Reading/Learning assessment for 1st grader
Hello Wise BPNers,
Can anyone recommend where to get a generalized learning assessment for a 1st grader who is struggling with reading? Our daughter is doing well in math and other subjects, but really isn't able to read very well. She resists working on it and we would like to figure out how to best help her. Getting an evaluation through school is likely not happening anytime soon for obvious reasons. We would like to get her a tutor or something but we think an overall assessment would be good to do first. There are so many options out there it is a little overwhelming. We are open to paying out of pocket if necessary. We live in Oakland.
Mar 31, 2020
Parent Replies
Former literacy specialist here (worked with first graders). If you want to get a quick sense for yourself, you could google and administer the DIBELS assessment. One thing you're trying to determine is whether your child's comfort with 1) sight words 2) letter names and sounds 3) phonetic words (both real and imaginary) -- it may well be a combination or all, but the ways you'd help your child to target each skill would look quite different. Good luck!
Not everyone is a fluent reader in first grade. The best thing to do is to read to them. And to look as if you enjoy it. :-).
I have a son who is quite dyslexic. I didn’t catch it til third grade and can now kick myself for that. IF you are in public school, I believe you need to let the school do the first assessment. Not sure if they will still do that now or not, given the closures and CoVid. My son was in BUSD and I had to hound them to do the assessment, but they did, and it was a totally terrible assessment. Then, I asked for an IEE at District’s expense, which you are allowed, as I didn’t have $8K lying around. Finally, after I filed a complaint with CED because they dragged their feet for a year (yes, a year), they were forced by CED to okay the IEE. Dr. Terry Doyle in Rockridge did it, and she is the AUTHORITY, if she still practices. Anyhow, cudos for you for seeking out an assessment sooner rather then later! It was HUGELY helpful for us to have the assessment, and for my son, plus we then got way more specialized and useful help, which finally got him to read. He went from K level to grade level within a year with Jane Ashley, our lifesaving Slingerland tutor. All the best! Again, kudos for looking at this sooner rather then later! And, our son totally resisted reading too. It’s just soooo hard when you have visual or auditory processing issues (his was auditory processing).