the word in a sentence, like they would do further up the school.

Example - write black, black. The cat was black and white.

That way she will eventually be able to work out the word is black, and not back or pack, and therefore hopefully she can learn to say it to herself in her head and break it down into all the sounds she would have to say. That only works if she can definitely say all the sounds in the word and she knows the word though.

I'm hearing impaired and luckily we did whole word flashcards when I was at school. I never would have learnt through phonics as I simply can't hear the phonemes well enough. Until I learnt to read my speech was far worse as I couldn't hear or say the sounds I was missing. I guess I worked out the phonics code myself to learn to turn written words into good clear speech.

I teach now myself and I've learnt to say and lipread all the phonemes. I can teach phonics fine now. I still can't hear all the phonemes though.

I'd keep reading with her as much as possible at home. Also turning captions on if she's watching anything on a screen. The sooner she is confidently reading and writing, the less time she'll hopefully be in phonics sets before moving into writing/English sets in year 1 or 2.

Phonics works for most children. However, if she can't hear the sounds in words, she isn't going to be able to use phonics to write them (though I often find myself having arguments with other staff about that point!).

This is also absolutely normal with regards to the level of spelling they are expecting. Worth looking up the reception phonics expectations. It is unusual though to give these words as a spelling list to be tested on

The school sounds really odd. I was a reception teacher and still do occasional supply in reception. It's not normal to have spelling tests in reception. Some schools with overly 'ambitious' (aka clueless) head teachers may have introduced it but it's developmentally inappropriate so I would either a) ignore them entirely and encourage my child not to worry about them b) move school.

What are we doing to our 4 year olds to be putting them in sets for phonics?! The teacher is probably under pressure if you're in England because of the phonics tests in year 1. The teacher shouldn't be telling the children she is sad about their results or that she thinks they aren't practising enough.
I suspect your daughter isn't able to hear the sounds as well at school because she's not sitting opposite her teacher and so can't lip read to compensate for her glue ear hearing problems. The school environment is also noisier than at home. It may also be because the teacher isn't emphasising sounds like you are. Or they have a different accent! All sorts of possibilities. I'd put my money on seating position not being good for lip reading though.

I would honestly question the school about spelling tests in foundation stage. It really isn't age appropriate. I'm wondering if OP's DD's school is private, as this would be very unusual at a state school.

My dh wants to move school as their sats results were the worst in the area for the last few years and there's behavioural issues in the school. My concern is, will she be able to make friends in a new setting and get comfortable with staff given her speech/hearing impediment at the moment. She'll be getting grommets in 5 to 6 months time.

Ds had bad glue ear. After one of his grommet operations he came out of school really excited to tell me that did I know sh and ch were different sounds. He'd honestly not heard the difference before.

Dear God what am I reading.. she is four!!!! This is completely mad. Def not in keeping with eyfs ethos and no phonics scheme should be testing reception on spellings in a formal way like this. She is under far too much pressure for a young child..definitely speak to the HT.

@RamblingFar I fully agree that if you can't hear the sounds, you can't use that to spell them, and I'm surprised anyone would disagree with that. But the approaches you re talking about do involve phonics, surely, but in a less direct way, because you have to work out the code for yourself. Many children can work out the code for themselves, and then use that phonics knowledge to read new words, which is how whole word instruction produced many good readers. But many children also can't, and they need to be taught it explicitly, which is why phonics is now the method of choice, I think? It must be difficult to be a hearing impaired child who isn't able to work out the code.

Move her! If they are really doing spelling tests for 4 year olds, have behavioural issues and the worst SATs results in the area why is it even a question? A 4 year old will make new friends

I agree

And setting kids age 4 as well.
Is this the UK it all sounds far too much for a 4 year old.

Glue ear has she had a hearing test? My sons hearing is lower in one ear and definitely affecting his ability to focus in the classroom as with all the background noise.

The pressure will affect her confidence and ability to focus also. I would be raising this with HT.

Also with glue ear or any hearing concern these are some top tips that I use (secondary teacher with a specialist HI department). https://www.devon.gov.uk/support-schools-settings/send/areas-of-need/sensory-and-or-physical/hearing-impairment/glue-ear/

Absolutely move school!! The staff at this school don't sound great. And she'll be fine making friends

Move to a different school. Sorted.

I don’t believe a word of this thread. A reception teacher setting spelling tests!!! Ha, ha, ha.They haven’t got time to sneeze. Must try harder at trying to make posts up op.

To be honest the school sound awful. They will put her off at that age.

My DD is pretty good on her phonics and the school does well, spelling tests don't happen in reception. Homework doesn't either. Just reading books. Sometimes things like a colouring sheet or something to practise cutting comes home but its optional and not to be sent back in

Yes, I don't disagree with teaching it.

However teachers are meant to teach phonics and only phonics.

If I had my way, I'd reintroduce mixed methods. Probably only to the students with SEN that required them. But I've seen too many kids languishing in phonics/intervention sets, being pulled from general English/spelling lessons, until they are aged 7/8/9/10 until they can pass the schools phonics assessments. At some point (and I'd argue with hearing impaired children it should be sooner rather than later), they should switch from purely just phonics. There is a very small number of children that phonics only helps up to a point.

The OP has pointed out the child can write the word correctly when she knows the sounds to write. Children need to know all the phonemes. However, just knowing them all is pointless for getting good marks in phonics assessments if you can't hear them all to use them in your spelling or writing.

OMG, she's not struggling - she's 4 years old! Spelling tests and homework that sounds like it takes more than a few minutes.....sod that, how utterly ridiculous! What kind of school does she go to?!

My 4 year old is still at nursery and can't read yet .....I'm not even remotely concerned! If she felt that she made her teacher sad due to getting a word wrong I'd be taking her out of the school. She's 4!! Let her be little and don't succumb to the pressure. It really doesn't matter how she's doing academically in reception, but her happiness IS so important.

I moved school at the end of my reception year, as my family were moving house. I made new friends within the day and still friends with one of the girl from that time 30 years on, kids that young make friends quick- I wouldn’t worry

She's 4 , she'll find her path in her own time.
School put far too much pressure on very young children .

I would move schools to be honest, they don’t sound like they’ve got much of a clue! (Teacher here and phonics lead)

@RamblingFarI so agree with you! It infuriated me that the most recent reading guidance stated that all children in a mainstream school will be able to read using phonics. There really needs to be a bit of wiggle room for us to try other ideas and use our professional judgement.

It's not surprising how bad they are doing with how dreadful they are.

She will be so much happier in a decent school. I'd definitely move her.