My six year old son's teacher says he is at the bottom of his class in reading?

Question

My son is 6, he is in the 1st grade and his teacher says he is in the bottom of his class for reading. She says he might have to be held back next year. When we read at home he is shaky but does fine. Im concerned because he has A's and B's in all of his other subjects. Is it really worth holding him back for one subject? Will that affect his learning in the other subjects that he is in the top of his class in?

I have known about his reading for about a month-The teacher signed him up for her private tutoring, never discussed the price with me (which is about $200 a week) I informed her I did not have that kind of money in my budget and asked how I could help him at home-I have done everything she suggested at home-Asked her a week ago about his progress, she informed me progress is a broad term and that he is not where he needs to be-So if I do not have the money to pay her by child will not pass? That is what I am feeling like-In response to Jasmine V's answer

Answer 1

Don't let your son be held back just because of reading... You can work with him at home on that... I would recommend you talking to the principal about what his teacher said... 6 year olds are not supposed to be excellent readers... kids learn at their own pace.. I had a daughter who read in Kindergarten, and now my now 5 year old I don't think will ever read..lol. Don't push him too hard.. It will happen when he is ready! I bet he excels in another area, right?? Just practice with him.. and he will be OK..

Answer 2

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Answer 3

It sounds to me like the teacher is pulling the wool over your eyes. If he really did have a problem with reading the teacher would have noticed at the beginning of the year. If your son goes to public school, there should be a reading resource he can use that is totally free, that he can use during school hours. Talk to the principal about your concerns. Studies have been proven that holding a child back a grade causes more harm than good. My daughter was having the same problem at the beginning of the year, but with the help from her reading teachers, regular classroom teacher and me and her father she is doing much better.

Answer 4

If reading is the main issue and he is far behind, it is the one subject I'd say that yes he should be held back.

However. You can teach him yourself. Does the teacher have books you can borrow? If not, there are a few things you can do. First of all, see what sounds he knows and does not know. Test the individual letters first - short vowels, consonants, long vowels. If he doesn't know some of the individual sounds [although I suspect he will know all of them] then spend a few days teaching them. After this make a list of 3 letter short vowel words and have him read them. If he does these well [and I suspect he will] then make a list of 4 letter long vowel words. He may or may not need help on these. Next you should make a list of 4 letter short vowel words that have 2 consonants next to each other whose sound can be sounded out. For instance, "frog" has the 2 consonants next to each other "f" and "r" and if you sound them out, they sound like "fr." [Unlike "sh" and "th."] He will probably need some time working on these words. Next you start on special sounds, or whatever his school system calls them. These are letters that, when put together, make a sound that cannot be sounded out by knowing the individual sounds. These include but are not limited to: th, sh, wh, ch, ur, er, ir, ar, are, ear, ou, ow, oi, eau; and I don't know what else! Your library probably has some books on this subject. I live in a tiny lil town and our library had books with reproducible worksheets. You could also go to a teacher's store and get a phonics/reading book on the first grade level - I'll bet Barnes & Nobel would have one. Hooked on Phonics is also good.

Don't pay for the expensive tutoring. You can get a lot more stuff for a lot less and do the work at home. Don't believe the lie that only the 'professionals' can teach your child. For many years before public schools, people taught their kids at home, and there are still many homeschoolers who teach their kids at home and get far better results than the teachers. Plus, the 'professionals' have already had a chance with your child. Youd' have the time and patience and motivation and love to help your child more than anyone else. Go for it!

Answer 5

Don't hold him back. I recommend Phonics. Do you think that maybe it's the teacher that's causing your son to have a problem with reading?

It's not worth it, because he won't be able to excel in the other areas that he is good in. I would recommend meeting with the principal and the teacher. I know many kids who weren't excellent readers at that young an age. Just practice with him at home and make sure that you are able to keep track of his progress through watching him.

I would try phonics. I know a lot of kids that learned to read through phonics. Your son could have learning disorders that makes it hard for him to read, or just isn't learning the way the teacher is teaching it. Every student learns differently.

As for the teacher, she should not be making you pay for tutoring. I think it's a little extreme that's she's charging you $200. Find someone else who would be willing to do it for cheaper..or even free.

Answer 6

I would feel like I was being held ransom if this women kept trying to sell you her tutoring services for a grade. I would ask the principal for a meeting between you, the teacher and the principal. Then I would outline my concerns and ask that someone impartial assess my child's reading level. If your child needs assistance, ask the principal for a second meeting with the teacher there and find out about inschool assistance rather than private tutoring.

Answer 7

Being unable to read is only going to hold him back futher than being held back a grade now. Being unable to read will affect his ability to get a job, to learn how to do that job properly since alot of jobs have instructions that are written and that requires an ability to read and the higher paying the job the more detailed reading more complex reading there is. Do you think Bill Gates got to where he is by not being able to read? Besides as he gets into the higher grades his grades in the other subjects will drop because of his inability to read and comprehend. Is THAT what you want? If it were MY child and holding her back would ensure a better reading level, she would be held back...

Answer 8

Dear Mof2,
I know that the answer that I am going to give maybe you will not want to hear but, please speak to the child's principle not the teacher because if she was any kind of teacher she would reconize that the child may have a problem. Tell the school you want your child tested for DYSELIA, its a reading problem where you see letters upside down and it is hard for a child of 6 years old to comprehend the problem he is having. First of all this teacher should not have told you that he is in the bottom of his class without knowing first if this problem exists, That is very insensitive. If nothing is done about testing the child, and the child gets held back, go to the board of education and put in a complaint. When my daughter was 7yrs. she was held back in the second grade twice, why ? because the school failed to test her and I complained over and over that she has a reading problem. I finally went to the board of education with this matter. Sure enough my daughter had dyselexia. Please get this checked before you make yourself crazy. By the way special tutoring is free at the board of education, which they will give you a list of free help.

Good Luck
Ronnie C

Answer 9

Reading will become a bigger factor as your child grows older, especially in social studies and science. However, at this point, I wouldn't throw in the towel and have him repeat the grade yet. There are still several months of the school year and there is summer school. If there is a possibility of a learning disability such as dyslexia, then see if you can have him tested (in which case, he'll just be given more help in reading next year in second grade.) Exactly how low is he in reading? You say that he is shaky but doing fine. It's not too unusual for kids in first grade to be a little shaky when reading aloud--that's called fluency. Fluency can be measured by seeing how long it takes for a kid to read a passage from a book. That can be improved by two ways--have your child read to you at night (do not interrupt him as he's reading if he seems to be having difficulty, let him try to figure out the word. After he's tried figuring it out, let him complete the sentence. If he said it incorrectly, then have him go back and look at the word again, if it's wrong, ask him if it makes sense and see if he can figure out the word that does make sense.) Also, read TO him. He's not too big to be read to. In fact, he should be read to so he can hear what good reading sounds like. A lot of times students are so worried about reading aloud that they're not listening to what they're saying. Which is why he might be having a hard time with comprehension as well. See if he can read a passage and then retell you (in his own words) what he just read. That's a very good strategy to see how well he is understanding what he is reading. Another thing you might want to try doing is playing around with words with your child. Make it a game. Take a word that's his vocabulary word and write it up on a piece of paper and then cut each letter so that it's like a puzzle. For exampe, gate would be written out as g a t e , and then scrambled up so that it looks like t g a e. Have your son first make up a two-lettered word, then three, and then four, and so on. (It depends on how big your word is.) Then, have your son think of other words he knows like that word that is similar to that word. For example, gate is like late, which is like plate. Those are "word families." Keep a chart of the word families you can make and make it a game. Sorry this one was so long, but I hope it helps!! (April, Ray's wife.)

Answer 10

When my daughter was in the first grade they told me that she was not on level in reading, and that it was a must that she attend summer school or be held back. I was a daycare provider and had read to my daughter and with her everynight for several years. And, also the teacher decided this in the last semester instead of advising us during routine conferences. I later found out that the number of children that are attending summer school determines the amount of gratn money that they will receive for the school in the following year. I have no problem with them receiving grants, my problem is with the way that the school and teacher went about the whole matter. Obviously, my daughter did not need to attend summer school she is in the 8th grade doing wonderfully. I sat with her everynight and she read atleast one or two books to me everynight. Any opportunity I could use, we did. She was reading everything in sight. I was determined that it was not going to keep her from moving on with the rest of the class. And it didn't, I suggest that you purchase some inexpensive books, we purchased books through Scholastic usually about 99 cents to 1.99 and read them over over and over along with her library book and other books that we had at home. Have him read to you everynight and keep doing this right through the summer to keep his mind working and he will do just find, I think.

Answer 11

I wouldn't let him be held back due to reading either. Does the school have a special reading enrichment teacher? Someone your child could go to every day to get special reading help in the school? If his teacher is the tutor that would charge $200 I think there is a little conflict of interest there... $200 or your kid stays back... that's just wrong. Speak to the principal, if your child has been struggling and you have done everything you have been told, and you don't feel like he is that bad, get a 2nd opinion, talk to the principal about it.