I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in chat for traffic but I will do both. Sorry it's a bit long..
To give a bit of a background... DS14 has always been very switched on, ahead of his game right from day one, through nursery and primary, very bright and extremely good at Maths and LOVES science. He puts the rest of the family to shame in his knowledge of computer science and also is fantastic at science. He absolutely hates English and written work. He has always struggled with writing and presentation. He spent the first six years of his school life in NZ where the education system is much different. They spend the first several years of school life focusing on learning through play.
He does everything 100 miles an hour and is generally extremely slap dash. He is impatient and just wants homework done as quickly as possible.
DH and I have had so many chats with him about the importance of taking his time etc etc. A couple of years ago, we paid for an English tutor to help him with his presentation skills. The sessions stopped as she moved away, but we didn't really see much of an improvement.
He started year 10 this month. He still struggles with remembering to use capital letters, full stops and the grammar is terrible! He will do the bare minimum as much as possible. If the teacher sets homework and asks for a paragraph written on a specific topic, he will write three lines and make his writing as large as possible to pad it out! Yesterday he ripped out a piece of lined A4 paper and wrote out his science homework. When I say rip, I mean literally ripped so that the edges were all a mess! It took him all of fifteen minutes and he stuffed it in his bag all screwed up and all dog eared! How can he even think that doing that at this late stage of high school??? Last year we have contacted the school and expressed our concerns. The teachers have told us that he is doing well but yes needs to improve his presentation. His school reports have generally been very positive.
DH is a bit more laid back about it than me. Thinks that he is clever and in the big picture what he lacks in presentation, he will make up in other areas. I on the other hand have been extremely concerned.
A friend of work has mentioned dyslexia testing. I know nothing about dyslexia and was shocked when she mentioned he could be showing a mild form of it. (She has children who have been diagnosed) when I mentioned it to DH he laughed and said that he is just lazy! He has no trouble in reading and it's just never entered my head it could be the answer. I've spent hours googling and looking into it and the first step is to get him assessed. This will cost an arm and a leg. (Which I will pay if it's warranted)
My thoughts are
Do I contact the school (again) and express concerns (again)
Get another English tutor on board
Go down the route of getting him assessed for Dyslexia?
Do all three??
Calm down and back off and just let him do it for himself
Has anyone got any advice on what I have mentioned or in the same boat?
Thanks Andie
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Secondary education
HELP! Worried about DS14 in Year 10
38 replies
AndieNZ · 21/09/2016 09:28
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