WHY is my dd so far behind her peers in reading?

[Enid]

She is in year 1. She has just finished ort stage 4, but tbh, she doesnt seem to have any grasp of the words that she read in ORT. She is on a new set of books now (jelly and bean) and we have just plodded through it - she needs help with every second word. If I tell her that says 'swims' and then 'swims' appears on the next page, she won't get it. She doesnt sound out words either.

Of course I feel worse about it as she has a friend home who read her book beautifully and fluently. All five of the other girls in the class can read very well and fluently.

The school is notoriously bad at communicating with parents - I want to ask them WHY is she so far behind, but will they just say, because thats the way she is and stop being such a pushy mum??

Sounds as if that was very helpful, glad it worked out well.

Do you think she reads better for others than she does for you? Maybe putting more effort in for them?

soupy yes very probably

and it doesnt help that she is knackered after school

actually dd1 said something quite strange tonight.

I complimented her on her excellent reading and she said 'well I tried to do my best because you were all making a fuss over me'

didnt really understand that?

Hmmm. Reading this has made me think! My dd is 5.5 and has trouble reading. Again, if I tell her a word and that word comes up again on the next sentence she will struggle with it. Also she does sometimes do mirror writing. Is this ok? Or should I be worried?

well apart from the mirror writing she sounds similar to dd1 so you can read my replies

what do the school think?

Yeah I did, and it's because of some of the responses that I got worried!

She's in a French school so 'sounding out' words is difficult as obviously they have a different alphabet over here. But her mirror writing has been happening for a while, most of the time she writes ok, but sometimes she'll write backwards. She still has great trouble distinguishing between b, d and p. I despair as it seems that there are still quite a few alphabet letters that she struggles with, never mind reading!

We have a Ladybird 'Read with me' book, but have never got further than Page 5. I go back to Page 1 to try to make sure that she remembers her words, but she doesn't!

i'm surprised that being on ORT level 4 is seen as behind at this stage. my dd1 is in yr1 and on level 3, she's seen as above average (just about) in her class, in a school which gets very good results. her friends in other schools are all between levels 1-4 of the ORT scheme.

it must be doubly difficult for her being bilingual

dd1 asks me to spell words and she still asks for confirmation when i say b, p or d ("is it the one that goes like this?")

dd1s teacher was absolutely sure it was 'blends' that she wasn't grasping (ch, sn, th, pr, br, pl etc)

fennel, IMO you can read lev 4 ORT and still not have a true grasp of reading - dd1 is a case in point. She learnt to read the word 'mosque' at ORT stage 4 but cant manage 'grass', 'glass' etc. It wasnt until she came out of level 4 that we could see actually she really didnt have the tools to read properly

Here in France they don't start reading until much later on. Right now they are doing joined up handwriting. I think I prefer it as the children are still having fun, there is no pressure on them to be as good as so-and-so, there are no comparisons. I would not have even considered dd's reading skills if I hadn't read this thread. I'm trying to make sure that she keeps up with her English too, so I try to get her to read at home. I just hope that when we return, she isn't put down a class because she spent 2 years in a French school!

my lord!

dd1 would love love love to learn to do joined up handwriting

she begs me to teach her

she'd clearly be much happier in a French school

Enid, yes I know what you mean.

actually at home dd1 reads the ORT level 5 "magic key" books with enthusiasm (and understanding). which is partly why I'm not too bothered about her school progress, she seems ok to me.

but maybe you have a small class that's not representative, or something, if you say there are only 6 girls in the class.

Well that's it Enid! You'll have to move to France now!

it is tiny fennel and really not representative. there are only 16 in the class and thats reception and year 1 mixed! (some of year one also in year 2)

I have heard that ORT really comes into its own at stage 5

dont tempt me rhuby

My DP struggled with his reading untill about age 8. He is probably one of the most clever people I know. OK I know I'm not the most objctive judge. Interestingly because he got extra help with his reading he could still remember the tips he had learned and used these to help DS.

The sad thing is that I think it affeted his confidence and until recently didn't make full use of his intellect.

My ds is year 1 enid and doing joined up writing. It's a nightmare - I never learnt properly and it's my first experience of him learning something that I feel I can't help with - I just have no idea what joins where!

went to look for a book on joined up writing this morning but couldnt find one

bought a workbook about 'blends and digraphs' though. oh dd1 will be thrilled