dd1 is 6 nearly 7,she is very articulate and bright.We have been reading books to her since she was a baby and she loves books.However she is really struggling with her reading and writing and is behind the rest of her class.I expressed my concerns when she was in reception but was basically fobbed off as hysterical.
When she started Y1 she was given the Biff and Kipper books but when i spoke to her
teacher and voiced my concerns again,she changed her books to the (?)Red rooster books i think .
She progressed slightly but is still not grasping this reading and writing lark.
She is getting very frustrated and is not keen to practice writing when asked.
She does often write little notes on her own but it can be complete gobbledey goop or sometimes words are readable.
She gets B ,P ,D and S mixed up.She still isnt understanding Capitals and she will try and write a word how it sounds eg Whosh is Wash.
I dont know how to explain this to her??????
She still often gets her name mixed up too.
Dp reads with her every night after school and does storytime each night as i am out at work mon-fri evening.
What else can we be doing to help her?

Is it worth getting private tuition after school 1 or 2 days per week?
Cost would be an issue for us but my parents have said they are willing to help.

Should i just look in the yellow pages or is word of mouth better?

Thanks in advance

Yes i made an error in the title lol and probably elsewhere.

I meant to say that she will be going into Y2 in September.

Not got much experience, apart from my friend's son, (and maybe mine). I think ou need to get her assessed, and yes get her help as quick as poss.

Not being able to read and understand at the same level as her class mates will affect her work as she goes up the school. Not being able to understand question in other subjects etc. sorry

How would i get her assessed?
Thanks for replying btw

Just wait she's still very young. My dd is about to start Y3 and I can tell you from what I've seen helping in her classes since reception. A very small amount just take off in reception, but I would say most are between the end of y1 to the end of y2 they suddenly it seen to falls into place and they just take off. I even have a few friend said they child didn't peer till Y3.
Remember if you lived any were else in europe she wouldn't have even started school. As a nation we but far to much pressure on our children to learn at such a young age.

I see your point but my concern is that she will just fall further and further behind each year.I dont want her to hate going because she cant do the same as the other children.

What about getting her some simple books with word-for-word audio tapes so she can follow the words as she hears them? Perhaps that might help.

I will look for some,good idea.

Not that I am an expert, far from it, but it does look like she might be dyslexic - has she been checked for that? I know she's very young still and I don't know when they diagnose it but I would push for an assessment.

An alternative option is brain gym, or educational kinesiology - this can help with brain co-ordination if she is dyslexic.

A friend of mine has a daughter who has only just been diagnosed as numerically dyslexic at the age of 15 - she has not done very well in maths and is unlikely to catch up now in time to pass her GCSE.

That was exactly my concern Thumbwitch
My cousins are both dyslexic and i am convinced i have dyscalculia.

Hi hotrousercough, I think you should get her seen by a dyslexia specialist asap. The writing gobbledygook notes is normal development and nothing to worry about, but some of the other indicators suggest that she could be dyslexic and the quicker this is picked up the better for her. It is true that children develop at very different rate, but things like mixing up her name (which is familiar) may be a sign she is dsylexic. Deffo don't go for private tuition at this stage as it will increase the pressure, and therefore the anxiety: I would get a proper assessment asap, and if you can afford to do it privately, don't wait for the start of term.

crosspost with Thumbwitch

I would ask the school to assess her when they go back in spetember, she sounds quite like my ds3 who is quite dyslexic, and at age 7 was off the scale (bottom end)wrt to reading and spelling age, now age 10 he is at an age appropriate level for reading and bearly for spelling, but he has loads of extra help both at school and they have given us stuff to do at home as well.
She is only likely to start to get upset, and only fall behind even more if she doesn't get some extra help soon. We used a specialist book called toe to toe (google it, it's expensive but worth it imo - well school paid for our copy) starts from total basics (letters) to really complex sentances that you cannot believe your child will ever manage, if you run to the cost then 'd be tempted to buy it now and start over the summer.

Sounds like my ds who also just didn't grasp it - has since been assessed as dyslexic - however in the meantime he refused to write anything at all from Y2 to Y3. You have to push for her if school are fobbing you off. You could also have her assessed privately. Dyslexia action charge about £400ish, or you could try to find a specialist dyslexia teacher who may charge less, I know someone who charges £250. An independent ed psych will probably charge more.

I forgot to mention she was also given ELS to do in Y1 but didnt make any difference.

Where do i take her to get her assessed?
Dont know where to start tbh

We could not afford private assessment(even with my parents help)
Will the school really be able to get her assessed.I just know that they will fob me off as hysterical but i know my child iykwim.

ELS is really for children who can catch up by traditional methods, those who have missed a bit of school for instance. It is not intended for children with specific learning difficulties, but lots of schools shove the children in there to justify themselves to the parents. My ds was shoved in that group and quickly became disruptive, as it was totally the wrong support for him. Now he gets support from a specialist dyslexia teacher and has really come on.

Don't let them fob you off. Is she on the SEN register? Do you know what stage she is at?
(where are you BTW)

She is not on the SEN register (not heard of that)
Do you mean reading stage?
We are in the midlands Cornsilk

What do the school say ? The things you have posted do not seem anything to be concerned about - many children get the b/p/d letter mixed up until they are 7 yrs+ (also e/g and n/u etc). Many,many do not know capitals. Children are taught mostly through phonics these days, so writing things as the hear them is encouraged - some schools don't teach words to 'learn' as sight vocabulary at all.
Just going on the things you have listed, I would not have any worries at all (I'm a teacher). My own opinion is that, at that age, the 6 hours at school is long enough by far, I really wouldn't want to inflict more tuition on her over and above that which she has to do. By reading with her every night, you are giving her great support. I would speak to her teacher in September, and ask how else you can support her, and leave it at that.

You need to start by getting them to put her on the SEN register. That's the only route to being assessed via school. I agree with cat64 that getting letters mixed up is a normal stage of development, but what concerns me from your description of your dd is the frustration and the reluctance to practice.

Also if you are near a university that trains teachers to become dyslexia teachers, you could contact them and ask if your daughter could be a subject for one of the trainees. Most teachers would take pupils from their school to practice teaching with, but not everyone is school based - long shot but worth a try anyway!

The teachers have just agreed with me that she is in the bottom couple in the class but say that she just needs to work harder

Maybe you are right Cat64
I am just scared that if she does have a problem then she will just get more of an issue over school and will fall even further behind.
I will make an appointment when the school reopens.I dont know the teacher though.

Thankyou for all the info Cornsilk

If she's at the bottom of the class and attaining significantly lower than she should be for her age then she should be on the SEN register. If she's behind the class and attaining within the average range for her class then that's fine for now. That's what you need to establish. Was there any indication on her report how she was attaining compared to national standards?

sorry - meant attaining average range for her age - not her class.

Yes i agree i need to establish that.
There was no mention of national standards as i recall,i will dig it out in the morning though and check.

Thankyou for your help

sounds like my DS. He was like this going into year 2 and just wasnt interested in reading or writing, although loved having a story read to him. It was compounded by having a bright sibling so his teachers just kept saying he would catch up.

I do try to do some work with him at home but TBH he isnt bothered and often doesnt want to do any so he is learning to play a musical instrument which is something totally different but helps with his development. We have noticed, for example, that his numeracy ability has improved and so has his self confidence.

She sounds dyslexic tbh, and like she would definately benefit from an assesment and extra tuition, taylored specifically to her.

My mum asseses children for dyslexia and other learning difficulties, and does one to one tuition and always gets positive results. Make sure they are properly qualified if you do go for private tuition, and that they will assess your DD first in order to tailor her classes specifically to her. One hour a week is the norm. I'd do some online searches rather than yellow pages tbh, and those magazines that get send home termly in kids bookbags.

HotTrouserCough , I've beent through something similar with ds who was struggling with writing and reading in yr 2.
I was fed up with 2 yrs of teachers shrugging and implying 'must try harder'

As a parent gov I manage sometimes to dig out the reasons for some of the ways a school can behave with slow learners or children with some kind of arrested development in literacy.

They can't really assess dyslexia until yr 3ish - I'm told
(But there are many conflicting views about dyslexia, some academics are very sceptical about how children are assessed)

They don't want to stress child and parent out so much that they make the problem worse.

There are clearly a group of children who simply catch up.

BUT - we now have a reading recovery expert in school who assessed ds and gave us her assessment and explained it to ds saying he's missed out on certain things and just needs to catch them up.

Now it's VERY hard, I know, as you want to know if there's a specific learning difficulty or not! But I suspect there is a grey area where it's hard to know for sure, and the problem then is the limbo you're left in and the fear that your child is just going backwards.

I would get a meeting with the Head and very positively and supportively of the school ask for a plan of action for your child given that it may not be clear for some time what the reason for the slowish development is! Make the school take it seriously but approach the positively and helpfully (is the best approach in my experiencew!) I always begin all contact with ds's school with praise first and then onto 'asking advice' and always try to show them respect too.

Good luck! ds is doing better now that we have specific things to work on!