Early Literacy Support (YR1)

[redcarpet]

I have my dd who is in Yr1 and was put on the Early Literacy Support(ELS) programme in November when she was age 5 and half. She was enjoying reading at the time and read books after school. She was however beyond her peers but having been to the guided reading in her class thiught she was reading well for her age. She was on stage 2 of the ORT and this would have been after the long summer holiday. Anyway to cut story short I have since noticed that the ELS programme is focused on sounding oit words and my dd is really struggling now with her reading. She seem to be trying extra hard to break dow a word, So fo a simple word she read before well like cat, she now sound it out as c-a-t. Now she takes quite along time to read and finish her book and her comprehension skills which were once brilliant before the programe have been wiped off. The reason being too much concentration on getting the words right. The library books we used to read have been chucked away and she rather prefer watching tv and dread to read as much as I try to help her. I do not think this programme is doing any good but more harm to my little dd who would buy now have been reading the level 4 which she is currently on. With the 20 minutes that they get if they had been reading normally without decodings and phonics I think she wowuld have been possibly be far ahead. Now I am here looking here for thoughts though I have read reviews here with many swearing by it but am not sure if this is going to be a success or part of the unsuccessful.

Sorry, bit confused, why was your DD put on the ELS in the first place if she was beyond her peers and enjoying reading?

The point is that the phonics approach will help your child to learn to spell as well as read and that is very important.

It can be quite disconcerting to watch a child decode a book rather than sight read (which is what she would have been doing before) because it is much harder work. However I promise you that in the long term she will learn to read much faster this way than via sight words.

My DD was a natural sight word reader but i taught her via phonics - she was reading Harry Potter aged Six. So please do keep going. If nothing else it sounds like everyone else in her class will be using phonics so if she doesn't crack she will stand out like a sore thumb!

On confidence... i recommend that you read to her ... read some really exciting books. Tell her that if she practices she will be able to read them herself. Then start at the beginning again and never ever force her to read. Build her self esteem and confidence by praising every thing she does r.e. reading. Bribe her if necessary. Never ever discuss your feelings about what they are doing at school in front of her.... lots of parents get so emotional about these issues they forget that their kids hear all their concerns. That is often when they start to act up! Your school needs your support.