Any Welsh People That Can Help Me Understand How Far Behind My Daughter is Please?

[user1469032438]

My daughter goes to a Welsh medium primary school, I don't speak Welsh very well and I am trying to understand where my daughter is at vs where she should be at with regards to reading/writing in particular.

She is currently on the coeden ddarllen rhydychen books, cam 3. My googling is leading me to believe this is aimed at KS1 children but to me there is a big difference between a 4 year old reception child and a 7 year old year 2 child and I don't understand where on that scale she is.

For reference DD is 7 and in year 3 and school have referred her for a dyslexia assessment, they have also told me she is behind despite this not being mentioned at all during KS1 but not how far behind.

I feel like because my Welsh is poor and they don't do any English at all until now (KS2) I have not understood that she was ever struggling and now feel awful that I missed it.

I have added a picture of her current school reading book below in case it's helpful

That would be a year 1/2 book typically. ( Of course some MN will pop along and tell you their kid was on stage 3 books before Christmas in reception!)
So it is true she could be considered a little behind. There are lots of intensive reading programs available in English, so there must be some welsh medium ones,ask the school what they suggest and what work you can do with her at home.

It’s inevitable that some DC don’t flourish trying to learn two languages. Just look at MFL GCSE numbers in MFLs. I’m assuming you cannot move and don’t wish to but is your DD going to make good progress in her education if she’s not a natural at Welsh? Wales doesn’t have the best educational outcomes and are you sure you want Welsh more than you want English?

DS is now year 4 but last year the first book he brought home was Cam 4 'Rhys yn y ffair bleser' and he is being supported as likely having dyslexia. His English reading actually came along well in year 3 although still not what it should be and he gets letters the wrong way round etc and can't write much at all.

It is great that the school is on it and is looking at dyslexia, I had to fight hard for it at DS' school.

Is her spoken Welsh good? The benefits of bilingualism are great so don't worry about her being in a Welsh medium school.

Are the benefits great? Only if you live in Wales. The rest of the world looks at other MFLs being more important. It’s fine if your mission is to keep Welsh alive, but if dc struggle with two languages, learning is hard and their English is at risk of being less good.

For me the priority is the benefits to the brain @TizerorFizz such as better task switching and attention capacities and less cognitive decline in old age. Plus it being easier to pick up further languages in the future.

Wales is at the bottom of the table education wise and I wonder if the compulsory Welsh learning is why. It's great to be bilingual but not every child has the ability and it seems unfair to force the less able to do so.

The Welsh education system has a lot of improving to do but I don't see how it can be bilingualism causing the issue when over 50% of the world's population is bilingual/multilingual. It is the norm for humans and is the norm in countries with much better educational standards than Wales. I feel that the issues must lie elsewhere.

How lovely for your DD to have this opportunity to learn a second language! And what an advantage it will be socially and culturally not to mention academically. I work at a university and I recently had an interesting chat with a Welsh girl who has been to a Welsh medium school despite her parents not being Welsh and no Welsh being spoken at home (until she and her sisters learned it). In my ignorance I didn't know this was a widespread thing in Wales or I might have moved there pre-DC, lol.

And to all the posters suggesting some children may not have the ability or aptitude to pick up a second language this may be true if you start them at secondary school but to have immersion in a language from KS1 it will be a cinch. Just look at immigrant children who arrive with not a word of English.

Hope someone comes along who can answer your question OP.

I am in Wales but as a non Welsh speaker I chose to send my children to English medium schools for this very reason. It’s very difficult to support your child with welsh reading and writing when you don’t speak the language.

Personally, I would move her to English medium if that’s an option.

Hope you get clear results from the
Dyslexia assessment.
I have dyslexic kids who went through school in Wales but English medium. (They've been successful so it is possible to do well in Wales).

Anyway, I do know English speaking families who moved dyslexic children from Welsh to English medium. Reasons included wanting dyslexic child to learn in first language and parents being better placed to support them with school work.

They generally moved in ks2 and then had a headstart with Welsh lessons in secondary (up to gcse). Tough decision though. Depending where you live there might be better or worse choices in terms of good schools and travel times.

It's unlikely to be this. The lack of league tables, which means no one knows how well a school is doing and parents cannot make fully informed choices, is much more likely to be at fault. Basically a school can be failing in Wales for much longer than it would be allowed to be in other UK countries because it's harder to pick up.

League tables of schools make little difference in England as few parents get free choice. Parents can express a preference but they don’t get a choice when schools fill up from catchment. I certainly take the point that many people are bilingual around the world but some certainly cannot manage this. Thats obvious. Yes, it’s great for the brain, but again it’s a struggle for some brains. We are not all the same. If we were, we would all be maths geniuses!

My DD has a MFL degree.I am more than supportive of DC doing MFLs but some should not be forced if other needs are more pressing. It is pretty well recognised dyslexic DC might be better off concentrating on one language.