My year one child is behind in her reading. Any suggestions

kezza1230987 · 2012-03-16T20:19:22+00:00

i am looking into private tuition for my daughter who is 2 levels behind in her reading. Ooh or bad?

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

mrz · 16/03/2012 20:34

Who says she's two levels behind?

UniS · 16/03/2012 20:48

2 levels behind what.... DS is in year one and the range of reading ability in his class seems to be about 8 bands ( red to free reader.)

madmum04 · 16/03/2012 21:42

What level is she on? Children can vary such a lot at this age, just remember it needs to be kept fun. My child is behind in her reading also yr one, she was only on stage 1+ pink band so they recently changed her to a different scheme to encourage her, its the jelly and bean scheme and she loves it, she gets so excited on her reading days as she knows she changes her book. I think if you just try reading things she likes and can manage and keep it all fun she will soon come on :) I dont feel there is any need to pay for a tutor as reading is something you can both enjoy for free :)

blabalalalablabla · 16/03/2012 21:47

she is in year one - no way should you be thinking about tutoring - that is absolutely crazy - sorry.

at this age just do regular short bursts of reading and ask her to help read when you're out and about - getting her to recognise words on street signs, supermarkets, shopping lists etc.

at this age they should be getting to know books and enjoying learning to read - not being hot housed into reading - when my dc were in year 1 their class ranged from those on basic word recognition to free readers.

Dustinthewind · 16/03/2012 22:03

Why do you think she can't read? Is it a lack of understanding how phonics work? inability to blend the sounds she knows into a word? Hatred of print in general? Have you had her eyes checked? What do her teachers and SENCO say is the problem? Does she like sharing stories when you read to her? Does she have any other additional needs? Is she an August birthday?
What do you think a tutor will do that you can't?
Need more info please.

readingwoman · 16/03/2012 22:15

There is no such thing as 2 levels behind for year 1?
Ask her teacher what level she is meant to be..? And ask exactly what is the problem?
Apart from that just keep enjoying books and stories together.
If there is a 'learning-to-read' book sent home, work on it together. Let her read / say what she can and you fill in the gaps. No pressure.

MigratingCoconuts · 17/03/2012 10:35

Don't bother with a tutor, she is where she is and if she is making progress then all is well.

You can continue to read with her and that is all you need to do at this stage and keep talking with the class teacher.

My DD is/was the same . Its frustrating but she will get there.

Newtothisstuff · 17/03/2012 14:26

My year one DD isn't even on level 1 yet.. I was told its probably 3 levels behind her peers but they arnt worried just yet.. She's only 5 so they arnt worrying

ivykaty44 · 17/03/2012 14:33

Just listened to a program on radio 4 about reading and how we push to hard to young in this country and it all back fires

Tgger · 17/03/2012 15:55

Yes, ivykaty44, I wonder when our country will catch up with this. I know there is no pressure, there is a wide range of levels to be expected in Reception and Year 1 etc etc, but once you start expecting children to read and teaching them there will be anxiety if they can't. We might have a lot of happier 4 and 5 year olds if we left reading until Year 2.

mrz · 17/03/2012 16:11

"but once you start expecting children to read and teaching them there will be anxiety if they can't."

Serious question why is there so much anxiety for today's parents? Teaching children to read isn't new but in the past parents didn't get themselves into a state perhaps it's because they have so much information about book bands and levels

Pleaseputyourshoeson · 17/03/2012 16:18

Or because the kids are being subjected to tests and assessments much younger than when we ever had to? The only exam I had to worry about as a kid was common entrance/ 11plus exam and then end of year exams in secondary school leading to O levels etc.

mrz · 17/03/2012 16:41

Didn't you know the only way to measure a pig is to keep weighing it

morethanpotatoprints · 17/03/2012 22:33

I wouldn't worry, seriously. I know it's easy to say when you are convinced theres something wrong. I was the same with ds1 and dd1. I am dyslexic and they were both seemingly behind, I was convinced they were going to be dyslexic as they struggled. By the end of ks1 both were level 3 and top of the class after being way behind others. (There are also 12 years between them, in case you thought twins). Ds2 reading really well from the start, reading age of 9 at 4.5 and probably still the same at 17.

CURIOUSMIND · 17/03/2012 22:44

If you do think you need a tutor, then I can recommend one, that's you! Well, all the children need parents to read with them,daily, regularly,happily.

allchildrenreading · 18/03/2012 00:27

Excellent advice from Dustinthewind:

'Why do you think she can't read? Is it a lack of understanding how phonics work? inability to blend the sounds she knows into a word? Hatred of print in general? Have you had her eyes checked? What do her teachers and SENCO say is the problem? Does she like sharing stories when you read to her?'

Tgger · 18/03/2012 21:09

Probably parents were more relaxed in the past due to it being a different world, and probably so were teachers?- there was more flexibility in letting some children wait until they were ready to start reading rather than starting them all at the same time in reception. In my son's reception class some children are not taking home reading books yet which seems fine to me, but perhaps some teachers are not brave enough to do this, NC et al?

learnandsay · 19/03/2012 11:39

mrz, I think you've hit the nail on the head, the more info you've got on book bands, levels, SATs, comparative international educational standards the more chance you've got of feeling that your child isn't getting on as well as the Jones'. Whereas if you're not told anything you've nothing to be concerned about. I think in the past there were moral panics about reading, like Flesch's 1955 bestseller Why Johnny Can't Read. We don't know how many parents bought the book, academics and educationalists could have bought enough copies to make it a bestseller. I don't know to what extent ordinary parents got caught up in reading panics in 1955. But also today's media all get caught up in the panics. Modern literacy announcements make headline news, so of course parents are going to become concerned.

goingtoofast · 19/03/2012 11:48

My dd2 was behind until year 2. At the end of y2 she had a huge leap and had a reading age over a year above her age. Since starting y3 there has been no real progression, she seems to plateau and then leap ahead very quickly before doing the same again. The best we can do to help is do as much reading as possible at home and keep it interesting.

I am finding it hard with dd2 as dd1 was very different. SHe learnt to read very quickly and age 8 had the reading age of a 13/14 year old. We didn't do anything different with the two girls they are just different people.

betterwhenthesunshines · 19/03/2012 12:38

what reading woman said. You shouldn't need a tutor in Yr 1. My daughter had a terrible time and a lot of that was frustration - both her and me . There was so much emphasis on phonics but I felt I didn't know all the rules so I couldn't 'teach' her. If she got to a word she couldn't do I would try to make her sound it out as I thought that would help.

I wish now I had just said the sounds for her whenever she needed it. It's much better now (Yr2) and if she gets to something unusual (eg. soared - but the 'oa' makes an 'aw' sound rather than the 'o' in goat. I still don't know why, but I can read it!) I just point and help her by breaking the sounds down clearly without over-complicated explanations

You could also try this way of borrowing books for some reading books that you know are an appropriate level. Not as extra reading practice, just some stories that you can look at and read together, knowing that she can read some of the words.

ivykaty44 · 19/03/2012 12:52

Serious question why is there so much anxiety for today's parents?

Because the government is worried that other countries are doing far better at educating their children, so they look at the results and see we are falling behind as a nation and think

Lets not copy the other nations that are doing well and use their education models - lets create are own model and see if that works, children at 3 learning academic work. This then rubs of on the media and parents

Shanghaidiva · 19/03/2012 12:54

I read with children in year one and there is a 6 band difference in levels in the class.

I would focus on whether she is making progress, rather than what level she is on.

gabid · 19/03/2012 13:09

A friend's DS didn't talk properly and neither did he read in YR or in Y1, very active boy and had to start school aged just 4 and a couple of days. His parents are very academic but not very concerned about behaviour or reading levels.

The teacher told them a year ago (in Y1) that their DS would never be a 'high fligher' . Now, in Y2 he seems to be progressing more and catching up, he is fitting in more and taking part in lessons - but what a thing to say to a parent!?

learnandsay · 19/03/2012 13:54

As long as teachers don't say that kind of thing to the children themselves then I suppose it can be tolerated. But life is full of examples of successful people who were told at school that they'd never amount to anything. (Well that's if one believes the stories one hears.) While there is an element of wanting to influence how one's child is received academically, for me it's not about how other people perceive, it's about how she relates to school work. I want my children to find school work relatively easy. If they're taught properly I don't see any reason why they shouldn't. I also don't want them to find school work dull or pointless. (I did find this especially true with maths.) I think it's unrealistic to expect all teachers in all schools to provide this sort of an education. So to me it's clear that parents need to bridge the gap. I'd have said the academics who allowed their son to attend school unprepared have done the wrong thing. I would not allow my children to go anywhere like that, especially not to school.

choucroutegarnie · 19/03/2012 14:12

I really would not worry, and certainly not hire a tutor at such a young age.

Our experience bears that out. Our DS was really struggling with reading in year 1 (last year).

We met a couple of retired teachers while on holiday, who totally reassured us on this. All they recommended was to read to him, stories he really loved, and stop pressurising him to perform. What comes before reading, they said, was the love of reading.

They were totally right. DS started year 2 slightly behind on the reading front but then he opened the first Harry Potter book, and was blown away. Six months on, he reads several chapters of book 3 every night. His vocabulary and spelling have also improved.

Patience really pays off. Where I come from (Belgium), we learn to write before we learn to read, and nothing formal starts before the age of 7....