Help me understand if my kid is in "normal" range. He's 6.5 and in first grade at an international school in HK (English-speaking family). He still isn't really reading, though he knows all his letters and can pick out a few words. He is also not really interested in writing, although when I make him do it (in a fun way), he can reasonably jot down a few words.
Many kids in his class are already reading chapter books and can write narrative text with surprisingly good legibility and spelling. Should I follow the teacher's advice and keep doing what we're doing (reading to him constantly, keeping it fun, etc.) and assume that he'll eventually get it? Or, should we be finding a tutor who can help in catch up.
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cd
16 yrs ago
My daughter is 6 1/2 too, her reading is very good, but I know there are kids in her class who are a lot better, there are also kids who are not up to her level. Same with the writing, there's many different levels in the class. Keep on with what you're doing at the moment. Get him to read to you everyday, a book thats at his level so he's not struggling and feels good in himself that he can read it, and keep reading to him so that he has a real enjoyment of books. Stick notes around the house on the table, chairs, fridge etc so he learns everyday objects. Get him to practice his writing by maybe keeping a diary, just a few lines a day, or writing your shopping lists for you, or writing little letters to his dad etc.
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Thanks for these thoughts. The ideas are good and I'll try them. Many thanks.
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Hi
We were in a similar situation and now my boy is reading chapter books and he will be 7 in Oct. My sister is a teacher in UK and always told me not to worry and she was right!! He had a massive spurt literally overnight mainly because he knew all the sounds and basically we didn't put any pressure on him. Research in Finland which has the best literacy rates in the world show that by starting reading at age 7 they will soak up everything and learn to read v quickly. So my advice is not to worry and I am sure you will shortly be telling him to put his book down as I am now!
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I agree that kids will learn reading in spurts. I didn't push my first child and she got behind, so i pushed my second one, but they both turned out about the same, however, the problem lies in how your child feels, which is why i gently pushed my second child. i started by asking him to read the last word on a page, then the last word in a sentence. i found the jolly phonics books very helpful. i have to admit, i also bribed my second child. he iddn't want to sit and read so i gave him a dollar HK per page and we made some trips to the Japan Home store. He thought i was correct to reward his hard work and now he reads fr the sheer pleasre of it it. ogod luck.
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Agree with cd. Our 6 year old was behind in reading about a year agao and gained confidence by reading books appropriate or her level. These were significantly behind the rest of the class but by starting to recognise words when I read to her, she then started to read sentences, every second page etc. This was all driven by her. Now she reads much more difficult books, similar to those her classmates and absolutely loves them. Now she has the confidence to attempt to read anything, but it was a slow process.
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TIM2C
16 yrs ago
It's hard when your child seems to be behind - you want them to excel, not be one of kids that needs alot of help. But really it's not something to worry too much about. The Waldorf Steiner schooling approach believes that children are not ready for reading and writing until they are about 7. When they are ready they will do it.
And remember that boys are generally slower at reading and writing than girls. He will no doubt be ahead in other areas whether that be physical, mathematical, social, etc. Just think about the range of when babies learn to crawl or walk. Some can walk at 9 months and some don't walk until 18 months or older. It's the same with any school work - there is always a wide range.
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