If your child was given these spellings at age 10.5, what would you think?

[MindReader]

Just that really, what would you think if your child was given these spellings at age 10.5:

live
back
most
after
our
over
only
work

and the spelling activities sent home included things like:
'draw the letter on the child's back and get them to guess' and 'clap out the syllables of the word'.

Bird - yes, have given up on Primary. Still 2.5 years to go though and damage to self confidence is ongoing...
But same Ed Psy and same LEA for Secondary which is a very academic school. Large. Busy. He will sink like a stone without the right encouragement.

Frankly, I don't think I'll even get him in. We know of another local child who freaked out about the Secondary 18m ago when he started. He is still only attending for a few hours a week. I am not aware of any other support being offered him. The parents were told it was 'their fault for not getting him in'. My own ds refused school for a 1/2 term and we were offered no support even though I was not officially home edding. They just left us to it.

Would/could you consider a private assessment and intervention? My experience as a teacher is that even if they say he has dyslexia, the teacher won't act any differently towards him - probably because she doesn't know how. And he may not get much additional support because there just isn't the money to go around.

My brother is dyslexic. When he was at secondary school my parents got him tested privately and then he went to classes on a Saturday morning with a dyslexia specialist. Not cheap, I guess, but he came on in leaps and bounds. He got an engineering apprenticeship and began to read for pleasure (it had always been a chore until then). His spelling is still ropey but far better than it was.

Yes, Galena could use private tuition and it would help I am sure of it. Given the trauma that is school though, without some official acknowledgement of the distress it causes then he will not start / last at Secondary, is my big fear.

He previously has come home and hit his head off the wall saying: 'I'm stupid, I'm stupid' etc. Tells his friends not to be friends with him as they are clever and he is stupid.

Cant understand how school is sending this home and refusing to see there is an issue? Pah. Frustrated.

Frustrated with 'system' not this thread

MindReader I am so sorry your DC is having such a tough time. It must be heartbreaking to see them so disenfranchised from education so early.

As a PP has suggested, i have given up on primary and am looking ahead to secondary. I feel very fortunate that the school she will go to is fantastic at supporting those who don't find learning as easy or as straight forward. Learning is not a 'one size fits all'.

it helps me that DD1 is at the school, and although she is the other end of the spectrum, i have been able to have chats with her about her friends who have the same struggles as her sister. The main things that have re-assured me is there is alot more differentiation at the secondary, and this doesn't necessarily mean being written off.

DD1 has many friends who, with help, are managing to progress really very well. And friendship groups are varied too. there seems to be less stigmatization as teenagers don't often compare levels and test result (too much else to gabble about!!)

I think I am also more reassured about DD1's secondary because it doesn't stream, but sets instead. So, hopefully, some subjects will boost her confidence because they are less reliant on her weaker subjects. DD2 is a whizz at languages, so DD1 has reassured us she will be in top sets for french and spanish (based on what she has seen, and knowing that DD2 already excels at these out of school).

Also what has helped DD2 is her dancing. She knows she's a fantastic ballet dancer, and knowing that while she may not be the best at academia, she has her strengths elsewhere. You say your DC is a whizz at computers, maybe they will have the confidence to join an outside club where your DC's strengths are recognized, and where they are able to compete on a more even playing field, and feel their skills are recognized.

And i completely agree, the system stinks! One size doesn't fit all, and it really shouldn't be so hard for us parents to have to fight and battle constantly for the right for our children to have an eduction that they deserve.

I have cried many times in sheer frustration.

not very challenging. My 9 year old could spell more difficult words in the two languages he learns.

OP. My DD2 is same age.

I would think great, finally a chance my DD2 may be able to get them right . Her spelling is poor, I ponder about dyslexia/dyspraxia. Motor skills bottom 1%. School working with us to boost self esteem, including writing comments in home-school journal daily of something she has done well.

If you are concerned re motor skills ask for OT assessment.

Private Ed Psych in y6 for DD1 said mild dyslexic. Didn't look at all at motor skills but got a lot of things down to a T. DD1 now y11 just had OT assessment, coupled with her/us describing organisational issues - diagnosis dyspraxia.

My 9 year old had 10 these are some I can remember:

SUSPIOUS
SUPERSTITIOUS
FEROIOUS
CURIOUS

and the spelling activities sent home included things like:'draw the letter on the child's back and get them to guess'

If that is an example of the 'strategies' he has been getting in intervention than I'm not surprised that he still hasn't learned to spell! What a load of useless rubbish...

And, before you think about 'specialist dyslexia tutors' look very carefully at what they teach and exactly how they teach it. Many 'specialist dyslexia teachers' are trained to use just that sort of useless strategy because it is 'multisensory', which they are very hot on (even though the 'benefit' of multisensory teaching is completely lacking in research evidence; it just 'feels' as though it should be right), regardless of whether or not the 'strategy' has any cognitive benefit (and believe you me, trying to identify a letter traced on your back teaches you nothing apart from getting good at identifying letters traced on your back).

If you look for a tutor look for one who teaches rigorous, systematic phonics with none of the dubious 'multisensory' accretions... They probably will not being claiming to be 'specialist dyslexia teachers', just reading tutors.

Teen - thing is, he doesn't get them right, and even after intense practice, he will get them wrong again. He is sitting separate spelling tests in class, feeling 'different' yet no acknowledgement of such and proper help put in place.

the 'tracing on back' thing is something they have claimed to have done at school. Ds said they have done no such thing - he is 10.5 and would run a mile if his teacher tried to touch his back! He got sat at a broken old word processor with 'spelling city' and told to 'pick something you like and do it' for 6months...

they have told us to 'trace in sand', 'trace on back' etc at home. We were sent home with a dyspraxia toolkit and told to 'do it in the Easter hols' - it was half empty. We were given green overlays by optician - school 'lost' them - 3 times. We were given green glasses - school said he was not allowed to wear them and got school nurse and local consultant to back them up. They are on a mission to deny and fudge. it's not just us, it's dire around here.

We can arrange private support (some) but if Secondary isn't going to work for him here (and self esteem so bad I don't think we can wait another 2.5 years for better anyway) then we have a big problem.

I was just a bit at this list of spellings as 'evidence' he has 'met his targets'...

It is worth considering behavioural optometry as there are lots of flags of a visual processing disorder.

Hi MindReader - would it be OK if I PM'd you?

Yes, grassroots - pm away! x

You say an optician Mindreader really they know very little about how to really assess for behavioural optometry.
There isn't any cross over between standard eye tests and behavioural optometry tests.
I really emphasis this as my DD has had many of the problems you describe though maybe not as profoundly. Until she was correctly assessed by behavioural optometry 3 months ago she could explain that the words would not sit still on the page and that is what made life so difficult.
Only once she put on the correct glasses was she able to say 'oh the words stay still'.
Not just from my experience, but as quite a large sector of my family have Dyslexia, autism etc. until you pay for your own assessment nobody takes you seriously.

He got sat at a broken old word processor with 'spelling city' and told to 'pick something you like and do it' for 6months...

Ridiculous, as I am sure you are well aware!

Has he had any phonics input from a person (as opposed to being sat in front of a computer)?

Also ridiculous is school's refusal to let him wear coloured glasses. I know that there is a big question mark over the validity of Irlen Syndrome but, for heaven's sake, anything that helps the child is worth trying. Wearing green tinted glasses doesn't interfere with his learning, or that of other pupils. This school sounds very poor...

From your description I would ask for an assessment by an Educational Psychologist or a paediatrician

Visual stress and dyslexia are totally separate issues.DD keeps her overlays in a ring binder and uses them when she wants. Her reading age was 16 and her spelling age 9 this time last year. Huge vocabulary but totally unable to spell. When tested they found she didn't know any phonics as she has very poor working memory. She scored well in the other three areas tested. She mostly struggles with feeling stupid, doing homework, copying from board. Diagnosis of dyslexia and visual stress has made a vast difference. I paid to have the visual stress done privately and it was a hugely positive experience.

School has provided 3 x 20 minute sessions per week on a spelling programme (nessy?) and 1 x hour a week one to one with an LSA. This was for 6 months. They focussed on patterns and relearning phonics. She's just been put in the level 6 SPAG group.

He sounds so much like my DS1 that it's scary.

If you can afford to have him assessed I think he will come out with a very high IQ and some slightly scary lows (like reading speed) and spelling.

He will also have more confidence in himself because he will know, and you can prove to him on a piece of paper, that he is v v clever but has a few probs.

As the years went on some subjects were dropped so his strengths began to emerge. He had private tutoring from age 7 but the tutor (dylexia specialst) also did a little bit of non-English subjects with him (e.g. maths) so he could see how well he could do at things that he had talented at.

My DS went on to do degree at an RG Uni, Masters (both 1sts) and is now taking professional exams (all with extra time for dyslexia). He is definitely dyslexic but if you are v bright you can hide it to some extent in the early years by learning. He was also the oldest child in his school year (Sept birthday) which disguised the dyslexia a bit. At 11 his maths age was 5 years above his real age and his reading age was a little less than his real age.

At secondary school less writing by hand is involved and the uses of computers is v helpful (software that translates into text for example).

I used to type essays for him with him speaking, made all the difference and teachers accepted it (at secondary sch).

Please, please try to afford to have him assessed privately by a Chartered Ed Phych (as your GP for a recommendation or PM if you live in London). It's not cheap but is money well spent for the confidence it will give him.

Also, we got to a point (at the end of Primary school I think) where he just stopped trying to learn spellings. It was pointless really as he could work for one hour on five spellings and they would be forgotten by morning.

How much better to try the following:

We turned to concentrating on how to find the correct spelling in a different way, for example. If you want to spell "enormous" but don't even know which letter it starts with, you type the word "big" on the computer, click on a synonym tool (in Word for example) and you should get enormous to click on.

I have two children who are 10.5.
They are both in the middle group for spelling.

This week: 12 words e.g. apprehensive, conscientious, inquisitive, domineering.

Last week: 20 words e.g. dissatisfaction, inconvenience, inadequate, consequence.

They have to include each word in a sentence as well as doing the usual LCWC.

DS3 finds them very easy. DD is not a natural speller and struggles to learn them.

Because he was assessed by school 3 years ago and found to have 'no probs' it is case closed as far as they are concerned. Although they are going to 're-assess' we have already been told they are planning to tell him he doesn't have dyslexia (which he may not have but SOMETHING is getting in the way of his brain which is undoubtedly good).

We have been told we are 'not allowed' to have him assessed privately and it would be ignored anyway.