Intelligent 7 year old won't read and write

[PamT]

What can I do with DS2? He has just had his year 2 SATs and whilst he excelled at Science and did very well in Maths, his reading and writing are dreadful. He won't work in class and homework is a non starter (he comes up with every excuse in the book to escape it). He isn't particularly disruptive at school and isn't necessarily day dreaming but he just doesn't do anything. In a whole afternoon he might write just 2 lines or on a really bad day, just his name. He has been the same since he first started school and I have asked his teachers before if he had a problem or if it was just immaturity.

As a result of some of his SATs tests his teacher wanted an educational psychologist to observe him to see if it was a case of 'can't' or 'won't' but the powers that be have objected on the grounds of his good results in some subjects.

He enjoys listening to a story when I read but finds it hard to sit still. At school is he on stage 6 of the Oxford Learning Tree and still confuses 'was' and 'saw' or other similar mix ups. He often struggles with really basic words like 'where' or 'there' but tends to read most of the book from memory when we read together as he has already been through it at school.

He was a prem baby and was a slow developer, being late to walk, talk and potty train. He had a lot of hearing and speech problems early on but they seem to be sorted out now. He finds it difficult to sit still unless something is really grabbing his attention and he can also be a bit of an attention seeker which is hardly surprising at home as he is the middle child and plays on it.

Has anyone got any suggestions? Am I worrying about nothing and maybe he is just a slow developer or could he perhaps be suffering from ADHD, dyslexia or some other problem that makes reading and writing difficult?

PamT, one thing that springs to mind is the question what does the school really make of this and what are they doing about it, if anything?

You say the powers that be at school won't agree to him seeing an educational psychologist, even though his teacher wants one and his readinga and writing skills lag far behind his other skills.

IMO, just because he's fantastic at some subects does not mean you then ignore how he's coping or not coping with others, especially if they are key ones like literacy. A very odd attitude for a school to have, and IMO quite worrying. I take it he does not read or write more when he is doing science or maths?

Is the school offering any other support for you, your son or his teacher? Have they made any suggestions? His teacher, I assume, feels he isn't achieving his potential. He sounds like he's a clever boy. Do you think the school feels your son must develop in his own time? I say this because my son has been to three schools and IME the attitudes towards sorting out problems varies a lot.

At his previous school, the teachers were very anti SATS, and since my son was more or less OK in his subjects, did not try to push him at all. When my son got a poorish mark for writing at KS1 his teachers didn't make any comment. When he joined another school, six months later, they immediately picked up on his poor SATS writing result and pushed him much more in all his subjects. Not saying one approach is better than another. But if the school approach is laid back you have to decide if this because the teachers are simply too stretched to be more proactive. I think it's important to know where the school is coming from.

As for extreme reluctance to do homework my son suffered/suffers from this - from what I've seen, it seems to be a small boy thing for very many, so IME that alone isn't cause for huge worry.

Anyway, I hope you get lots more advice here.

According to the Oxford Reading Tree website, they expect that most children will read the Stage 6 books in the first term of Year 2. So whilst your son is officially 2 terms behind their schedule, it is important to remember that these things are only guidelines - children learn at their own rate, and many boys in particular find reading and writing quite difficult and (lets face it) rather boring. He certainly isn't so far behind that I would be concerned that there is an underlying problem at this stage. As always these things are worth keeping an eye on, but I wouldn't worry too much at the moment - certainly not unless there are other behavioural problems that go hand in hand with his reading struggles.

Pam, agree with Tigermoth that it may be worth talking to the school again and expressing your concern. My ds is also in year 2 and has only been reading properly for about a year (had schooling in two other languages, different systems etc) and he is also working through the Oxford Reading Tree scheme. I'm pretty sure he is on stage 7 so not much different to your ds.

Funnily enough, my ds also excels in maths and has good science results! Maybe its a boy thing. I find my own ds is more interested in writing when the work is project based rather than writing stories or journals. Does your son read non-fiction books, about football or dinosaurs, for example. My ds really turned a corner in his reading when he became football-mad and wanted to read about his team in comics like Match and Shoot.. Perhaps tuning into his hobbies maybe a good starting point.

Thanks for your advice so far, I think I will have to have another meeting with his teacher and see how well he does work in the subjects that interest him.

I expressed concern back in October last year but she told me that it was just immaturity and that he would get better in time. It is only now that the SATs results are out that she has decided he has a problem. She isn't actually his teacher, only his form teacher where he goes for registration. Because of the 30 maximum class size rule his year group of 38 has to be split, so the children who need a bit more attention work separately although they don't actually work with a trained teacher most of the time, just classroom assistants. The teacher who is officially in charge of him spends very little time working with him but does collect his homework etc and as head of KS1 liaises with the other staff.

I am tempted to see if a new teacher will make any difference when he changes classes in September, though going by past experience I doubt it very much. DS1 was much the same and still has extra help with his reading and writing but does at least get on with his work. I also need to find out if he will still receive tuition in small groups because I don't want him to get lost in a large group of 38 with only one teacher.

I'm going to write a list of questions to ask the teacher and will pick up on some of the points that have been mentioned here. Hopefully I will get to see the SATs results before too long so that I can get a truer picture.

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It seems really strange to me that the SATS results have made such a difference to this teacher. Did she really have no idea of his strengths and weaknesses before he sat his SATS? Does how he performed on one day, on one test, really indicate he has a deepseated problem, when she has obviously been relatively happy with his performance on a day to day level throughout the rest of the year?

This is not, after all, what the SATS are for.

Pam T,

I just wonder if he may still be experiencing hearing problems. Is he still being monitored ?

When I was about 5 or 6 I used to find it hard to listen for long and would rather dream out of the window. It turned out that I was partially deaf in one ear, possibly as a result of mumps. As a result I had to sit on a particular side of the classroom, near the front, so that I could follow the teacher better. I too found reading and writing difficult although I did catch it up quickly.

Are his maths and science lessons done more practically, at his desk, rather than led from the front and therefore he can concerntrate on it better? Even if his hearing problems are resolved he may still lack the confidence to speak out and apply himself for fear of getting it wrong having misheard and feeling foolish.

Hope this helps and that you can get to the root of the problem,

Sorry for the delay but I've been really busy over the last few days.

Oakmaiden - I think his teacher has turned a blind eye over the last year, he isn't actually taught by her as he is just in her registration class for the sake of maintaining class sizes. He is allocated his work by another teacher but is mainly taught in a small group with classroom assistants. She is head of Key Stage 2 and as his registration teacher collects his homework but I don't know how much she actually observes him working. It is very confusing because it is her that we see at parents' evening but she relies on the others to give her a progress report. She is the one who receives all the SATS results and as he only managed to write 2 lines during the allotted time for one of the written tests she was obviously concerned. Given another opportunity he only managed a further 2 lines and that's when everything kicked off.

LIZS - I don't think that hearing is a problem as his performance varies so much between the subjects that he likes and those that he doesn't but I will check with the teacher to see if the way they are taught is any different.

The good news is that he has performed much better this week (under pressure from those at school to do so). I have spent more time reading to him to encourage an interest in reading and not put any pressure on him to read himself. We only have 4 weeks left before the summer holidays so I am half tempted to see if he makes any better progress with a different teacher in September. It is his birthday on Sunday and one of his presents is a DK educational fish game for the computer. He loves the learning ladder series so hopefully this will be another step in the right direction. Thanks for your advice and suggestions so far.

Dear Pam, I'm a teacher and I posted a long post about boys, reading and dyslexia on a thread recently which I think you might find helpful (I think the thread was called "what is your 6 year old reading," and was by ks). There are a few differences with your ds, first he is older, so if there is a concern, you want to get the ball rolling soon, and secondly, I would usually say go with the gut reaction of the teacher, although as you say she has had less contact than you would like. She has probably left it until now because boys of this age do vary so much, and she doesn't want to worry or to "label" him early if there isn't anything wrong. I would say that if he is doing well in all other areas of the curriculum, then now is a good time to push for some support to get his reading and writing up to scratch. If he has been learning with a classroom assistant a lot of the time, that can be great, a good assistant with one small group means lots of individual attention. But, classroom assistants are often not trained, and I have met some very bad ones, so that may not have helped. of course, none of this means there is anything wrong, he might well just be one of those boys who takes a while to get going, but I would follow up on the teacher's instinct. HTH

I think I need to speak to his teacher again. Our last meeting was rushed because she was just about to go into a staff meeting and it was the one where we agreed to having him observed (which was then decided against by other people at school). I need to know more about how he works in different subjects and if he will continue to receive extra help next term when he is in KS2. I'm going to have a look for the other thread now.

pamt i'm a yr 2 teacher and would love to help if poss but need more info . email me if you like. thanks . Dawniy

Thanks Dawniy. I think I need more information myself from the teacher before I really know how much of a problem we have. I work full time so don't go to school very often but I will try to get there this week to see her. I will send my details to Tech to be passed to you if I don't get a satisfactory response from her.

Hi PamT, sorry to hear about the worry you are going thru with your ds2...you mentioned he was late to walk/talk/potty train and has had hearing/speech/attention span problems, which sounds much like my dd (apart from the hearing). She has dyspraxia (motor planning difficulty) and also had visual tracking problems. I assume his writing is messy, (or does he just not want to do it?) Are his fine motor skills okay in other areas ie drawing, buttons etc? Does he do well at sports or does he also avoid them, esp ball games? Tracking problems can be a factor in reading and writing, as both involve crossing the midline of the body. It makes it very tiring, so if your ds2 seems tired or restless after/during sessions of reading or writing, this could be something to do with it...

Of course I could be way off the mark, but I do agree that an assessment wouldn't do any harm at this stage. And I would take him to an optometrist to check his visual tracking (even if you have had his vision checked, they are different tests). HTH.

Mollipops, my sister's son has dyspraxia (only diagnosed age 10) and this has always been a concern. DS is very good at Knex and computer games so he does have quite good co-ordination and concentration when he wants.

The vision thing is something to look into as he does have a slightly lazy eye. Can a normal optician do these tests or do you have to go to a specialist? I have his eyes tested regularly as his brother has needed glasses for the last 3 years.