To be fuming that DS got a level 3b in his Y5 SATS reading...

[pippiLS]

…and that his form teacher thinks that this is somehow my fault!!

Some background info: DS had all L3s at KS1, is hoping to get into one of the best Grammar schools in the country (maybe we need to rethink this) and is reading (with me), A Brief History of Time at the moment (just to give you an idea of his reading level). He loves science and is very well informed about material far beyond the curriculum at this level yet he has also performed poorly on his Science SATs paper. Oh, and one last thing, he got 100% in one of his maths papers.

Have arranged meeting with Head and form teachers but not sure what on earth to say. He joined this school in Y5, so just this year (it's a middle school). His final report from his previous school in Y4 was all 4as.

Inertia, he copes very well with inference although he does have some strange ideas; he used to think it was cheating to look back at the text .

Forest, I will have a look at the paper. I think he only did half of it by the sounds of things. Spent too much time describing the dragonfly life cycle in detail. he may have got confused and thought he was doing a science test .

I agree chuck the turtles back in the sea.

Comprehension skills are very odd. I have a dyslexic DD1 who's comprehension skills are amazing. Even at 16 her reading out loud is awful and her spelling and grammar are a joke, but she isn't phased by reading tests or oddly worded science questions at all.

She's bright and thinks that questions that say 'discribe' rather than 'explain' are a waste of time, but she remembers the difference.

I think a lot of DC don't. I think the pedantic way modern exams are written drives many clever children nuts.

TA was most recently a 4a iirc.

It's taken him over an hour tonight to do a straight forward fact-finding homework about the Rosary and he went about it in a strange way - did the harder bits first and left the easy bit to the end.

Ah, well that's the one that matters! it sounds like he just needs a bit of work on exam technique then.
If he achieved a 3 in reading in y2 then they will be pushing for a high 5 (at least) next year so I am sure he will be supported in this area.

As far as raiding logs go just get him to add three or four entries. My dds class has a rule of a minimum of 3 20min reads. Dd reads far more but I just encourage here to record the very minimum. Which is usual 3 records of around 3 + chapters.

Also I think that because she misreads words, she has to keep track of the meaning of the text. In an case, the more time you spend chatting about the book the less actual reading you have to do. She was very very good at this.

DD2 learnt to read with no effort at all and she would go really quickly and not realise things had stopped making sense.

SATs booklets are long, and not very interesting, the temptation to read it quickly and not very carefully must be enormous.

Could you think up some instruction games, follow recipes for baking, making a cup of tea etc just to do some fun things to help him out with this.

We'd lost our reading diaries by Y5. I think DDs went AWOL somewhere in Y3.

Thank you all for your helpful support.

The Sats reading comp is very different to 11+ comp in the way it is structured(with ours it is anyway)I wouldn't panic too much.

I can't add much to this but your ds sounds absolutely lovely OP.
It does sound like he's struggling to work out exactly what he is expected to do in a task, despite having excellent knowledge/skills. Perhaps the teacher could make the task objectives a bit more specific for him?

Its great that you're reading together - but A Brief History of Time? Really? And he spends his breaks at school reading? Where's the fun element in his day?
At 9 or 10 he should be playing with his friends and running around using up energy. It sounds as if he's picked up on your anxieties in a big way.

Let him be a child. And to be honest you sound obsessed with his education. Why would the school mark him down or comment on his homework? Loosen up on the grammar school fixation and let him have fun. My eldest son would only read Harry Potter and refused to do homework without a fight and he's just graduated from University with a good degree. Cut him some slack and he'll be fine. He sounds lovely by the way.

I admit I haven't read the other answers but reading ability is much about comprehension and picking up on implied text ect as being able to read the words themselves. Used to find many of the children who were able to easily read the words were simply focused in read the words and not on the message.

Thanks for sharing all your experiences, it's helping me to keep it all in perspective.

Re: A Brief History of Time, I read about 2 or 3 pages at a time and he tries hard to grasp the meaning, pausing and reiterating things in his own words. Sometimes I think he 'gets' it better than I do.

He is a deep thinker and a bit of a philosopher but also loves science so this is actually right up his street. Last nights stint was about what makes a good theory :)

I would always much rather he played outside with his friends and siblings than do homework, that I think is part of the problem we now have.

As he left for school this morning with his Dr Who book in his hand, I shouted, 'don't read your book at break time, play instead', 'I'll play at lunch time' was the response.

pippiLs, I think you are expecting too much, and worrying too much! But I've been there so I understand.

A brief history of time, and similar, such as the current books on Einstein's work, is aimed at a low reading age, for a very good reason,

It is excellent that you are reading together, that is important, and breif history of time gives you plenty to discuss, which is actually more important to his development than reading!

I didn't bother with the reading logs at primary school just partially filled them in to keep the teacher quiet, but made no attempt to write down everything.

These levels are inaccurate, and meaningless. I once turned over the list a previous teacher had given me, so matching the top name of the register to the bottom score on the list, etc. it fitted better that way round , so I chose to decide that was the way round it was meant to be.

My son was an advanced reader, gifted in music with amazing scientific understanding at 7. Now 14 he is in a grammar school winging and complaining this morning that his sousaphone lesson is going to overlap with the lunchtime flirt by 5 minutes.

He benefited from me reading with him and discussing things with him, and taking a close interest in his schooling. Actually I still do, although he appreciates it less these days!

He also frequently messes up, avoids work, strops, forgets hw, fails to show his potential in exams, makes the most stupid mistakes, gets told off for chat, or answering back ....... Sometimes!

He also sometimes works hard, does well, and makes me proud.

In other words, yes he is clever, basically hard working , with potential and aspirations.

he is also a human teenage boy!

When the time comes, work with your son on 11+ papers. If he is clever, and practices, and has your support, he is going to be fine. Don't let this one tiny little incident make you despair, because, I promise you, there will be many.

just read your last post re brief history of time. yes, he will get it better than you do, most likely, these ideas are best come to young, before the inflexible adult brain stages, at which point we have some difficulty believing them!

I think relativity, string theory etc, should be taught early at primary school, when young flexible brains are more able to accept the fantastic nature of science beyond our senses.

When we get older, we have learnt so much about the world by experience, that it is harder to take on board concepts that go beyond our experience, or seem to contradict it.

Luggagecarousel, the 'lunchtime flirt' made me smile. Thanks for your wise words.

That's an interesting take on it Luggage. I'm also reading 'Mindset' by Carol Dweck to him and his sister (a bit older) at the moment and they are both surprisingly receptive to it.

Just beware of Don's Disease!