Had Y2 parents evening and am a little confused.

[mjhen]

Last night,Ds1s teacher told us that he would be a L3 in any speaking and listening element of Y2 assessments, around L2b (which I understand is average) for maths/numeracy but perhaps 2c or even a L1 for anything to do with writing. Ds reads well and has an excellent vocab range but she said he doesnt want to write any of it down. The teacher says he avoids it if posible (daydreams, fiddles etc)and is a brief as possible when pinned down to write. DS1 is left handed but she says that other left handers seem to produce more.

Can anyone out there tell me if they`ve come across this before? Any tips as to what can be done to help DS?

[Poopdeck]

Yes, my son sounds just like yours (is also in Year 2) but is right handed. From friends who also have sons , this seems to be very common. DS is really resistant to hand writing, plus his school teaches them to do joined up from the start. Any homework which involves handwriting is like getting blood out of the proverbial stone! Not sure what to recommend, except continue to insist that it is important for him to practice as much as possible. I usually compare learning to write with learning to drive ( a much more interesting concept to a 6 year old) , I mean - who starts driving properly without lots of practice?, Once you learn of course and have done it for ages you dont even think about it!

I think boys are supposed to be less developed in this area of motor skills, at this stage, and they dont like doing something that doesnt come easy!

Hope this helps.

[mjhen]

Thanks poopdeck it does.

[pixiefish]

plus boys generally aren't keen on writing extended tasks- they much prefer short tasks

[mjhen]

Can the mark scheme be read on line anywhere? Would a parent understand it or should I not bother?

[roisin]

mjhen - Please don't worry about SATs. Their purpose is to assess teachers, not pupils. If you have concerns about your ds's learning in school, then go in and discuss with his teacher what you/she can do to help him improve in these areas. But please don't base it around what SATs marks he might achieve - they really are not important.

[mjhen]

I agree with you totally about the SATs except Im looking for a way to give the teacher enough evidence not to mark my son down as a level 1. Catans solution seems to give him a way of being brief and yet provide the evidence that he seems reluctant to give. <br /> <br /> The teachers solution to his reluctance was to ask us to type a story with him on a computer at weekends. Whilst I see the point of this for practising story writng, it wont help with his writing. That will still be stuck at L1. Im not up on what all the levels mean but that places him below the normal expectations for his age.

[fee77]

Here is a link to the national curriculum website.
here
Look at writing - level 2, if you click the title it takes you to examples of work. As was already said, it is not the quantity, more the quality. Concentrate on making full sentences. Get some sequencing pictures and get him to write a sentence for each picture, discussing beginning, middle and end.
Hope this helps! Try not to stress too much xx

[roisin]

I think typing 'his' story sounds like a great idea. It might boost his confidence and self-esteem, and help him see 'the point' of writing.

The writing thing will come - it just can be a bit of a long haul for some children. But eventually it will take off. What I'm saying is it doesn't really matter if it's this year or next year.

Is he one of the younger ones in the year btw?

[MunchedTooManyMarsLady]

DS1 (very bright boy btw) absolutely hated writing. Took him til about Y3 to write more than a couple of sentences. For instance he would write about his weekend. "I went to the park". His teacher would ask him to write more (meaning a paragraph) so he would write "and played football". Again he would be asked to write more, so... "with my friend". And so it would go on. It would become the longest sentence in the history of man. So many commas. It's true about the SATs don't let them worry you. DS1 is in a selective senior school and his writing is gorgeous and his stories have imagination and life. hth

[mjhen]

Thanks for the picture idea fee77. I remember doing that sort of thing along time ago for my french O Level. Thanks for the link too.

DS is actually one of the oldest Rosin. His relative maturity, though evident in his spoken language, has not made it into written work yet.

Thanks muchtomanymarslady. When I started the thread I hoped for the odd hint or tip about how I could help DS but also the reassurance of knowing others had been in the same situation with their children (and come through it).