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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

Is this standard of work OK/normal for a y2 child? Worried.

30 replies

InherentlyCantankerous · 17/10/2012 10:11

Bit of background, DS is on an IEP, he struggled A LOT in YR and Y1, a SEN was mentioned and the school got the ball rolling for an ed physiologist to come in and see him but in the end his teacher decided he was fine. We do a lot of work with him at home and she said this was showing and he was catching up and maturing.

He's come on in leaps and bounds since starting Y2, he adores his current teacher and it's been mentioned that his concentration has improved and his work is getting much neater.

Anyway DS handed me a story the other day...

"Wons a pona time ther was a verey big howse with some pipal in it. The pipal was bisey thay was conshinrating like (DS's name). He dose god wock he got a smilley stickuer he was hapey so hapey he wonted to stay. He wonted to stay at (name of school)."

Now seeing as his work was unreadable at the end of Y1 and this was very neat and done on blank paper in straight lines, I was and it's gone on the fridge! A friend of mine came over yesterday read it and said "well he's clearly dyslexic isn't he?" She's a SEN teaching assistant at a secondary school so not totally unaware of these things but I'm panicking now that he might have an issue and we've cancelled the tests he was going to take.

OP posts:

coppertop · 17/10/2012 10:16

I'm not a teacher but to me the story shows that your ds is using his knowledge of phonics in his writing. I'd be very proud of it too.

I think because your friend works in secondary school rather than primary, she's probably not all that clued up on phonics.

Wallison · 17/10/2012 10:19

Disclaimer: I am not a teacher or an SEN expert. But it looks to me like he is spelling phonetically, which is how they are taught. I mean yes, he's making mistakes, but he's following the rules for how you write the sounds in some instances. I would chat to the teacher just to put your mind at rest, but to me anyway those mistakes are not the same kind of mistakes that someone with dyslexia makes. And hurrah for his confidence growing so much that he is writing stories - well done to him and to you, your oh and the school.

flutterby123 · 17/10/2012 10:21

Hi, I wouldn't worry about that at the moment. As the previous poster says it shows that he has a good understanding of phonics. As for being 'clearly dyslexic', frankly there is no such thing. Also, children are generally only tested for dyselxia once they are 8. Does he read a lot? Reading is often a great way of improving childrens spelling (as that seems to be his only development need), basically if they are exposed to the words a lot there is a chance they will pick up on the spellings.
That being said, there maybe is a specific need that you child has. I would arrange to discuss it with his teacher and the SEN teacher/ DHT at the school and see what they advise would be the best next steps.
Remember YOU know your child best, don't let other people cloud your views of how well he is doing.

GossipWitch · 17/10/2012 10:22

Did he have letter's the wrong way round, and were the words actually together , with spaces between each word, if what you've typed is exactly how he's wrote it, then I wouldn't be too concerned, he's just writing how he hears the words, he may need some support on spelling but it is recognisable and you can tell what he's writing, I'm no expert, I just had to do a lot of form filling and things with my dyslexic brother, I also tried to teach him to write, and he couldn't even form letter's correctly and his words had no vowels in and often had letters the wrong way round. Hope this helps.

melliebobs · 17/10/2012 10:26

My dd is only 7 month so I have nooooo idea how they teach at school any more. But that makes perfect sense to me! It's in sentences and looks like your ds has spelt stuff how it sounds. Clever lad n I'd be well chuffed with that! He's wrote a whole paragraph at what 5/6 yr old?!

Original poster

InherentlyCantankerous · 17/10/2012 10:28

Thanks all - I am very proud of him and I'm a little bit in love with his new teacher, she is SO good with him, his TAs are pretty fabulous too.

All his letters were correctly formed and the words all had spaces between them, something that he wasn't able to do last year. He reads his school book (orange level) with me every night and the DC have 3 bedtime stories, so lots of reading.

Think I'll start concentrating on his spellings for a while and parents evening is coming up, I'll have another chat with his teacher then.

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TantrumsAndBalloons · 17/10/2012 10:30

My ds2 used to write phonetically as well. I'd be very proud that he is attempting to spell words like concentrating tbh

Whyamihere · 17/10/2012 10:30

Dd is dyslexic and when she wrote last year in year three I couldn't understand what she had written because she struggles with phonics and nothing was spelt phonetically, your son seems to be trying to spell phonetically, he will learn and remember more of the rules as he goes on. You should be proud of what he is doing, he is obviously making progress.

melonribena · 17/10/2012 10:33

I'm a year 2 teacher. That is super phonetic writing and if a child wrote that amount, with those spellings at this time of the year I would be happy!

Nicknamenotavailableeither · 17/10/2012 10:42

I second melonribena. I am a year 2 taecher (on mat leave now though, whoop!) and I would be v pleased with that at this stage of the year. Looking back to my class last year, your son would not have been in my bottom literacy group, that's for sure! Depends on the cohort obviously but don't think you need to worry too much. Just keep reading with him and spellings will come as he learns the alternatives for each sound. xx

GooseyLoosey · 17/10/2012 10:45

dd has just gone into Yr 4 and it is only now that she has moved away from the kind of phonetic spelling that your son is doing. She is supposedly doing really well in literacy. Your son sounds fine to me, but I absolutely understand why you are worried - it's what mothers do!

Original poster

InherentlyCantankerous · 17/10/2012 10:47

Feeling much better now, thank you!

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strictlovingmum · 17/10/2012 10:47

First of all, well done to son for trying so hard and making such huge progress. Piece of writing to me looks fine, I have decoded it without problems, full stops, capital letters and sensible story telling all in place.
Spellings are phonetically plausible, and trying to spell "concentrating" is ambitious, so well done to your son.
Not a teacher, but have DD in y2, I would be pleased with that.

GossipWitch · 17/10/2012 10:48

Well in that case I wouldn't be concerned at all, and would be very proud :D

Wallison · 17/10/2012 11:02

Also, just thinking about the content of the story is lovely - he says he's happy and wants to stay at school, which is a Big Win as far as I'm concerned.

Original poster

InherentlyCantankerous · 17/10/2012 11:07

The story made me smile, last year his best friend moved school, we went into special measures and a huge amount of children were pulled out, he's always loved school but losing his best friend was hard for him and he begged and begged me to send him to the school she went to.

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Nottigermum · 17/10/2012 11:09

OK just to compare, DS is nearly 7 and in year 2, and he wrote this in his journal. He wrote it on his own, with letters the right way around and full stops, capitals. He had A on his end of year report for year 1 - not showing off, just giving you some comparaison:

2012 Disko (School Name)
O it was rily fun and lodes of my friends wer there. The best bit was having a bracke and hotdogs. And the werst bit is leaving. It was soe fun that I swetid nerly the hol time throe.

Going to berthday with GG
In october tweleth I had a rerle fab day wit my grandma. We had lods of god food and gamse. PS We also had swimming.

Spatsky · 17/10/2012 12:46

I'd say that's fab becaus the whole thing is entirely understandable and he has actually, as others have said, shown some fabulous understanding of more complicated phonics with some of those spellings.

By contrast my son uses no punctuation so it doesn't really matter whether he spells correctly or not, it is very difficult to understand the meaning of his text, whereas it is very clear in your sons work.

NotWilliamBoyd · 17/10/2012 13:47

Be cautious of TAs assuming that they are educational experts

I'm not being horrid and loads of TAs are totally fab but there is a definite group of TAs in my (20 years of) teaching experience who feel that they are experts in a range of SEN matters, often with no real basis for their opinions.

crazygracieuk · 17/10/2012 14:19

I do not think that your son is clearly dyslexic at all.
My son is y2, same reading band and I'd be delighted if he wrote that much. (One sentence is a struggle at home!!) Bravo to his excellent attempt at the word concentrate- my son would try to think of a shorter word like think rather than attempt long words like that.

His spelling should get better as he gains experience in reading and writing.

CecilyP · 18/10/2012 12:42

She's a SEN teaching assistant at a secondary school

That says it all really; if a child is still spelling like your DS when they start year 7, then it is reasonable to assume they are dyslexic. As your DS has just started year 2, it is unreasonable to make any such assumptions.

KTK9 · 18/10/2012 16:11

I think it's wonderful to see him trying so hard, but most of all even attempting to write because he can and no one made him.

Dd is Yr 3 and will still spell a lot of things phonetically when writing storie, but it is starting to come together now, do don' t worry, it will come.

I must admit in spelling tests dd isn't bad, but it seems when she gets wrapped up in a story, she is keen to get it down on paper and forgets all the rules.

Best bit of all is you celebrated his work and put it up for all to see, lovely Mummy!

rabbitstew · 18/10/2012 17:47

I suspect you'll find, if your ds regularly produces writing like that at the start of year 2, that he has gone from being behind and struggling to doing very well for a child of his age and being ahead of a fair few children in his class... and he is clearly very happy at the school and feels valued there, if what he wrote is a reflection of his feelings!

mrz · 18/10/2012 17:59

Does your friend have any qualifications for her job because she's clearly not very well informed.

Original poster

InherentlyCantankerous · 18/10/2012 19:20

Friend has no qualifications but thinks herself an expert in all SEN matters.

Thanks for the replies, they're lovely

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