Y3 girl poor writing/spelling

[Loliandloli]

Sorry I wasn't sure where to post this.

Dd in Y3 really struggles with spelling and this becomes more obvious as the words get harder. It came as a shock as she is a good reader and when she was in Reception, her writing for her age was amazing, teacher noticed that at the time. For instance when she started learning phonics I'd ask her how do you spell different words like pond, she'd go: p o n d, learned her 'tricky' words very quickly and her spellings tests in Y1 were mostly 10/10.

When she was in Y2, her school report showed satisfactory for writing/spelling, although she did score very well in the spelling tests. The teacher said she forgetting the spelling rules when writing sentences and her work books are covered in corrections.

Now in Y3, she is totally confused: whant (for want), whith (for with), teem (for team), frend (friend), wen (when)...always asks how to spell even the most basic of words. Her spelling tests are starting to suffer as well, very few 10/10, mostly gets 7 or 8. The trouble is that, even when she scores 10/10, if you ask her a few days after the spelling test how to write some of the words, she won't remember.

All her friends who were slow to start writing, are now writing amazingly.

I'm really reallyy worried about the decline. We also suspect she is ND (not diagnosed yet) and this is becoming more obvious now. She's very well behaved at school but very very hyper at home. And I suspect has concentration issues. Has anyone gone through this and has any advice?

She clearly doesn't enjoy writing but we encourage her to write at home every day. She's been doing loads lately yet we see no progress.

Sounds similar to my daughter. Spoke to her teacher who suspected dyslexia. Had a private assessment done in year 4 and the dyslexia has been confirmed. One of the things the teacher picked up on was that there was a disconnect between her understanding when asked questions verbally to her written responses.

Thank you. Has your DD just started struggling when she got older? Was she doing ok in earlier years?

@Newnamedillydally Can I ask you if she got diagnosed privately or through NHS? And how did things change for her after diagnosis?

As a qualified teacher of dyslexics, I would suspect dyslexia and suggest an assessment. Some people don't realise that they need an assessment until they get to University and struggle with the higher order skills required. I must say, I loathe spelling tests, far better to teach the use of a dictionary, imho.

Where would I have to take her for a diagnosis? I'm not sure how to go about it.

Dyslexia is an education issue, not a medical one, so all assessments are private, as it’s not something offered by the NHS.

My daughter was always considered a good reader but did struggle with her spelling. I thought things were OK but she was diagnosed as dyslexic when she was a little older than your daughter.

Thank you. Can I ask you what changed after diagnosis?

An educational psychologist, Helen Arkell or other independent assessors will be able to test and (if necessary) diagnose.

I’d try putting into Google for local dyslexia assessors or seeing if your child’s school can recommend anyone.

She already had an EHCP and quite a lot of her needs were already been met through that but some extra support was added.

Thank you all. Her dad is dyslexic and I always had that on the back of my mind. But because she started off so well with reading and writing, I stopped worrying about it until recently.

I think girls are often diagnosed later than boys and easily get overlooked.

Good luck with the assessment and future support.

We had to get her assessed privately, we went with an accredited assessor in our area who was recommended by another mum at the school. Think it was about £800. A report was provided and now stays with her for the rest of her education. The report basically confirms she’s dyslexic and recommends school give her additional time in test settings. The school also has access to an online learning platform called literacy gold and my daughter can go in 20 mins early to complete it she can log in from home. This course is offered to all the confirmed dyslexics at her school and I think it’s helping.

Another thing is that because reading isn’t something she likes to do as it’s so hard for her she will try and avoid it. I see any reading as a win whether it be magazines, song lyrics, websites etc.