Worried about dd's 'english'... Should I worry?

[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. She is quite good at reading,writing and mental maths,etc.
One of her Yr1 targets was sorting and saying how much more/less is but took me ages to explain in different ways but she still doesn't get it. In her writing,she could write things like 'jumpt' instead of 'jumped'(not too bothered about this one though) but 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

Just read through again... Must have been distracted for some reason

Meant to say,I explained more/less to her today and it took me explaining in different ways before she understood what they meant.

I would not worry about it.

We moved from Germany to Geneva and our children have gone from speaking German/English to starting school in a French speaking school. In the two years they have become so proficient, it is really incredible.

She will pick up so much in the coming months. Mention it to the teacher on Parent's Evening, or if you get a chance beforehand. Tell them that if she does not seem to understand something, could they check that it is not a linguistic problem.

Merci beaucoup pour votre reponse MmeLindt. Cette situation me casse a la
tete(just practising my french).

Thanks very much. I will do that. I have been so worried about it because even at home I sometimes have to explain everyday concepts/instructons in different ways before she gets it.

Ha! Your French is better than mine, I am embarrassed how terrible mine is, even after almost 2 years. Geneva is not a good place to learn French.

Does she have problems understanding concepts in general?

Perhaps it is not a language problem but a developmental one. Not trying to scare you but if you take the language out of the equation it may be you see a different picture. I am thinking of perhaps a light dyspraxia. Not that I am in any way an expert, but it is something that I have read a bit about recently.

What country did you live in, if you don't mind me asking?

I would have a word with the teacher and ask her opinon.

It is okay! We are Africans and have been here just over a year.

I think it is only a linguistic one because once I explain the ones she finds difficult in quite lay terms,she grasps very well. I know it is just something some foreigners go through here. For example,we used 'cover' instead of 'lid' or ooops! can't remember more at the moment.

I think she is quite clever as her teachers say so plus she reads quite well and numeracy is okay. Just different ways of saying things here she finds hard sometimes and I do as well,I am afraid.

Sorry i haven't made much sense I am sure. I am quite tired. So sorry and thanks very much for your response again.
I will have a word with her teacher.

Yes, I'd have a word with the teacher then she knows to look out for it a bit. She won't find you over-protective. Maybe you could look for some material to do vocab building at home though which incidentally will also help with spelling and reading comprehension.

Would also encourage her to raise her hand and ask for clarification if she is unsure.

Hmmmm... Thank you. I will do that i.e. ask her to raise her hand.
Would you know of any material that could help vocab/sentence structure(???)?

I would search on amazon.com because they often have the facility for you to view sample pages of books, more so i find than on amazon.co.uk. I am not sure since I don't know your dd's level what would work for her. I'd google "grade 1 English" and see what comes up on amazon to get an idea for what is available.

I have always found the Home Education section here on MN very helpful when I've asked for recommendations for material, the Home Edders have always given me good advice. Maybe you could post there and ask for recommendations?

I will do. Thanks ever so much!!!

I cannot find the homeschooling forum Is it under Education? I have only just become active here,not that that is an excuse

I have found it!

I'm sorry Sammiez, I didn't see your question before!

That's okay ZZZenAgain,thanks. I found it in the end and posted on there but still no response :(
I have told my daughter about raising her hand so fingers crossed she'd be confident enough to do that.
I hope she gets better... If it was just a vocab problem, I wouldn't worry as much. I hope her Yr1 teacher is great

I'll have a look for your thread in a jiffy