I've been lurking this morning and noticed a couple of threads on Y1 Reading, so I thought I'd start my own in a sudden fit of paranoia about dd1's reading ability

[TigerFeet]

DD1 is 5.8 and in Y1

About half way through reception she moved from ORT Level 1 (the books with no words) to ORT Level 2 - and there she has stayed, and it occurs to me now that she's been at this point for almost a year.

She is slightly more confident than she was and has learned a few of her key words but doesn't seem to be progressing past the "c - a- t (pause for thought) cat" stage

Her short term memory when she is reading is shocking, eg she will read d-o-t-s and combine it to dots but when she meets the same word on the next page she has to decode it again; however she seems to be getting very good at memorising the text of her reading books and then reciting it from memory, rather than reading the words. She uses the pictures as a prompt and guesses the words.

Her writing is also not great, although legible, she still needs virtually every word spelled out one letter at a time.

She has always struck me as being bright enough, her general knowledge is great and she's always getting stickers at school for knowing facts, eg that a baby swan is called a cygnet and that conkers come from horse chestnut trees. She is very inquisitive and soaks up information as fast as I can give it to her (just recently about the facts of life - but that's a whole nother thread ) but all her skills seem to be verbal.

Up until now I have been confident that she will find her feet given enough time, I have never been one for pushing her beyond what se is able to do.

I suppose my question is, at what point does it become an issue? Will I be seen as pushy or even mental to be approaching the school about my concerns now, or would it be terribly naive of me to ignore it in the sure knowledge that by the time she's 7 she'll have caught up with her peers?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might hhave.

[lovecheese]

She probably will catch up with her peers, kids are all different. But if I were you I would speak to the teacher; you will not be seen as pushy (pushy is the mum who knows that her child is one of the two in the class who are ahead of the others and is paranoid that the other child will "overtake" hers, hence is always in getting extra books and asking for said child to be moved on a level; I speak from experience) Its quite scary speaking to a teacher as they are the experts, but she is your daughter and a good teacher should listen and work out a plan with you. Good luck.

[posieparker]

I could have written similar things about ds1, I was about to go down the 'testing' route and he started junior school. He has made about three years of progress in three months. His enjoyment, interest and ability have all kicked in.

[bigstripeytiger]

Have you had your DDs eyesight tested? Your post made me think of my DD, she was a bit reluctant to read and write, and when we got her eyes tested she was long sighted. Within a few months of getting glasses her reading and writing have progressed massively.

[bibbitybobbityhat]

My ds is also in Y1 but 6.4 (September babe). Up until very recently he was at a similar level to your dd. I got very frustrated that he couldn't read a word like "said", so we'd go through the sounds and he'd get it, then turn the page and not know "said" again! Just as you say.

However, the penny has just recently dropped and he is reading 100x times better now than he was before Christmas. A switch just suddenly seemed to turn on. I remember it being the same with my older dd (albeit at a much younger age). I was not worried about him a few weeks ago, either, I hasten to add.

Does your dd attempt to read random things she sees around her, words on cereal packets, shop signs, things in the bathroom when she's brushing her teeth etc? Is she showing an interest? DS has been doing all this for a few months although he still regards sitting down to read a book for homework as something of a chore.

[lisata]

Honestly don't worry.

Keep it fun.
Read to her loads.
Talk to her about the story.
Play some simple word games with her so she starts to understand how words are structured. I just discovered alphablocks on the cbeebies website - they seem pretty cool. But you can also create games with bits of card. Get her to build words up from letters etc.

It is fine to be decoding twice from one page to the next this is part of the process of making reading automatic. Don't let her see if you find it frustrating.
Gently encourage her not to guess but to decode the sounds. I am at exactly this stage with my number 3. I keep having to pull him back on track ... but having been through the process so many times - with my other two and numerous kids at the kids school I can see it is just a process.

Kids often plateau for a while and then do a jump (often in the holidays I find).

If you are still worried in a few months time then get some really structured readers which will quickly move her on to four and five letter words. Some kids really need the safety of that structure. I can recommend the phonic books ones - [www.phonicbooks.co.uk] (disclosure - my mum is a founder of that company). But there are others e.g. Jelly and Bean, Ruth Miskins series (Read write inc). The Oxford reading tree songbirds are quite nice too. I have done this with all of my kids (some educators call it school proofing). There is no harm in it as long as your kid does not get confused. Now that all schools are supposed to be using phonics it should be less of a problem!

Any input you give will always help. But remember that they move at their own level. Kids all develop in different ways and she may just require a little more time.

Another thing - make sure that her eyesight and hearing are ok. These can both have a huge impact on reading!

A final final top tip is to offer to go in and listen to kids read in your kids class. You will be amazed at the variety of different types of reader there are. It really helps one to put ones own kids progress into perspective and learn to relax!

[FreakoidOrganisoid]

My friend's dd could not learn to read by spelling and sounding out words, like your dd she had to decipher it again each time. Her teachers changed tactics and got her to stop spelling out the word and to recognise the shape of the word as a whole and she progressed so quickly. Not sure exactly how you would go about that but am sure someone will know.... (sorry tried to be helpful but realise that without telling you how it's done then it isn't particularly )

[SofaQueen]

Have you spoken to her teacher? I think that your daughter sounds like she is within the normal spectrum at this age, but I have no qualifications to make a judgement. Your teacher will not think you are being pushy - just a normal concerned parent.

Don't worry about decoding using pictures - that is what they are there for (according to DS's old reception teacher).

[TigerFeet]

Thanks all

bigstripytiger - dd is longsighted, she's been wearing glasses since she was 3. She had an eye test just before Christmas and her prescription changed only very slightly so I'm confident that she can see properly (with her glasses on obv). She wears a patch for a lazy eye in the mornings - I wonder if that has something to do with it? She doesn't wear it while she's reading at home though and there are still problems.

She doesn't often attempt to read unless pressed to. She deciphered "exit" in a cafe over the weekend, spontaneously, but I can count on one had the number of times she has done that.

We have progressed from her not wanting to read at all and my having to bribe her to get her to attempt a couple of pages to her happily attempting to read a whole book every afternoon after school - ORT Stage 2 and the Floppy's Phonics books Stage 1 that she is given at school take her about 10-15 mins to read. She likes the books, she will discuss the story and comment on the pictures - she just struggles with the text.

I have been waiting for the penny to drop, quite happily I have to add as after all she is only 5, but it does seem to me that she is falling further and further behind her peers.

We have a scheduled parent teacher meeting next week, I will bring it up in a "should I be concerned" kind of way.

[honeybunmum]

I would approach her teacher and find out what they are doing in terms of guided reading and learning phonics as a class. Talk to them about your concerns, you won't come across as pushy and they may even have some suggestions on how you can help. I would have thought that if she had a problem with her eyes that her teacher and you would have noticed something (like holding the books very close or squinting) My DD1 is in class 1 and is getting on really well, but I know the range throughout the class is huge and many of the children are at your DD's stage. I think they do reach a point where the penny drops as bibity said, I remember my DD going from struggling to being able to do it well in about 2 days and I was really shocked.
Do you do much reading at home with her? We have always given her about half an hour of bedtime stories but that's about it, with 2 other DC I don't get much time for more.

[TigerFeet]

Sorry, x posted with some of you there

I do find it frustrating I will admit, but I try very hard not to show it. The constant guessing and reciting drives me bonkers - I keep telling her that I'd rather she tried to read it properly and if she is finding it tricky then we will work through it together - but she is five years old so it goes in one ear and out the other

I read to her a lot, I am a bookworm myself, part of the problem perhaps, as I was one of those children who read What Katy Did by torchlight under the covers after bedtime aged 6, I have always had this ability to completely lose myself in a story which I think is a wonderful thing to be able to do and I would love dd to be able to do the same. I try desperately hard not to expect too much too soon, based purely on my own reading ability as a child, as I know how ridiculous that is.

I know she does phonics at school, she tells me all about it, they do a multisensory approach I think, with actions as well as sounds/letters. I will discuss it with her teacher next week.

[molk]

i was only thinking this morning how my son 5.4 years has suddenly come on leaps and bounds with both reading and phonics since he stopped wearing his patch at christmas. it could just be a coincidence,but he used to wear it 8am to 2pm daily and though he progressed well with it on, i think now he is doing great. difficult one though because the patch dramatically improved his eyesight so you have to stick with it, but would be interesting to see if others have any experience of this.

[lisata]

On the subject of sight - I just posted this phonicbooks.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/coloured-overlays/ about the use of coloured overlays. Thought it might interest some of you...

[SeaTrek]

I would also have a chat with the teacher, s/he will probably just reassure you.

I also think this is within the normal spectrum at this age though and she is too young to give up hope of the penny dropping!

My son, in yr 1, does read well but it took a trememdous amount of effort to get him there. Definately not one of the children who 'just took to it'. His teacher thinks he is a natural at it - if only she knew! I made up so many resources and games when he was in reception and spend really quite a lot of time with him on his reading.

So, in summary I would speak to the teacher (I know you already are!) and spend as much time with her as you can with her on literacy (yes, very frustrating at times!) - look for new an interesting ways of learning rather than just sitting and reading books e.g lots of games with rewards and praise!

[smee]

I have similar. DS sounds a bit further ahead than your daughter, but not much (they don't do ORT in our school so it's hard to compare). I chatted to his teacher at last parents evening and he confirmed what many have said on here - ie it'll happen and not to worry. tbh I'm quite laid back about it all as I have a couple of friends with boys who've been exactly the same - one's just clicked in yr2 for example. So I'd say have a chat with the teacher to reassure yourself, then just make her feel great with every step of progress. I think the most important part is to ensure they don't think they're useless at it.