When do you push for (or pay for) more support for a 1st grader?

[Anonymous]

Report card is a mix of P and I grades. At BTSN the teacher said not to freak out about I or N grades at the beginning of the school year, and I am all for not freaking out. However, I don't want to wake up at the end of the school year and realize I should have intervened sooner. We already have a reading tutor once a week outside of school and that seems it be helping a bit.

[Anonymous]

I feel like there’s not enough data to reach a conclusion. I’d probably consider what subjects the I and N grades were for, how your child is feeling about those subjects (lost, frustrated and overwhelmed?), ask the teacher’s opinion of whether your child needs additional help, and then also consider my personal feelings about my child’s skills. Keep in mind that grades are not the goal, they are merely a rough indicator of your child’s progress toward mastery. While you don’t want your child to get lost and fall behind (especially in a subject like math that builds upon itself), learning is a process and an I or even an N might reflect that your first grader is still at the beginning of that process.

While systematic instruction in phonics is critical for reading, I think most first graders skills can best be supported more casually. Here’s a thread where I posted some ideas for supporting a child with math:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1203320.page#27433180

If other subjects are of concern, let me know. I may be able to offer suggestions to support them, as well.

[Anonymous]

I would ask at your parent-teacher conference.

[Anonymous]

I would work at home daily and do the tutor twice a week.

[Anonymous]

Our school didn’t use the reading intervention (Really Great Reading, which is a fantastic curriculum) and pull out the kids to work with the reading specialist until kids were performing poorly on standardized tests. But my first grader was a horrible reader and so I took it upon myself to request she get the reading intervention from her teacher and the principal. We got it, but would not have had I not asked. They wait til kids are failing. And then the kids are frustrated and feel horrible about themselves. So I suggest you talk to the teacher and see what interventions are available (usually in reading and math) and when, and ask for them for your child before they are failing.

[Anonymous]

Our school considers I on grade level. So without Ns, kids don't get interventions. I would consider a tutor to cover math and ELA if your kid is getting Is in those subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Report card is a mix of P and I grades. At BTSN the teacher said not to freak out about I or N grades at the beginning of the school year, and I am all for not freaking out. However, I don't want to wake up at the end of the school year and realize I should have intervened sooner. We already have a reading tutor once a week outside of school and that seems it be helping a bit.

DIY. Get a tutor. Go with instinct. Feedback from school is..(fill in the blanks). No more grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

I think a weekly tutor is good for now - as long as the tutor is well trained. Don’t throw anything else at it for a few months and see how it goes.

How is math going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like there’s not enough data to reach a conclusion. I’d probably consider what subjects the I and N grades were for, how your child is feeling about those subjects (lost, frustrated and overwhelmed?), ask the teacher’s opinion of whether your child needs additional help, and then also consider my personal feelings about my child’s skills. Keep in mind that grades are not the goal, they are merely a rough indicator of your child’s progress toward mastery. While you don’t want your child to get lost and fall behind (especially in a subject like math that builds upon itself), learning is a process and an I or even an N might reflect that your first grader is still at the beginning of that process.

While systematic instruction in phonics is critical for reading, I think most first graders skills can best be supported more casually. Here’s a thread where I posted some ideas for supporting a child with math:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1203320.page#27433180

If other subjects are of concern, let me know. I may be able to offer suggestions to support them, as well.

Agree with this. An ‘I’ merely means this learning is in progress and not fully mastered which in an of itself is not a problem. Not if you’ve noticed a trend of this across K-1 in the same subject then yes do some more work at home/tutor. But I’d start with a conference just to get a better understanding and look at the work they bring home.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I am going to get more clarification from the teacher this week. I don't think math is an issue from what I can tell, but I think she is not confident in reading. The tutoring is helping a lot and she is getting more excited about reading.

When we have spoken briefly in the past the teacher has seemed a little reticent to share concerns and I am trying to think of how to make her comfortable being candid.