Tips on helping dc in bottom reading group

[rubyblue]

DS is YR and on the most basic level, he is in the bottom group for reading, despite loving having books read to him from an early age. We read every night, practise the words, use flashcards, read the Biff and Chip books which we bought for him. Should we be worried? His writing is top group weirdly.

Have spoken to teacher but she does not seem concerned but I am worried he is glowing to fall even further behind over the summer.

I don't know what else to do. Should we get a tutor? Or am I panicking (which I do)! I recognise that I am finding this hard as I hear mums in the playground talking about their children who are ten levels ahead!

Try looking at the Oxford owl website for free ebooks to read.

How many school books does he get a week?

Do you think there is a problem with his reading, ie can he blend correctly?

Definately don't get a tutor, he is still very young and it is all about loving books/stories too.

There is a fab set of usborne books where you read one page and the child reads the other (much shorter) page which is great for reading together.

If it was my son I'd make some reading books for him using A4 paper and a marker pen.

Try games with reading involved, make a snap/ pairs game with the words/sounds he is learning, join the library/visit library and choose books both for you to read to him but ones he might like to read to you
Over the summer lots of libraries do a reading challenge so he might enjoy joining in that and it may encourage him to read more books
Keep up to date with what they're learning about at school and get/borrow books on the subject or something he is interested in to encourage him
Don't worry where other children are - they're all different

Avoid discusding reading levels with other parents!

I think a key thing is the teacher isn't worried. I am sure she would tell you if she was. If his writing is good then it doesn't sound like there is a 'problem' as such.

I think games are the best way to go about it. you could do things like 'how many things can you think of with sh/ee/ck/ng etc in them?' you could make a bingo game for the sounds so you could draw pictures of certain things and then ask which one has oo in it. or the other way round write the sounds and ask which one book/cat or whatever has in it.

matching words, so again write the words out like a bingo game, then write them on individual cards and ask him to sound out the word then put it over the matching one.

I agree with the ebooks on the oxford owl website. also which sort of books do they send home with him? are they teaching him phonics but then sending home books which aren't easy to decode? if so then perhaps try the songbirds phonics ones on the oxford owl website or buy some if you can. all the words can be sounded out so this would back up being taught phonics. this might explain why he can write well (ie he knows his phonics/phonemes or whatever they are called) but the books they are giving him have too many so called key words in them for him to be able to read them confidently.

Yes, periwinckle's onto something there. What sort of problems are you having?

DS struggled with his reading in Yr1 but seems to have picked up a bit in Yr2. He reads his homework books and we try to stimulate his interest through reading him books he likes at bedtime such as Diary of a Wimpy kid, but he just isn't much of a reader. Oh and something he loves is that I have started putting a note in his lunch box each day for him to read - it's a pest trying to think what to write each time. He
loves Maths though.

I found out what reading level he was in because they named them after different animals, his was the Mouse group , as opposed to the Elephant or Tigers. Someone has to be in the bottom group, doesn't mean he will be forever, and if the teacher isn't worried then I wouldn't stress too much about it - library summer challenge sounds like a great idea. Definitely don't get a tutor he is only young.

Thank you so much for that oxford owl link.

Thanks so much, I am very reassured. He struggles with 'his' and 'am' ( thinks it is can) and he sounds out words. He can read basic Biff and Chip if pushed but he is so tired at the end of the day so we try and do it in the mornings. He does recognise random words on street signs and knows his phonics.

That's true peri, he chooses his own books which are too tricky (that's why I bought our own set) but I can ask the teacher to select with him.

Thanks for the heads up on not going down the tutor route. dH is dead against it too, I guess I was panicking. His teacher is not worried, very relaxed about it.

Thanks everyone, feeling much better now. Collective hugs! And yes, will avoid all competitive talk in playground!

it sounds like he is doing ok. The main thing is knowing the phonics and then it is all about applying them which if he can sound out words then he obviously 'gets' how to do that.

Is he able to just choose any book then rather than have a particular level?

and yes avoid listening to other parents. my daughter is a september birthday, there is a boy in her class 50 weeks younger than her. that will balance out in the next year or so but at the moment you would expect there to be a difference in what they can confidently do.

doing it in the morning is a good idea, we often do that - far more productive.

Very strange that's he's in the top group for writing and bottom for reading. That's highly unusual. But then, I find it strange that they're streaming like that in reception.

Isn't the whole thing unusual? He seems to be choosing his reading books without guidance too.

Practice, practice and practice. Get his eyes tested, ask school if there could be a visual tracking issue and have a look at this and see how you go.

Oh, and my DC was top set writing and bottom set reading - the visual tracking problem was messing up reading. Once that was sorted the reading stuff came on in leaps and bounds.

Our local library has loads of basic phonics books so it might be worth checking the library out too.

My DD (reception) is very good at reading & writing but finds numeracy hard so no DC is good at everything

Slight hijack but DD has similar issues and like Periwinkle several people in RL have said 'hey there's such a big difference btw Sept and Summer borns..'. DD is an october so this makes me feel much, much worse. I think kids are just different. In reception they are all still young - and on reading, numeracy etc vast majority will get there by Y2 - and probably not in the sets they are in in YR.

But in answer to your question, I'd say don't stress
and just find lots of different ways to practise in short bursts. DD loves alphablocks magazines and they have games on cbeebies website.

Slight hijack but DD has similar issues and like Periwinkle several people in RL have said 'hey there's such a big difference btw Sept and Summer borns..'. DD is an october so this makes me feel much, much worse. I think kids are just different. In reception they are all still young - and on reading, numeracy etc vast majority will get there by Y2 - and probably not in the sets they are in in YR.

But in answer to your question, I'd say don't stress
and just find lots of different ways to practise in short bursts. DD loves alphablocks magazines and they have games on cbeebies website.

stupid double posting phone!

screaming, agreed. My DC was the lowest in the class in YR, Y1 and early Y2 but was the first in Y3 to go on free readers. Now he is reading Harry Potter (just the first book) Not meaning to boast, just showing how much it can change.

Hi Rubyblue:

My October born DD1 was also a very slow starter and firmly stuck in bottom group/ second bottom group (which we think was just 2 large groups of lower ability readers) for ages. She really struggled with blending phonetic sounds.

Our solutions were:

Jolly phonics colouring books (available from large newsagents, amazon, book stores, etc...). Reinforces phonetic sounds - and you can make a point of searching them out as you read.

Oxford Owl: www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ - this wasn't around or I hadn't stumbled across it for struggling DD1 (shame really) but we used it fairly early on with DD2. Lots of really useful tips about reading. Lots of free on-line books.

Over the summer make a point of building reading into your schedule. We have 'reading time' each evening after bath. With DD1 at first it was only possible for her to identify High Frequency Words (you'll find various lists here: www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/englishA3c.htm) and sound out simple words c (K) - a (ah) - t (Tuh) = cat. But we just kept plugging away at it. Think of it as pennies in the bank.

Try finding out if your local library has a story morning/ afternoon session - when someone reads to the children. You can build this into your week - listen to a good story & check out a few books. It may mean juggling your schedule - but right now this is what your DC needs and it is only for the summer.

Don't be a snob about magazines for children related to favourite television shows - there's a lot of reading there - and it may help to have something they're really interested in and want to read.

Try and read to him as well. So maybe he reads to you for 10 minutes and then you pay him back by reading a chapter of a book he wants to read, but doesn't have the skills to yet. A really go idea whilst reading the book is to have them read a few words or an easy sentence here and there - then they're reading it too!

Finally - if your DC is aware (as my DD1 was) that they aren't very good and are starting to be a bit deflated about this whole learning to read lark - try and ensure they understand you believe they'll get there in the end - it's just going to take a bit of work.

Good luck and just keep telling yourself every little bit you do with your DS is pennies in the bank for learning to read! He will get there - he's got you in his corner!

HTH

RubyBlue: If you have an Ipad there are a couple of Apps that I found really useful for my son's reading. They really helped him along at the beginning. They are the Ladybird phonics app and Reading Raven app. My kids LOVE reading Raven. It is more like a game than the Ladybird one but both are really great. My son is in R as well and just moved up to green books in the RWI scheme (level 3, yellow book band) so he is not that far ahead of your son. I'm finding that he needs a lot of practice and is still not all that fluent when reading but I'm seeing continual progression. I try to get my son reading everyday. I have sets at home for extra practice too, I think it's great you are doing that. Strange your son can pick what books he wants!

Just to say that you aren't alone dd2 is yrR and really struggling with blending still on pink level. It's really really hard to not be worried (I find it especially difficult as I go in to listen to read so do know what other children are reading rather than playground gossip) but I also had this with dd1 and found she plateaued for ages and then suddenly it clicked and she took a massive jump. The big thing is to keep them motivated about books and reading - they may not be reading themselves but I've found with my two just reading to them keeps their love of books alive.
We've also been using the songbirds books at home and they're great. I've also just ordered a set of the read,write inc books from the book people for practice over the summer.

PastSellByDate: I love that way of thinking - pennies in the bank. It's what we are doing and I really believe it is working. Slowly but surely.

scrappydappydoo: I like the RWI books. We get them home from school and I would have bought them too if it wasn't the scheme the school uses. I agree the songbirds books are great.

A lot of people on here really don't like scheme books for home but for those of us with kids who aren't jumping levels and racing forward I really think the phonics bases scheme books are a good way to go. The kids can work on their reading at a level that is good for them and we can read better picture books or chapter books to help foster their love of books.