Anonymous
Post 02/23/2022 12:08     Subject: Re:We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
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.


This is a red flag for me. I have a DS with severe dyslexia and he was similar. Funnily enough, he ‘progressed’ in first grade and received a DRA of 16 at the end. The problem was that he was really at a DRA of 4 (which is where he tested at the beginning of 2nd grade) They never revealed what happened with the high score at the end of 1st- my guess is that they gave him a test he had already seen- he has a great memory (except for acquiring sight words) and is/was a superlative guesser or they were extremely lenient or just put and out fudged the data. He finally got evaluated fall of 2nd grade, got an IEP in Feb and started with an experienced and trained reading tutor at the same time.

The ‘gift of time’ was detrimental for him. I would suggest getting your DC evaluated privately if you can afford it. The FCPS evaluation went as far as qualifying my DC for an IEP but stopped at finding the actual issues to be ameliorated. Early detection is important.

Finding a tutor who is experienced and trained in Orton-Gillingham methods like Wilson (not Fundations or Just Words which are for the general population), Barton or through ASDEC is important. Barton is packaged in a way that makes it easier for parents to do it at home if a tutor is not in the picture.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2022 11:15     Subject: Re:We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
You should read this thread also. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1029565.page
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2022 11:10     Subject: Re:We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Anonymous wrote:My daughter was slow to learn to read. She currently has a diagnosis of dyslexia and I pay for private OG therapy outside of school in addition to the support she gets in school through special education. She is in 4th grade.

HOWEVER, she showed a pattern of learning difficulties from as early as preschool. Couldn't identify all her letters going into Kindergarten, couldn't memorize sight words (she would look at the last letter and then just guess a word that started with that letter), couldn't rhyme, etc. Eventually, we noticed a distinct difference in her decoding vs encoding. She could LOOK at the word pig, for example, and say "pig." But if I asked her to spell the word, she had no idea. She'd say letters that had nothing to do with the word. This is when it became apparent (around 1st grade) that she was starting to survive by memorizing. We had her evaluated mid 2nd grade when the spelling didn't catch up to her perceived reading progress like the school kept telling me it would.

All this to say, if everything else seems okay and this is the first "red flag" you've seen, I'd be more inclined to say wait a bit. But if you've had any sort of nagging feeling that something's off for awhile now, I'd say go with your gut and start looking for more data from the school and possible evaluation.



I disagree. Dyslexia exists on a continuum and what is the harm in evaluating earlier? The harm in evaluating later is potentially huge. Those with milder dyslexia also survive by memorizing, in my experience, but it doesn't mean they don't need intervention as early as possible.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2022 08:44     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m not an educator so l don’t feel qualified to reply to this.

As a parent who had a kid who was slow to read though, l really wish the US would dial it back. Seems like kids are expected to learn everything a year earlier than when l was a kid. Finland starts teaching kids to read at 7 and they have the best public education outcomes in the world.


Finnish is a much easier language to learn in terms of reading and writing. About a year or so if instruction is all you need. Not so with English.


Yes, was coming to say this. English has a much deeper orthography.


I think English has an outdated orthography that makes it overly difficult to learn to read and write. There is no good reason for not reforming the spelling system, at least not any that are as important as making learning to read and write easier.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2022 07:29     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m not an educator so l don’t feel qualified to reply to this.

As a parent who had a kid who was slow to read though, l really wish the US would dial it back. Seems like kids are expected to learn everything a year earlier than when l was a kid. Finland starts teaching kids to read at 7 and they have the best public education outcomes in the world.


Finnish is a much easier language to learn in terms of reading and writing. About a year or so if instruction is all you need. Not so with English.


Yes, was coming to say this. English has a much deeper orthography.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2022 01:01     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


^^Isn't that what school is for ??^^^

Why is there a burden on "home" to teach? Sure, I'm fine with reading bedtime stories and helping with homework, but I'm not "teaching at home" like you are ordering me to do. I dont have a teaching degree so i lack the technique, resources, time, and effort. And I shouldn't have to "teach" my kid or pay extra for tutoring, or printout worksheets to supplement. FCPS should be doing that.
It's a common scenario for a lot of households.


Right, and FCPS is not doing it for a lot of kids. Bottom line, they don't care as much as you do about your own child. Teaching little kids to read doesn't require a lot of technique; patience, time, and a little insight into a kid's interests do the trick. There are loads of workbooks to make it less labor intensive. So it's your call whether you are willing to put in the extra time and effort (or $ if you choose to go the tutoring route).

Maybe in a different scenario, FCPS would be doing better but they just published data showing that 40% of the kids are significantly behind after the pandemic shutdown/virtual learning and are planning to introduce remedial learning as general education. That's going to force some parents who wouldn't otherwise do it to supplement, seek out tutors, or look into private schools.


I was an FCPS early reading teacher, and this is very untrue. Teachers DO care. Most of the do, anyway. And they care a lot. More than is even healthy. I used to not be able to sleep at night worrying about some of "my kids." I loved them and thought about them all the time.

But no matter how much they care, a lot of them just have no idea how to teach reading. FCPS has no idea how to teach reading. That's the real problem. Teachers just aren't trained to teach it anymore in a way that works. Most of them got a bunch of whole language nonsense in college and the county has no program at all to teach the phonetic system, so kids either figure it out or just don't learn to read until they get an evaluation for special ed or the parent teaches it at home. It's sad.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 14:18     Subject: Re:We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Op, it is Q3. Have you been seeing progress over Q1 and Q2?
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 10:16     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Get the $2.99 phonics flash card to work on with your kid first, then while read books along have your kid read to you, your kid should be able to sound out some words gradually, and you will help to correct the words kid has difficulty with. After you see progress move to hooked on phonics or just the take home books from school. The phonics is the basics and the most important.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 09:43     Subject: Re:We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Decorate = decodable reader
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 09:42     Subject: Re:We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
My daughter was slow to learn to read. She currently has a diagnosis of dyslexia and I pay for private OG therapy outside of school in addition to the support she gets in school through special education. She is in 4th grade.

HOWEVER, she showed a pattern of learning difficulties from as early as preschool. Couldn't identify all her letters going into Kindergarten, couldn't memorize sight words (she would look at the last letter and then just guess a word that started with that letter), couldn't rhyme, etc. Eventually, we noticed a distinct difference in her decoding vs encoding. She could LOOK at the word pig, for example, and say "pig." But if I asked her to spell the word, she had no idea. She'd say letters that had nothing to do with the word. This is when it became apparent (around 1st grade) that she was starting to survive by memorizing. We had her evaluated mid 2nd grade when the spelling didn't catch up to her perceived reading progress like the school kept telling me it would.

All this to say, if everything else seems okay and this is the first "red flag" you've seen, I'd be more inclined to say wait a bit. But if you've had any sort of nagging feeling that something's off for awhile now, I'd say go with your gut and start looking for more data from the school and possible evaluation.

Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 09:40     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Anonymous wrote:OP I don’t know what your budget is like, but it sounds like your kid might be close to getting overwhelmed and frustrated with your efforts. Maybe these posters are right and all it’s going to take is one of these books and more effort, but not if there’s an underlying issue like dyslexia. I personally would rule out that possibility before risking more needless frustration.

Getting testing takes time, so do both in parallel.

Working on basic phonics and sounding out words at home for 20-30 minutes a day won't be wasted time. No need to spend many hours a day, but a 1st grader who can't read needs to work on reading every. single. day. These are skills that build and need to be practiced.

Kids with dyslexia learn to read with direct systematic phonics instruction. Kids who aren't dyslexic also benefit from phonics instruction. Phonics and decorate readers (Bob books, Dear Dragon) are the way to go, as many many on this thread have suggested. There's no reason to wait on this.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 08:32     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
OP I don’t know what your budget is like, but it sounds like your kid might be close to getting overwhelmed and frustrated with your efforts. Maybe these posters are right and all it’s going to take is one of these books and more effort, but not if there’s an underlying issue like dyslexia. I personally would rule out that possibility before risking more needless frustration.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 07:11     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
We used the book “teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons” and it worked well in getting both kids to read. I highly recommend trying it out if your schedule allows.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 07:02     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
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


100% this. Don’t believe the teachers if you suspect something is wrong.
Anonymous
Post 02/22/2022 04:44     Subject: We are 3rd quarter of 1st grade and DS still isn't reading
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


^^Isn't that what school is for ??^^^

Why is there a burden on "home" to teach? Sure, I'm fine with reading bedtime stories and helping with homework, but I'm not "teaching at home" like you are ordering me to do. I dont have a teaching degree so i lack the technique, resources, time, and effort. And I shouldn't have to "teach" my kid or pay extra for tutoring, or printout worksheets to supplement. FCPS should be doing that.
It's a common scenario for a lot of households.


Right, and FCPS is not doing it for a lot of kids. Bottom line, they don't care as much as you do about your own child. Teaching little kids to read doesn't require a lot of technique; patience, time, and a little insight into a kid's interests do the trick. There are loads of workbooks to make it less labor intensive. So it's your call whether you are willing to put in the extra time and effort (or $ if you choose to go the tutoring route).

Maybe in a different scenario, FCPS would be doing better but they just published data showing that 40% of the kids are significantly behind after the pandemic shutdown/virtual learning and are planning to introduce remedial learning as general education. That's going to force some parents who wouldn't otherwise do it to supplement, seek out tutors, or look into private schools.