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Primary education

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Original poster

Teachers and Parents, please help! Please,really don't know what to do!

155 replies

TheRoundTable · 08/04/2012 18:31

Hello!

I have got a child in Year2 and even when in Year 1,her teacher complained about her 'up and down' learning. She'd understand a concept one day and be totally lost on the same, the next day,particularly in Maths. I've tried everything or at least I think so-backing off, simple games online cbeebies/cbbc,bite-sized chunks regularly,strict approach-but we come back to this point of frustration!
Some days, she solves quite tricky problems-knows her doubles which she uses to solve near doubles,finds differences between numbers,addition and subtraction in her head,so can do 67+24 or 67-24,and word problems,e.t.c.
One day,she's telling me we need 7 4x if 4 apples cost 7p each and would say two 7s are 14 and two 14s are 28 so 28p.

Some days? She's totally lost! I have tried going back to the basics over and over and over! The frustrating thing is I lose my temper sometimes and then she gets it! I can't begin to fake losing my temper before she learns? And of course her teacher can't do that,so she is not doing well at all at school. I am tired of helping her at home,because it's like we keep going round in circles,thinking we are making progress at some point and then boom! All out the window again!

I don't think she has any special needs and her teachers do not think so either...

Will be very grateful for any advice offered. Thank you!

OP posts:
seeker · 10/04/2012 14:46

I never say anything on here thatni would not say to a person's face. Never.

CarrieMoonbeam · 10/04/2012 14:55

I'm sure you both don't. But the fact remains that there are people on here who use it as a vehicle to post anonymous, bitchy, abusive and vitriolic (you said it!) comments - hiding behind its respectable facade and worse, disguising it as 'support'. This is not monitored to a high enough standard.

mrz · 10/04/2012 14:58

I don't believe you have experienced any of that on this thread but if you have a complaint you should report the offending post which will be judged and removed if found to be in any way abusive

CarrieMoonbeam · 10/04/2012 15:11

I know. However, posts which I would term offensive on other threads have not been removed. Which either means that they have not been reported or that Mumsnet does not deem them offensive enough. As I said I'm no prude - but having been in email contact with them about this issue, I fail to understand mumsnet's rationalisation behind this. My guess is that they don't want to lose bums on seats.

mrz · 10/04/2012 15:17

I have seen a number of posts removed pretty promptly by mumsnet so I imagine you are correct in your assumption that the ones you find offensive have not been reported.

IndigoBell · 10/04/2012 15:56

Seeker - if you had met my kids you would not say this stuff to my face.

Or at least everyone else who knows my kids and 2 years ago told me dyslexia cannot be cured has changed their tune.

Lots of professionals at school, on lots of occasions, told me DDs dyslexia could not be cured. (Including the SpLD EP, the HT, the SENCO, her 1:1 teacher) They wanted her to use a laptop. They wanted her to have a reader and writer. They wanted me to focus on how good at sport she was. They wanted me to focus on how happy she was. They wanted me to stop expecting them to teach her to read and write. They were doing their best. They were professionals. They'd taught lots of kids to read and write.

Now - they are asking me for advice on how to help all the other children with dyslexia.

There is not a single person who knows DS and DD who is not impressed with the changes in them.

But you'll have to take my word on that. Because this is an anonymous forum.

pastoralacademia · 10/04/2012 16:04

Sorry I was offline for a little while but someone seems to have a problem with this!! [Caring parents are better than any experts when it comes to their children. Once they are tuned in they surpass any professional"] i wonder why..... Many expert that I have spoken to or read their books know this is a fact. Yes once they are tuned in they move heaven and earth until they know what, why and how. The best SENCO are parents of children with special needs.

seeker · 10/04/2012 16:14

I would, indigoBell, because while I am absolutely delighted that your children have made such progress, and I would rejoice with you and tell you how wonderful your children and the work you have done with them is, that is VERY different from saying on a forum like this "dyslexia can be cured" and that it is you as a parent who has to do it- and that school can't help. And I will continue to be sceptical about alternative therapies in this area until they are properly tested and proved to work. There has to be evidence. Because otherwise how do we know what elements of the therapy produced the improvement? Or even know if it was something completely different? Because otherwise people can end up spending loads of money and having their hearts broken. Particularly if they pick up snippets of information from forums like this and take it as gospel.

silverfrog · 10/04/2012 16:17

seeker, do you think that every parent who tries an alternative intervention does so blindly, without thinking it through, or eliminating confounding factors - it isn't all 'rush headlong into this and attribute any improvement to whatever the hell I like' you know Hmm

IndigoBell · 10/04/2012 16:22

Seeker - do your kids have SEN?

seeker · 10/04/2012 16:22

Of course not! But some people are desperate. And an unqualified statement is misleading.

mrz · 10/04/2012 16:31

seeker Tue 10-Apr-12 16:22:59

Of course not!

sorry seeker Shock I'm sure you don't mean that how it has come across

silverfrog · 10/04/2012 16:35

I do understand what you mean by 'some people are desperate'. I was one of them. but that does not mean I rushed into the first (or all) the alternative therapies I could find.

I do not believe that anyone reading this thread through properly, considering the posts made by everyone, would be inspired to rush into anything, or spend lots of money they don't have, on anything recommended within it.

it is only once parts of posts are quoted selectively, or information copied across from other threads without the benefit of the full conversation being had there, that it reads in a sensationalist way, or as something being touted as a 'miracle' cure.

if it is all taken as a whole, then it opens up some avenues that other posters and parents may wish to explore - information sharing.

seeker · 10/04/2012 16:35

Oops- my "of course not!" was directed to silverfrog's. "seeker, do you think that every parent who tries an alternative intervention does so blindly, without thinking it through, or eliminating confounding factors - it isn't all 'rush headlong into this and attribute any improvement to whatever the hell I like' you know"

Really sorry- that looked awful. Sad

pastoralacademia · 10/04/2012 16:35

[With regards to SEN, Year 2 is relatively early for specific learning needs to be diagnosed so I really wouldn't worry on that score yet.] IMO there is more harm from this statement than from what indigo and Mrz are saying.

silverfrog · 10/04/2012 16:35

mrz - to be fair to seeker, I think she was responding to my second to last post with that comment, not indogo's.

silverfrog · 10/04/2012 16:36

x-post.

and agree with pastoral.

IndigoBell · 10/04/2012 16:36

I stand by every single thing I said.

  1. School can't help dyslexia.
  1. Parents can.

It does not need to cost a lot of money - but you certainly have more options if you have more money.

You think desperate parents should just listen to school placate them?
And save their money for their retirement?

And you think you are helping parents?

You have no experience of parenting a child with SEN, nor have you any experience of curing dyslexia. But you think your advice is helpful?

mrz · 10/04/2012 16:37

Now that is the problem with on line forums !

pastoralacademia · 10/04/2012 16:37

Seeker - do your kids have SEN?

seeker · 10/04/2012 16:40

It is not quoting selectively to say that indigobell says "Dyslexie can be cured" without qualification.

mrz · 10/04/2012 16:43

I'm not suggesting the OPs child has SEN but if there is an identified concern it should be investigated early and minor problems can be corrected before Y2 never mind waiting until KS2. At which point the minor difficulty has left a child already struggling.

pastoralacademia · 10/04/2012 16:53

My friend's ds is in year6 and struggling with simple addition and his teacher keeps telling her that he is ok and it is only his confidence!! How can that help any child? it might not be SEN but whatever it is the sooner the child is helped the better.

mrz · 10/04/2012 16:59

It isn't any help whatsoever. Has he always struggled with simple addition?

pastoralacademia · 10/04/2012 17:08

He is struggling with everything. I sat with him (and my ds) for hours trying to help but no progress. I've encouraged her to take to an EP but she trusts the teacher. Her ds is quite clever but similar to indigo's experience the teacher recomanded to focus on his sports,....it makes me boil.

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