ADs are elite athletes and can run very fast

[BogRollBOGOF]

Another thread in the saga filled up (so no forwards link)

I think maybe we're endurance athletes, or maybe multievent like a decathlon

@flower11

I don't agree with education can be made up, maybe for the middle classed advantaged , but for the most disadvantaged . I think they are missing out on too much. And it's not just the education it's the social development that is so important for early years. This is why remote learning doesn't really work for key stage one. My youngest is already behind on reading I got a letter at Christmas to say he was going into a focused group to catch up ,that's not happening now. And I've just had to buy a pack of ort books on Amazon to teach him to read as no library or books from school. I am in a position to throw time and money at him, others don't have this luxury and it's not fair on those children to miss out.

I always find it hard to judge where DS1 lies because he does not fit the tickbox culture that is the curriculum (DoE's fault, not teachers ) So he does a piece of writing that's still lacking half the KS1 targets, but then has some lovely turns of phrase. Some of the comprehension tasks can be interesting from an autistic perspective... Every day was a battle, but DS1 has come out of it feeling like he's held his position in the class which is something, and having worked with targeted individuals in his class, I could hazard a decent guess at who struggled. I also know a lot of the other end of the cohort who are the type to spend their time filling up their Brownie sashes with badges.

DS2 was still 6 at the point of lockdown#1.
He's not the most mature and is happy to take advantage of DS1 not playing ball. I think it was OFSTED that reported that y2 were most heavily impacted, I suppose they're at that transition point from a curriculum of establishing basic skills to greater detail, but unequivically still young, playful children with fairly short attention spans.

School did not respond to my email, so it looks like both are sucking it up at home...
I have rearranged the kitchen. One of the things that drove me round the bend was having to clear and clean the kitchen table constantly. Dyspraxia and spending life at the kitchen table was interesting. We've now pulled a smaller table in that can be left for school work which is an improvement in that we don't need access to the conservatory through that door at this time of year which is why it didn't occur to me last year.

I'm not normally an ally of OFSTED, but it's good to hear them speaking out about the impacts of school closures.

I can't believe that its only Tuesday.

@acornautumn I just had a nose to check and she has deleted it. That was disappointing.

I don't agree with education can be made up, maybe for the middle classed advantaged , but for the most disadvantaged

My children fell behind in primary for different reasons it can take a lot longer than people think to catch up.

You've got to catch up but then go on to make the progress you should have been making in the catch up time as well - which goes on - so you have to make quicker progress to get back. Partly why we kept on with additional support for DC past time they'd caught up because it's less effort and was less demoralising.

Have to hope the governement at least tries and gives extra resources rather than wash it's hands of the problem.

Did they really? I am surprised by that. I am trying so hard with mine but I am now severely depressed and anxious. And I can't get them to sit and work. And bedtimes are shite as well.

I feel like such a crap mother. And DS desperately needs other little boys to wrestle and run with but there are none and even if there were, he is now not allowed.

School finally got back to me - on my mental health grounds (I actually think I'm at the point I'd call it a nervous breakdown now) the Head shamed and bullied me and pressurised me for 10 minutes solid not to take any place at all. Then I tried the keyworker approach as I DO fit the criteria... denied on those grounds outright - against all the guidance.

So the kids get a day here and there - but I've been warned I'm literally murdering NURSES to get that.

My youngest is already behind on reading I got a letter at Christmas to say he was going into a focused group to catch up ,that's not happening now. And I've just had to buy a pack of ort books on Amazon to teach him to read as no library or books from school.

Reading chest might be worth a look - it's like a private postal library which has mulitple reading schemes -plus getting en envelop in post for them and the sticker chart is very motivating for some children.

For fun practise - teach your monster how to read

And if there are problems reading - blending phonics etc
Dancing bears well worth the money IME. if spelling shows signs of being an issue - I'd also suggest you get in early as possible with their apple and pears program.

Think I'm a bit numb about it all, although those memes like the jelly bean one & the coughing make me feel a bit sick.

Love the thought of people flocking to service stations for a day out. But really, no one should be "flocking" to service stations in times of a global pandemic. Just stay at home! Insist your household queues in the kitchen for their dinner, dollop dried up & reheated shepherd's pie onto plates, make them collect their own crusty cutlery, & serve tea in metal, dribbly teapots. You can autheticate the experience even further by charging them £10 each for dinner, getting petrol tankers to drive past your house noisily as they eat, & blocking the toilets. If you have a selection of classic 80's rock CDs, a family-sized pack of wotsits & a cellophane-wrapped bunch of red carnations for sale, so much the better. In an ideal world you'd arrange for a coachload from a Turkey'n'Tinsel tour to pull up at the same time as a bunch of over-excited French exchange students, but it's not an ideal world, there's a lockdown, & no one should be going on a coach!!!!!!!!

@AaahWoof I am sorry that you were made to feel so awful for asking for a key worker place for your children. It is not right that someone in need is given such a guilt trip.

Shepherds pie @TheOrchidKiller - there will be no such luxuries here. It’s gruel and stale bread for the duration.

Thank you @RobinHobb that was me that said about publishing the vaccine numbers. I’ve just been out on a killing spree to M&S and haven’t bothered to look what St Boris said.

I used to work in the posh sit down meal bit of a motorway service station - people used to get really arsey about us not having a licence for alcohol so they couldn't have wine with their meals.

It's why I like the Dinner ladies comedy series - ir reminded me of the lovely people but odd people I worked with there.

@LadyOfTheImprovisedBath check out Oxford Owl too
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/find-a-book/library-page?view=image&query=&type=book&age_group=Age+4-5&book=&book_type=&series=#
Lots of ORT e books.

Dd is unraveling before my eyes .. she’s supposed to have A level mocks next week but has lost all her motivation. She told me this morning she has no plan, has nothing to work towards, she’s feeling lost. On top of everything else, her beloved horse is having to be retired due to ongoing lameness when ridden, so her normal coping mechanism - riding - isn’t there right now. We’re trying to get her a second horse but we’ve had two failed vettings already and now lockdown means we can’t go and try any more for several weeks. Thankfully the GP called her today and agreed to up her anti-anxiety meds so I’m hoping that will stop the downward spiral but I’ve been feeling on edge, fragile and desperately worried all day. Young people have been absolutely shafted during the last few months - as a society we have really let them down but I keep seeing people dismiss their worries as trivial

LadyOfTheImprovisedBath
I used to work in the posh sit down meal bit of a motorway service station - people used to get really arsey about us not having a licence for alcohol so they couldn't have wine with their meals.
Please don't tell me it was the drivers!

On the topic of literacy, has anyone here been diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult? I've had my suspicions about DD since she was 6 but she never quite met the theshold for a diagnosis or support in school (bright kid, met all her targets at first, the dodgy spelling, teeny handwriting, & procrastination over written work got brushed aside). Last night she got very confused about 2 words that sounded similar but were spelt differently- yet again. It got me wondering again, & whether getting a diagnosis would be useful to her. I feel like she was badly let down by the education system, so I sympathise with everyone having to fight to get what their children need. I am definitely not blaming teachers, just the system. It must be even harder right now.

The problem for me is that I have no fight. DD2 is fine, I am only a worthless SAHM who is ok for mental health mostly so DD2 wouldn't qualify and school doesn't give a shot.

Mine are beyond that age now ShoeJunkie though I did use Oxford Owl as well though not as much.

It's the just the shear amount of support they needed it etched on my mind what we used most - mostly those mathsfcator and spelfabet - it's much easier now even DD2 is Y7 she just gets on with things.

DS and DD2 do duolingo for welsh and french - and seneca when I strongly suggets they need to revise or do more - and DD1 is supposed to be using both of those and tassomai daily for science.

I did try Signposts Spelling Series by Joy-Pollock for DD1 but frankly it's such a fight to improve her spelling any more so despite grumbles from her English teacher we've pretty much left her to it for GCSE English.

TBH while her spelling is not as good as you'd expect for top group English set it's not that terrible and certainly much better than mine at the same age and she got a B at English Lit this summer a grade lower than mock and predicted but - it was taken an entire year early as that's apparently how it's done in wales which did suggest it would be a grade lower and she's August birthday so was only 14.

[quote LivinLaVidaLoki]@acornautumn I just had a nose to check and she has deleted it. That was disappointing.[/quote]
It's good, you got her to shut up.

@TheOrchidKiller

LadyOfTheImprovisedBath I used to work in the posh sit down meal bit of a motorway service station - people used to get really arsey about us not having a licence for alcohol so they couldn't have wine with their meals. Please don't tell me it was the drivers!

On the topic of literacy, has anyone here been diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult? I've had my suspicions about DD since she was 6 but she never quite met the theshold for a diagnosis or support in school (bright kid, met all her targets at first, the dodgy spelling, teeny handwriting, & procrastination over written work got brushed aside). Last night she got very confused about 2 words that sounded similar but were spelt differently- yet again. It got me wondering again, & whether getting a diagnosis would be useful to her. I feel like she was badly let down by the education system, so I sympathise with everyone having to fight to get what their children need. I am definitely not blaming teachers, just the system. It must be even harder right now.

We had to pay £300 for a private consultation and diagnosis (which also picked up the dyspraxia). School did recommend the specialist.

A lot of my friends have dyslexia or dyspraxia diagonoses and they've often been picked up in the teen/ uni years.

One of the things I'd say about diagnosis is that it tends to be good for confidence to know why you have challenges, and the sooner the better for that. My niece's primary school was poor for that and it took her a long time into secondary to find her confidence and interests. She's now doing her degree.
It was so obvious with DS1 and I was open about it at an early stage, and we're fortunate that he's always felt defined by his strengths rather than his difficulties. That's not to say that it's not frustrating to him, but he's proud of being smart rather than feeling stupid because of his writing/ spelling/ reversals.

Please don't tell me it was the drivers!

ha they were never driving even if they were by themsleves - and even if they'd just be talking about driving or driving on.

On the topic of literacy, has anyone here been diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult? I

At university in last year of undergraduate degree - family member was working for someone in learning support and suggested they probably were - so as I was know to have similar problems I pushed for testing. I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia after a day of testing had to pay a small amount rest was covered by university which was unusal apparently.

Strongly suspect DD1 is - she has screening tests once in Primary boarderline and once after huge push by use and a teacher - computer screening test said memory issues but not major and then nothing despite us trying. Though about private digonsoed but first school would ignore - knew from other parents - second said wasn't worth it and Secondary don't think it would make any difference to exams or any additional help and it's a lot of money to us.

Suspected DS has dyspraxia - first primary did extra support for coordination never offer to DD1 - few reading problems left and no spelling issues some organisation and social issues but minor - though DD1 is now much worse with co-oridination than him. Schools never wanted to test him.

DD2 fewer problems but have wondered at times with readings and spelling again schools not noticed as many problems.

Sorry about spelling - kids are wanting things.

We had to pay £300 for a private consultation and diagnosis (which also picked up the dyspraxia).

All the quotes we got were between £450 and £600 in the areas we were in - even if I could get one for £300 not sure DH would be on board now where few years ago he was.

So 60,000 cases of covid diagnosed today. I would love to know where all this testing is taking place.

One of the things I'd say about diagnosis is that it tends to be good for confidence to know why you have challenges, and the sooner the better for that.

I think that was the main thing knowing why I had problems - which helped combat the you're stupid and lazy crap I'd heard for years and that was in my head - and better understanding of what might help - though by then I had worked out best ways for me.

I don't think DD1 has ever had the lazy and stupid thing I did - she tends to be well liked by her teachers many have gone out their way to stated how great she is to teach - I think she's more likey to have been let off poor spelling and given excuses - plus she has seen improvements when we did extra at home and they've all had to do extra work at some point in more than one area.

Ideally I get her properly tested but I can't see that happening.

I was diagnosed with dyslexia aged 42. Got through school, uni at a much beloved MN one, PGCE and teaching... went for a screener when I started this course based on thinking I had some of the difficulties that DD2 has and they picked up then that I have a really low score in terms of processing and retaining info from printed text - I get by by being fast at skimming and finding it, but if you take the text away I'm buggered.

It explained a lot - I assumed journal articles were just meant to be incomprehensible and I blagged 2 marks off a first at a RG uni by reading the abstracts and flanneling it - but now I can understand much more using screen reader software!

@Reedwarbler

So 60,000 cases of covid diagnosed today. I would love to know where all this testing is taking place.

Our post lady at work had Covid before Christmas - developed pleurisy and then a clot on her lung so was really ill. (She had pleurisy 8 years ago so technically an underlying condition!) She had 3 tests over the course of a week in hospital, all positive, and she asked if they would be counted as one or three tests - no one would answer her question so she has assumed the three tests were treated individually. Done that way they could soon mount up .........

I ventured out of this thread. Oops.

Forces TV are showing May to December. I loved this.