Teacher wants to 'test' 5yo - advice please!

[MrsJamesMathews]

have reposted this from SEN Education board for traffic

DS 5yo, reception, born premature, experienced developmental delays but nothing unexpected.

I thought he was doing really well at school. He moves up to do daily literacy lessons with Y1 children, does weekly spelling lessons with them always getting 10/10. Words like 'short' and 'brook'.

He is comfortably reading ORT level 4 books, lots of decoding and sight reading.

Teacher wants to meet to discuss his progress and has asked head to give him a 'little test'.

I'm assuming for dyslexia, but I find it hard to believe he is. But then don't know what else they would want to test for.

His handwriting is poor compared with his peers, and he will often get his g d and b the wrong way around and he works slowly. I wasn't worried because his sister did the all of these things well in to Y1 and no one was bothered.

What do I need to read before I talk to the teacher? Is she being over cautious? Is it possible to have mild dyslexia?

[MrsJamesMathews]

Bump???

[Ginmummy1]

From what you write, it seems unlikely that dyslexia is suspected. 5 is too early to diagnose dyslexia, and he's working with Y1 for literacy and doing well with reading and decoding. A bit of letter reversal in YR is pretty normal I think. Weak handwriting is also not unusual at aged 5.

Maybe it's some other area of development. How are his social skills? Communication? Numeracy? Gross motor skills?

When is the meeting? Please let us know how it goes.

[MrsJamesMathews]

Thanks Gin. This afternoon, I'll let you know.

I really can't think of anything else she'd be concerned about.

He is slow with his work and can daydream. But he has been actively working on that.

He rides a bike and scooter very well.

He can mentally add and subtract up to 10 fine.

He knows what day of the week it is, what day it was yesterday and what it will be tomorrow.

He is more of an introvert than an extrovert but doesn't shy away from children. He doesn't like to talk much to adults though. Never has.

Oh well, I'll find out in a couple of hours.

[Ginmummy1]

Maybe it's just a 'formality' if he was flagged on entry to school with delays due to prematurity. I hope it goes well for you and him this afternoon.

[JennyjENjENJenny]

How strange from what you say he sounds on track.
I'm assuming he has no issues with toileting or anything like that?

[MrsJamesMathews]

So teacher said it's all about his level of engagement. Or rather lack of. He basically barely talks to the teachers but also doesn't engage in his work unless someone is standing over him constantly trying to bleed a stone. He will daydream through tasks to the point of just not doing anything, including eating his lunch (he wouldn't eat anything if teachers weren't sat next to him reminding him).

They want him to do a Lucid Cops test to see if it flags up any issues with this audio or visual memory.

This has always been in the background but by now we would have expected it to have got much better if it was just a case of getting used to school.

The thing is, all through his toddlerhood and preschool years he would totally blank relatives, ignore his grandparents etc unless they got on the floor and talked to him about cars. But in the last few months he has really come out of his shell and willing talks to adult friends and family. At home he follows instructions and gets on with tasks that need to be done with a reasonable amount of speed.

Not sure what to think really. A part of me thinks it's an attitude problem - which I have idea how to fix - but then I worry I'm kidding myself.

[Imaginosity]

When you say that he blanks people is it that its a bit of shyness or does he not register that they are actually there?


How does he actually interact with other children his age? Does he 'connect' with them and make froends or just join in the running around?

Its good that the school are being proactive. My DS had a lot of issues at age 5 and help was put in place and he's coping very well in school now at age 7.

[MrsJamesMathews]

He socialises perfectly well with other children: older, younger, same age.

He socialises with adults he likes perfectly well.

He's not great with crowds. If we have lots of family all round at once he will panic and run to his bedroom, or stay in the kitchen with me.

But with most adults, including his teachers he will just ignore them. If pushed to give an answer he will whimper, moan and say he can't because he is shy.

Basically, to witness it you would simply assume he's being rude. Which he may well be.

[MrsJamesMathews]

I don't think he is always ignoring them. He will occasionally engage in conversation. But it takes a lot of repeating of his name to get his attention. Apparently it often looks like he's just been roused from a daydream with a start.