Worried about dd's 'english'... How can I help?

[Sammiez]

Hi,
We have not been in the UK for too long although we come from an Anglophone country. We speak english quite 'well' but sometimes have trouble understanding some things. I am concerned about my dd as she is moving up to Yr 1 and will do more structured work at school. On a Parents' Evening at her school,her teacher told me she cannot tell them how much more/less something is. I explained that she probably did not understand the vocabulary used. I know she still doesn't understand what 'less' means but after being reminded she is quick. She is quite good at reading,writing and mental maths,etc.
One of her Yr1 targets is sorting and saying how much more/less something is,3D shapes(can identify shapes but cannot explain the difference between shapes) Took me ages to explain 'how much more is this than that' in different ways before she got it.
Worried she might not understand what she is being taught/or told to do or instructions on test papers???

I fear because she speaks only English so is perceived to understand it quite well. None of her teachers picked it up;at least none of them told me this.

I am thinking of mentioning it to the Yr 1 teacher but don't want to appear overprotective so thinking of waiting till the first Parents Evening.

Would anyone know of any materials that could help or methods or what to do? Please...

bump

I would just talk to the school and remind them that she has not grown up in this country and although her accent makes her sound fluent they should treat her as if it was a second language, and be aware that she may have vocabulary problems.

I think she will pick things up fairly quickly - the most important thing you can do for her is teach her it is ok to ask if she doesn't understand something. Boosting her confidence to be able to do that will the most useful tool for all future learning.

By the way - I am not sure why this is in home ed - maybe you would get more response if it was in the general primary education section.

I would mention it to the Yr1 teacher. I wouldn't say that is appearing overprotective. Hopefully it will mean that the teacher will ensure your daughter understands everything as they go along. I will say don't worry too much about it - easier said than done I know. I helped out for six months when my son was in Yr1 and they spend a long time making sure everyone keeps up and going over things, explaining them in different ways so that it clicks with the children. That was my impression anyway. You could always buy a book that follows the National Curriculum for Yr1 (e.g. Letts) and work through it with your DD yourself so you know she understands each topic. I'm sure in time she'll naturally pick up the different vocabularly used. HTH.

I would definitely speak to the teacher; I don't think that's being overprotective at all. Maybe the school would be happy to let you know if there's something she seems to be struggling with, so you can go over it with her at home. That way, you're not ploughing her through tons of extra work on top of school, but are helping her with any specific difficulties in her comprehension.

If you want materials, I've found these workbooks very good for reinforcing English and Maths and have used them with both my home educated primary school child, and children I tutor with great success. They follow the national curriculum and cover it nicely without burdening the child with too much extra work. Age 5-6 is Year 1, regardless of whether your child is only just 5 or virtually 6..

Thanks so much everyone! Thanks! Feel more optimistic now. Thank you. I will definitely speak with her teacher when they start.