Our son is capable and doing well in all areas of school except literacy, very specifically his writing. His most recent report showed him achieving at 30% of target for Y4 (he is Y5).
The (state) school and teachers have been very helpful, having evaluated himand finding no discernible difficultiesincluding him in additional programmes previously for those who needed a bit more work with literacy, providing a 'talking box' for his thoughts, etc. I have no serious complaints with their support and abilities (though I do believe his entire class was shafted in Y2 by a teacher who couldn't control a few strong personalities; this disruption leads me to believe his foundation isn't as strong as it could be.)
However, unlike others, he's not been able to overcome any gaps in his learning and struggles mightily with writing. My primary, and huge, concern is that unless he can grow in confidence with writing, he will suffer in almost all other areas academically, especially at various times of testing and assessments in future.
I've tried various, low-key activities to engage him at home (eg, creating a story together, one word at a time, alternating words). While fun, this hasn't helped. I've tried offering to act as a secretary/dictaphone and let him tell his story while I type it up for him so he has a solid piece of work to edit or turn in. The thoughts are there, he's bright, something stops him from putting things on paper. This didn't work either.
I've set to time limits for his homework. The SENCO at his school said she noticed a pattern where he performs better with time limitations. On the other hand, his Y5 teacher said he recently "freaked out" with a writing deadline in class and "over-analysed" things.
Excruciatingly long post, but I'm trying to give you a sense of how he works in order to get guidance on what kind of tutoring I should seek.
Ideally I would like someone who can:
- Make the experience enjoyable for my son
- Focus in building confidence with writing and, possibly, spelling. (His reading is capable, eg he's just zipped through the Alex Rider series so not a prodigy but not struggling with longer texts.)
- Come to our home for 1-to-1 sessions on a regular basis, weekly if not more.
I'm particularly interested to hear from those who've been in similar situations and will very gratefully receive recommendations. We are in the south Cambridgeshire area.