improving writing (sorry long)

[pimmsgalore]

My yr 3 DS(8) has just sat his end of year tests (his school tests at the end of every year). The school give you the %mark and then turn it into a SAT level.

DS is good at most things and appears to be intelligent but, due to some issues at a previous school, is really reluctant to even try at writing. So his SAT levels in the tests were 3A+ for maths, 3A for reading and comprehension. All going well and we were really pleased with him, but then came the shocker. He is a 2B for writing as he is really struggling with it.

His teacher says he has all the ideas, the words and ability to write some great pieces but his brain works quicker than his hand and he misses out words when writing. We have spent the whole year trying to get him to review what he has written but when he reads something back he reads what he thinks he has written, when actually he has missed out half of the sentence.

In class his teacher gets him to read through his work twice and then he realises what he has done, but obviously in the exam the teacher cannot point out his mistakes.

I am really struggling to know how to get around this. I would like to do some extra work with him during the holidays to try and improve it. Do I approach it as a speeding up writing (which has slowed as he is desperate to write neatly and get his pen licence) or slowing down his brain. Or do I get him to write loads over the holidays and make him read through every time so that the reading through and spotting the missing words becomes second nature so that he will do it automatically at school.

He was very upset by his result as he thought he had improved a lot and wanted to get into the top set for English (which he should be according to his reading and compression)

I have the same concern about my Y3 son (though without test scores to support my concern). I think the problem might be undeveloped fine motor skills - i.e. he finds the physical process of writing tiring and difficult. I'm not sure it would be productive to try to make him write "loads" during the holiday because I assume it would be a struggle for him (and for you), unless you can get him to write natural things like shopping lists, things to pack for holiday, etc that seem more like every day life than an academic chore.
Though I worry I might be too relaxed about what could potentially be a problem, I've decided to just let my son develop at his own pace. Although I can see (based on work displayed around the classroom) that my son's writing is not as good as most in his class, I know he is bright and I just assume his writing will catch up as he moves on in school. I will try to get him to do more fiddly crafts this summer cutting things, folding paper for origami, drawing, etc to try to strengthen his fine motor skills but I don't intend to do anything else.
Would be vey interested to read suggestions from others, in particular from teachers.

It is difficult to say exactly what you should do without some observations of your ds but you could consider the following:

Teaching him some mind-mapping skills for planning his work. If he has his ideas down, he can then take more time over the writing. Look out for books by Tony Buzan on this area.

Think about how fluent he is with his writin., Does he find the physical act of writing tricky, does he find it hard to keep letters the same size and "sitting" on the line? Does his hand hurt after a few minutes writing? The ideal recommendation here would be to get him assessed by a paediatric OT. Unless he is really struggling it may not be possible to see an NHS OT, you may have to pay to go privately, but the OT should be able to advise on what the issues were and what exercises and tasks to do to help remediate it! A specialist handwriting tutor (although there aren't that many of these - but PM me if you are in Greater Manchester as I do know a good one there!) may also be able to help.

Does he miss out words (especially small words like "and" and "the") when reading as well as writing and does he have problems with spelling? Many children I have taught that do this, have then turned out to be dyslexic (although sometimes only mildly so). In this case teaching proof-reading skills as a separate secondary exercise might be the way to go.

If he is instinctively slowing down in order to improve his writing, I would let him go with this at least in the first instance. Give him some interesting writing practice over the holiday but let him work at the speed he needs to in order not to miss things out. This is where planning comes in handy ( see first point) as he won't have to remember all his ideas in his head while he is writing.

An interesting read...for one he is a boy - I think they struggle more with writting - my son (only yr 1) has the exact same problem - very clever and verbally very fluent and articulate with a broad vocab. but struggles writting (numbers as well as letters - if i see 5 the wrong way round this week again I will scream hahaha) he has been able to do times table, additions and subtractions in his head but hates writting it down.
A friend of mine is a TA and she does an extra hour with him now every week - is there anyone that could assist you?
He doesn't take educational direction well from me, plus I work full time and he has a few after school things I take him to which means staright to bed when we get in - so I do struggle with time as well and it is not my area of expertice.
I have seen a really big improvement in just four weeks. She also gave me some advice to get him involved in everyday writting (I know we don't do it much do we?) - shopping list for example. I also find that any fun magazines that involves writting we can do together. He is a bit like me in that way - in that I need a `purpose' and a fun one if possible lol to write. Good luck with everything - in reality we use computers much so much it would not hold him back - you should see the state of some of the staff's hand writting here !! (at work)x

educatin I have wondered about dyslexia, I myself am middy dyslexic and it wasn't discovered until I was 17 and funnily enough because I was struggling with understanding Maths problems when they were in a written form rather than a number form.

He doesn't miss out words when reading but is very kinaesthetic in the way he learns. We did have problems with spellings at the start of the year but that was to do with the fact that they were handed out on a sheet with 5 columns to practice them in and you were to look cover write 5 times. He struggled with the idea that if you still didn't know them at the end then you needed to do more as he thought that was cheating as you were practicing more than others. A talk with his teacher and a lecture from both of us on how to learn them properly (given his kinaesthetic way of learning he writes them out in the air now) and he got over it quickly.

I don't think he has any issues with the actual writing but more the fact that his mind is going too fast so the mind mapping exercises may be a good idea.

avenue yes the 5 backwards and bs and ds muddled up is now just starting to disappear. He will be fine with me teaching him as last year he was HE for a few months whilst we sorted out schooling issues (he was bullied by a teacher at a school badly and then took a while to find a new school, which is why he won't write I think as it was writing and a teacher calling him thick as he was struggling with it that put him off school totally)

posadas was thinking more of notes between people, shopping lists etc as ways of writing lots, and all 4DCs do a diary over the summer just to recall what they have done. DS1 does his diary all year round as it helps him quantify when he is starting to feel angry or upset about things (he bottles all his little worries up and explodes sometimes)

I am not overly worried myself, just he is concerned as it affects all aspects of academic life you need to be able to get your thoughts down in order to gain the marks. He is desperate to do his best in everything (we always say as long as you tried you best we can't ask for more) and he feels it is letting him down in other subjects as he knows the facts but can't get them down on paper in a sensible manner. I would like to help him help himself IYSWIM

My son is the same (yr 3 now) I ended up going to the GP about it as he was getting really anxious about writing and complaining of tummy aches to get out of it. I was also concerned about dyspraxic tendancies.

We were referred to a paediatrician who referred us on to physio and OT, as well as a specialist teacher. Physio ruled out dyspraxia, but couldn't work out why he was falling and bumping into things.

On a hunch I took him to a behaviour optometrist to rule out eye problems. She found a serious eye-tracking problem which a well-known high street optician had missed 3 times. We have just completed a course of vision therapy with her and it had cured his eye problem. As a result his writing is getting smaller and spelling is starting to improve. She was amazed he could read at all because the problem was so bad, and said he could becuase he's so clever (reading/comprehension age 12). He doesn't bump into things any more either, because his peripheral vision has now opened up. It's amazing how much a vision problem can impact on life!!

The specialist teacher did loads of cognitive tests on him and he was diagnosed with "Specific learning difficulties in spelling, writing and finemotor control". We were advised to teach him mind mapping and touch typing. He uses an Alphasmart for some things in the classroom and is permitted to do homework on the computer (though I encourage him to write too - particularly since the vision problem is cured).

The OT referral was a waste of time :( We were given a pack of flow diagrams to go through and decide by ourselves what the problem was and therefore to do x, y and z exercises. You would be better searching though mumsnet to find mrz's list of finemotor exercises and doing those. IF there is no improvement in 1 year we get to see an actual OT!!!

As a result of 2 terms worth of effort on my and the teacher's part DS is not so emotionally affected by writing now. He has moved up a literacy group, and like I say his writing looks much neater than before (but I think that was a vision issue primarily).

mrsbaffled -- i'm glad you've been able to get good advice for your son (or follow your hunches to find good advice!). How did you find a behaviour optometrist? I had not heard of that specialty. In common, I think, with the other boys mentioned above, my son is a very good reader (of all genres, with excellent comprehension) and he is very articulate (when he wants to be....!). I will investigate mind mapping as I think it might help.

pimms how do you encourage your children to keep diaries over the summer? My son had to keep one during two school holidays and it was a struggle. He now sometimes likes to look back at them and enjoys remembering the things he did, but I don't think I could get him to keep a diary voluntarily. I wish I had started when he was little just jotting things down and asking him to draw a picture, as it would have helped instil the habit.

Mrsbaffled - I am really interested in behavioural optometry for my DS. Who did you go to? Do you mind telling? I am looking for one who is good as I believe that there are quite a few duff ones around.

Thank you.

Look here for a list of BOs (Behaviour Optometrists):
www.babo.co.uk/babo-members/
They specialise in dyslexia/dyspraxia/adhd etc. A lot of children who present as dyslexic actually have vision problems.

We went to Lesley Arkin's in Stony Stratford.
Indigobell lists ones she has heard good things about on her website:
www.dyslexiaadvice.co.uk/vision.html

posadas we started out young, we move every other summer with DHs job so the DCs keep diaries over the summer to write down what they have done, how they are feeling etc. Quite often Dh is away for long periods so the summer (if he is home) is when he makes sure he spends time with them so I then get them to write it down so they can remember the fun times when he isn't there. We do have 4DCs and DD1 (the eldest) was always a big writer unlike the 2 boys who followed her, so she started the habit.

With DS1 it was a way of getting him to write down every time his younger sibling annoyed him so that he didn't bottle it up and then explode. He carried this on to people who annoyed him at school or work that he was struggling with. Now aged 9 he is less explosive and likes to write about the good and bad things that happen each day and sometimes he will share it with me (usually as a way to tell me when something is going wrong and he needs advice about but doesn't feel he can talk about). He is my sensitive emotional drama queen one so often needs a little assurance that life is ok

They all get an extra 10mins bedtime routine for writing diaries and if they do it every day then they get an extra tick on their pocket money chart and ticks make prizes They are all very motivated by money (even DD2 who is only 5)

When they were smaller they just drew a picture, sometimes DS2 gets to write his on the iPad as anything on that is not considered work as it is a hand held gaming station apparently

Lots of fab games to play in Pie Corbett's Jumpstart Literacy book which will improve writing.

Thank you, Mrsbaffled. The website is very interesting. Disappointed to see there aren't many Behaviour Optometrists in London but I might try one of them.

Pimms -- very impressive diary writing regime. You obviously know how to motivate your children well! Thanks for the suggestions.

btw I've looked at the mind-mapping books and they seem geared toward older children. I think my son would find it too much additional work at the moment, though perhaps some of the techniques might be useful to do mentally. The Jumpstart Literacy book looks like it might be more appropriate for my son at the moment. Thanks, star girl, for the suggestion.

Stargirl -- thanks they look like great books, could use them with all 4 DCs

posadas -- its easier to motivate with 4 they see everything as a competition and strive to be better than their siblings, I know competition is a naughty word in primary school but sibling rivalry works well in this house

just looked the Pie Corbett's books are available on the Kindle as well so I could put them on the iPad and DS2 will think it is a game and be more willing to engage with it

DS's teacher lets him hand in a mind map rather than a fully-written-out piece of writing. She just wants to see him put down his ideas at the moment and he wasn't able to to this 2 terms ago. Now she can see what he wants to say even if it's not in full-fledged semtences. They will come.....