Rising 1st Grader still can't read

[Anonymous]

Is this normal? I am starting to worry. She's known her letters since preschool, loves for me to read to her, is doing ok in school. Her teachers aren't worried but suggested we read a lot this summer to keep her working on it. But she hasn't really made any progress this summer, and I hate for her to be behind in reading when she goes back to school in a couple weeks. She can read easy words but won't try to read books unless they are short ones that she's memorized. She can't even read a basic Dora book, and gets mad when I push her to follow along when I read something. She seems so easily frustrated by it, and honestly I am too. But some of her friends could read before beginning K last year, and she isn't getting it yet.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, very few of us posters could read at her age either. Reading used to be taught in first grade. I remember all of the phonics workbook I had in first grade. We learned the letters in K. Many children are not developmentally ready for this until first or second grade. It is kind of like potty training. If they aren't ready, there isn't much you can do until they are. Just keep reading to her and asking her comprehension questions. Many kids who read early don't develop the comprehension which is the point of reading to begin with. Maybe have her pick out sight words that she knows on the page you are reading. Run your finger underneath the print as you read. Talk about the pictures. The resistance should be a signal to back off a bit. She may be behind other kids but you aren't at the point where it indicates a problem (esp since the teachers aren't worried). They know the signs of what might indicate a problem (can't rhyme words, poor memory, etc). The last thing you want to do is turn reading into a chore or a struggle. Reading should be fun and interesting so you need to model that for her.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I forgot to mention that when reading does finally "click," they make tremendous progress. So it is possible for her to catch on in the next few months and make huge strides during that time. Once they get it, they really do get it. She needs to have some success or she will become discouraged so start with something she will be successful at (pointing to the title of the book, picking out sight words, etc).

[Anonymous]

I'd say it's normal. I'm assuming she's 6? She's only going into first grade, and most kindergartners are not reading, mainly picking up on some sight words.

Some kids read earlier then others. What's important is to keep it fun an child-led and don't force it. She should pick it up in school this coming year, and if there is a concern her teachers should pick up on it. Keep allowing her to pick books of her choosing, read to her, allow her to look at it herself, etc. If she's showing resistance - back up and don't force it.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm an experienced teacher of beginning reading. My own son was not interested in reading until about 2nd grade. So on the one hand, I can tell you that some kids just develop an interest later, and not to worry.

On the other hand, if I were you, I'd want to do a few simple things just to be sure that there aren't any other issues going on. You say that she knows all her letters. Can you clarify -- she knows the names of the letters, or does she know a sound for each one? In order to find the decoding (sounding out) process simple, kids really need to have memorized at least one basic sound for each letter.

If you write down all the consonants of the alphabet in random order, you can ask her to give you a SOUND for each one. What you want is for her to just give you one sound, i.e. /t/ not /tuh/ (the consonant sound /t/ with an added sound of /uh/). If she says /tuh/ for "t' and /muh/ for the letter m, say "That's great! Now can you just give me the very first sound? is it /m/ or / muh/? I just want the /m/ sound.

Some kids just naturally put the /uh/ sound after all their letters, but then when they go to decode a simple word, like "cat" -- they sound it out as /kuh/ /a/ tuh/ and then they have a hard time blending those sounds into /kat/. They might REMEMBER "cat" = /kat/ by visual memory or by guessing, so it might not be obvious at first that they are having a tough time decoding because of those extra /uh/ s after each letter.

OK. If you establish that your child has a basic sound for each letter (btw the sound of "x" is /ks/) you can also check if she has a sound for ch sh, th and ng. Then check that she is sure of a sound for the vowels -- at first kids learn the short vowel sounds; that's fine for starting readers. If she is weak on any of these, I'd spend some time this summer just reinforcing that letter sound relationship. You don't need to do phonics workbooks or anything like that. Just make a list of whichever letters she didn't have a sound for, and go over them a few times.

If she has all her letters down, I'd then go ahead and ask her to blend and sedgment some simple words orally. Sound out some three and four sound words to her. What word is this? /f/ /a/ /t/ (with a pause between each sound) and have her say /fat/ Do that with a few words such as:

lip
hog
run
chat
beg
ship

and some four sound words like:

slip
past
hums
crash

Sound them out slowly, and see if she can blend them to make a word. Remember this is all in her head, don't write anything down.

Then you can tell her a word, "cat" and ask HER to break it down into three sounds. /k/.../a/.../t/... Give her some of the above words, and see if she can break it down into sounds for you.

If she can do all those things, then I wouldn't worry a bit about her learning to read in first grade. If she has trouble with any of those tasks, then those are ares I would encourage you to work with her. These skills are the fundamental underpinnings of being about to sound out and spell words in English.

[Anonymous]

NP here -- what a fabulous post, 14:26!

[Anonymous]

Our private school did not teach reading until 1st grade. The big job of 1st grade was learning to read in our school. If your kid knows their letters and sounds, that is great.

[Anonymous]

We used the book "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" when he was in kindergarten and it worked great. The one on one really helped vs. what he was getting at school.

[Anonymous]

I didn't know how to read going into first grade, was a star reader by the end. I wouldn't sweat it.

[Anonymous]

Another NP, and another one highly impressed by 14:26's post. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Agree with the analogy to potty training. My Mom was a kindergarten teacher, and I didn't read at all until first grade. I just wasn't interested, and my Mom didn't stress about it. Looking back on it, I think I was afraid that my parents would stop reading to me if I learned to do it myself. I have a vivid memory of being in the first day of first grade and realizing that most of the class could already read. I went home and (almost literally) learned overnight (peer pressure can be a wonderful thing). I ended the year as the best reader in the class, and later aced the verbal portion of my SAT's.

My dc, on the other hand could read, but wasn't confident enough in his abilities to try it in front of others. I wasn't too concerned, because that has been his style with pretty much everything he's done. He'll pretend he can't do something at all, until suddenly he can do it really well. His K teacher said her job this year was "convincing [dc] that he can read." (He would occasionally forget he was pretending not to read, and give himself away.) He went from not reading much at all to reading chapter books over the course of the school year.

On the other hand, I do have friends with kids with what may be real issues, and who are seeking out help. At least in dc's school (which is a good private), they don't seem to get concerned until the middle/end of first grade. The post at 12:46 seems very helpful. In our case, we did have those signs that dc was "getting it." He just wasn't ready, and it was consistent with out experience of his overall learning style, so I just had a "gut" feeling it would be ok. Listen to your instincts -- we really could have delayed dc's progress if we had pressed too hard. On the other hand, I would have been the first to seek professional help if I thought it was needed.

[Anonymous]

OP, I would say my rising first grader can't "read" - in the sense that I can't give him a book of any length and send him off by himself to process it... he is able to read sight words, he's well drilled in the basic grammar and spelling rules, and he will occasionally shock me by reading an email over my shoulder or identifying signs etc when we're out. I wouldn't call any of this reading... and yet he was assessed at reading above grade level when he finished MCPS K. So I'm guessing that the standards aren't really all that high and/or the educators' definition of reading capability differs from the way a parent might characterize her child's skills. Talking to parents of classmates etc, our experience seems pretty much par for the course. There are some really early adapters, but most kids seem somewhere in the process of "getting it."

BTW, my son also dislikes it when I make a point of trying to get him to follow along witht he words when I read a book... I don't push it, because for me it's more important that he actually enjoy the reading experience, which he does a lot.

[Anonymous]

My rising first grader is not that great a reader but I have been working with him on the Bob books this summer and the gradual progression from basic to more complicated words has definitely improved his self esteem and interest in reading.

[Anonymous]

If your post was "my rising 2nd grader still can't read", I would be concerned. But for a 1st grader, she is fine. This statement is not based on where we were when we were 1st graders - lots of items have changed. Rather this is based on the skills needed to be successful as a 2nd grader. Indepedent reading is a core skill that if not acquired by the end of 1st grade - will limit your child's accademic success.

Over the next year, if your daughter is not getting there, work with her teacher on different reading strategies. If you know she is working on reading and not getting it, doing the same thing harder will not work. There is a program called "Reading Recovery" that is geared at the lowest performing readers in 1st grade. Here is a link that might be informative: http://www.fcrr.org/FCRRReports/PDF/Reading_Recovery.pdf

[Anonymous]

I was the last kid in my first grade class to read. I remember being the last. I read right before thanksgiving break. I became a star reader after that. I wouldn't worry. I don't even think I knew my letters -- you are doing great!