I need to hold my child back in 1st grade (Fairfax County) - please help with next steps!

[Anonymous]

If you hold her back with a diagnosed learning disability she will likely fall to the bottom of her new class too. Repeating 1st grade isn’t going to make a difference and she will know. When she’s in 5th grade she will know she’s older than everyone and still struggling. Focus instead on improving her “specialized instruction.” OG tutor. Make sure they’re using the right specialized reading program for her needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other option is homeschool and have her repeat first grade. Then enroll her in Linda mood bell intensive instruction for 2 hours a day for the fall. Work with her all year then enroll her in second grade the following year. So much better to intensively remediate now when she is young. Don’t send her to second grade now!

I love how pulling your kid to homeschool is thrown around these forums as an “option”. Not everyone has the privilege or ability to stay at home.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised no one mentioned hiring an advocate or attorney to help with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised no one mentioned hiring an advocate or attorney to help with this.

Student doesn't have an IEP. Even if the student did, what rights are being violated by placing the child in the age-appropriate grade? The school can instruct the student in first grade at her current level. Allowing parents to decide what grade to place their child in would open a can of worms that no school system or judge would want to touch. It would interrupt with how schools plan their classes & staffing.

[Anonymous]

I knew our daughter had dyslexia spring of her 1st grade year. She finally finished testing through the county the following September (2020). Repeating a grade wouldn't have helped her. I'm not sure which FCPS elementary you are attending, I can tell you that some are better than others. Mosby Woods (now Mosaic) is horrible. I don't think the Principal even says the word Dyslexia.

On the flip side Marshall Road has a great dyslexia support system. Perhaps you could try pupil placement to a neighboring school if they have a better setup?

Our daughter in mid 2nd grade was reading at a DRA level 6. She's been doing Dyslexia Connect since the shutdown (when virtual failed her) and now a year and a few months later is at a 45 (mid-late 4th grade level). She's starting 4th grade in the fall at Oakwood. You can 100% get her reading level up on your own without the public schools.

Should you have to do that? Of course not, but at the start of the 2020 school year during the dyslexia webinar there were 8 OG trained staff for the entire county. 200 schools and roughly 20,000 kids who probably have dyslexia, clearly that is no where near enough.

[Anonymous]

What is her reading level? If she is at beginning of 1st grade level or below, I would pull her out and homeschool this year… dedicate this year teach her how to read to catch up, and bring her back to school next year to THEN enroll her in second grade.

If you have the $$, lindamood bell is your best option, and you wouldn’t even need to hold her back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is her reading level? If she is at beginning of 1st grade level or below, I would pull her out and homeschool this year… dedicate this year teach her how to read to catch up, and bring her back to school next year to THEN enroll her in second grade.

If you have the $$, lindamood bell is your best option, and you wouldn’t even need to hold her back.

There was a parent here who said she put her child in lindamood bell for an intensive 3 weeks program and told the school WHY the child would be missing those three weeks.

The boot camp worked.

Time is really of the essence here - you don’t want her to get to 3rd grade below the reading level, or at least, not below by much.

I’m sorry op.

[Anonymous]

Like others have said- holding your kid back do nothing because it will just be a repeat of the awful reading program and by the end of the holdback year- your daughter will be in the exact same place. Get a tutor or pay for lindamood bell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to hold her back, you need to get her intensive OG-based tutoring.

This. And there will be someone trained in OG at her school. FCPS is doing a massive training this summer. At least one literacy teacher from every school is getting trained AND a sped teacher.

Do not retain.

What training are they doing?

They are doing OG training, but it doesnt seem intensive/enough…we shall see. It is a step in the right direction! I find it hard to believe that one person trained per school will meet the needs of all the kids in a building who need OG.

If you can, spend the money for tutoring by a OG trained reading tutor, three times a week in your home. This will not go on forever. It took us four months to get up to grade level, so you are a looking at a one time cost of 3 x $~60 x 16 weeks = ~$3,000.

Unlikely the school will provide the required intensity to get your child's reading up to grade level. And do not wait. Our tutor, an experienced public school teacher, said if you do not fix this before second grade your child may never catch up.