When does not being able to read become a problem?

[bgegmum]

My daughter is 6. Half way through primary two. She still can't read. Can't even sound out words properly. (Sounded out mog from the word cup) she has been at the same level for around a year now with absolutely no improvement whatsoever. Every time I have spoken to a teacher about it I get "they all learn at their own pace. It will come" but surely working on the same thing for a year with no improvement is more than just "it'll come". Teacher thinks it's a confidence issue but I beg to differ. Should I leave her to it and hope she clicks soon? Should I push for extra support? (The school is wearing extremely thin with additional support so it's hard to get) what if next year when she's almost half was through primary school she still can't read? Am I overreacting?
There is numerous problems going on in the classroom. Mainly lack of authority, kids running about everywhere misbehaving, this "learning through play" is not working with this class as to them it's play time all the time, the kids made the teacher cry they are that bad, non of the mums get told if their child is being a "problem" even my one could be but I'd never know because they don't let me know. These are issues I am currently working through with the school as with other mums. Is this maybe the reason she's struggling so much?

I’d be pushing for support now. My daughters yr2 and we’ll above that. I also used to teach yr1&2 and I’d say that was where they start reading about reception level. I only had two kids on that in yr1 and they were both receiving additional support

Definitely push for support

I would advise to push for some support now, my daughter is starting to add expression to her reading now and needs help with a few words when reading and was advised at a recent parents evening she's about average, shes 6 and in Yr2, my son on the other hand is a year younger and a long long way behind! Can't see him being anywhere near where my daughter is in a years time, I agree to a certain extent what they are saying about they learn in their own way/time etc but it sounds like they have other issues and are not being very supportive, I would certainly be asking for extra support and read every evening even if just for 10 mins

My son has SEN so maybe different from your DD, however he is in mainstream at present. He couldn't read until he was in year 3 when the school abandoned using jolly phonics with him. His teacher set aside some time each day for one to one 'look and learn' method and suddenly everything clicked. Would the school consider not going down the phonics route with her?

Push for support. My DS was one of the slower ones in the class but he can read pretty well now age 6 and in Year 2. If there is no SEN involved then I think most children should be able to read by 6.

Push for support. Ask to see the SENCO and class teacher, and see what they have in place and what more they can do. I'd be concerned about the lack of progress especially.

At the same time, post in the Primary Education section here on MN and get some advice for what you can do at home. Can your Dd blend orally e.g. If you say a word by breaking it down into the sounds, can she understand what you mean? Try making it a game.

Yes I wouldn’t be happy with that at all and would be asking for some testing.

Usually lots of things click into place around the age of 6/7 so there can be a delay to diagnose or label children.

Has the school ruled out dyslexia?

What’s their handwriting and spelling like?

I'm a teacher and would be asking for a meeting to discuss your concerns, possibly with a more senior member of staff now. It could be that phonics doesn't suit your DD for whatever reason, how is she with common words (the, is, her, that kind of thing)? For some kids phonics doesn't click and a whole word approach is better. Guessing you're in Scotland by the mention of P2 so no SENCO abut possibly a support for learning teacher depending on the size of the school and the local authority.

Have a look at Dancing Bears by Sound Foundations. You would need to do some practice every day but it should really help.

Another who would push for support. Reading does click in my experience, but from what you describe she does sound quite far behind, don't be afraid of coming across pushy. Hopefully some teachers will be by soon with their experiences.

In much of Europe schools don’t start formally teaching reading and writing until children are 7 years old and there are generally no significant differences in literacy skills compared to children who start learning to read at 4/5 by the end of primary school age. So not having learnt to read by age 6 is not necessarily a disaster and doesn’t mean she won’t catch up, however if she has had a lot of teaching input but still isn’t making progress I would definitely ask for more support. It suggests the current teaching methods aren’t working and it might be there is a specific learning need which is being missed. I would definitely expect a teacher to be targeting intervention for a KS1 child who was struggling to grasp phonics.

School won't rule out dyslexia till she's older. Think a lot of the kids in the class are behind but not as far as my one. She got a phonetics reading book home today. This is different from other kids in the class so I'm assuming it's a lower one. Feel so guilty as I haven't been doing much with her this year as I've started studying myself full time and it's really demanding. Made up word cards tonight so we're going to try spending time every night doing it now. She can write her name as she has been doing for the past year. She can write letters but just nonsense no real words. She can copy words written but has no idea what it says. She was able to spell batman by talking but couldn't read it when I wrote it out. I was almost in tears tonight listening to how behind she actually is. Think being told it would come eventually made me just push it to the back of my mind

that is worrying. Are you reading with them every night? You can usually pick up where there issues are. Not improving for a year implies an issue. Maybe consider a check for dyslexia but definitely push for your DC to be assessed. My DS in in reception and is already sounding out and blending words and is working himself up the levels. Your DC should be doing the same.

It depends on her starting levels when she entered Reception class.
Her levels at the end of last year will be used to extend her. At the end of this term I would be asking about her progress and what her targets are and how often the school assesses the students progress.

Forget the other children ensure the teacher knows you are focused on your child and will be tracking her progress and asking questions.

If all the other parents do the same the school will realise they are accountable for progress and have a band of parents ready to question.

She’s really little still, so don’t beat yourself up about it. There is loads of time to make up the gap.

You can be proactive now. And start to up the input at home. Speak to the school and get a bit pushy. Don’t be afraid to hold them to account for the lack of progress.

I taught English as a second language in South Korea for 2 and a half years. My six year olds could read, and write their own sentences. As a native speaker child I read the hobbit for pleasure in year two. I was good at English, but by no means a child genius. You're right to be concerned if she cant read simple words at her age as a native speaker. Is moving schools a possibility? Getting her assessed for SEN. You're a good parent for being concerned.

In much of Europe schools don’t start formally teaching reading and writing until children are 7 years old and there are generally no significant differences in literacy skills compared to children who start learning to read at 4/5 by the end of primary school age

This is not really analogous though is it as the reason those children don’t start reading at that age is because they don’t start to be taught until later. what you would need to measure is ability two years plus after starting school and I’m sure it would be far higher than thecOP’s DD. I don’t think this should obfuscate the need for intervention now.

I would definitely soeak to the school - it sounds like this could be multi-factorial and the behaviour in class will not be helping. Is there any chance of a school move?

You need to go in and be 'that parent'. Lots of schools are stretched far beyond what they can cope with, and in my experience, rightly or wrongly, it is the parents who badger the management team the most who are listened to. I teach in Scotland and have had to encourage parents to do this - at least in my authority, management want to keep parents happy. Not the right approach sadly! There are lots of things which could be done - eg one-to-one 5 minute intervention strategies which take up relatively little time/resources but can have a big impact. Speak to the class teacher and arrange a meeting with them and the depute (or head depending on size of school) to discuss your concerns and what steps you can all take to move forward. Lots of luck.

Things you can do at home.

Notice sounds- get her to key into sounds like water rushing, doors opening and closing, flushing, all sorts of things.
StRt to notice initial sounds and make links that she understands so if she’s into Frozen for example you can say oh Anna, that’s an A sound like Apple a a a. Can you say a a a? Then write it in the air together. Have a mind storm and race around and find more a sounds. Make it fun. Get her to notice the sounds and link them to the letters.

Also you can do educational games with her at home. You make flashcards with simple words on them. For each flash card is a stepping stone and she has to jump on the right one to cross the river. So you say the word and if she gets it right she's safe, if not she gets eaten by the crocodile. Or musical circle. She walks on a circle of flashcards, stops with the music, then has to try to read the word. Bopping. Tell her to bop the words that start with a letter or share an ending 'ed/ing' with a bopping stick.

When children are learning to read, being listened to/reading together is so important. Really try to find at least 10 minutes every day to read with her, maybe at bedtime. My own 6 year old is a fluent reader, but I have nieces the same age, living abroad and not yet at school, who can’t read at all.

Snap :) what lovely ideas

Teach her yourself, using whatever method suits you both.
I taught DD to read using Dr Zeuss books. There are lots of rhyming words in them, so she used to point out to me what was the difference between, eg, pup and cup, or pup and put etc, and kind of worked things out herself from those beginnings.

micemouse