KS1 didn't make the expected standard for writing

[abrightday]

I am seeking helpful, constructive input to my concerns. In the past I have put questions on some Mumsnet threads and received (mostly helpful) but also judgemental/troll like feedback so I post my concern with some trepidation.
My son is in year 2. He did not reach the expected standard in writing. I knew the criteria and was aware that he was having difficulties so should not have been surprised about the result. Nonetheless seeing it in writing in a child's report was confronting.
I have since his birth done a lot of reading with him. He loves reading with me and I am a huge fan of children's books especially picture books. He has exposure to lots of exciting out of school activities and I have a circle of friends with children of a similar age who he sees regularly and plays with.
Homework time and any time where writing is involved is stressful. I have tried my best to make it relaxed and fun and this works until my son gets frustrated. He then becomes really angry, shouts, breaks his pencil led, presses heavily on the paper and generally loses it. I am at a loss as to how to approach this. I want to help him and get him up to the required level as I think he capable of this and I am aware of how important written language is in all areas of the curriculum
Specific things like no capitals, full stops etc are a problem but they are easier to help with because they are easily defined and specific.
Things such as structuring his work and writing with some cohesion are a struggle for him. When he writes something and I suggest such things as checking the sentence makes sense or adding adjectives or changing said to another word etc I am immediately met with hostility.I have spoken to his teachers in the past and have been advised to just leave things.....concentrate on enjoying my son and having fun ..............basically just to let him be. That is what I have been doing and he continues to struggle with writing so I am somewhat frustrated by the just let his be route.
I have considered getting a nurturing and professional tutor. My finances are fairly limited though.
My son is articulate and emotionally very sensitive. He is an only child. His progress in reading and maths has been at the expected level although I think he has very good comprehension skills. He loves minecraft, roblox and computer games that involve moving up levels etc. He enjoys playing with his friends, lego and watching tv.

[Allington]

I agree with the teachers. Let him be. Give him time to mature, and don't make writing something scary and stressful. Enjoy reading together, board games, fun activities.

[hazeyjane]

I agree with the teachers too. I think, as he obviously feels pressured, getting a tutor may be counter productive, and may cause him to push back. Does he like comics? My dd2 who has struggled with writing due to her dyslexia, really blossomed when she started writing comic strips, but to be honest this happened when she was older than 7 - she took a while to 'kick in' with writing!

[SaltyMyDear]

First thing to check is whether it hurts him to write. It could hurt his fingers, or even his tummy / shoulder.

If it doesn't hurt, and he has no SEN which makes structuring work hard, then leaving it is fine. He's doing fine - the things you're concerned about are far more advanced than things you'd be worried about if had problems.

You can work on structuring work if you want to. Getting him to talk about what he wants to write about, getting him to create a mind map etc etc. But his attitude won't change. It will be very frustrating and aggravating for both of you.

Which is a lot of effort for something that will probably come right next year by itself anyway.

He certainly doesn't need a tutor from what you've written in this post.

[Starlight2345]

look up dysgraphia..see if this fits your DS..Some key words like pressing heavily with pencil, lack of punctuation are factors.

However for a child to learn to enjoy literacy it is like reading needs to be enjoyable. I would get him to simply do his writing and let his teacher pick up on expanding and punctuation.

[Theworldisfullofidiots]

My Ds didn't really meet expected for writing in ks1. (it was old levels - he got a 2c). He is a late summer boy. He just started to develop in ks2 and met expected at year 6 and was just off greater depth. Try not to worry too much. Keep reading etc. Children's development goes in spurts.
You sound like you are doing the right things. Writing is a fine motor skill that boys develop later.

[SuperRainbows]

Listen to the advice of his teachers and posters on here.

He is still very young and isn't ready to take off with writing yet.

If you pressurise him you will make things worse.

Just enjoy the journey of learning with him and celebrate his strengths.

[OutComeTheWolves]

Most children in countries which are academically 'ahead' of the U.K. Wouldn't reach expected nc levels at that age either imo because they're still focusing on play and enjoyment of learning.

I hate the new curriculum with a passion. It's pushed everything further down so children younger and younger are having to meet increasingly difficult targets in order to meet age related expectations. From what I've seen rather than increasing standards of primary education, it's sucking the joy out of learning and demotivating swathes of children.

At that age, they should be discovering the joy of writing and reading, not realising that whatever they write will never be quite good enough.

[GinaFordCortina]

It's not trolling to say let him get on with it at his own pace. He's 7. It's fine it really is

[grasspigeons]

quite a lot of writing is a physical process and if your child isn't at that stage of physical development they concentrate so much on just trying to get the marks down right that other stuff goes out the window. You might be better taking it back a step and doing things for gross and fine motor skills - fun things. Get him outdoors and kicking a ball and doing things like hama beads.

[Zoflorabore]

Hi op. My dd is a year younger just about to leave year one but we had a similar situation last year regarding reading.

I was so frustrated that I was supporting her at home, exposing her to lots of books and she had been read to since a baby and yet she just wasn't interested and it seemed more of a "chore"

I decided to totally back off and ease the pressure that way and my dd all of a sudden wanted to do her reading and absolutely loves it. She started year one on red books and is leaving on turquoise so has come a long way.

This is just our experience, an example of I know how you are feeling.
Dd's teacher often told me that it would come in time but I never quite believed it

My advice would be to ask ds if he wants to write a diary in the summer holidays and get him one and use it as a non judgemental way for him to write.
Praise praise praise! I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall at times but always praised even the smallest thing.
Lastly, and this is so hard, try not to compare, I've been there and became a bit obsessed and it's not healthy.
As a pp has already said, in some countries, dc haven't even started school yet so I truly believe ours are ahead of the game and at times I've felt my dd has had way too many expectations placed on her ( spellings every week, 2 lots of homework a week ) our dc's teachers know them, will help and above all will communicate any concerns to us parents which we can work on.

My ds is 14 and has AS, I remember his ASC doctor giving his diagnosis at almost 9 and saying " play on his strengths and work on his weaknesses " I've always stuck to that.

Very best of luck

[whoareyou123]

Looking at the stats for last year and only 59% of boys reached the standard for writing. Its where the boys do a lot worse than the girls. Also as expected the ones born early in the school year tend to do better than the younger ones (you haven't said when your DS was born).

Just something to bear in mind.

[user789653241]

I have ds similar to yours. Writing homework was always a battle.
I stopped interfering with his homework and just ask him if he has done it, since yr3. I have backed off 100% and haven't checked his homework since the start of yr3.
At my ds's school, homework become compulsory from yr3, so if he doesn't do it, he ends up completing at school, so at least he does his homework, and teacher is able to see the level of work he is actually capable of.

But we do other writing activity, which ds enjoys.

[abrightday]

Thanks appreciate the words of advice. My son's birthday is in October so he is one of the older children in the class. He is well coordinated and spends a lot of time on activities which require good fine motor skills.
The reality of the education system, like it or not is that children are ability grouped for writing at a fairly young age, certainly by year 2. The children are generally referred to as LA lower ability MA and HA. The teacher plans according to the child's perceived 'ability' in that subject. Many teachers have children sitting in 'ability' groups not just for writing but for the entire day. Having said that ( I have huge respect for most teachers and understand the logistics of some decisions) this is the reality in many classrooms. I am sure teachers will come back and say they do not do this in their classroom and some do not. But the reality is that many do. What happens next is that the LA children are supported by the TA who is the person who has less expertise in teaching reading and writing. Many 'LA children' see more the teacher's aid than the teacher. Sometimes the lesson is delivered to the children by the TA. I also must add that there are excellent TA's but once again the reality is that they do not have the training that a teacher has. Children sitting together struggling have no strong role models within the group. I do not want my child in this position. I want my child working in a mixed group, sometimes, supported by a TA, sometimes not. But (and I have had a huge amount of experience and involvement in education) this is what happens. So I would imagine if your child is writing relatively fluently at year 2 level you might not appreciate my concern and desire to see my child make some progress in writing.

[grasspigeons]

Well as you are confident he has the physical readiness to write then I guess you need to help him want to write. The holiday diary is good, postcards, birthday lists, quiz answers. They normally love fancy paper and new pens.

I wouldn't correct things as that's really demoralising - just ask what he's pleased with in a bit of writing, and what he'd do differently next time.

I have two children, writing is the weakest area for both of them. One struggles physically and can't organise his thoughts. One is basically more interested in other stuff which sounds more like your child. I wanted to res sure you that writing is a big part of school but it hasn't held them back in areas they find easier/more interesting.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

Ds couldn't read or write at that age but was made to write for homework. It really did nothing for him except make him hate school. if he is reading and making slow progress then you have nothing to worry about.

Ds is going into year 11 and has no idea where a full stop goes, let alone commas or capitol letters

[Ktown]

I am left handed and have always since childhood had terrible (really!) bad handwriting.
It hasn't got much better as an adult so am glad for computers.
His hands still may be too little to hold a pencil correctly though so it may just take time.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

Even if you were correct about the ability grouping being such a huge negative, but I cannot imagine why you think low ability in a single technical skill will put your DS in it? If the groupings are all day, then they'll be for all subjects, only a minority of which are about what is actually written down.

More importantly, what you're doing is not working - your homework sessions are not relaxed and helpful, or he wouldn't be losing it. You have to find a different approach, with the little information you've provided, following the teachers advice would sound most sensible, as they actually know the kid and his attainment.

If not, then something different, something that probably doesn't involve you, as I expect it's gone on far enough that that is a huge tension.

[abrightday]

Literacy normally takes up half a chunk of the morning and although speaking and listening is involved a large part involves writing, that is a 1/3 of most school days.Topic and RE are often based on writing. Yes you are right what is happening with my son's homework is not working and that is why I am seeking an alternative approach. Having said that I am on a WhatsApp group with other parents from my son's class and it is a problem with a lot of others in the group.

[Naty1]

Incentivise using stickers to earn time on his games.
Maybe let him use a computer to compose his thoughts so he can enjoy putting ideas together without physically writing.

[user789653241]

Op, you just sound very up tight. Can't you relax a bit, he is only going into ks2 ? You have 4 more years until end of primary. A lot can change.

You say his fine motor is good, but how about gross motor skills? It does affect as well.( my ds was more with gross, rather than fine motor.)

[SaltyMyDear]

Is he on the 'low ability' table? Just because he didn't meet the expected standards, doesn't mean he's towards the bottom of the class.

He might be on the 'middle ability' table. There are probably kids in his class who aren't writing yet. They're the 'low ability' pupils.

[NorthernLurker]

Op are you trying to say you think the teaching is crap?

Because it may be or it may not be but either way a child of reasonable ability who has been encouraged to read will, in the end, communicate well in writing.

Leave him alone and stop the group whatsapp fretting. It's really not fair on the teacher.

[abrightday]

Zorfloreabore you seem to have an understanding. I am uptight about it and it is easy enough to tell somebody not to be when it is not your child who is struggling or your child is moving an the expected level. I do not want to leave things and just let them be because that is what I have been doing up until know and the result has been a struggling child. Neither do I want (or am) a parent who demoralises and pushes her child. I am a parent who loves her child deeply and wants him to achieve reasonably well at school.
I am fortunate in having many teacher friends. Interestingly they have not fobbed off the idea of seeking additional support for him. His current year 2 teacher is absolutely lovely and no doubt doing the best she can with 30 odd children and one who receives 1-1 support.

[user789653241]

I am not saying you shouldn't do anything about it. Actually, I am doing everything I can do to help my ds since I realised his writing is a problem.
But finding out what your ds actually enjoys, while helping with writing is good, but forcing him to do what you think is good for him but end up fighting with him, maybe counter productive.

[SuperRainbows]

I think you're over thinking this whole issue.

My ds at 7 hated writing. He was home educated throughout most of primary and he did as little writing as possible. He would definitely have been classed as low ability in school for writing, although he was very intelligent in many other areas. He ended up with 4 A*'s at A Level and went to Cambridge.

I know it's easy to say, but getting stressed and returning to post about worst case scenarios is not going to help.

I definitely wouldn't get him a tutor. You could put him off writing altogether.