Reading...Ack!

[DocsNemesis]

Last year, I homeschooled my kindergartener, with the intention of keeping her on track with the public school. I only homeschooled because I was really left with no other option-my ds is in special ed at another school and his bus arrives at the same time as my daughters school starts-and we're supposed to walk her to school. Anyway, the logistics just didnt work.

Fast forward to now. She'll be in PS first grade this year. She's done fine with most of the concepts and really learned very quickly. She knew her basic phonics within 2 weeks. We've kept working on the basics the whole year-everytime I try to move further with reading, she gets stuck. She cant get the whole sound-it-out concept for some reason. She gets really frustrated. As such, she's still not reading. All the kids going into first grade are expected to know how to read.

I'm wondering what I should expect. I dont want them to try and make her repeat K-I mean, she's almost 7 for gosh sakes-and I dont feel like pushing her more will help as she tends to just kind of shut down under pressure. Do you think they'll just put her into a seperate reading class? I feel so bad, like I've failed her, but I've tried to get her reading Also, homeschooling her this year as well is not an option-I have to get a job and I have another baby on the way. 2 kids under 2 would not lend itself well to homeschooling!

Do you have any suggestions on getting her to a point where she is reading? Any supplemental material I could look into? I guess I'm just worried and I dont know anyone else who's had this problem. Blarg.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble!

[sunnmama]

I wouldn't worry too much. My dd started school in 2nd grade, after homeschooling. She was reading, but was behind in writing. She caught up *so quickly* just practicing every day at school. So, if she is ready to read, she will probably do so very quickly once she starts school.

If she isn't ready to read, that is ok, too. She is only 6, and it doesn't click for a lot of kids until 7ish. I don't think that is a reason to keep them in K for another year, if they are overall ready for 1st. Is your school district asking for evidence she can read at a certain level (testing?). My dd's school does 3 reading groups for each grade, mixing up the kids from each of the classes to comprise like-level groups. Most likely, your dd's class will already have a reading group for students at her level in first grade. They don't really expect all the kids to be at the same level at all.

[DocsNemesis]

No, all they asked was whether she was at level for everything. I told them she couldnt read yet and they just kinda looked at me like I'd sprouted a third head. It didnt occur to me to ask what they'd do at the time and now the schools are all closed until mid august.

I know they'll put kids in a special class if they're behind, but its pretty rare for any of the kids to not be reading by first grade. I know in my ds' class, none of the kids were in any sort of remedial reading. (This was a normal class, before he went to special ed)

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by DocsNemesis

I know they'll put kids in a special class if they're behind, but its pretty rare for any of the kids to not be reading by first grade.

This is from the AAP:

Most children learn to read by 6 or 7 years of age. Some children learn at 4 or 5 years of age. Even if a child has a head start, she may not stay ahead once school starts. The other students most likely will catch up during the second or third grade.
link

You haven't failed her. Most likely it just hasn't "clicked" yet. It is a developmental milestone, just like walking and talking. It's not a race, or a report card!

[karne]

I think that you will find that there are other children who either lost skills over the summer, or are very beginning readers going into 1st. And quite possibly, with reading help, your child will quickly be where the rest of the class is.

Someone is usually at school a few weeks before it starts. i would contact the principal/teacher then and discuss your concerns so that they have a heads up. If you read aloud a lot over the summer and take advanyage of books on CD that may help as well.

[DocsNemesis]

Yeah, I'm planning on talking with them once they get back, but theres a note on the school at the moment saying it will reopen August 12th. Same thing if I call-so I'm assuming all the staff is gone for now.

I'm sure she'll catch on pretty quickly. Maybe its just the way I'm teaching, I dont know...I've tried a few different methods, including the way I was taught and taught my son, but maybe its just one of those things where she needs just the right method for it to click. She's very smart-but very stubborn. If she doesnt like it, she'll just refuse to have anything to do with it. We're going to get back into doing the basics until school starts, we've been lax since its summer, but I want to make sure she at least remembers what she's learned so far-and who knows, maybe something will click!

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by DocsNemesis

. She's very smart-but very stubborn. If she doesnt like it, she'll just refuse to have anything to do with it.

If it is any comfort, that sounds just like my dd.

Her learning-to-read timeline:

6.5 yo....summer between K and 1st (homeschooling), she was struggling to sound out the easy-readers. The only reason she even tried (usually refused) is that she was doing a summer reading program at the library. She could read them, but it took effort and she hated it.

7.5 yo....summer before starting 2nd grade...she was just beginning to read Junie B Jones stuff.

8.5 yo (current summer btw 2nd and 3rd)....She's reading well about grade level. When it clicked, it just clicked.

[ChristaN]

Have you tried whole language or sight words? While both of my dds learned by phonics and I do believe that they are good to know, one of my girls is much more of a whole language reader (i.e. -- she tends to memorize whole words or pieces of words rather than sound them out letter by letter.)

Maybe you can get print out some Dolch sight words on little flash cards and play sight word bingo with her.

[DocsNemesis]

Yeah, I was trying to do the same as the public schools and combine the sight words with phonics. She does ok with sight words-until we move onto the new one. Then the old one is out of her head within a few minutes. When I try to practice sight words we've learned, she tends to focus on one or two, and cant remember the others...I'm not sure if this is a real issue or if its just something where she's hyperfocusing on certain words? Anywho, I'll try making a game out of it and see if that helps her retain them.

[Hatteras Gal]

I also homeschooled my dd for kindergarten but sent her to first grade at school. I knew what the kindergarten curriculum was so I pretty much kept to that. So she didn't learn to read but she went into first grade knowing all the sight words that were required, and knew all her sounds. I don't know of any of the kids she was in school with who could read at the beginning of the school year beyond "The cat was here" because those were all sight words that they learned. My dd is now 7 and going into 2nd grade and she is an amazing reader. I mean, it's possible she might just be an average reader but I am impressed.

[Alyantavid]

My son's class has lots of different reading levels. The ones that need some extra help leave the class part of the day for that help and that leaves the other kids time to work at their level.

I don't think all the kids in his class started first grade as very advanced readers. Alot of them were just getting all the sight words down at that point.

[eepster]

Going into 1st grade not reading, is hardly unheard of. If they suggest repeating K just say no. Once the click happens bright kids often catch up fast.

In case she is ready, but just isn't connecting to the method you've used, have you tried starfall.com or Bob Books? Especially with starfall, you could let her be pretty independent with it and then she wouldn't be fighting against you. I'd just make them available, but not force it.

[Emmeline II]

I've used:

The Electric Company (old ones)
Leap Frog (Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory, Code Word Caper, Story Book Factory).

He also loves "Word World," the new "Electric Company," "Between the Lions," and "Martha Speaks" (TV).

Ds did not do well when I tried to sit him down and teach; if he didn't like it he refused to participate. He does better with the videos.

He started reading Bob books at 4 and reads on a first grade level at 5 (he starts K at the end of August), which is much further ahead than dh and I could do at that age. I remember being in the bottom reading group in first grade.

[hottmama]

My son is going into 1st grade, has been homeschooled but will be in public school this year. He can read (if I bribe him) Bob books and easy readers but is not a fluent reader. A children's librarian told me that some of the books he reads are considered first grade level. I'd say he is an average reader among the kids we know who are going into 1st (all of whom went to school for K) and not far behind some who are going into 2nd.
My son is quite advanced in math and quite behind on handwriting (he still writes the first letter of his name backwards, for instance). No one expects every kid to be at the same level in every subject. I am sure they won't hold her back just because she can't read, she'll just need a little extra help until it clicks.

[Z1Z2]

IN DD's 1st grade class, the reading skills were widely scattered. There were kids reading chapter books and kids reading books with just a few lines per page. I don't think anyone was particularly worried about the wide range. Kids were just put into the small reading group that was appropriate for them. For the initial few weeks, DD was in a lower reading group. I never got the sense that anyone, neither the kids nor the teachers, thought there was anything shameful to being in one of those groups. That may change in higher grades, but in first grade, it was just one of those things. Express your concerns to the teacher, but I think your daughter will be fine in first grade. There will others at the same level as her.

Paula

[HipGal]

I used to teach first grade and I didn't expect the kids to come in reading. Does she know her letters/sounds? I would focus on that first, then move on to very short words like "at" or "it" that only combine two sounds. Does she like predictable books (like Brown Bear Brown Bear)? Many kids pick up sight words by learning the pattern of the books and "reading" them over and over.

Don't worry too much. Some kids tend to learn better from a teacher figure than a parent (I know my son is like this). She will learn to read! I bet you will be amazed by the end of first grade by how far she will progress.

The year I taught, one of the kids who wasn't reading at all at the beginning of the year ended up in the highest group by the end! You never know when something will click and if they still enjoy reading, they will progress super quickly. Maybe just focus on reading to her and making reading fun/exciting/meaningful for her.

[MattBronsil]

How is she able to break down phonetic three letter words and spell them if you dictate them to her? That's the next step I usually take to pre-reading.