2nd grade academic regression?

[Anonymous]

I’d love some advice from 2nd grade parents or from parents of older kids. My kid had some struggles with guessing to read in early K, but we went through phonics at home and he was reading well by the end of the year (not flagged as needing help, and certainly in the top half of that class).

In 1st grade, his math skills went through the roof and over the summer got placed in the higher enrichment class for his grade outside of school. We did math summer camp just to prevent summer slide. He tested in the 99th percentile on whatever test they take at school - state or national?

In 2nd now, it seems like both his reading skills AND his math skills have gone done since school started. At the end of summer, he was able to do simple multiplication/algebraic thinking along with two digit addition and subtraction. Since October he has been making mistakes at adding within 20. Not many mistakes, but 1 or 2 per set of maybe 20 problems. He read aloud beautifully all summer and last year. Now he is making mistakes in reading and just sounds less fluent.

We had conferences and the teacher says he is doing fine and above grade level. But she doesn’t seem to have any individual, specific info on our kid’s abilities or performance. All info is very general and about the class as a whole.

Would you worry or do anything at home at this point? Is the material getting harder and the cracks are showing? But I don’t think that’s the case, because the math homework he brings home twice a month is a much simpler set of problems than what he was doing 4 months ago. Do you think he’s not getting enough practice or repetition with this teacher?

[Anonymous]

And I’m sorry for the novel! I’m trying to give enough info to get advice here.

[Anonymous]

No I would not worry.

[Anonymous]

When my kids were that age we did a lot over the summer. The fall iReady test scores (what FCPS used at the time to measure learning) were often higher than spring because what we did at home was more challenging than school, but I didn't necessarily keep it up during the school year.

I would work on reinforcing the need to be careful even with boring/easy work.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry. But yes, 2nd grade is a step up and a time where kids start to differentiate in their abilities. I noticed that the early readers and late bloomers all even out in 2nd grade and then there's another split. Keep a close eye on it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No I would not worry.

I guess I am worried because I was reading here that 3rd and 4th grade is when things get challenging and I’m thinking maybe this is happening early and he is struggling? The teacher is new to this grade level and has provided no communication so I am feeling a little unmoored.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t worry and would just keep working with him at home to both help him progress and to keep a shape eye on where he is and what he is struggling with. Academic growth is a straight up. Sometimes they stay stagnant for a while, or if their brain is getting stretched a lot in one subject, they fall back in another.

[Anonymous]

If he's making mistakes or struggling with things that used to be easy for him, I would actually assume the issue is:

- He's tired and needs more sleep. He might be going through a growth spurt. Also when kids go through big cognitive development phases I suspect they often need more sleep for that.

- He is feeling socially or emotionally stressed. Second grade can be a transition year for kids socially as they are not little kids anymore but are really not prepared yet for upper elementary socializing (which is more independent and involves deeper relationships with fewer kids as opposed to everyone just playing with everyone else). Friendships can shift and some kids will develop more mature interests and behaviors (including some negative tween behaviors like relational aggression, sarcasm, or cynicism) while others will still be socializing much as they did in K and 1st -- that conflict can be hard on everyone.

I would not worry about the academics and instead focus on supporting your child's physical and mental health as well as his social development. He's on track academically but he likely needs more help with the other stuff.

[Anonymous]

My children’s I-ready test scores are always high in the fall because of the math and reading they do over summer. They then stay stagnant or dip in the winter and increase in spring,

[Anonymous]

What curriculum are they using?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What curriculum are they using?

Math seems to be a mix of TPT type of worksheets. No textbook. For literacy they do blended literacy workshop type of work. Again, no set text they are working from.

[Anonymous]

How does everyone know what curriculum and tests are given? Mine is in 2nd grade and we’ve gone to back to school night, had teacher conferences and went to the principal’s welcome night. None of this info was given… are you all asking for extra info?

For teacher-home communication; We have an online portal and the classroom teacher has posted work to it twice so far year. She sends math homework home 3x per month (just a one page worksheet that gets turned in the next day). That’s all I get from the teacher. Would you say this is on the low end?

[Anonymous]

Have you had his vision checked recently? If he's not seeing things as clearly on the paper, that could lead to math mistakes and less fluent reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you had his vision checked recently? If he's not seeing things as clearly on the paper, that could lead to math mistakes and less fluent reading.

Yes he had an eye exam last year and they just did vision testing in school last month.