Hello
I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience in having their Y1 child tutored.
Just to give a bit of background I have a spring born DS in Y1. So far this has not been a great year for him and at his last parents evening the teacher was pretty much overwhelmingly negative. He was put in a low ability set from the start and I feel the teacher has generally marked his card as a slow learner and so doesn't really expect much of him. Progress has been really slow and the school don't seem particularly bothered. We worked so hard on his reading over xmas but when assessed at the start of this term he was still kept on the same level.
I do do work with him at home - usually 10 mins reading every day, times tables in bath each night and about 20 mins of some workbooks at the weekend and doing his spellings for school. He did "teach your monster to read" over the hols and of course we do the everyday learning in play, baking, crafts, visiting museums, going on walks and talking about nature etc. But there just seems to be very little progress.
Of course this is worrying in itself but what has been most upsetting is to see his loss of confidence. At the start of the year he was not too worried but as he has become more aware of the class he now comes home saying that he is not clever, that Bob is so much better at reading or Bill is really good at writing and he can't do it.
I have spoken to the teacher a number of times but it has been of no help she is very vague and doesn't seem to have any great hope for him! Also I know DS finds her quite unapproachable and is always a bit worried to ask her questions and so ends up not understanding things.
So I am thinking that if things haven't improved by Easter maybe a tutor would be a good idea. I am only thinking of 30-45 mins per week but it would be a chance for him to get 1-2-1 time and to ask any of the questions he doesn't get to ask in class. I feel this could really help him and most importantly build his confidence.
I am doing a lot myself but with a demanding toddler and a husband who is away a lot it is quite hard to find the time to do much serious 1-2-1 work and I also feel quite adrift with understanding the curriculum and what is expected of the children. Often I might think DS is doing well at something but when I speak to the teacher it is clear that it is not really enough to get the expected levels. I feel a tutor with knowledge of the curriculum will be able to help as I might be focusing on all the wrong things for all I know!
I know he is quite young but I don't think it is fair to put him through another couple of years of struggling with his progress and I worry that it could do long term damage to his confidence if we don't solve the issue now i.e. a case of " a stitch in time saves nine".
Has anyone used a tutor for this age group and have you seen a difference?
Sorry that was long!!