r/ClassOf2037

Short Question: As we move towards the end of the year, it’s very clear my kid is struggling to read at a first grade reading level. I am looking for the best and most simplistic program that worked for your kid if you were in this same space. For the summer. If it’s on a screen, that’s okay, but should be limited to 25-30 minutes a day. Paying is fine, within reason. Thank you!

Background info that’s probably not necessary: ADHD, minor speech delay that affected some letter sounds initially but not many. 504. Speech services. No special education service for reading nor identified learning disability at this time, but they have recently started pulling him out for tutoring, essentially for a month; no progress. I do not know his reading level because we are not given this info, but we’ve been going over the same reading concepts over and over (I reteach what the teacher does for phonics each week). He’s been read to since he was a baby and loves being read to. We have him read himself also each night. It just bores him to tears because it’s hard for him. We have also done Bob books in the past. He is not a screen kid and doesn’t do video games or watch much tv; none during the week. He excels at math and science.

My kid loves Dav Pilkey, always picks his books at the library, and is a bit obsessed, frankly. I love that my son found something that he enjoys, and that it keeps him engaged and reading. But I do notice more defiance, silliness, and colorful language when he doesn’t get his way. A little concerned about the influence of characters like Grampa on a six year old.. thoughts? Similar experiences? Strategies to handle ?

So, my first grader is doing really well in school except for penmanship. His handwriting looks worse than some of the doctors I’ve worked with. Part of it i inherited (his father has chicken scratch that pretends to be handwriting!). Pretty sure it’s just an issue with handwriting- he gets 100s on his spelling and sight word/phrase recognitions.

Any advice or hints on things I can do with him to work on his handwriting? I’ve got workbooks and lined paper books to practice, but. I’m also looking for things outside of that. Like maybe fine motor skill activities for fingers and hands? I want to work with him on this over the summer but not necessarily sit him down to do worksheets over and over.

My 6.5 year old son attends 1st grade at a private school with a class of 15 kids. He has an August birthday, two weeks before the cutoff. Seven of his classmates (half the class) are between 11-15 months older than him - a few of them redshirted and two were retained in K. My kid is hard-working, well-regulated, and academically where he should be for 6.5. just behind the rest due to his age.
He seems to need a little more one on one support in the classroom generally speaking, and possibly/potentially neurodivergent or have audio processing or focus issues which are to be determined, but I would not say he’s immature or terribly off-target for a first grader. He’s also petite (like me!) Because of the big age and size gap, the older kids, particularly the older boys, tend to see him as a little brother rather than a peer. His academics are ok/fine. He’s not reading or writing where the rest of the class is, but we wouldn’t expect him to because they’re so much older. He sees a SLP weekly for basic social skills and focus work. Teacher/admin had not flagged a need for targeted academic support all year until now with 4 weeks left, after our contract for 2nd grade was signed. Previous report cards have been fine as well. No formal communication, tracking, or support sought for academics. The school is suggesting retention, citing his age, social standing, and academics as a combined reason to repeat, but also indicating it’s ultimately our choice. I’m trying to look at this objectively and while I’m open to both paths, I believe my kid’s self esteem could take a hit with being the only one not to move forward next year. I’ve seen the numerous studies that also show retention in the long run tends to be neutral to sometimes even negative impact long-term so I’m curious what other parents here might add.

We're out May 21! Last full week of school is this week! 8.5 days left. We're doing 2 weeks of gifted camp, 1 week of science camp, swim team and traveling to Mexico, Legoland and Colorado (to see family). School starts August 3rd 🙃 Quietly going to enjoy my last week of peace before the summer chaos begins.

My grandparents think it’s absolutely insane for not allowing my son’s face to be exposed on social distancing and having it blocked out. I just know there are weirdos out there and I just don’t like my son’s face to be exposed to the public who Anyone could see. I signed something saying that my son’s face must be hidden if a picture is posted online to the public. My parents think it’s absolutely absurd to do that, but with all the creeps out there, I want to protect my son’s identity and not have his face exposed to social media.

Each of us moms are taking turns bringing snacks and drinks to the baseball games after each games and my turn to bring it is this Saturday but I have no idea what to bring. It has to be: Lactose free, no yogurt/dairy/ice cream but cheese is ok) and food preferences (red dye sensitive). I have no idea what to bring. Any suggestions?

I got her a $25 Amazon gift card and a $25 gift card that has a bunch of different restaurants and stores that she can go to, so $50 in total for gift cards. Is this too much?

I got an amazing email from my first graders teacher praising him for his reading score. This is what she said: ___ did amazing on his reading testing today! He jumped from a 77 at the beginning of the year to a 209 today! That is an incredible amount of growth. I’m so proud of how hard he’s worked this year at reading and how much growth he’s had!

My son is soft spoken and doesn't get along with other boys. Some of the boys have asked him to play with him in the beginning of the year, but my son would say no. I asked him why, and his reply was that they can be mean. Now, the boys won't play with him. I volunteer often at the school, sometimes during recess time, and I've heard some boys "gossip" if you will and point at my son for liking girl toys.

My son isn't your typical "boy," he likes a lot of toys that are geared towards girls and the boys in his class are already playing Minecraft, while we haven't introduced him games like that.

The girls also tend to play with other girls, I've noticed. Just wanted to see if there are other moms out there in a similar situation and how did your son eventually make school friends?

My oldest is about to turn 7 and we’re thinking through how to get her access to music/audio content that she can use independently. We want it to be in our second language as much as possible, which means if we go the Yoto route, it’ll be almost exclusively MYO cards.

For this age group, has anyone had experience with iPod-esque devices? Would it be appropriate for a 7 year old?

I feel like everyone I know has a Yoto and loves it, but they’re also not trying to find content in a Baltic language. And it seems expensive for basically a MP3 player when she’s reading pretty independently and could probably navigate a screen (maybe?)

Thanks in advance!

I work at 11am and don’t get out until 5pm but I’ll be one of the last to get out of work because the workers who go in at 7 and 8 will get out first, so I’m not guaranteed to get out right at 5pm. He has a karate demonstration tonight which will be at the park for town and country days. A bunch of people are going to be down there for different events, and my son is able to do a kata he’s learned all by himself to show to everyone at the park and I definitely don’t want to miss that. I called in because like I said, I’m not guaranteed to get out right at 5pm and I don’t want to miss it. He also has a baseball game tonight shortly after, and I don’t want to miss that either. Is it a stupid reason to call in to work because I don’t want to miss my son doing those things? I have lots of PTO saved up so I’ll be able to use that and get paid for today.