Late reader? My DD is in first grade... UPDATE

[lenshanem]

My DD is in first grade. She struggled a bit last year, but I really worked with her over the summer. I thought I had got her up to speed, but it appears she is still very behind in reading. My MIL had bought her the old Dick & Jane series and she is reading that great, but it seems she is memorizing all the words by sight, can't grasp blending sounds to make words she doesn't recognize. Course, the school isn't using Dick & Jane so you can imagine how behind she is. I'm not in denial, I have always kinda known she takes a little longer to catch onto things, but it just seems they expect them to be reading at such a high level already. Anyone else go thru this?

UPDATE - I did have conference with my daughter's teacher yesterday. I think the teachers are now starting to see what I was worried about. I will be taking her to an eye doctor for a complete workup, including perceptional? And contacting the lead teacher to get testing in motion. Something isn't right. She is doing well in math, but her reading and writing is not so good. I don't know if I mentioned this later in this thread, but I did out of curiosity have her tested for the gifted program and she did well on it, which further intensified my worries she might have an LD.

Wish us luck!

 

[Otto's Doll]

Can't help, but sending a , I know how frustrating it is to have a child be a "late bloomer" at something (I have a DS who was very late in writing, and still has problems with Fine Motor Skills, however, don't give up.. he is in advanced classes now in 6th grade!) Call the teacher, and find out all the help that is available to your daughter.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What did the school say about this? Is she in a special class for reading this year?

 

[dumboiu]

My youngest daughter once proudly told me "Look Mommy, I can read.......this word is "a"". She was in kindergarten or first grade at the time. She was clearly a slow starter in reading. However, by 5th grade, she was reading at a 10th grade level. Now in college, she is the shinning star in all her English classes (as well as other classes). She is a 4.0 student and fluent in the German language (and all the associated grammar) as well. So...........my word of advice is, just let her learn things at her own pace. Work with her, but realize that some children take a bit longer to learn.......and that is okay.

 

[disykat]

Please don't panic. Of course, you should work with her on phonics skills, etc. but MANY kids are not reading at this point.

How is her physical development? My dad (who is a pediatrician) and I (who taught first grade) decided once that you don't worry about a child not reading etc. if they haven't lost their front teeth yet. If she has a large sight word vocabulary she is obviously bright and it will probably suddenly click for her. When I was teaching, many of my students had "lightbulb moments" around January or February. While, of course, you'll want to continue to give her some extra help, please don't see it as a forgone conclusion that she's a slow learner - especially if she does okay in other areas. My dh was his high school valedictorian and remembers finally figuring out how to read in 3rd grade.

I'm always amazed that we push kids so hard so early. All the child development theories (like Piaget etc.) that I learned about in college in the late 70's and early 80's have apparently gone out the window.

 

[meeshi]

My ds has a learning disability and had a really tough time learning to read. We would read the "Bob Books". Have you ever heard of them? They were such a confidence booster for him. They start out really, really easy and then work up. They're phonics based and I believe they helped ds.

Here's a link to the website http://www.bobbooks.com/bobbooks.htm though I'm sure you can find them used on ebay or somewhere.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

My DS is in first grade as well, and only knows some sight words. It takes him some time to sound words out. My first hurdle was to stop comparing him to his "reading way above grade level" sisters. He is a June baby so he's late--and everyone goes at their own speed. He has the vocabulary of an adult (not profanity, LOL, but says things like "I don't appreciate that") so when he gets it, he'll really move fast. Just have to be patient.
Robin M

 

[lenshanem]

Last year on the advice of her ped I asked her teacher to request she be tested. I kinda got the run around and was told to wait until this year. Now a full month into the school year I've been told she will most likely qualify for Early Intervention Program, but this was only after I asked about it. I guess it hasn't started yet. She was in this program last year, too and I'm not too sure how much it helped.
It aggravates my hubby to no end when I try to talk to him about this, but i have always thought since she was little she might have ADD. It runs in my family, too. She has no focus at all. Doodles all over her paper when I try to sit down with her and do her homework. It amazes me the things she remembers, but then try to sit and teach her soemthing...
I hope they'll test her this year. I know every kid can't be a perfect scholar, I just keep hoping she'll catch on.

And what age should they really be reading already?

 

[Rock'n Robin]

My DS is in first grade as well, and only knows some sight words. It takes him some time to sound words out. My first hurdle was to stop comparing him to his "reading way above grade level" sisters. He is a June baby so he's late--and everyone goes at their own speed. He has the vocabulary of an adult (not profanity, LOL, but says things like "I don't appreciate that") so when he gets it, he'll really move fast. Just have to be patient.
Robin M

 

[lenshanem]

We have used the Bob books. She is memorizing the words, not sounding them out. Totally doesn't grasp that at all.

She also hasn't lost her front teeth yet. I've heard that before, too. What a funny thing!

At what point should I start being concerned? If she is not reading by the end of the year?

She has a pretty strict teacher this year I think and she told me last night her stomach gets butterflies in class. I hate that she is already feeling sick to her stomach about learning! Stress at such an early age? She gets frustrate very quickly when trying to read, too.

 

[zurgswife]

Originally posted by Otto's Doll
Can't help, but sending a , I know how frustrating it is to have a child be a "late bloomer" at something

Why would you call a first grader who doesn't read yet a "late Bloomer"..... My dd hasn't even begun to to learn to read yet....It's not even taught until 1st grade in our school....

I think kids these days are expected to do way to much learning way too early....they are kids for crying out loud....my 3 older ones learned reading at the same school and at the same pace....2 out of 3 are way above grade level...my oldest son is very very dyslexic so his level is different.... but I can't believe people actually think that a 1st grader that can't read yet is a "late Bloomer"

 

[KimR]

I'm dealing with this with my 1st grader as well. Her teacher hasn't said anything about her being behind in reading but she just seems to be struggling so much. She knows her sight words and is fairly well at sounding things out but lacks fluency and seems to be working so hard to read the text that she is not comprehending the material. Also, when sounding out words, she doesn't catch on when a word doesn't make sense in the context of the sentence or, worse yet, when it is not a word at all!

My older DD was already reading chapter books independently by the end of kindergarten; however she was a very advanced reader so I can't really compare DD6 to her. I honestly don't know what is 'normal' or 'average' for this age but it seems she should be doing better by now. I try not to stress and worry about it but it's hard when we read night after night and I see so little progress. I'm hoping that one of these days it will just 'click' with her but in the meantime we are struggling.

Also her testing results are just plain strange which is another topic altogether I guess. My older DD is in 7th grade and has breezed through school with straight A's but I have a feeling things aren't going to be so easy this time around.

 

[chrissie123]

My DD is going through this now, but she is 11 & as just started secondary school.I do`nt want to alarm you, but we thought dd could read, when really she could`nt.. She got herself through infant school(not).. (because i knew there was something not right,& school chose to ignore it.) She was choosing the books that had been read to her & memorising them, then when it came to her reading them back ... Well everyone thought she was reading("Absolutely nothing to worry about Mrs Goulden" Thats what i was told...).When she got into the juniors it was a different story,if someone pointed to a word she could not read it, not even key words, (you can imagine the dismay can`t you.) Anyway they knew something was`nt right & got in all the outside agencies, & finally after 4 years they came up with Dyslexia...Sorry that is my DDs story it may not be the case for your DD she just may be a "late bloomer" I really hope she gets through this,either way... It`s not easy & you are all in my thoughts. It`s not the end of the world,as i was told by my Mum, & do you know..... She`s right

 

[lenshanem]

zurgswife, when did you find out your son was dyslexic? Did the school test him?

Another thing is her younger sister at 3 picks up on things really quick. I hope this doesn't frustrate her even more down the road when she sees how easily things come to her sister...

 

[lenshanem]

chrissie123, this is odd that dyslexia has now been mentioned twice.

My cousin who I don't see too often is also around 12? and has severe dyslexia. Her mother sat with my daughter a couple times trying to work with her and she thought she might have dyslexia, too, but this was last year when she was only 5.

My DD is definitely memorizing everything, gets really frustrated and loses interest almost immediately.

 

[Dancind]

Lots of valid points here, but here's another one. My DD was the same way. Turns out she is a visual-spatial learner, and could not for the life of her understand the phonics method of learning to read. She does have ADD, and CAPD, and (didn't know this then) she is highly gifted. But she was convinced she couldn't read, (in spite of the fact that she had been recognizing words for a while) because she could not fathom what the teacher was trying to get her to do. The teacher was mean, too, that didn't help. Anyway, I picked up a copy of a book "Your Right-Brained Child in a Left-Brained World" and used the techniques they suggested. It involved writing words she didn't know in color. I bribed her too, that really helped! LOL After this and a teacher change, she was reading 3rd grade level by the end of 1st grade.

V-S kids tend not to be terribly verbal, but are whizzes at things like puzzles.

 

[lenshanem]

V-S kids tend not to be terribly verbal, but are whizzes at things like puzzles.

DD is very verbal. Too verbal?

 

[DisMN]

Our granddaughter was in second grade last year and was behind everyone else in her reading skills. She was WAY behind in fact.............but by April of this year she suddenly "got it" which I think happens quite often.
She was still seeing words and letters backwards too which made us worry about dyslexia. We have some severe dyslexia in the family so it was always in the back of our minds.

As I said she really picked up on the reading skills around April. In June, she was reading out loud to me in bed one night and came across the word "Carnegie" as in Carnegie Hall. She didn't hesitate or stumble on the word......she read it with ease.

If I were you I wouldn't worry too much yet. Just keep poking away at practice words as much as you can.

Good luck. It's not easy to NOT worry about this stuff.

 

[chrissie123]

Lenshanem...
This is the reason i thought my dd was dyslexic-
Lack of concentration
Not communicating,everything, I just knew something was`nt right(Mothers instinct i suppose). Anyway when she started school i thought they might pick up on what i`d told them., but they did`nt . I told them she gets easily distracted, or bored, does`nt register things properly... Do you know on the 1st day of reception class (she`d have been 5 then)The teacher asked them to find thier names on the board & sign in... DD could`nt do it.(warning bells)I told the teacher she was having difficulty doing this & well was just fobbed off basically I was told she would learn when she was ready...That was reception... year 1 i was told nothing to worry about... year2 i was really anxious because she still could not read & write...Then year3 she was finally noticed as special needs & thats when everything got moving... like i said previously though it`s taken 4 years to actually get proof that she is dyslexic unfortunately DD has been "labled"Dyslexic but i also know through outside agencies that she has dyspraxia, At 11yo my girl as the reading age of 5y9mths & the writing skills of the same...Me as a Mum knew she had learning difficulties, but unfortunately because she does`nt have behavoural problems she slipped through the net.. Thats the way the education system works in the uk... If you don`t kick off you don`t get noticed...

 

[zaxmom]

My son is in the first grade. He is a good reader. I just wanted to tell you about his homework. The teacher is sending home pretty easy books to read. She is using them to make sure they are getting the comprehension and not just spitting out the words. She has them do a picture walk through the book first, teaches the about context and using clues to figure out what a word might be. Then she wants them to read the book and we should ask questions like what happened first, etc. My son developed good phonics skills from Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh cards. He was always asking us what they said and we would ask him to spell the name and we would sound it out as he was spelling it. We accidently bought the International version of Pokemon cards, so it was pretty tough for all of us. You really have to find something to interest them.

My friends son is in a private school and is repeating Kindergarten for many reasons, but mainly reading. I think Dick & Jane books are mainly sight words, so if she is just doing that than that is great. She will need harder books to really get into sounding words out and blending letters. Dr. Seuss Books are great for beginners. My sons first real book was Green Eggs and Ham. It took him about 20 mins. to read it.