Parents of children that are struggling KS2

[SocialButterfly]

My dd (yr3) has always struggled, she has been assessed as dyslexic and has autitory processing disorder. She gets help from her TA when she is available but generally isn't classed as SN or bad enough to get any more support than that.
We have just had parents evening and I'm a bit depressed, the teacher certainly didn't sugar coat anything and I quote " the gap between dd and her peers is widening"
What do others do, do you disregard the levels 2a, 2b etc and see any progress as progress or do you still aim to get them to the expected levels? We do a lot of work at home but her progress is very slow.

My dd (now yr 4) also struggles - we suspect she may be dyslexic. Her reading isn't too bad but her writing and spelling are appalling! Her teacher has lots of positive things to say about her, which is good, but dh and I know she's way behind. Does your dd have an IEP? dd goes to several 'focus groups' in school for reading, writing and maths. If your dd's teacher says she's falling more behind, what has she suggested - can you see the SENCO?
dd also goes to Kip McGrath, which does seem to be helping (her tutor there teaches at a special needs school with a dyslexic unit).
I know it's hard, but try not to be too disheartened - there's plenty you can do to help. If you do a search for Indigo Bell's posts, she's linked to some good websites.

Thanks padingtonbear, she does a couple of focus groups although unfortunatley the other children that are falling behind seem to have behavioural problems too so a lot of the time on the group is taken up with getting them to sit still etc.
I will have a search for some other threads thanks.

Social - The start of schooling in the UK is at least a year earlier than in most Europe. (Finland starts formal lessons at 7.) This makes life for children who find learning to read and write a bit harder than most very hard and stressful. And parents? anxieties, extra testing and even extra help can add to it.

I know it?s difficult, but try to relax and keep reading to her yourself, asking her to join in or read to you some bits herself and talk about the book or story you are reading. ? It does not always have to be fiction.

Paddington - Learning to spell English is much harder than learning to read it, and nearly half of all children struggle with it, with some finding it especially difficult. I have explained the reasons for it in more detail on my website and blogs, but the root of the problem are inconsistencies like 'blue shoe flew', 'very merry ferry', 'jolly holiday' or 'leave, sleeve, believe'. Some children find it very difficult to imprint them on their minds and just have to keep working at it.

Explaining to them what their spelling problems are due to can help to boost their determination and self-esteem. It's easy for children to end up thinking that they are somehow 'not getting it'. There is nothing to get. By Yr 4 learning to spell correctly is simply a matter of memorising irregular spellings.

Masha Bell

SocialButterfly - I never, never, never give up on expecting DD to achieve as well as her cognitive ability suggests she should (ie top of the class)

She's currently in Y4 and working at a Y1 level, but I absolutely expect her to catch up to a Y4 level this year, and then in the next 2 years shoot to the top of the class.

However I don't do it by doing extra work at home. None of that stuff works. I do it be fixing the things that are causing her 'dyselxia' and auditory problems.

I am very, very close now to solving her dyslexia. Had parents meeting a few days ago - and for the first time ever I could read her work (her work was unreadable due to extreme spelling difficulties not due to poor handwriting)

The improvement in DDs work in 6 weeks is absolutely unbelievable. And the most likely reason for the improvement is removing gluten from her diet!

These are the things I have done, or am doing, and highly recommend you research:

• GAPS diet
• Auditory Integration Training
• Retained Reflex Therapy
• Earobics

I have other suggestions here:

www.dyslexiaadvice.co.uk/treatments.html

PM me if you want more advice :)

Hi Social Butterfly:

I think the thing to keep in mind is that for a dyslexic to 'keep up' they're effectively working 20-30% harder than 'normals'. So although you want to help at home and work on things, you have to recognise that it is a marthon and that your DD also needs rest and relaxation as well.

My two DDs clearly aren't dyslexic but my DH is severly dyslexic. He is absolutely exhausted at the end of a working day and finds that down time, doing things he's good at and enjoys is more beneficial than just carrying on with work. He's a fantastic cook and he enjoys playing video games with our DDs and reading stories with them.

It may be best to identify where learning needs support and work out strategies to assist learning. So if subtraction is causing the problem, maybe set yourself a goal that you'll help with subtraction of 1-9 from numbers up to 10 up until the new year. You can sneak learning in whilst cooking - Can you get me 10 carrots. Actually I think I'll use two less than the recipe ask for. How many carrots do I need? Use buttons or lego pieces - place a pile of 10 shells on a table, ask her to take 2 away and then count up how many are left. Talk about the patterns in -1 and -2, etc... helping win little battles, will gradually help win the war.

Talking about things is the key, get your DD to be open about what she was finding tricky so you can understand where the problem is, possibly help or certainly ask for help also is time spent helping. Point out famous people who are dyslexic to your daughter. This will reassure her that dyslexics succeed.

Try to find things your daughter is good at. It will help so much for her to know that she finds something easy, enjoyable and is excellent at when other things are a struggle.

The final thing to remember is that something seems to happen at puberty and things often 'click' for dyslexics. It's a long game - so hang in there. If it is any concellation my DH couldn't read until he was 13. His first book was I Claudius (he was wild about the Romans and it was on tv at the time). His mother wasn't sure it was appropriate, but daren't stop him. He now reads anything and everything and quite honestly retains so much more detail than I could ever hope to do, and I was reading beautifully by 8.

Slow and steady can win the race. Honest.

Mashabell - yes some English spelling is very inconsistent, I had forgotten just how much until I see examples written down! It's easy to forget when you've been doing it for years!

Indigo - thanks for posting that last link. I've been looking at the website this morning, and will show it to dh.

Thanks all, I'm normally a bit more chilled out but this yr3 teacher is a bit hardcore! And I feel under as much pressure as dd is!! Indigobell thank you, I hadn't really seen dyslexia are curable I will have a read of the links you have posted.