Is there a site where I can see what level Ds should be working at in Yr 1 ??

[CrackerNut]

I know he is behind, but I am getting concerned once again at how behind he is.

Are there any sites that tell you what level he should be at at this point in yr 1 ?

[CrackerNut]

Just found this site, is this the type of thing I need to be looking at ??

It is mainly his literacy that I am worried about, although he is apprently behind with numeracy too.

He is still struggling slightly to sound out/spell/read any word bigger than 3 letters and struggles hugely once the word is bigger than 4 letters.

He has improved slightly but after just spending the morning doing his homework with him, he still seems to find it all so so hard.

[QuantitativeMeasure]

Is he a summer baby?

My DS is in year 1 and apart from reading, really struggles. His numeracy is appalling.

His reading is fab- but actually writing and spelling, very poor.

[LIZS]

That is a good summary of the NC teaching for Year 1 but KS1 targets would be for end of Year 2 so he still has time to "catch up" in the way that many boys do. Do you have any games you can play to build up his confidence . Picture stories he can sort into sequence and retell, make rhyming words with the same letter sound as he is working on using scrabble tiles or magnetic letters, some form of snap or bingo (Orchard toys or Jolly Phonics perhaps) or maybe his teacher could lend you some resources such as Story Sacks.

[CrackerNut]

He is a December baby.

I see what you mean about the targets beinhg for end of yr 2, hadn't thought of that. I suppose he can still catch up yes, I am just so worried that he won't because he is starting to hate school because he associates it with him struggling.

I do try and play letter games and similar with him, but he has the attention span of a knat and bores of it so quickly.

We had a parents meeting last term and his reading level has improved but his handwriting and spelling are still very poor. His literacy target for this term is to use finger spaces and full stops.

His numeracy target is to take away sing numbers to 10 using objects.

His personal target is the same as it has been since reception, to sit still and listen at carpet time.

I noticed this morning that his attention span is still appalling, and that was with just me and him, in a quiet, uniteresting room, so god knows what he is like in a room full of children.

[CrackerNut]

Ahh well thats good to hear at least. I always feel like from what I am hearing around the playground that everyone else child is steaming ahead.

His teacher has basically said that he is behind, and I am glad that she has said that as I'd rather know. She also said that they do 'get' Ds, which initially made me laugh as I have said in the past that to teach Ds, you would need to 'get' him.

Now though I am thinking that maybe the fact that people need to 'get' him in the first place is a problem. Does that make any sense ??

[FAQinglovely]

just want to reassure you - my DS1 didn't cick with his reading (or numeracy) until the 3rd term in Yr1. He's a September baby and now in YR3 and doing really well,

Also I found that he would "struggle" with stuff at home, but when I looked at his school work it was apparent that the child I saw at home disinterested and struggling badly, wasn't doing half so badly when he was in the classroom.

[CrackerNut]

I am wondering if he would benefit from an IEP, but then wonder wether I am being daft as it hasn't been mentioned by the school.

[CrackerNut]

Thanks FAQ, that is reassuring to hear

Unfortunatly Ds seems to struggle even more at school than at home.

[FAQinglovely]

oh and not entirely relevant - but my make you smile in relation to you "get" him comment.

My BF's youngest DD started reception in September. She's an August baby so very young. She "warned" the school that she had the attention span of a gnat and that she would be a bit of a handful.

All of the first term the DD was "perfectly" well behaved (according to the teachers) but my BF knew that she was struggling (with tiredness rather than work) especially as she had an operation half way through the first term.

. Then after Christmas the teacher took her to one side and described her bahaviour saying that DD didn't "quite seem herself" - she'd been so busy dancing and singing on the carpet that she failed to noticed the other children getting their jackets on at the end of the school day, and had generally been in a little world of her own and the rest of the time being cheeky and giggly.

That was my best friends cue to turn round and say

"oh no! that X being herself - what you had last term wasn't "her"

[LIZS]

They normally have to be about 18 months adrift to come under a SENCO but it would n't hurt to follow it up . However it sounds as if the targets they have given him would be similar to those stated on an iep for School Action so you may not gain much. The fact he has made progress in reading suggests the rest may well follow in time.

[CrackerNut]

He loves us to read a book together so we do that alot. Normally I read the majority of it but will pick words from each page for him to read.

We play games where he is a waiter in a cafe and he tells me how much things cost and I ask him how much change he needs to give me, stuff like that.

We do attempt colouring and drawing, but he skills with that are also behind and his colouring is basically just scribbling still.

He likes painting models so we have done a few of those recently, and I have tried to get him into jigsaws but he struggles with those as he has no patience.

His fave game at the mo is for me to draw letters on his back and him guess them.

Can't think what else we do, I know there is more but my mind has gone blank.

[CrackerNut]

Oh I agree that sometimes I feel that they do expect too much.

His homework for half term was to learn about Australia or Iceland. He chose Australia, so we had a look online and looked at the weather and how far away it was from England and lots of stuff like that, but everytime I looked at him, or asked him a question he was away with the fairies.

I think what is making me concerned is that he has been behind since nursery and although he has progressed, he has never caught up.

I voiced the concerns that nursery had when he started reception and they were noted and discussed. He improved for the first couple of months but then came to a complete and utter stand still and remained that way until he left Reception.

I asked his Reception teacher to make sure my concerns were noted with his Yr 1 teacher and they were. He seemed to get off to an ok start in Yr 1 and his reading did improve but everything else seems to still be at a standstill, with his numeracy now also taking a slide possibly because of his short attention span.

He has had extra help for reading and this has been successful which is brillant, but makes me feel that he would benefit from extra help in every area.

[Clary]

Yes I agree, those soudn like perfectly reasonable lit and num targets for a yr 1 child.

Finger spaces and full stops - loads of yr 1 pupils I was observing in writing the other day (I was on a learning walk at school in case you are wondering why) were not using either of those.

Sound slike you are doing a good job.

I agree about Hama beads - or maybe a Lego model (Indiana Jones? Star Wars?) as these are good ways to concentrate without realising it.

Boys often learn kinesthetically (eg by doing sthg, not writing it) and this can be a good way. All of mine will spend ages (like, an hours at a time) on Hama beads totally absorbed (me too )