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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

writing abilities of a 6.5 year old, i know all kids are different but want some comparisons please

25 replies

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 16:16

My son is 6.5yr old and in Year 1, he has missed a fair bit of schooling through medical/emotional issues but ive always worked quite a lot with him at home. Anyway, teacher gave me a work sheet to do at home. It starts off the line and he has to finish with a few lines

Eg: One of the best times I have had was when..........

my son wrote "fapw", I asked him what this was and he said playing football

another example is: "lt tco", this means I learnt to tackle

or "rsocac" meaning I scored a goal

I am fighting to get him assessed at the moment as he struggles so much and after seeing this im not surprised he has trouble with wanting to go to school, bless him. just wondering what others make of it please

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SundayToast · 03/02/2011 16:27

Um, my DS is 5.6 and in yr 1. I would say his writing is below average for his class, but about average for his age (as a summer born boy)iykwim?
He would probably write :
plaing futbal
i lernt to tacl
I am pretty ok about what he is doing as he is secure in his phonic knowledge.

It does sound like your DS isn't using phonics to write, which could well be holding him back - does he know all his 'sounds'? How is he doing with reading?

bidibidi · 03/02/2011 16:31

I think what SundayToast said makes sense, is what I would expect for middle of Y1, too.
DS is 6y7m (but in Yr2), and would write the sample sentences OP gave in mostly correctly spelt English.

cybbo · 03/02/2011 16:33

Do you sound out with him when he writes?

it looks like he has mastered the first sound in a word but not the rst of the sounds

Does he learn Phonics at school, using fingers to count sounds?

Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 16:42

i think this is half the problem, he missed a lot of schooling in reception and a lot of phonic work. hes gone into year 1 where its more learning and not so much play and because he hasnt got the phonics and is expected to know them he cannot progress. i have told the school this.

cybbo, yes i do sound out with him most of the time but as they do not do it at school and hes just given a piece of work and told to get on with it, i personally wanted to know how he would cope with that so i could help him more and the above is what he did totally alone with no sounding out from me.

i cant understand fapw for playing football at all, its a total muddle, i feel really sorry for him

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Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 16:46

sundaytoast, reading isnt great, hes on the lowest level books, the biff and chip 1s with just a few repetitive words and mainly pictures directing what the words are. i get him to read the same book twice a day at the moment, because of the repetition he gets it mainly right but i know if i used the same words and wrote a short story he wouldnt be able to read them

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OffToNarnia · 03/02/2011 16:49

Does he get any extra support at all? My ds in year 1 and they do seem to have extra 'groups' for those needing extra input for reading etc.

IndigoBell · 03/02/2011 16:51

What kind of assessment are you fighting for?

Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 16:55

psychological ones indigo and learning or whatever they do when you get them assessed. he has behavioural difficulties which impact on his attendance and the learning is becoming a problem which again impacts on his attendance as his confidence/self esteem is rock bottom. school complain frequently (when hes there) about no concentration. cant understand why they cant give him 1:1 actually as hes school action plus and when ive sat in the class all last week there are 3 staff in there in the mornings for only 22 children

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Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 16:57

offtonarnia, i think they have small groups but teacher has said unless he has someone 1:1 his concentration is awful and they said they cannot provide 1:1, feel like im fighting a losing battle now and hes obviously learning nothing there and now wondering wether to just pull him out and teach him to read and write at home i think he needs to start from scratch from reception level up

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Chandon · 03/02/2011 17:02

My DS is only beginning to get his writing together now (he is 8.5).

We had lots of worries about his reading and writing in year one.

On his SATs score he came up as 1-1.5 years behind for his age.

he has 2 IEPs in place, but still the progress was slow.

he only really "clicked" with reading a year ago (around 7.5) and writing always follows reading.

He is still behind, slowly catching up. I feel a bit powerless, but off to practise now!

IndigoBell · 03/02/2011 17:03

Home Edding for a while might be a very good idea.

It is always hard to convince school to get the Ed Psych to see your child.

They can't give him much 1:1 without a statement - and he'll need to be seriously bad to get a statement.

You could also look at other schools and see whether you think they'll be any better...

My DD is in Year 3 and her writing is as bad as you've described. And she certainly doesn't have a statement. She is getting loads and loads of support at school - but not making any progress. She gets 2 x 10 mins 1:1 every day, and an hour a day of phonics in a small group, and 3 or 4 other small group interventions through the week.

But my DD only has learning problems. I'm unclear what other probs your DS has and how much they are impacting on his learning....

The trouble with fighting for an Ed Psych assesment (which you should do) is you'll almost certainly be disapointed when you do eventually get it.

Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 17:05

thanks chandon, thats good to read, im keep plugging away with the phonics at home and hopefully when he does get into school he may have a bit of a better understanding

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IndigoBell · 03/02/2011 17:06

If his 'concentration is awful without 1:1' he needs to be assessed for things like ADHD. The Ed Psych doesn't assess for this. Is he under a paed?

alarkaspree · 03/02/2011 17:07

Might the problem with his concentration be that he has missed out on learning the basics, so what they're learning is going completely over his head?

It sounds as if you have a good understanding of his needs, but I think it would be better if you could get the school to give him the appropriate support rather than you taking him out and doing it yourself.

Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 17:14

hi indigo, i think the ed psyche has been asked to attend the TAC meeting next week and my sons paed has asked for him to be assessed, he mentioned ADHD, i spose because of the concentration/aggression etc etc. Your daughter gets an hour of phonics a day! mmmm i wonder if i should bring this up at the meeting next week, that my son needs to do phonics daily.

behavioural problems are the other issue, when he does attend school hes mainly very quiet in the class and just daydreams and fidgets and chews his nails/jumper etc,hes always been troublesome in educational setting since toddlers then playschool and now school, attendance has been awful at all because of his aggressive outbursts and actually getting him too school, just says hes scared all the time. My whole family struggle with him and his mood swings and we all want to help him more, but unless hes assessed and we find out if there is an underlying problem we cannot fully help him because we dont know what we are dealing with....if that makes sense!

id describe him as very fragile emotionally BUT he has got a hell of a lot going on with medications etc and is starting on growth injections in 2 weeks and that hasnt helped as he hates injections as hes had so many already. As for the reading/writing, i just wanted to know really if he is that far behind other 6.5 year olds. I do think not learning the phonics correctly has obviously had a huge impact on his progression

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Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 17:22

crossed posts indigo

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Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 17:26

yes alarskaspree, you could possibly be right that its all going over his head as he doesnt understand it. i think i would sit fidgeting if i didnt understand it and it would get boring. also his paed said that the growth hormone MAY help with his concentration, that will take a few months for any difference to notice as they are starting him a very low dose to avoid side effects

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IndigoBell · 03/02/2011 17:39

He def could have ADHD.

I'd start him on Omega Fish Oil. Fairly sure it will help.

If you want to do daily phonics with him then I'd recommend Dancing Bears which is a program you can do with him daily and will fully teach him his phonics.

Also (if you can afford it) look into retained reflexes therapy (eg Sound Learning Centre or Hemispheres ) - but these programs generally cost £1000 - £2000.

timetomove · 03/02/2011 17:40

Out of interest, is your ds in Y1 rather than Y2 at 6.5 because of the amount of time missed due to illness etc? Or have I just miscalculated ?

I only ask becuase I have one just a little older and was going to give you a comparison as requested, but then relaised it would probably be much help as they have had an extra year at school.

Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 17:44

thanks indigo bell, il look at your link now, cant afford the 2nd link,lol

timetomove, his birthday falls in october so hes one of the eldest of year1 , hes only completed reception. hes in a mixed class of year 1/2 which i dont think helps as there are more year 2s and he sees them moving on and completing harder work, moving up the reading stages and he isnt which affects him

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NotJustKangaskhan · 03/02/2011 17:46

My son is the same age, and currently isn't comfortable writing unless he is copying. He's also had a really hard time with reading.

He was having so much trouble, I trialed a bunch of phonics phonics programmes with him at home (looking for a miracle) and found one that really helped him click and boosted his ability and confidence. It's an American computer programme, so the spelling isn't always right (though so far, it's only been Mom vs Mum), but that and having him write the programmes practice words and sentences has really boosted his ability and confidence even in just the month we've been using it and he likes that he can now it all by himself. If you're interested, I'll send you a link to the site I bought it from.

Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 17:51

yes please notjustkangaskhan

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NotJustKangaskhan · 03/02/2011 18:10

This site gives you a 50% discount on ClickNKids There are samples lessons linked from that site to see how you and he like it, and if you click 'Language Arts' on the side bar, it'll list the other programmes, including ClickNSpell, which is from the same company and could also be helpful for you (we've enjoyed the trial, but it doesn't go in any real phonetical order so I'm waiting til my DS hopefully has a firmer grasp on it). I really hope tihs helps you.

coppertop · 03/02/2011 19:09

It reads to me as though he's writing in the way he personally would say the words. Possibly a London/other southern accent, by any chance?

It reads as though he pronounces football as fuh-buwh or similar.

Original poster

brandy77 · 03/02/2011 19:22

thanks for the link notjustkanga

were in kent coppertop, yes probably is a londonish accent, i call it common,lol

his nurse in london rang at 6.30 to say the school senco had rung them to ask for a letter stating that they would support my son having home tuition as his attendance has dropped lower. i would have appreciated the school asking me about this first, apparently home tuition is only 5 hours a week anyway and will take months and months to set up so i will definitly checkout the links youve all given me

the nurse is also on my request writing and sending a letter to me to take to the meeting stating that my son should be assessed for a statement, the teacher had said he wouldnt get statemented to her. think the meeting on tuesday is going to be interesting! shes also referring him into their psychological dept in londdon. one phone call and all that is happening

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