Im needing some help/advise.
I have a 6 year old with ADHD she is on Ritalin.
She has hearing aids for bilateral sensorinural hearing loss.
She has just done her first week of grade one.
Last year in Prep she was given a word list such as; I, It, Sit, Is, In, A, At, Sat, The, Had. Those simple words. She still can not read them.
For the 6 weeks of the holidays we practiced the word THE. Weather it be in a book on a sign in public any where. She still doesn't know the word THE.
Im not sure where to go with this. Who do I talk to. We have NDIS, for speech therapy and OT. We have a new plan intake coming up in 2 weeks.
Im so worried, so lost. Im a full time single mum with no suport system where I am.
She is writing her name (only mid year of prep) but no other words. She is hating it now. Always runs off when I ask her a word. The other day she wrote her name completely back wards, last letter first second last letter next etc.
Is this something to be worried about?
Can any one point me in some sort of direction?
6 year old not reading
6 year old not reading
Posted in:
Mental Health, Sisterhood Stories, Kids
28 Replies
My son is almost 8, no diagnosis of any sort, and he still can’t read. Some kids get it quicker than others.
Just keep practicing.
Geez that’s really, really bad advice.
You need to get your child assessed for any learning disorders, sight, hearing checked. If you keep ignoring it, it will be very hard for your child to catch up.
I'm sorry but at 8 your child should be reading chapter books. It's really concerning that he can't read. What has his school said?
His school has said this is normal. Apparently this sort of reading doesn’t happen until year 2,3. He’s only starting year now.
Is he at a special school? I've worked at a school for years (a mainstream school) and that's definitely not normal
My son is in grade 4 but in grade 2 he was reading chapter books, as were almost all the kids in his class except the few who have learning difficulties.
This is most definitely not normal to not be reading at his age. Please get him checked.
I’ll just jump in and say that some children living with stress, poverty, poor sleep, family changes, things happening at home can definitely still be reading at a low level of home reader at the end of year 1. At some schools, majority of the class can be normal. In some areas of the country these kids have hardly been in a classroom their entire school history. Please don’t rush to tell this mum her child needs a diagnosis, mum needs to trust the teacher, and if in doubt ask what the expected level is and where your child is sitting. If below, then start asking about intervention and further diagnostics. All kids are different and it’s the very start of a new year (day 1 today here in Qld) after an extra long break.
Year 1 is a lot different to age 8! Sorry but even with all of those things happening in a child's life an 8 year old should be able to at least read simple chapter books at the very lowest.
It says he’s almost 8. He’s 7 and just starting year 2 and ‘should’ just doesn’t work for every child, or we wouldn’t need to teach and assess them they’d all just be doing what they ‘should be’.
Where does it say he's starting year 2? Even if that was the case it still isn't normal and is concerning
Good grief. In reading learners, progress is what matters the most. There is a whole lot to it that you can’t possibly know from an anon post, please leave diagnosing and deciding what’s normal to the parent and teacher and specialists.
So I wrote this and I’ll clarify, yes my son is 7 (almost 8) just started year 2.
Due to covid, he has now missed a total of 18 weeks of school.
By lockdowns, forced isolations, school closures etc etc.
normally, I would expect to be further along on his education, however, he hasn’t had a full education. I work full time and during lockdowns had to set up a makeshift classroom, whilst juggling my own work from home (when that was allowed).
He has no diagnosis of learning difficulties. When I asked the teacher last year, I was told he was dead on average.
This might not be the “norm” but with the pandemic thrown in, it certainly is.
I was trying to comfort the original poster, because everyone learns at different levels and if they had a similar situation in Victoria and lockdowns then I can fully Understand.
The original poster should continue working with valid professionals, like actual teachers to navigate and learning deficits.
Good luck OP!
Start with your GP for referrals for paediatrician who may refer onto someone else. It sounds like dyslexia and it's really difficult to get help for this through the education system so don't wait for them. When I first started reading your post I thought it could be her hearing, if hearing problems are caught late it can cause a delay in reading and writing while they catch up with sounds and language but then you said she wrote her name backwards, that's a sign of dyslexia.
The very last thing you want is your kid to hate it :( or to feel crap about their ability, to see a book and say nooooo. And she’s only 6! And she has so many struggles, to be adding this, its so sad to read.
I am a special Ed teacher and my advice to you is to read read read to her. Make it fun, do silly voices, ask her to predict what will happen next in the story, ask her who/what her favourite part was and why, tell stories of a memory it reminds you of and invite her to make those connections. Enjoyment and positivity around reading and writing has to be built first, kids just won’t learn when they’re switched off, they naturally learn through interest and play. Also see her case manager/learning support teacher to find out what specific strategies you can do to support what she’s working on at school.
My friend's child is very similar except for the hearing loss. It took until the end of prep last year without learning a single word, until a new psych diagnosed dyslexia to explain it.
There's no NDIS funding for dyslexia (even if you have a plan) but if diagnosed the school should have some strategies to help.
That’s not true at all, my son has dyslexia and we have ndis funding, you can use it for whatever you need to. He sees a speech therapist, psych and an OT and they all help him with it. It’s in his goals.
I’d give it a rest for a while, what you are trying isn’t working. Go back to reading a book at bedtime. Make it fun for a bit. You need a lot more information from your child’s specialists.
speak to her speech therapist, hearing specialist and OT for more info on how her hearing can effect reading. From working with hearing impaired kids years ago, there reading was sometimes delayed as they couldn’t hear certain sounds and making the association between sounds and words is more difficult.
I’d also speak to her paediatrician.
Don’t stress that she can’t read. There are amazing devices now (pen readers) that can basically read any text for you. Some even plug into a hearing device. Although of course If she can learn to read that would be great.
Can you change it up a bit and make it more of a game?
Pick a word together. Write it down. Talk about the letters that make the word. Then read a book to her that you know uses that word a few times. She can point to each word as you say it. As you read through the first time if she doesn't recognise it, point it out "hey, here's our word. The. T H E, page 4. Don't forget, we have to find them all".
It's about getting her engaged again now.
I used to do a crazy dance when my reluctant son would recognise sight words, seemed to work for him lol.
Choose a simple word she likes, like Jump or Stop or Sing, and she has to say and DO the word when she sees it.
Learning "sight" words isn't working for your child. If fact, it doesn't work for a lot of children. It is a method that has no research behind it and can actually hinder a child's reading development. The brain doesn't learn words as wholes. You need to go back to phonological and phonemic awareness. This is an oral activity. If you go to the Heggarty website, there is information and free sample pages. This is where you need to start. As your child has a hearing impairment, it may mean she is slower to learn the basics. I'm so sorry that your school is saying that this level of development is normal, it's not, and that your school is not using evidenced based practices that are proven to work. But you can get the ball rolling yourself. The Heggarty activities take about 10-15 minutes a day and are super fun. There are videos you can watch that demonstrate some of the actions.
Actually, you're wrong! The brain learns more by sight than phonics. The English language is that messed up we wouldn't get far if we read without word recognition. It's how we all read as adults that's why when you see a sentence with half the letters missing you can still read what it says. It's proven science in literature.
We usually use a combination of both to learn to read, however, if this little girl has had hearing loss and speech issues, phonics maybe harder for her and sight words may be the way to go for now.
The missing letter example is not backed up by any science or research at all. It is a complete fabrication. You can read this because you are not a beginning reader and have orthographically mapped around 30 000 - 70 000 words. The brain does not process letters in the same way it processes seeing objects. Reading is not a visual process. Watch some videos or read some books by Stanilas Dehane, world leader on how the brain learns to read.
ADHD is often comorbid with Dyslexia.
Writing backwards is normal at that age. I think it’s a concern at age 7. My daughter did it a couple of times when she was 6. Some kids are just slower then others. Are the teachers concerned? I’d be guided by them.
Raise your concerns with the school, there are fast track support program for literacy and maths. My son has just started year 2, he’s been in the support group since the last term of kindy. Just after lockdown last year he got from a level 4 reader to level 10 in 6 weeks (just for context the kids should be reading around level 18 at the end of year 1).
I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear him reading a book- albeit he’s not where he should be in the pack but is continuing to make progress. It’s nerve wracking I know x