I am worried DD is still really struggling to even recognise her letters..........

[stoppinattwo]

She couldnt read her reading book tonight at all, it was far too hard for her, but not iyswim.

She will be 6 in november and she is already so aware that she is struggling. I dont think she is dyslexic.there is no history of it (is it hereditary??) she just hasnt quite clicked. The reading doesnt make sense to her...........i know what the problem is but its hard to explain. It is remembering the sound that a letter makes and then why it changes like sh ch th etc, all the little tricks that the english language plays is really confusing her to the point she cant even trust herself to recognise a letter. We were reading about the hare ond the tortoise tonight. and hes kept saying the Hare and the Him........nothing like tortoise, she was completely guessing, didnt recognise that the word began with a T and so couldnt be Her.

I dont know what to do, I think I know what the problem is but i cant put it into words, My mind works in the same way as hers does so I can sort of see what is happening but at the same time I think i need to speak to the school and air my concerns. Her teacher is the SN coordintor and i would hope she would spot a problem if there was one, she keep saying Oh dont worry she will be fine, but my instinct is that it isnt ok and she will reach a point where there will be a lot of catchup to do. She moves into yr1 in september and the pace steps up from then on. I really am worried

my son is 6 in August and he can't read at all he still struggles to identify letters. He was kept down a term as he is so far behind. I know how you feel all of mine have been the same. but dont worry they all catch up by the age of 9ish. I just feel sad that he is struggling and wouldnt it be easier if he could just pick it up quickly like his friends all seem to have done.

I would be worried to, but if the teacher isn't worried that's a good sign. She might perform better at school. Maybe when she comes home she's just too tired to concentrate!

that is a thought cornsilk, her hand writing is brilliant( she copies words very well but doesnt have a clue what she is writing), very ledgible, which gives me confidence..............but it is even to the point where she confuses numbers and letters

I have written on her book card that i want to speak to her teacher at a convenient time just to set my mind at ease, and to establish at what point they would consider it to be a problem.

She is still in reception then, I think that an awful lot of reception kids struggle - my son did and now in year 1 has suddenly got it, what ever it is.

I used to do lots of reading books that he knew, missing out words and letting him fill them in from memory. That sort of thing helps confidence.

Well if her handwriting is brilliant that IS a good sign! One less thing for her to get to grips with.

Ecmo..........i shouldnt compare her to DS but i cant help it, He was reading b4 he started school. I just know that all of her class are able readers. I really can see what DD's problem is but cant explain it.............I tinhk it is this, Why should a T sound like a T for example and how am i supposed to remember that this is the sound a T makes?? then hang on youve just told me it sounds like a T but now your telling me is doesnt when you make TH................., how many more illogical rules are there. I know this is how her mind works.

Have you tried flash cards with letters on and pictures the other side? Maybe she's not 100% on the link between the sounds and shapes yet which is where her confusion is coming from.

Just a thought - was it a capital 'T'? Some children find capital letters very confusing as they don't look like the lower-case one.

oh yes hamster nad then there is that lovely rule about T and t how come they both sound the same but are completely different looking............I have tried flash cards with pictures, just 5 or so at a time, each time it is as if she has never seen them before!!

am usng T as an example btw its most letters he has the problem with

It sounds like she's having to take in a lot of conflicting information. If she's not secure on the single sounds then trying to decode the digraphs must be very confusing.

This might seem unnecessary now esp bearing in mind the last couple of posts but how about letting her play with one of those 'speaking alphabet' toys so she can make it tell her the sound? You might be able to borrow one from a toy library or a friend. It's easy to say but try not to project your anxiety onto your dd whatever happens. If her teacher isn't too worried, then take that as your lead.

I am inclined to go right back to the beginning with her..........and get her confidence with all the letters of the alphabet in small and then capital does anyone have any good sites or books that could recommend an approach. I was thinking through te summer holidays when there is no other influence (school) I could do a bit each day with DD just 10 - 15 minutes a couple of times throught the day and see if it helps

bookworm you are so right, she does get worried herself, I dont make a fuss at all in front of her. Goodness that would really switch her off, she really is a self conscious soul

whats a digraph BTW

Just to let you know, other European countries don't even start to teach reading and writing until the age of six, precisely because it is just too much for some children who are younger. These countries have very good academic results (eg. Belgium and Germany)

yeah belgo......someone else told me that too now you come to mention it, tis quite comforting to know

th sh ch ph wh are digraphs.

double letters that have a different sound when put together than their individual sounds.

e.g. 'th' can't be decoded as 'tuh' 'huh'.

My dd is in reception - because she was only 5 in June she's in her first term - they do a staggered intake. I hadn't done reading with her before she started, and she's done a half a term - but she's also going into year one in September, which puts her at a disadvantage to all but 4 others.

She can be a bit like this with her reading - but I've put it down to tiredness. When she's tired she randomly guesses without thinking - she'll sound like she's reading perfectly but she's blagging - then she'll get really cross and upset if she's getting it wrong.

For the first few weeks i felt like i needed to catch her up with the others so persevered, but now i realise that actually that sets her back as it damages her confidence. Now if we read, which we don't every night - we stop as soon as she gets cross and i read her a story instead or she goes to bed. I've noticed she's more inclined to read now, and less worried.

I think reception they're still very little, and tend to catch up later, there's no rush - by all means speak to the teacher, but if the teacher thinks there's no problem, then go back to basics, adn do games or songs about alphabet and get her confident with the sounds and put reading on hold for a while.

Hi Stoppin,
I just spoke to my mum re your dd. Mum has worked in a school for over 20 yrs now and i explained the situation. For the last 10 yrs mum has worked with the SN children and I asked her how she would deal with this. She said that in reception it is easy for a child to get labelled sn due to something the majority of kids do.....struggle. Mum also said The hare and the tortoise is a hard book for a reception class pupil to read so not to worry about that book for a start, She said get some post its or card and write various similar words down for example....where/wear, there/thier, hear/here.
then write the following words....

cat, Mat, Hat,
Car, far, tar
Know, No,
Hen, When, Then.

Stick all the words around the home with a number on them... a point system. For each "easy" word (example) dd will get 1 point, the harder the word the higher the score.

But don't tell her the words, help her sound them out. so write them twice on the card like this ....

C-A-T
CAT

so there is the sounding out and the actual word written together.

Hope this helps.

Completely agree with wheresthehamster, I think that her phonics is not yet secure. Going back to the beginning is a good idea, google Jolly Phonics - they have a good programme that starts with intial sounds and then go onto digraphs (two letters that make one sound, eg. ch, sh, ue, etc.) Also lots of recognising initial sounds of word and then when she has go that, the last sound of words, working with CVC's intially. I am sure if she is reading books that she is really struggling with it gives her confidence a knock. Keep it really simple until she finds it easy peasy and then stretch her.
(and try not to worry to much)

Thankyou theladyevenstar..........I love the idea of dotting words around the house, It is similar to my style od learning, (leanrt all of my history facts fron the bathroom wall ........I think that this is something that really would appeal to DD too, I may actually start off with sticking the name on what the thing is ie DOOR, MAT, TABLE etc, then when she gets the hang of that move the words around or label different things .

This book that the school gave her tonight was ridiculously tough, as soon as i opened it i knew it was not for her. DS would have loved it but I think it upest her, she tried her hardest bless her but we stopped in the end, and i read a different story to her.........

I shall look up Jolly Phonics too jennifersofia thankyou

Stoppin,

labelling things works wonders....guess i was a lucky mum who had loadsa time on my hands. I did this with ds from forever lol. When he was 5 I was happy because he read the Harry Potter books, (yr1 he is a july baby and is youngest in class). However my nephew when he was same age was struggling with various "simple" books.

Each child is different, I am sure when my baby is born I will find he too is different to DS.

Don't panic DD will get the hang of it and surprise you she will become a speed reader

DS was a natural reader too, he has a completely different learning style though and just accepts facts and remembers them she questions everything and ultimatley i suspect has a better understanding.............I and going to make labels tomorrow and stick them all around the house

Hello,

It sounds like there's peer pressure going on at school which is something the teacher may need to address. Your dd should not be experiencing this at such a young age.

The foundation stage goes on until year 2 now, so don't worry, year 1 will not be so different. The principle of the foundation stage is learning through play. There should be different ability groups in the class - sometimes these cause trouble, but children soon get used to them as they move up and down between groups over the years.

If you do anything at home, try to make a game of it. I would not recommend making your child do anything at home she doesn't enjoy. Remember that she's at school for 6.5 hours a day, they will manage in that time to teach her to read! Give her a break when she comes home.

The surprising thing about watching your child learn to read is that it seems as though your child's getting nowhere for years, then suddenly, over a few months, it all falls into place and they're off. Look forward to this time, and it will come, and enjoy your daughter's interest in the learning process.