Need advice - my 1st grader and reading.

I have a friend (former teacher) who owns a Sylvan, and have heard good things about it from people who have worked there during the summers (teachers). I can tell you that they are not cheap, but they do get kids caught up. They work on a reward system.

My kids were April and May birthdays and I kept them out a year. Every year you can find studies that show it is good to hold them out and then the next year it is bad. It is just hard to tell. Reading is critical for kids. Lots of them just "get it" by third grade and catch themselves up. Some don't. Holding a child back in the early years of elementary school can have it rewards though. After that, studies say there isn't as much benefit. I would talk to your son's teacher and see what he/says. That person will see your son in maturity as well as educational strengths and deficits. Personally, I am glad we kept them home an extra year when all of my friends put their kiddos in school when they were younger. They have a mixed bag of reviews. I loved it because my boys were confident throughout their entire school career. Just know that many kids struggle with reading when they are six. Boys especially.

My DD just suddenly began reading one day before K.

My DS on the other hand didn't/couldn't read until late in the year in first grade. Again it was as if a switch went off, poof he can now read. Lol. They were both read to frequently growing up. So it's not that. He did not make the cut off for school so he was older than most kids in his grade too. I was crazy worried, his teacher, who moved on to be the reading specialist the next year, was not worried about him.

My suggestion, make an appointment with his teacher and have a deeper discussion. If his teacher thinks he needs help then get him help if you can afford it. Teachers will tell you wether or not to be worried.

Also find an author whose stories he likes. Books a bit ahead of his reading level that you can read to him each day. He won't *want* to read until he sees it's worthwhile. For my DS it was Bruce Covilles books in second grade. Suddenly DS was interested, he jumped several reading levels very quickly because he now found value in reading and was willing to work on it.

Disclaimer from my own completely not professional opinion: If your son is otherwise smart the beginning readers are boring. Especially with so many other sources of information in today's world-video-tv-games. IMHO my sons thinking was ahead of the information in the beginning readers that so he did not find value so couldn't be bothered.

Also my son could not focus long enough to read. His focus did not show any improvement until he began to study music ( piano ) 1/2 way thru 1st grade. Again my unprofessional opinion is that learning music teaches the brain how to focus but they are still moving and doing things with thier hands. So perhaps see if there are any other activities he is interested in that will build similar skills.

my son barely read in 1st grade.. but he grew up in a very literate rich household.. I(I still have too many books).. but in 2nd grade, a switch went off.. and he went from level 1 readers to the hardy boys (about 4th grade level)...
I would try to find material he loves.. like pokemon graphic novels.. or star wars.. or non fiction like atlases and ..what ever subject is interesting.. then see where he is in 2nd grade. you know, some schools don't even teach reading til 8 or so... then, if he is still struggling in oct/nov.. look into more help.
imho..don't hold him back.. all the studies show it doesn't help.. add help... don't let him be bored..

You may feel you would rather him not repeat a grade, but it might be best idea for him. Boys close to the cut off date tend to struggle. Has he been tested for any learning issues. He might still be too young for accurate results. I don't know anything about Sylvan, but several of my teacher friends do tutoring after school for extra money. A college student might want a tutoring job also.

Many, many years ago my DD started as a young kindergartener and I didn't know holding her out a year was an option. She struggled all the way through school. I did keep my son out until he was 6 and it worked much better. Best of luck for your son it's tough to know the decision for our kids.

Is there any indication your DS might have a processing disorder? Sylvan will not consider it a possibility and is helpful to bring a child up to grade level that has missed something or fallen behind, but not at all helpful if the child has a potential learning disorder/disability. Taking DD only reinforced my gut feeeling that there was something more going on when she failed to move up levels as they promised. If your child doesn't move up, they give you a free set of classes but by that time I realized it was pointless to do the same thing again and expect different results.

One thing I really disliked about Sylvan was they constantly changed tutors and mixed up the groups of kids working together. About 6 weeks in, I talked to the manager about this and pointed out DD wasn't moving up levels as promised and they reassigned her to one of the top tutors which at least gave her consistancy. You will see a huge wave of kids come in after report cards (which means a wave of new tutors).

It turned out DD has an Auditory Processing Disorder (input & output) and ADHD (Inattentive Type). I'm a huge reader and continued to read aloud with my kids all through elementary school and DD did learn to love books. We joke that the best thing Sylvan did for our family was make DD realize she would much rather work & cooperate with me tutoring her than going outside the house.

Honestly, I'd push to get any testing done that you can through the school and then spend my money on testing beyond what the school can provide before I would give it to Sylvan for a 6 year old.

Both of my sons have summer birthdays and with each of them I waited until they were 6 years old before enrolling them in school.  With DS #1 it was no problem at all.  He's a good student and went straight through to graduation with no problems.

DS #2 was another story.  He has ADD, was retained in 1st grade, and wasn't diagnosed with dyslexia until he was in 6th grade.  

Each child is different.  Reading is of critical importance.  While he may not be able to read independently yet, please continue to read to him.  Books on CD are also wonderful.  Encourage him as much as you can.  

And good for you, that you are paying attention to where he is and are wanting to help him as much as you can!

hop2 mentioned several things I was going to mention. I had a lot of conversations when my daughter was young with my mom (retired school librarian) and another retired teacher friend who was a reading specialist and both of them stressed finding books with subjects that were interesting, no matter the reading level (I personally did not like most of the beginning reader books and neither did my daughter). Not only will a subject matter of interest be motivating for a kid to read, but it also keeps it enjoyable (at a young age is can be more important for a kid to develop a love of reading - eventually the fluency will come). My mom said it was sometimes harder to find books for boys and had luck with some of the non-fiction books (National Geographic always a safe bet - my daughter loved their "weird but true" series) or magazines (e.g. Sports Illustrated for Kids was a popular one). 

Obviously you know your son best and his teacher will be your best resource to help you decide, but from what you have said - I would be hesitant to hold him back unless he was really struggling and it would be detrimental for him to go on to second grade. I think that could be hard socially for him and a blow to his confidence if he had to repeat (again, that's just my opinion - you and teacher know best!).  When you meet with the teacher I would also get ideas of ways to work with him and also try to find some fun activities to tie in. In our area there is a program at the library where kids can come in and read to a dog and it's hugely popular. (I've also seen some great programs where kids read to shelter dogs, although those programs are more rare). Maybe find a book that is also a movie and read the book together then see the movie. 

Good luck!

My son, for no known reason was a late talked - 3.5 years old before it clicked. The speech therapist told me to expect his reading to come late as well. In first grade he didn't read, and I thought they would suggest holding him. They said because he was doing so well in other areas that they just felt he was late to start. In second grade he started in the lowest reading group, and struggled. About a month in, reading clicked and within a week he moved to the highest reading group and now at 16 is a voracious reader.

J

isn't it interesting how it can happen all of a sudden like a switch clicked. like they struggle and struggle and then one day the last puzzle piece clicks in and then poof. 

I can't speak for your son, but my daughter didn't read until the middle of 1st grade. She was lucky to be in a parochial school where it is less important. By the middle of second grade she tested into our local gifted school. Reading means SOMETHING but it doesn't mean everything.

Do you think your son catches on to other things? Is he well behaved or does he have problems sitting still? Does he get the math? How about the writing/spelling? If he does fine on these things, I wouldn't worry. If not, now's the time to hold him back. Absolutely discuss all this with his teacher.

I would not use Sylvan, though. It's a crapshoot. You could get a good instructor, but more likely you'll get a qualified one and not necessarily a good one.

Having taught first grade for many years, i have to say I think it's more about his attention and focus than his current reading level. How does he compare emotionally to the other children in his class? Is he behind in all things or just reading? Does he pay attention? How are his motor skills? Development is so uneven at this age -- especially in reading. There are many differences, and most kids catch up to each other by grade two. Studies show the earliest readers don't necessarily develop a love of reading. And at this point he has made friends with other children in his class and it may affect him to see them all move in while he remains back. If it is only the reading that is currently the issue, I'd get a tutor and approach it that way. The thinking used to be to hold them back, but many studies now show no real proof that is a better plan.

Background: I'm a reading specialist and this is my 39th year of teaching, all of them spent working with kids who struggle with reading or are at risk.

I agree with ameliabloomer; there isn't nearly enough info in your post for anyone to recommend retention for your son. Not to mention that retention isn't a great option anyway.
And from your post we don't know what exactly he is struggling with, so more specific suggestions for help may not be for what he needs.

I can tell you that I have seen many kids who made amazing progress in the second half of the 1st grade year. There is still a lot of the school year left and some kids make their biggest gains in March and April and May.

You said that the school has resources and extra help for him. Take advantage of that first before you start thinking of an outside program or a tutor. At his age, those might be way too much for him, after working all day at school.

Along that line, maybe skip the online tutoring things and just READ. Read to him, and then read some more. Find the books he likes and let him read what he can. The more time he spends reading the better, but please don't set an amount of time and make it like a chore. He needs to see reading as fun and interesting and want to do it. Let him read some easy things over and over again and talk about how good his reading sounds when he does well.

I'm one who started to  school a little late.  I couldn't even learn my abc's when I was 5. I remember My mom trying to teach me and I just couldn't remember them even though I really wanted to and was trying. But at 6, I was in the top reading group and school was mostly easy for me .  (EXCEPT MATH)

I have no experience with sylvan but I can tell you that we retained ods in 1st grade. One of the most difficult decisions of our lives. He was behind in reading (turned out he also had a vision issue we didn't discover until 4th grade). He's 15 now, several months ago I asked him if he regretted repeating 1st. He said it's barely a blip on his radar. Sure he's one of the oldest (June bday) but not *the* oldest and no one seems to notice or care.
When yds (now 6) came a long with an august bday we decided barring him being an absolute genius he would start K at 6.

You have time to decide. Talk to the teacher, reading support specialists at the school, etc. then decide (or make a plan on how/when you will decide). If retention is a real possibility I'd advocate doing it as young as possible.