Things to do at home to raise attainment levels

[thestringpeople]

Just received ds's report (yr2 aged almost 7) and I'm very pleased with the progess he has made this year. However he is slightly below average in Writing and D&T (level 2c) and I wanted to think of a few fun things that I could get him to do at home to raise his attainment levels.

Writing - I'm going to see if he will have patience to write a diary, we normally try this on holiday but he gets bored by about day 4.

Encourage him to write stories and poems related to the school topics.

Write letters to penpals. He has a friend who has just moved overseas and I will also try to find a french penpal for him as he starts French in yr 3.

I can't think of anything else. When you hover over him he has lovely handwriting and spelling but when left to get on with it independently his writing is poorly formed and the spelling is all over the place so I think he is being a bit lazy but I don't really know how to tackle this.

D&T - I've got no ideas on projects for this as its one of my weak areas!

Any ideas anyone?

TIA

You got given a sub level in DT!? Crikey.

I'd join the local library reading scheme as that's brilliant, anyway. For DT I'd get him cutting things out and junk modelling with glue, boxes and masking tape.

Thanks Teachermum.

We were given a sub-level for all the subjects including Geography, RE, PE etc. Is that not normally the case?

With the diary I would be inclined to get him to do it as a weekly diary - might get less bored and find it easier to find something to write about if he has the whole week to write about rather than just one day.

Thanks HLL. Will give that a go.

Maybe home in on what he naturally enjoys, rather than trying to force a diary. What are his interests? If he likes football, can he write a letter to a football manager asking for an autograph, for example?

Re spelling - I hate nintendo games, but my DH has managed to get our son very interested in a game called scribblenauts where you try and solve a cartoon puzzle by typing out the instrument you need (ie rocket stuck in tree - type out ladder) which has brought on his spelling. I make a big fuss about him not using the nintendo, which means he wants to play it all the more and his spelling gets better and better [wicked mother].

THank you Mud lots of good ideas.

ooh, I need to get that scribblenauts game!! Sounds a great idea. I have similar problems re writing for my DS (yr2) and I was wondering about getting him interested in doing a project or two over the summer - he loves general knowledge and fish and rainforests are two of his current interests! I thought if we did some relevant trips and some research it might be more of a stimulus for his writing.

Gosh, how lovely of you to join MN especially to recommend this paid website, Entangled!

There is a small business ad fee, you know. And we are not stupid.

I suggest lots and lots of reading for enjoyment. A child who is a good reader and who has read a lot of stories is often a better writer. They have models of stories in their minds and can use these for their own writing.

Thanks everyone lots of good advice. Sassy its quite odd because ds scored 2a in reading and 2c in writing, the teacher said it is unusual for there to be a 2 sub-grade difference between reading and writing. In science and the humanities subjects he scored 2a and the teacher said that his writing ability was preventing him from scoring higher. I think it might just be a developmental thing for him, he isn't yet 7 and he hadn't mastered pencil control until year 1.

He will get there in his own time. I will try out lots of these ideas. He will love the Nintendo game as he is getting a ds for his birthday!

Actually i think reading lots is more important than writing lots. Reading always flows through to writing anyway - it may take a while but it will happen at some point. Find some books that inspire and interest him. Get him to read daily for 45 mins at bedtime maybe?

I know this isn't much help, but I have to say I was 'encouraged' to write a diary by my parents in an effort to improve my terrible writing as a child, and I have thoroughly miserable memories of the whole process . . .

The only writing I remember doing willingly at that age was writing to my much loved grandad, who used to send me comics cut out from the paper when he wrote back - don't know if there's any equivalent your ds might like?

Having said this, dd is doing a non-optional 15 mins of writing every day at home at the moment, but her writing is a lot worse than 'slightly below average', so I don't feel too guilty!