Poor DD and her reading and writing!

[MrsFlannel]

She's 7 in year 2 and has struggled since reception. We discovered she needed glasses in year 1 and then things got better. But she's still behind...maths is fine...she's good with numbers and does the problems with confidence and is a level 2b at this point but her reading is level 1b with a little plus sign and her writing is a level 1a. She's on an IEP and has a lot of individual help.

Today her teacher said she's not concerned as DD has progressed since the start of the year....and also that she is extremely articulate with excellent comprehension skills and grasp of language...her stories she said are really quite advanced but she hasn't got the flow necassary to really get them down yet.

She's happy at school....lots of friends, she's kind etc and always willing to listen.

What can I do though to help her to improve more and faster? We read and draw a lot at home. When she writes it's very quick and slapdash...her fine and gross motor skills are all perfect the teacher says.

It sounds like your daughter is actually soon quite well. She couldn't see properly until last year and is now catching up!

She is now at the age when kids in Continental Europe start school, and at 7yo they are finally ready to learn.

In my opinion, the best thing you can do now is let her go at her own pace - you did mention that she has a lot of 1-on-1 at school, which is great. Pushing her right now might stress her out and put her off studying!

Rather than doing extra worksheets at home, just continue reading to/with her, talking to her, taking her to museums, shows, etc.

She is only in Y2. She still has several years in primary school, so don't worry. Schooling is not a sprint, but rather a marathon, so it's OK to pace yourself!

Thank you MMmomKK I agree they seem to begin a little early here....I'm glad she's progressing....as the teacher said, if there had been no progress then we'd have to worry but there has been...and she was also very nice about how articulate DD is...saying that once she's fluent in writing then she will be fine.

Is she one of those children who have lots of great ideas going through their heads and rush to try and get it all on paper? One of my DCs was like this - her writing lacked 'flow' because her brain got ahead of her hand and she'd skip bits of the story because she couldn't write fast enough to get it all down! She's now Yr 6, and has learned to reflect on and edit her writing and it's improved hugely.

We didn't do anything special with her other than read, read and read some more . I'd be pleased that the school has an IEP for her, and are giving her the help she needs to catch up. Sounds like you and the school are working in a good partnership to help her, and she's getting what she needs.

Poledra I don't know....I think her writing is just so laboured that for one it's sometimes illegible (teacher can read it though!) and for another she's just not able to write in much volume....though I was surprised her stories were as long as they were....even if she's not writing a story her writing is terrible. The teacher calls it "Sticky" as in it is stick-like...no flow.

If you have time and some money you could try www.amazon.co.uk/Write-start-Programme-Perceptual-Handwriting/dp/1855032457.

I'm using it with my DS at the minute - it's exercises that help pencil/pen control.

Is letter formation correct ? I found with two of mine this still wasn't right even by year 2. if not there are plenty of books about that are full of practise letters - though check on format the school as it can vary.

With youngest spent a fair bit of time getting her correct but two months at school with little handwriting at home and she'd gone back to all the old bad habits - starting letters in wrong place curling her hand round - which all mine have bad habit of doping despite being right handed. They are all doing spelling program at minute so I see them write regularly - often daily and can correct their bad habits quicker and it seems to make a huge difference.

You could also check that her grip is correct -and if various pens and grips on market have any effect - we have a slope at home which helps them all and DS has now been given one at school.

Is she being held back by having think a lot about spelling or grammar or punctuation ? - in which case bit more practise could help there. Mine are very bad spellers and it does impact on the speed on their writing as they spend fair bit of time worrying and think about it.

With reading is she struggling when reading to you ? Does she know her phonics and apply it ? If not 10 minutes a day and £16 and do dancing bears book A from the sound foundation would help enormously. If she does perhaps she just needs a bit more practise reading regularly at home.

The teacher sounds positive - but I've never regretted helping mine when they were behind or struggling in certain area but have regretted waiting and hoping things would improve with time or with the school interventions.

Obviously you may have better interventions or one that do help your DC and your DC may perhaps not get as upset, worried, frustrated as mine have at times when they have been struggling.

To help with story writing I always advise, if you have a tape recorder, or a phone that can be used to record, she can DICTATE her story, or whatever, then listen to it back, amend it if necessary. Then, later on, she can write it, or type it on the computer.

Often, children have the IDEAS but it is getting it written that is the problem.

To help with Phonics and Spelling try this:

An inexpensive and easy to use book, that can encourage children with reading, spelling and writing, and really help them to understand Phonics, is reviewed in the MN Book Reviews section. Just search ‘Phonics’.