We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading

[Anonymous]

I would ask teacher to send home books at their level weekly and maybe read one a day or every other day. It is really hard to find easy readers at the beginning levels that are not too hard right when they are learning to read. Also ask teacher if he has access to a reading game like Reading Eggs or Lexia, that they can do maybe 15 or 20 minutes at home. Hopefully this will give extra practice with decoding words, learning phonics patterns, and learning sight words.

[Anonymous]

Ask for an evaluation. This sounds like my daughter who wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until fifth grade. I believed all the excuses the teachers gave me and I am still pissed about it. FCPS fails kids in reading all.the.time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.We read to him daily and a few times a week we read a Bob book or similar level together (trying to avoid reading at home becoming a chore).

He can work through some of the easier Bob books but many are too hard. Every word is a challenge even if he just decoded that word on the last page so he gets tired quickly and sight words still aren't clicking consistently.

To clarify, not blaming school or teacher-l (this year's or last year's) just trying to figure out how long to ride this out under be patient, everyone is catching up at different speeds vs panic- time to pull out all the stops.

If he’s trying that hard and it’s not working, I would not do nothing. I don’t know what though, maybe a reading specialist? It’s possible it’s fine but you don’t need to wait until he’s really, really behind to see if he can get some help.

[Anonymous]

I’ve worked with kids one-on-one and taught them to read, using phonics, decoding, sight words, etc. Do they try to do these things as an entire class? I think one-on-one work is so important, but as a high school teacher with more than 150 kids, it’s near impossible to schedule, and if I do it after-hours, it’s unpaid, so it’s hard to prioritize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask for an evaluation. This sounds like my daughter who wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until fifth grade. I believed all the excuses the teachers gave me and I am still pissed about it. FCPS fails kids in reading all.the.time

I imagine reading is difficult to teach to thirty kids at a time. If kids don’t pick it up or have parents or private tutors who work with them on it, I think they are pretty much screwed.

[Anonymous]

With reading you do not want to use a wait and see technique. You are setting your child up to be behind and it is hard to catch up. Reading is the foundation of everything. When my child was behind in 1st, we immediately found a language arts tutor and started an intense program which involved weekly tutoring, and my working daily with my child after school on reading. It was hard. But it worked. It was the best investment we made. I would start with a reading tutor which you can continue with in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All you have to do is read with your child everyday. I know it’s hard to put down the phone and video games etc but read with him. GOG to the library together and get books that he wants to ready about topics he is interested in. Also, play board games.

What a needlessly obnoxious comment. Lots of kids are struggling after the two years, and not because their parents are looking at their phones instead of reading to them. Asshole.

DP but I don’t think this poster is wrong about people looking at or playing with their phones too much. It’s a near impossible habit to break these days.

[Anonymous]

You really have to do the work at home. They don't learn to read at school because they spend all their time at stations goofing around. Does your school send home books weekly? It's really crucial to work through those every day. It's the repetition that results in reading. With my DD, the first two days of reading any book were VERY VERY TOUGH. She would struggle and want to quit. But then on Wed, it was easier, Thurs was easier, and Friday she was reading it. Then we'd start all over with the difficulty the next week with new books.

I had no idea we were supposed to be doing this with her in kindergarten. So when I realized she was behind in fall of first grade, I started working with her. She went from a DRA 4 to an 18. In 2nd grade she got 99th percentile on COGAT verbal. You just have to put the time in and repeat, repeat, repeat with the same book.

[Anonymous]

If BOB books continue to be hard, I’d look to Decoding Dyslexia VA to find an orton gilingham tutor.

I agree that BOB books are boring, but they are decodable. Read aloud a are good for helping an emerging reader remember text is fun, and audio books. Decodable books give the sense of accomplishment.

[Anonymous]

He's being overlooked. The class is too big and the teacher is too preoccupied with a host of other things.

Kinderg was a dumpster fire for him last year, right? - 100% online? No 5 yr old can learn effectively that way not to mention grasp basic reading fundamentals (dies he even know what sound the letter "t" makes? Mine didn't).

So it's not uncommon for 1st graders to be seemingly behind. And not all parents are as vested at home with reading to their kids daily. So, take heart Op, you're on the right track, but that final link between letters/sounds/word (and reading comprehension, but focus on that later, get sight words under control) is always tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM will tell you to get a tutor and then they will malign FCPS for failing your child. I will tell you to trust the teacher. My son did not read until the latter part of 2nd grade, but once he got it, he soared above everybody else. It’s a developmental skill that some kids get early and some kids get late, and it sounds like your teacher is seeing progress. In the meantime, you can try using something called “word ladders” to help (you can find worksheets online), and please keep reading to your child. My late reader ultimately became a voracious reader, to the point that he got in trouble in class because he could not put his books down. He read the Divine Comedy “for fun” and everything else under the sun. Your DS will get there!

This is horrible advice! Teachers these days, especially young ones, are never totally honest about how poorly your child may be doing compared to others. They are afraid to say how poorly they are doing because it will look bad on them as teachers and then they will be expected to do more work for your child.

Never rely on just the school to catch your kid up, especially in reading. If your child is behind, you do the work at home with a tutor etc to get your child up to speed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am having a hard time imagining a kid who can't read being ok in 2nd grade in any subject.

Teacher isn't concerned because DS is showing progress even though well below grade level still.

I was giving it time, understanding challenges of last year but I am starting to panic a bit thinking that this school year will be over before we know it.

What would you do??

Forget “all you need to do is read to him” you are WAY past that! Get All About Reading Level 1 and start one lesson each day. Yes, you need to do it, don’t rely on school or teacher to do it for you. You want your child to succeed? You need to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All you have to do is read with your child everyday. I know it’s hard to put down the phone and video games etc but read with him. GOG to the library together and get books that he wants to ready about topics he is interested in. Also, play board games.

This is not true at all. Your son needs focused phonics instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask for an evaluation. This sounds like my daughter who wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until fifth grade. I believed all the excuses the teachers gave me and I am still pissed about it. FCPS fails kids in reading all.the.time

Teacher. Agree with this. That said, even if your child is identified and starts to receive services, you're going to have to intensively work on the issue yourself. There is no amount of services a school can provide for 6 hours a day that will compensate for the deficits during the other hours your child isn't at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's being overlooked. The class is too big and the teacher is too preoccupied with a host of other things.

Kinderg was a dumpster fire for him last year, right? - 100% online? No 5 yr old can learn effectively that way not to mention grasp basic reading fundamentals (dies he even know what sound the letter "t" makes? Mine didn't).

So it's not uncommon for 1st graders to be seemingly behind. And not all parents are as vested at home with reading to their kids daily. So, take heart Op, you're on the right track, but that final link between letters/sounds/word (and reading comprehension, but focus on that later, get sight words under control) is always tough.

If your kid doesn't know the names and sounds of the letters, why are you complaining? That's pretty basic stuff. Teach that at home.