Advice needed - grandson struggling to read at end Year 1

Thank you for the link MiniMouse, it was very interesting. It seems a lot of these problems are inherited. You are definitely right regarding my GD seeing a specialist not an optician, I think the sooner the better.

Faye Here's a link to a company that make reading rulers/overlays etc for helping children (or adults for that matter!) who struggle with black text on white pages, but may also be useful for changing the colour of pages that are the 'wrong' colour for others to be able to read.

www.thedyslexiashop.co.uk/coloured-reading-rulers.html

Also worth checking if your GD has scotopic sensitivity. You need a specialist to test for this, not an optician.

Lindylou my six year old GD has been having the same problem. My daughter has had GD's eyes tested twice and looked into dyslexia. Just in the last week while visiting I noticed she couldn't read on coloured pages. She has been losing confidence and her teacher has said "oh well, that's just her." My GD has an amazing memory and so it has been puzzling that when reading she couldn't remember words she had been helped with in the previous sentence. Then she would read a book quite well and we would think, finally she is getting better at reading. Then the next day she couldn't read very well, it's been very frustrating. She was also squinting when reading and had asked her teacher if she could sit closer if the teacher was writing on the board. She is also learning French and is doing very well and has no trouble reading French words out loud, which we now realise are in black print on white pages.

After doing a search on the Internet I have looked at colour blind children, one in twelve boys are colour blind in red/green alone. (my son can't distinguish between blue and grey). There is probably a child who is colour blind in every class. They have problems reading on coloured paper and teachers seem to be unaware.

I then started reading about children who are coloured sensitive. Then I read about children who are long sighted, I read somewhere that those children have problems reading print on coloured pages. Being long sighted can be inherited. I think this might be my GD's problem. She will have to have her eyes tested again by someone who is more aware of other problems besides being short sighted.

Coloured pages are now widely used because it makes it easier for children with dyslexia to read but is causing problems for other children. I hope more teachers become aware of this.

He's only six and children learn at different rates. Perhaps he has also picked up on grown-ups' anxieties and now feels anxious about "failing". It might have been sheer panic that caused him to be unable to answer questions about household objects, etc., and his mind just went "blank".

I'm not an expert - and correct me if I'm wrong teachers on here - but just reading to him and talking about the illustrations together and discussing what might happen next may take the pressure off him and make reading seem like a pleasurable activity.

Although I don't remember, Mum told me that I was slow to pick up reading. They didn't put any pressure on me but we went to the library every week and I picked out the books I liked the look of. By the age of around 12/13 I was reading adult books.

Thank you for all the comments, you have all been very nice. You have have all made me feel much better tonight about the situation.

Brendawymms I think you are correct, the trouble is, school think he is failing the educational system whereas I think the system is failing him.

Notso I have had a look at the Reading Egg it looks very good, I will see if I can get him started on it.

DD2 has started using the Reading Egg system for DGSs...both have dyslexia. They love using it and are making good progress.

readingeggs.co.uk/

My son had no interest in reading. He did not like stories and would not try. His teacher was wonderful and sourced some non fiction, At the Airport was one. As soon as he had something he was interested in he was off. He read all the Famous Five books when he was 8 or 9, and had developed a taste for a good story. The school he attended did not teach phonetics but taught word recognition. This seems to have fallen out of favour now.

Yes I do agree with the worrying too early but if the child is being labeled as a slow reader etc. they will pick up on that, so my daughter ensured that their confidence was re-built and it worked splendidly. I think that the problem is that there are too large class sizes when it is easy to label a child rather than finding the time to ensure he/she succeeds. Some of the cuts has had a detrimental effect and extra help in various forms have been cut. I am also not convinced that educationalists have all the tools yet to deal with the problems presented.

Sorry. People worry too much and too early...

Well said, brendawymms. I think people too much and too early. My eldest brother struggled with reading until he was about nine. It didn't stop him getting into medical school when he was eighteen and having a successful career as a GP.

I don't think you need to worry yet, lyndylou.

Children learn to read in different ways, phonics are not the be all and end all despite what Gove says. Some reading schemes are boring, especially for children with imaginations. Our children start too young, and are on a treadmill, because of the pressure of SATS and league tables. I taught primary children for nearly 30 years, and saw fads is teaching reading come round several times! Take the pressure off if you can and don't let the school get away with anything you think is not right. You have a right to be consulted when reports are written. How can you help him if you don't know what the problem is. Have you tried the Dr. Seus books My GD was read to from birth, loved stories and books, but wasn't in the slightest bit interested in reading herself. Now, in America where they didn't put any pressure on her, at 9 she is a fluent read.

that should read HAS a super job!!!! GOD

Mu son couldn't read at 10 and now has a masters - decided not to go for a PHD and hasn't a super job so don't despair. Dyslexia if that what it is seems to run in families as my son, his father and grandsons all suffer from it, what his parents have to do is to be extremely vigilant though as they don't always get the proper support from school. My daughter has to pay for extra tuition which always pays off splendidly and we have much happier and high achieving grandchildren who cannot necessarily thank the school.

Your grandson isn't having difficulty learning to read. It's the teachers who haven't found they way he needs to Learn.
I was always telling my daughter that she only had teaches who had not found how to teach her not the she had a learning handicap.

Thanks Elegran; Minimouseand Vampire Queen, Some very useful information, I shall be googling again tonight. He has been wearing patches over one eye for short periods for his lazy eye and has been seeing the specialist at the hospital since he was a baby, but they say they have done as much as they can now. They say his reading should not be affected by it now he has the glasses, but I will check out scotopic sensitivity. What did we do before Google? Although I must admit sometimes the web just leaves me more confused!

Nelliemoser, he was a Dec baby, and started reception at 4 and 8 months and Year 1 a year later, so he has had 2 years at school, but being an only child and a bit shy, he did seem to take a while to feel confident at the big school (reception was in a quiet side unit across the road from the main school).

Thanks to everyone for responses, I have to go out for a while, so I'm not being rude. I will be back on line tonight.

Thanks, trisher, for taking the time to write your lovely post. I am trying not to get too wound up about the school but you are right, they haven't kept us informed and the report was a complete bombshell. However we do have to work with them and I will be asking them if they think dyslexia is a possibility.

I have written a little report with all the positive things that he can do that I can think of and I will be asking if a copy can sit in his records, just to show them that there is more to him that just the way he is at school. Even if no-one reads it, it makes me feel better!

lyndylou Another question is how old was your grandson when he started school? Was he one of the older ones or one of the youngest?

I am not a teacher but I would suggest that things like the school SATS and school league tables have a lot answer for. "If he does not do well it will spoil our schools success rate." So the school put pressure on.
The more the poor lad feels pressured and that he is "failing" the more likely he is to get really anxious about not being able to read.
Perhaps he needs the pressure taken off for a while?

He could have dyslexic problems. These can cover a quite varied range of subtle cognitive difficulties and not just being unable to read words off the page. Strange things can happen with "working memory" and "visual memory" etc which cause problems.

If I were you, I would suggest his parents look to the possibility of Dyslexia and try and get a proper assessment for Dyslexia by an educational psychologist?

My experience of being Dyslexic was that I could read very well early on but I had other literacy problems including writing and organising work. This meant poor performance in exams which in the 1950s/60s were just put down to my laziness.
My Dyslexia was eventually suspected and diagnosed with help from the OU when I was I was 52.

Thanks Scardeycat1, relaxed is definitely not a word that is usually applied to me, but I have been trying to keep the reading very laid back, while keeping to a fixed schedule so he knows he has to do some. I don't want to put him off reading so I am trying not to stress him out over it all. We do look for signs etc while we are out and do alphabet jigsaws and baby scrabble etc, but he is very astute about things that he thinks of as "work".

I admit Nana must try harder at word games, sitting still and playing games has never come easy to me, so I will take that on board.

Try putting tinted acetate over the page to see if that helps.

What is your GS interested in? Does he like cars, robots, dinosaurs etc? Take him to the library and look in the non-fiction section. Choose books that have lots of pictures. Let him begin to enjoy books without worrying that he'll have to read words.

Play Junior Scrabble. The easy side has the words on the boards and you simply put in the letters. Make it family fun time and he won't even think of it as learning.

Above all don't worry because he'll know if you're stressed even if you hide it. Then he'll get stressed. Boys sometimes take longer to click into reading. I've had boys come to me at Year 3 who were reading at Year 1 level then suddenly for no apparent reason they took off as if something just triggered in their brains. If he turns out to be dyslexic there is a lot of help available right up to university level.

Yes you're right Elegran There are also special rulers with a tinted 'window' in them to help children & help them follow the lines of text.

I seem to remember hearing that tinted glasses help some children to see the words better.

Lindylou You mentioned that your GS wears glasses & has a lazy eye. It is possible that he may also have scotopic sensitivity. If you Google it you'll find plenty of information. This is not tested for at the opticians, you would need to see a specialist unfortunately.

Dyslexia is quite complex & manifests itself in many different ways, it's not just back-to-front letters or words, it's more to do with processing information, e.g. fluent readers who have no idea what they have just read.

Feel free to pm me if it would help.

Sorry about that strange word phonrtics.

He may be one of the many children who are better with whole words than with phonrtics - children who can recognise words like "elephant" but have trouble putting together d-o-g to make dog.

If I were you I would ease up on him about actually reading for a little while and let him relax about it. (except for reading him stories and talking with him about what happened in the story - that will show how much he is understanding iit, as against memorising the sentences in it so as to repeat them.)

Concentrate on games that involve distinguishing shapes that are almost the same, and finding rhyming words, that sort of thing.

I Googled child having difficulty with phonics and found quite a lot of stuff about problems like this. Here is one page - boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=639959

Firstly Lindylou I think your grandson's treatment by the school is not just unfeeling but absolutely negligent. Ask to see their Special Needs Policy and if it doesn't say that parents and carers should always be told of any worries or interventions the school is planning then it should! New guidelines come into place this month about Special Needs and this is one of the most important changes- that parents are the people who best know the child and they must be included. That said it probably doesn't make you feel any better. So advice on your DGS. Firstly he may be dyslexic, very young to test yet but it is a possibility. If he is you will have need to put in lots of time and effort and it may be he will never read at the same level as other children. The important thing is to realise that literacy isn't the be-all and end-all schools make it out to be. Dyslexic people are often talented in other areas- the number of successful people in the creative arts who are dyslexic is incredible. In fact the idea that your DGS can retell stories makes me think he may be dyslexic. If so it will be hard for him. I have a DS who is severely dyslexic, had real problems with school, dropped out of full time education when he was 14, but happily eventually went back and is now completing an MA. Just keep telling him that he is talented, point out what he is good at and keep building up his self confidence. Try to build a relationship with the school but remember you are his champion and know him best. (If you think I am biased against schools I am a retired teacher so I have seen things from both sides!)