Too early to be worrying about reading in reception?

[Mummyscrewedup]

Dd is 5. There are assessments underway for social and emotional difficulties. She is currently in the midst of OT assessment. She has quite a complex language/speech sound issue that the NHS s&l have missed but both private salt and the OT have both picked up.

She can't yet write her name. She can't blend cvc words and certainly can't segment. She doesn't really get the concept of sentences and will often write random letters and call it a sentence. She has learnt a few words by sight.

More importantly though is that the OT has picked up a number of barriers to her being able to read including poor eye tracking, poor story telling abilities and poor auditory processing.

School are saying it's too early to worry. Surely the fact barriers have been identified should be priority even if she isn't yet actually behind?

Well lots of children wont read in reception- when many children are 4 and may very well catch up later in reception/ over the rest of infants. That does not mean that the school should not be addressing your dd specific needs though. They may already be doing this - you can ask what they are working in with your dd and how you can support this.

I would keep a very close eye on things.

My DD was a very early talker and quick at picking things up, so we were surprised she not only showed no interest in letters and words but actively resisted having anything to do with them.

She loved books and telling stories from the pictures - and enjoyed being read to but made no effort to do so herself.

She didn't read in reception or in Y1. School just said that she was more interested in other things, but obviously bright and would fly once she decided to participate.

That never really happened and eventually the Ed Psych was brought in when she turned 7. Turns out that she is dyslexic which has had serious effects on her own opinion of her abilities and on her results. Her secretarial skills are way, way behind her intellectual abilities which leads to immense frustrations for everyone - especially DD.

They can't formally test for things like dyslexia until 7, but worth keeping a close eye on everything. For many children, it is just a case of waiting till they are ready and then everything clicks into place, but for others, there is definitely a reason and they will need a lot of help learning strategies and techniques to compensate.

Good luck!

Has the OT suggested anything that would help with these issues?

Given they’ve been identified, there doesn’t seem much point in waiting another 2 years to deal with them.

There’s a big difference between ‘don’t worry yet, while providing additional help’ and ‘don’t worry, they all get there in the end’. I’d check with the school whether they are the former or the latter.

I would get advice from the OT about what interventions DD might need. You're right that if barriers have been identified then there is already cause for concern, despite the fact that lots of kids also can't read by this point. If the only cause for concern was that she wasn't yet reading then yes you might assume there's no underlying issue and she's just taking her time but if you've already established there is an underlying issue it should of course be dealt with.

My daughter really hasn't started to properly attempt reading until year 2. But is a reluctant learner and we suspect some attention deficit type issues. You sound well informed though.
I find teacher a bit dismissive as they have 30 to look after.

Sounds like she will need help. In the meantime I would just keep reading to her, as much as you can and as much as she lets you - anything that she enjoys listening to. One of the favourites of my kids and grandkids was Dr Zeuss, but each had their own different ones too. (For one of my grandsons it was quite a big book about the human body which he wanted to look at and have read to him endlessly) If she gets to like a few books really well, keep returning to them, so she almost learns them by heart. This can turn into great help with learning to read later.

Speech and language and auditory processing olus visual tracking are major barriers to literacy development. She isn't going to just suddenly read and you are right to be concerned. Visual tracking exercises will sort out the tracking issue so start on those asap. A good behavioural optometrist will help but your OT sounds brill so also keep going with that. I would deffo keep on with the SALT as the earlier intervention is the better. Reading is far more than decoding and even if she learns the former, lack of comprehension skills makes them null and void. Concepts such as behind, on top, in front, under, over, more, less are also very important for maths and socialising.

It is very unlikely that the school will put any one to one input in at this stage for literacy as they haven't got the resources. I would say, your best bet is to play rhyming games with her and ensure she gets the concepts of rhyme. Letter names and letter sounds need to be established and the alphabet in both. If she gets those established firmly by the end of Reception, then that is great. Again, with writing, don't bother with what she is writing but 'how'. So decent pencil grip, feet on floor, good core strength, movement from left to right. And keep it matched with the letters and sounds.

It very much sounds like your daughter is neurodiverse so you will be playing the long game. But keep on with the therapy because input now will pay dividends later and you will get back what you put in. At this age, brains are very 'plastic' so new neural pathways are easier to develop.

Good luck!

DD ended reception on the second book band (red) but finished year 1 on white (which I think is 10?). She just didn’t get it in reception and as a summer born baby I think she just needed more time. Now in year 2 she is top set for everything and well ahead in reading. That said, if the OT has raised concerns I would be pushing for additional support.

I would ask the school for some Educational Psychologists time. The school should have access to this and they are specialists in educational matters and teaching. The OT won’t be able to advise on teaching I would have thought.