To want to take my DS out of school and home educate him

[StuntNun]

I'm posting here to try and get a bit more traffic.

DS is coming to the end of year 2; he has recently been diagnosed with Specific Learning Difficulties (basically dyslexia) and is currently working at Reception level in literacy but keeping up with the class in numeracy. DH and I knew he was struggling with literacy but hadn't realised just how far behind he is. (The school was giving him easier homework than the rest of the class so he seemed to us to be doing better than he actually was.)

His school want to keep him back with the year below so he can consolidate his work at this level but don't seem to have a plan for how he can catch up with the rest of his year. They have said that he can't have one-to-one reading support until at least year 4. DH thinks we should try to transfer him to another school that may be more supportive of his special needs. But I'm worried that it has reached the point where he would not be able to catch up. AIBU to think it might be better to pull him out of school and home educate him myself so he can work at his own pace?

Might be worth posting this on the home ed pages x

(We're a friendly bunch xx)

Does he have a statement?

And I agree for specific advice with regards the home ed side may be best reposting there, or on the special needs board.

I think this is a very good idea.

If you leave it he'll a) be further behind then he is now and b) might be more resistant to the idea of HE.

No school can do as good a job as you can. They'll never have as much time as you will. And they'll fill it with their priorities not yours.

Run to the Home Ed board OP - these threads tend to attract bitchy responses.

Years ago I worked with a dyslexic teenager who could not read at all and could barely write his own name. He had been excluded from school for bad behaviour (and who can blame him? !) It was heartbreaking to see how the school's long term failure to meet his needs had undermined him as a person.

I'm not saying this would happen to your son, but I think in your position I would probably take him out while he still has some confidence and self esteem left.

Try the home education section. I used to read it a lot when I was considering home educating my eldest (but he loves school, was desperate to go and it would be cruel of me not to send him).

Good luck with this.

There's a home education section?

Is he a summer born, so would he be only slightly older than the year below? Would it be a permanent move or would he be expected to start secondary school at the same time as his original year group?

I think that you would be able to give him more appropriate learning opportunities at home as so much of history/science/geography in schools relies on the child's reading and writing skills, you could teach him using much more verbal and visual material.

I am dyslexic and I couldn't read words out of context until I was 10 ( I could "read" picture books, but I was actually memorizing the story) I went on to get a B and C in my English GCSEs, I know it's nof the most amazing grades but considering where I was just a few years before I felt pretty proud of those grades. My point is that sometimes with dyslexic children things can just click all of a sudden, I think it is a case of keeping the child's passion for learning and confidence high in the time when they are struggling with written language.

A trick for teaching spellings that my mum used with me is to make textured letters, I felt one word before bedtime until I knew how to spell that word.

Best of luck!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/home_ed

Ikea his birthday is the first day of the cut-off so he'll be 8 going into a class with six-year-olds.

I think in that case I would say defiantly do everything you can to prevent him being kept down, that is a huge difference and will only seem greater when they start nearing puberty.

Do you feel comfortable giving us an indication of where you are in the country OP?

Can you afford a tutor privately that specialises in dyslexic children. I have enormous trouble reading numbers, always have done and it has held me back to some extent although ive found a more vocational career that means Ive wiggled my way around it. Best of luck though x

Home-education is a decision only you can make.

However, I am at the school wanting to keep him down.

We had lots of children with SN - some quite severe- go through our school. We never, ever kept them down. It just doesn't work.

And he would surely have to be entered for SATs by his chronological age, not his class. I don't see what they want to achieve except an easier life for the teacher, planning-wise.

my son was 2 yrs behind at that age, and diagnosed with (only moderate) dyslexia.

IEP's, and one-to-one twice a week, but no statement.

With support at home, some extra lessons (we tried Kip McGrath and Dyslexia Action) and a being quite pushy with the school, we got him up to a level 4b for his current Y6 SATs, which is an amazing achievement for DS. He is so much more confident too.

DS was just not really "ready" for school until he was about 9/10. If I and known he would just click later, and catch up (he made 4 sub levels progress in Y5) I would have been less stressed.

I think it is good to consider all options. You know your son, and what is best for him. Also, no decision is for life. You could try Home Ed for a year, and then decide if you want to continue.

I think that there are a lot of children, especially boys, for whom the current education system just doesn't work. Too much sitting down, and listening to instruction. too much written work. Not enough hands on, active, engaging stuff. Why can't they MAKE more stuff, get out and about more, forrest school style. A lot of kids learn from doing rather than being told about things.

be careful about keeping him down, make sure the LEA allow him to stay until Y6. I know of a boy in DS year who was "held back" a year, then surprise surprise, he had to go to secondary school at 11 anyway, effectively skipping Y6.

Those parents were really had by the primary!

I advise you to do everything you can to keep your child in the right school year. We were bullied into doing the same (keeping him down a year) and now have moved our child to a school which has him where he should be, has really got to know him, cares about him and has nurtured him so that he feels able to show what he can do.

Good luck.

Flexi-schooling might also be worth some thought. (It can work out as worst as both worlds or best of both worlds, but it's an option)

I'm in Northern Ireland so no SATs here, just the 11 plus / transfer test if he wants to go to grammar school. The school want to keep him back for this coming school year then send him into year 4 so he wouldn't be held back for his whole time at school.

The school want to keep him back for this coming school year then send him into year 4

This seems like a terrible idea to me. Y3 is quite a challenge for a lot of children - a big step up. Missing that year would seriously disadvantage your son, IMO. It's not only the academic work, it's the expectations of responsibility and independence.

Sorry I'm a bit confused with the years & age - is he coming to the end of P3 now & the school want him to repeat it? I'm also in NI & know kids who've had additional support in the classroom for dyslexia/ reading from the end of P1. I know a lot of schools had completely moved away from the "holding back a year" model.

Sorry I've reread, do they want him to do P3 again, then go into P5 with his original class (skipping P4?)

I'm confused too because she said year 2 but in p2 kids are 5-6.

Either way, I wouldn't be happy. He will have already established friends etc in his class and it will put a dent in his confidence.

Did they say they are definitely going to do this if you want him to stay in the school? Do you live in an area where there is another school you feel would be suitable?

Year 2 in England is age 6-7, so I think she probably means that. A child old in the year might turn 8 just as they enter Y3 and be in a class with 6 year olds.