Y1 Early Learning Support Disaster

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My dd in yr1 was selected for the Early Literacy Support programme. When she started YR1 she was put on a reading recovery programme. We have been supporting her so much and she gets books from her local library. We do flash cards with keywords and she knows about 75 of the 100 we have. She has progressed really well and she has been enjoying reading so much. She even lost an interest in watching TV because she had got to like her books so much. She is on Oxford Reading Tree stage 2 and has been brilliant and their are so many smiley winks in her reading book and never anywhere where it has been mentioned she has struggles with reading. At home she also reads well a few stage 3 books we have.
The problem is that this week, which is the second week of the ELS programme my dd hates reading and has been struggling. She is trying so hard and has lost an interest at trying to decode words by sounding them. Instead when she gets a word wrong she sounds out something completely irrelevant and from the blue. She was however not doing this before the ELS. She seems to have been put under pressure and has lost interest. Now what can I do?

It sounds as though she has a good memory - 75 out of 100 flash cards is impressive, but do you always show them in the same order? If so, she may be memorising them. Could she possibly be memorising the ORT books and then reciting, rather than reading them? If so, this could explain why she is struggling and frustrated by the ELS programme. A reluctance to sound out words and also random guessing could indicate that this is the case.
If she has been through the stage 3 books that you have at home a few times, she could have memorised these as well. If so, the pressure that she is under is to read, rather than to recite. If she finds the sounding out and reading difficult, she will be frustrated and confused.
Smiley winks do not indicate reading ability; they merely mean that the child said what was on the page.
I may be barking up the wrong tree, but it does sound familiar - one of my DDs was (and still is) a great memoriser. Talking to the teacher/s and voicing your concerns is where to start. If she is doing the memory thing, there are strategies for managing it and getting your DD to read. I found that my DD used the pictures in the book as "clues" so now I cover them up. She concentrates on the words and has to read, rather than guess them. I also found that books with more text were better - she was helped by reading in context rather than just a short string of words.
Hope this helps.
PS - a good memory is never a bad thing.

My ds did ELS last year and tbh there isn't any pressure. If anything the exercises were probably a little too easy to begin with.

It's worth speaking to the teacher about though, even if just to get more information about what happens during the sessions.

The thing I find with reading its rather like toilet training try as you might they only 'get' it when theyre ready - yes they do memorise words and parts of stories yes they do use the pics as clues .....but this is all 'learning'.

The best way I found to get a reluctant reader to read was to have tv on with subtitles,label words ,sound out words and generally build it up again brick by brick.

It doesnt matter what ORT shes on as soon as she can read fluently she will fly by.

I spent a lot of time stressing about this with ds2 trust me its a waste of precious time - they get it when they get it - you cany push it.

I am not a teacher and certainly no expert and will probably be shot down, but no one else has replied. I've previously posted about a similar problem with DD in year 1 who I would class as a good reader. She is excellent at flash cards and knows all her letters and phonic sounds but if I asked her to blend a word it would bear no resemblence to the word and because she got it wrong she would be hysterical. I had a few replies, one advised me not to worry and just tell her the word. I would definitely recommend this advice, but because of the ELS programme you really need to speak to your DD's teacher.

My ds, also Year 1, has just started ELS groups. He has recently gone up to ORT stage 3, after a lot of badgering from me. School seemed very concerned that he could recognise all key words out of context before they let him go up from Stage 2. He definitely has a great memory, reading the story just once before he knows the words and story order. We have to encourage him a great deal not to guess words from looking at pictures. He seems to be making great progress from ELS. The homework has been very easy so far but that's building his confidence so he's far more willing to have a go! There's no pressure at all in my son's ELS group just lots of praise and encouragement.