ds 6 year 1 not making enough progress

[Alein]

I'm new to mumsnet and was hoping someone might be able to advise/reassure me about my ds 6. He is in year 1 and his teacher says he is not making enough progress. His main issues seem to be that he cannot complete a task on his own. After the class has been instructed by the teacher he seems unable to understand how to proceed unless the TA helps him. She says his work does not match his ability. He can read really well and spelling ok. Maths is also weak (barely average). Writing legibility is okay but content can be mixed up and not coherent. Socially he is a lovely, lovable boy and enjoys playing with others.

Poor lad, he is only six! Could just be immaturity. On the other hand, it might indicate some sort of processing disorder or other issue for which he might need support.

Is the teacher asking you to come up with a solution for this, or is she just letting you know?

She lets me know frequently about his lack of progress. He is getting help as often someone sits with him to help him work. He doesn't have any kind of written action plan or anything formal in place. I don't know if I should ask for this to happen? I just wish I knew what was underlying this so that I could try help him with it. A processing disorder of some kind had occurred to me but I am clueless as to what it might be and what happens next.

There are lots of other strategies beyond leaving him to it or 1:1 support. What else has the teacher tried? Task boards, visual success criteria, peer support, verbally repeating back instruction etc. Saying he can't do it is rather lazy if other strategies have not been tried.

Thank you both for replying.
My DH and I had suggested the repeating back idea a while ago. Do you think I need to ask for further investigations - involve SEN leader etc? I had thought about seeing our GP to see what she thought. Is this a common problem? His teacher is adamant he is the only one like this in her class. Makes me feel very worried for him.

Having problems with remembering a sequence of instructions is typical of weaker short-term memory, dyspraxia, etc. I would ask the senco to look into it. It may be related to maths weakness as well, and indicate the need for more practice than he is getting.

Yes if it's as bad as teacher is indicating I am surprised she hasn't already suggested this. When I asked her what she thought was wrong she said she didn't know. Surely she must have come across this before? She is an experienced teacher. I am going to suggest DH and I meet with her to discuss possible senco involvement. Have also just booked GP appointment just in case there is a hearing issue.

What sort of school is it? Are the rest of the class particularly 'high flyers' ? How was he in nursery, pre-school, and Reception? These sort of situations don't (normally) appear 'overnight', and there is often a gradual demonstration of a child's abilities over a period of months or years.

I was a primary TA for over twenty years, and in my experience half the class in Yr1 could fit the profile you describe! And it doesn't get much better in higher year groups, or even in Secondary. The teacher giving clear instructions, that one would expect would be sufficient for children to start working on a task, there is invariably one, if not more who say: "Please Miss, what do we do?"

What is he like at home, concentrating on games, following Lego instruction sheets, doing jigsaw puzzles, drawing and colouring, etc.

I'll give you two things that should help towards Literacy and Numeracy:

ONE - 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’.

TWO - ?Practical things are best for grasping number concepts - bricks, Lego, beads, counters, money, shapes, weights, measuring, cooking.

Do adding, taking away, multiplication (repeated addition), division (sharing), using REAL OBJECTS as just 'numbers' can be too abstract for some children.

Number Bonds of Ten forms the basis of much maths, so try to learn them. Using Lego or something similar, use a LOT of bricks (of just TWO colours, if you have enough) lay them out so the pattern can be seen of one colour INCREASING while the other colour DECREASES. Lay them down, or build up like steps.

So:

ten of one colour none of other
nine of one colour one of other
eight of one colour two of other
seven of one colour three of other

etc,

then of course, the sides are equal at 5 and 5; after which the colours 'swap over' as to increasing/decreasing.

To learn TABLES, do them in groups that have a relationship, thus:

x2, x4, x8

x3, x6, x12

5 and 10 are easy

7 and 9 are rather harder.

Starting with TWO times TABLE, I always say: "Imagine the class is lining up in pairs; each child will have a partner, if there is an EVEN number in the class. If one child is left without a partner, then the number is ODD, because an odd one is left out."

Use Lego bricks again, lay them out in a column of 2 wide to learn 2x table. Go half way down the column, and move half the bricks up, so that now the column is 4 bricks wide. That gives the start of 4x table.

Then do similar things with 3x and 6x.

With 5x, try and count in 'fives', and notice the relationship with 'ten' - they will alternate, ending in 5 then 10.

It is important to try and UNDERSTAND the relationships between numbers, and not just learn them 'by rote'.

An inexpensive solar powered calculator (no battery to run out!) can help learn tables by 'repeated addition'. So: enter 2+2 and press = to give 4. KEEP PRESSING = and it should add on 2 each time, giving 2 times table.

There are good web sites, which can be fun to use :

www.ictgames.com/

www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/page/default.asp?title=Woodlands%20Junior%20School&pid=1

Thank you so much Ferguson! The lego ideas sound great and so simple to do. Will definitely give these a go. Also very reassuring about what you say about him not necessarily being the only one who might be like this.
He is better at home. He can build complex lego models by just looking at the instruction books. He is a strong reader and can learn his spellings by himself. He also seems to have good comprehension and is verbally articulate. He asks lots of good questions and shows good curiosity. He can colour and draw but not particularly well. His handwriting is not great and it seems to be a big effort for him. He hardly ever chooses to doodle, colour, etc and prefers to play with lego, cars etc. He doesn't like jigsaws. Maths is difficult for him. He doesn't 'get it' despite my and my DH many attempts to help. Sitting still and listening is difficult for him.

There have been signs before now of issues. Minor issues at pre-school were his lack of listening during stories for e.g. At 3 I assumed this was probably true for a lot of children? However he was very happy at pre-school and seemed to enjoy it. He happily engaged in all the crafting activities and played well. When he went into year R he seemed to take a turn for the worse and became slightly less enthusiastic about things. He was also very tired a lot of the time. His reception teacher said exactly the same things as his current teacher. That he couldn't complete a task without help. Again he had a lot of 121 support. When we went in to parents evening and the work was out to look at, he had hardly anything.
He is in an outstanding school in a very middle class area. Expectations are high.

I would suggest using visual promotes for each step of the tasks so he knows exactly what he needs to do and isn't sitting lost trying to remember what he's meant to do. Some children find following more than one step very difficult.
As a Y1 teacher and SENCO I would be worried outhit. Eco ink dependent on a TA sat next to him so give him the tools to help himself.

Look at the Y1 curriculum as some suggestions aren't taught until much later.

Thanks mrz. That would probably work well for him. I will ask about this when we meet teacher next. Is there any simple way of assessing whether it is his memory, lack of attention or inability to understand the instructions? Do you think he needs senco support/involvement?

Things like pelamanism games www.pexeso-online.cz/memory/ for visual memory

www.roundgames.com/game/Brain+Spa+Auditory+Memory auditory memory

Thanks mrz. Will try these out.