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Primary education

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Y3 behind :( Tutor? Will she always be behind?

11 replies

Grk1964 · 30/03/2022 22:08

DD is in Y3. Summer born baby.

Had her parents evening last week and we were told that she isn’t meeting age related expectations in all areas. This wasn’t unexpected but it was difficult to hear ☹️

She is on lime/level 11 ORT reading books and has been for a while now. She doesn’t have any issues reading books but has issues with comprehension. She is getting extra support with phonics as she does struggle pronouncing certain words.

Her spelling isn’t great. She still spells lots of words phonetically. The spellings they send home for her are far too difficult. The school don’t test the children. They just put spellings on an app for them.

As her Maths, this is what she struggles with the most. She knows her 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11 times tables but she only knows how to do them on her fingers from 1 x 2, 3 etc. She struggles with mental addition/subtraction. She can use the column method though. She hasn’t got a clue about division.

After the parents evening, we are wondering whether we should hire a tutor but is she too young? Am I worrying unnecessarily? Although her teacher was very positive about her seeing improvement, when I asked the question if she would catch up by time SATs come along in 3 years time, she couldn’t answer. I’m genuinely concerned that she won’t catch up and she will start High School in the bottom sets.

We read with her at home, we go through all the homework set and do extra Maths with her but we obviously aren’t doing enough which makes me fee incredibly guilty. I’ve looked into hiring a tutor for 1-2 hours a week but then I think she is too young? She likes her down time after school. I’ve also found a summer school that I can send her too (they offer 3 hour sessions every day… you can book as many or as little as you want).

Thoughts? :(

OP posts:
GetTheGoodLookingGuy · 31/03/2022 07:27

Honestly, as a TA who works in Y3 at the moment, she doesn't sound that far behind. She's definitely ahead of lots of the lower attaining children in my class. New research this week has shown that the current year threes are the ones hardest hit by the pandemic - their last full year at school was reception!

I think you're right in thinking a tutor would be too much for her at this age. I would focus on the reading (the spelling will come - I'm always telling children the best way to get better at spelling is to read lots as then you start to see the words spelt correctly. I was a terrible speller at that age but now as an adult I can generally tell if a word is spelt wrong because it "looks wrong". I'm sure this has come from years of reading and seeing words spelt correctly) and the maths.

Keep reading with her lots (and reading harder books to her to help with vocabulary and comprehension). Don't forget to keep stopping and asking questions from simple retrieval questions where the answer is right there in the text, to more complex ones like "how is xxx character feeling right now? How do you know?" and "What do you think might happen next?". If she's struggling with a word, resist the urge to read it for her. Encourage her to use her phonics, remind her of alternative sounds a letter might make (things like g making a hard g or a soft j sound, c making a hard c or a soft s sound). If it's a long word, help her split it up into syllables by covering up parts of the word to just show a syllable at a time, or if she can say all the sounds but struggles to blend it together into a word, say the sounds again for her faster so she can hear them and hopefully get the word.

Lime is only one band below Brown, which is where she should be by the end of Y3.

With maths, do your school have Times Table Rockstars? If not, it's worth looking into (they have a family subscription but I don't know how much it costs). We've found this amazing with some of our children as the repetative nature is just what you need with times tables. The children want to earn coins to spend in the shop and try and beat their scores. They recently introduced a new "jamming" mode where you can choose which times table(s) to practise and it's not timed, which can reduce the pressure.

We tell our class that they should be able to answer times table questions as quickly as they can answer "what's your name?" I would go right back to the ten times table and work on instant recall by practising, practising, practising. On the way to school, over breakfast, etc, whenever you have a minute.

Same with mental addition and subraction. Work on strategies - if I'm adding a two digit number to a two digit number, counting on is unlikely to be the best strategy, but I could add the tens together, add the ones together, and then combine. Start with jotting down each mini answer, then move to doing in completely in her head. For example, to do 34+29, I would add the tens, so 30+20=50, then the ones: 4+9=13, then combine 50+13=63.

I think at this age, little and often is better than longer sessions with a tutor.

carefullycourageous · 31/03/2022 07:44

Hi, firstly Brew it is hard not to worry.

There is a whole lot possibly going on here, and you need to take care not to panic. Whether your child can 'catch up' or not, the most important thing you do right now is a) make sure you do not make her worried or feel 'behind' and b) make sure you do not put her off learning. If she can not catch up it is pointless to increase her stress and if she will naturally catch up you need to not upset the apple cart.

I would therefore tread very carefully. My view is that Year 3 is too young for a formal tutor.

But you can do so much at home that is basically playing games and doing active learning. Cut screen time (it has almost no educational benefit and almost anything else other than staring at a blank wall will have greater benefit), get yourself into a routine that involves things like:

  • Baking - where you ask her to help work out the ratios. No getting cross or putting her on the spot, just you saying 'Oh so if we are making two batches we will need 2 x 150g of flour, so that is.... 300g?' and just model it all. The same with measuring etc. Can you do any DIY with her, measuring? Do timings for things, and shopping ro working out prices. All the basics in life are vital for maths.
  • Buy educational games, never EVER mention they are good for learning, just play them lots. We had loads of maths games at home and the kids learnt a lot that way.
  • Ask her to write little things for you 'please can you just write x/y/z on that post it for me so I don't forget'
  • read read read you to her and her to you
  • Go out and look at everything you can, any museum, any buildings, any natural places

Also, one last thing I would say is if your child is naturally going to be in a lower set at secondary, then tutoring them now is not going to help. It is far better to focus on fostering confidence, a love of learning and a willingness to try, because the worst thing is a child who feels they are not good enough the way they are.

SouthLondonMommy · 31/03/2022 09:24

She doesn't sound that behind given how disrupted her leaning has been. A lot of the things she's struggling with are often improved by practice. Squeebles Maths Bingo is a game my daughter loves and its a great way to practice mental maths. If she's struggling with division bring it back to the concept of sharing and model it with physical objects as a starting point.

Playing hangman (on paper or an app like Spelling Shed) is another way to help reinforce spelling recall in a way that's quite fun for most kids.

With the reading, again, I think spending as much time discussing stories as reading them is key. From lime onwards the plots and motivations become much more subtle and complex often needing some explanation about what's happening. Relating it back to things and experiences in her own life-- have you felt jealous and how did that make you want to behave etc often helps.

I know children with tutors at this age as not all parents feel confident teaching concepts. I think you have to judge it though based on your own child and what they will respond to and what you can do as a parent. It's quite an individual decision.

StrugglingPa · 31/03/2022 17:10

I don't think there is too much to worry about here. She might be below the class average from how you have described things. Read a lot and get her to read aloud. Reading aloud is often underestimated and ignored by parents as everyone is busy. In maths, it's not about whether she is below or above average. It's about the basics and making sure she gets to practice, gains confidence and doesn't develop a mental block. Tuition is a tricky subject, and as @SouthLondonMommy said, it isn't the solution for every problem but is also not taboo. Most parents who get tuition for kids somehow fail to acknowledge it publicly.

sherbsy · 01/04/2022 09:52

Firstly, don't worry, this is common and could easily be a temporary thing.

Tuition can be great but it can also be an added, expensive pressure that kids may not appreciate. Mine did for a while but all they really needed was a better attitude to their work and most of that just came as they got older.

I'd suggest getting some relevant maths or english materials like these or these and spending a bit of time with them working through. For one of my kids it worked best to set a time and day of the week, for the other it was much more productive to do some casual work while DH was out swimming with DS.

If you don't have the time or energy then find a tutor but there are some great things you can learn about your kids from spending that time learning with them. Good luck!

WeRTheOnesWeHaveBeenWaitingFor · 01/04/2022 09:57

Is it possible that she is dyslexic?
She sounds a lot like my daughter at that age. Often the areas that dyslexic students struggle with the most are those early primary skills but their abilities in other areas mean they can often ‘catch up’ by the end of primary. My daughter is set to do well in SATS (apart from spelling). Does she seem bright generally? Did you and her father do well in school?

femfemlicious · 01/04/2022 10:00

Start giving her omega 3 fish oils

femfemlicious · 01/04/2022 10:02

Also cook with olive oil or avocado oil and avoid all other oils

HSHorror · 01/04/2022 10:54

She doesnt seem far behind. In fact similar to my bright y5 except the reading. Imo the focus on mental maths isnt great i prefer the column method and dc found that easier.

Squeeebles helps with the times tables.
I think with being on lime band you just need to move onto actual books to improve the spelling and comprehension

TwoProngedFork · 01/04/2022 11:51

@carefullycourageous

Hi, firstly Brew it is hard not to worry.

There is a whole lot possibly going on here, and you need to take care not to panic. Whether your child can 'catch up' or not, the most important thing you do right now is a) make sure you do not make her worried or feel 'behind' and b) make sure you do not put her off learning. If she can not catch up it is pointless to increase her stress and if she will naturally catch up you need to not upset the apple cart.

I would therefore tread very carefully. My view is that Year 3 is too young for a formal tutor.

But you can do so much at home that is basically playing games and doing active learning. Cut screen time (it has almost no educational benefit and almost anything else other than staring at a blank wall will have greater benefit), get yourself into a routine that involves things like:

  • Baking - where you ask her to help work out the ratios. No getting cross or putting her on the spot, just you saying 'Oh so if we are making two batches we will need 2 x 150g of flour, so that is.... 300g?' and just model it all. The same with measuring etc. Can you do any DIY with her, measuring? Do timings for things, and shopping ro working out prices. All the basics in life are vital for maths.
  • Buy educational games, never EVER mention they are good for learning, just play them lots. We had loads of maths games at home and the kids learnt a lot that way.
  • Ask her to write little things for you 'please can you just write x/y/z on that post it for me so I don't forget'
  • read read read you to her and her to you
  • Go out and look at everything you can, any museum, any buildings, any natural places

Also, one last thing I would say is if your child is naturally going to be in a lower set at secondary, then tutoring them now is not going to help. It is far better to focus on fostering confidence, a love of learning and a willingness to try, because the worst thing is a child who feels they are not good enough the way they are.

Just waved to say thank you for suggestions @carefullycourageous. I'm nabbing all of them!! What you say about love of learning and building confidence is very key.
LostittoBostik · 04/09/2024 23:26

Hi OP, can I ask how your DC is getting on?

I just posted a thread as my DD started Y3 today and I'm worried how this year will pan out in maths as she wasn't meeting expectations last year. We've been practicing here summer but she is behind, clearly - like me, she really struggles with mental maths

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