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Primary education

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Original poster

Please reassure me that my slow-to-read Reception child will catch up....

47 replies

NormaSnorks · 22/06/2007 10:51

DS2 is still 4 (August baby).

It's nearly the end of Reception, and he is still struggling with reading. Against national average he is OK (ORT level 3) but compared to his class mates he is at the very bottom.

I am struggling so much with this. We do reading every day. We have all the key words on a board and try to play games with them.
But he just doesn't seem to 'get it' really.

We can read a sentence with a word like 'down' in - he'll struggle, we'll sound it out, say, it, repeat it, read the sentence again etc. And then if it's on the next page again he doesn't recognise it!

My eldest son was such a fluent reader at the same age - we didn't ever really need to 'teach' him.

Will DS2 ever catch up?
Will he be left behind forever?

Should I be doing anything else to help?

I need reassuring stories and noises here please...

OP posts:
colditz · 22/06/2007 10:54

I read at 3

My brother read at 8

I don't read any better than he does now.

VeryBigCake · 22/06/2007 10:54

dd1 wasnt even on ORT stage 3 till year 1.

she is now at the end of year 2 and has just skipped several levels as something has just 'clicked' in the last few weeks. i did a similar thing when i was 8, could barely readm, then one day, it just clicked into place and i turned into a bookworm.

singersgirl · 22/06/2007 10:55

Yes, he will catch up, and, no, you don't need to worry. He is still very young. Lots of children aren't really reading at the end of reception.

If you are worried and would like to help him over the summer, I always recommend buying the Jolly Phonics manual and teaching him the 44 main sound combinations. Schemes like ORT which rely in the early stages on whole word recognition are not great for many children, particularly those who haven't got a good visual memory. Building up words is slower at first but much better in the long run.

There will be lots of people posting with reassuring stories, too, I'm sure.

foxinsocks · 22/06/2007 10:55

oh he's only 4

how many in the year? do you not have a big group of children because I would have thought that this was not unusual.

It will come. If there are no other concerns about his development, then I really wouldn't worry.

robinpud · 22/06/2007 10:56

He's so young Norma! Every child is different and walks and talks at different stages. I have taught lots of year 1 classes where the August birthdays only started school in May and so have 13 weeks of reception. Many of them start year 1 on stage 3 and are on stage 11 plus by the end. chances are your ds hasn't really clicked yet; it doesn't mean he won't. Keep up what you are doing as long as it isn't torture and wait and see how he fares in year 1. no reason to panic at all. Keep sharing books, doing jigsaws, playing memory games etc anything that he and you enjoy.

TheApprentice · 22/06/2007 10:57

Please, please , please don't worry. I taught reception for many years and ORT stage 3 was about average for this stage in the year. So, considering how young your ds is, he's doing very well.

Lots of kids don't start to "click" with their reading till Yr 1 or even later.

frances5 · 22/06/2007 10:58

What kind of school are you sending him to if he is bottom of the class and ORT level 3? Prehaps the problem is with the school rather than your child. ORT level 3 for an August child is very respectable. In fact its respectable for any reception child.

fgs he is still four and has plenty of time.

If you are worried about his reading then I suggest you concentrate on phonics rather than learning key words. Most of the key words are completely and utterly decodable. The Jolly Phonics Hand book is very good if you want to do work on reading over the holidays.

TinyGang · 22/06/2007 11:08

Far too much pressure to be reading so young. He will catch up.

My dt's are in Reception and are not fluent readers by any means.

I personally see reception as a year to get used to being at school and introduced gently to learning. Imo they are given too much to read atm and whilst we do read with them, I do not push it hard at them although I think the school expects us to.

I wasn't so laid back with dd1, but pushing her harder made no difference in the long run.

By yr2 she could read well but not for enjoyment - it was all still a bit of a struggle.

She is now at the end of yr3 and the biggest bookworm ever. I have to tell her to stop some evenings so she can get some sleep and she spends much of her pocket money these days on books.

Original poster
NormaSnorks · 22/06/2007 11:08

He's at the local state primary - 30 in the class, so they must just be good readers in that class!

They learn with jolly Phonics and ORT, so we do have JP materials. Perhaps I'll just use the summmer to reinforce those, as they covered ALL the JP sounds in the first term, and I think perhaps the younger ones just didn't really understand it all? (Although apparently they do keep reinforcing it.)

OP posts:
christywhisty · 22/06/2007 11:21

DS caught up the fluent reception readers when he was 7 in year 2. DS does have dyslexic traits but it mainly effects his spelling.
But we used to really struggle with his words he was supposed to learn, thankfully they also did jolly phonics with him as well which was more suited to his style of learning.
When he got Yr 2 he finally "got it" and flew through the reading books and as I said caught up the children

He is in year 6 now and in the top groups for everything.

DD was like your DS1 and taught herself to read.

singersgirl · 22/06/2007 11:26

Make sure if they 'did' Jolly Phonics that they taught all the digraphs (eg 'ai', 'ow' etc). At my DSs' school they used Jolly Phonics to teach the 'alphabet' sounds, but didn't use it as it was meant to be used. If your son knows that 'ow' usually represents either the OU sound as in 'down' or the OA sound as in 'snow' he would have a much better chance of working out 'down'.

Apologies if they have done all the sound-symbol correspondences, but at our school they say they 'do' Jolly Phonics, and they don't really.

Anchovy · 22/06/2007 11:26

DS is in reception at a smallish private school (so obviously they are all much more intellligent ). About 20 per class, plus full time teaching assistant so they are all heard to read 3-5 times per week (they have a reading book which is filled in with a few comments for each book they read).

DS (October) is reading ok - not brilliantly, not with verve and enthusiasm, but OK (workmanlike would be best description). But according to him (fairly reliable narrator) there are some children who still have books with one word per page, and I know for a fact that one child (July birthday) is really barely reading. She is absolutely as bright as a button in all other respects, just hasn't "got it" yet. Teacher and parents are unconcerned.

The range at that age honestly seems to be immense - if there are no other concerns I would honestly relax.

Enid · 22/06/2007 11:27

dd1 didn't get it for reception and year one!

she is 7.5 now and in year 2 and has finally 'got it' in the last few months

she isnt up with her peers yet (her friend reads 'proper books' ie narnia etc) but she reads packaging and short illustrated stories AND she is a million times more confident than she was.

I have to admit she has had a private tutor for a year though.

Porpoise · 22/06/2007 11:37

Don't worry, Norma.
Huge variations in reading levels are very common in recpetion, year 1 and much of year 2.
But, IME, by year 3, they are all pretty much of a muchness (if you exclude those with severe learning difficulties).
Also, it seems to me that some of the very early readers have become a bit jaded by year 3. Their early enthusiasm and pride at being the 'best' gets a bit diluted when everyone else catches up.
Sometimes it's easier to be the tortoise than the hare!

goingfor3 · 22/06/2007 11:41

I found the best way to help my aughter to read was just to tell her the words she didn't know. That way I didn't put any pressure on her and hse improved very quickley. It is something that suddenly clicks and no one can predict when it will be.

mimsum · 22/06/2007 18:43

I'd really, really not worry - my dd is 5 in October so only a bit younger than your ds and I haven't even considered trying to help her learn to read. Neither of my boys could read at all at 4, nor 5 - for both of them it 'clicked' just after their 6th birthday. DS1 turned 6 at the end of Jan - he was still struggling with the simplest reading books - those ones with one or two words per page - but by April he could pick up the paper and read 'US marines 50 miles from Baghdad' - once it clicked with the boys they both became voracious readers - still are

littlemissbossy · 22/06/2007 18:45

My eldest was a slow reader, didn't seem to "get it" until around 8 TBH - and we too read everyday - but now, aged 16 [god I'm getting old] he is the reader of the household. HTH

KbearBrockovich · 22/06/2007 18:59

My DS is in reception and he's a Sept birthday so one of the oldest. He is not really interested in reading to be honest but he is imaginative, creative, artistic, loves music and singing, can draw a humpback whale in minute detail but he just can't grasp reading really yet. I'm not worried, we do the word walls, we do the spellings (just started these), we read together, he has his head in a book all the time. I think it will come. I'm not worried.

newgirl · 22/06/2007 19:11

id just keep reading fun so not key words as such but more reading when out and about, birthday cards, kids magazines etc and let school do the rest when he is ready

i guess have a chat with teacher after term 1 in year one and see what she/he thinks

motherinferior · 22/06/2007 19:13

I think reading is one of those things you 'get' at some point, and some people get it quickly and others don't. Like most skills. Please don't worry.

eucalyptus · 22/06/2007 23:35

I really would not worry - if he was only one month younger he would not be expected to be reading at all, so it sounds like he is doing really well

Kaz33 · 23/06/2007 19:10

My August born DS couldn't read at the beginning of year 1, now coming to the end of year 1 he is on ORT 9 and something has just clicked in the last couple of months.

I found it is really important to support his self confidence and not let him get discouraged when other kids are streaming ahead.

WendyWeber · 23/06/2007 19:14

DD1 started Reception in the January, turned 5 in the April, didn't even have books with words in by the end of the year (the school used to use a whole series which just had pictures, the child had to try to tell the story in their own words, it was agonising) - stuttered through basic books in most of Y1 but suddenly got it just about when she turned 6 and never looked back.

HTH

EffiePerine · 23/06/2007 19:16

A friend of mine didn't learn to read till she was about 9 - went on to get all As at A-level and a good 2:1 . Children develop at really different rates, and it doesn't make much difference later on.

Blu · 23/06/2007 19:19

You have nothing to worry about at all. If your DS is on ORT3 in Reception, he is doing well, IMO.
Don't succumb to pressurising him unless he is really enjoying reading!