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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

7 year old boy, year 3, too slow in his work - help needed please

31 replies

hippipotami · 20/03/2007 16:10

Ds is 7 and in Year 3. He struggles with concentration, listening, handwriting (left handed so it always looks smudged) and is in the bottom set for all subjects.

Recently he has started losing playtime as he does not manage to get his written work finished in time. The problem is both with his ability to do writing, and with his limited concentration span.

Does anyone have any tips for getting him to improve on these? Any games / activities I can do at home with him?

OP posts:

Jennylee · 20/03/2007 16:35

this is actually quite normal for a left handed boy and my ds is the same, he was getting into trouble for taking too long and then losing playtime, their hand get quite tired too and it is hard for them to keep going. do the school have any strategies for helping him? and can they not make allowances that he has trouble with these areas and therfore give him extra time adn nto punish him? they have to realsie that he cannot write fast adn so is not being wilful and that he is trying as he should be punished by losing his playtime if he is tryign to get it done, i had the same problems adn some others on top and the school did nto not admit there was anything wrong with his writing, they told me it was fine and that was refusing to do his work, whe i withdrew him to home educate it turned out he still could not form most letters adn felt he had to rush all the time and so had given up, I got him age 3-5 and 5-6 workbooks adn taugh t him to write form scratch, beginning with the simple going over shapes in the books then letter forming , taking as long as it took adn stopping when his hands got tired, and now he can write, still takes ages adn someites slips into the old way of doing it wrong like they allowed him to at school but he can write. not sure if this helps, but the school could have helped me by giving him more leeway and extra help with writing, so you should ask for that. they should nto rush him and realise he is trying to write. you could encourage him to paint and do art at home and write sentences about things he is intersted in, without rushing, but really , the school need to be more accomodating

Jennylee · 20/03/2007 16:36

i meant he not be punished for not getting his work done if he has tried and is having difficulties, that won't help hime to write that will just upset him

Jennylee · 20/03/2007 16:39

Also my ds would not listen or concentrate either..turned out he had glue ear and that causes problesm such as not listening, not concentrating, not doing as told, and being confused and not working well.

Mumpbump · 20/03/2007 16:50

Does he have to finish his written work at school or can he bring it home and finish it there? Seem to remember us having the option.

Original poster

hippipotami · 20/03/2007 17:27

Jennylee - thanks I have been watching him do some writing just now, and he does form all his letters correctly etc, but is just painfully slow. I also had to keep reminding him to keep going, as he kept stopping to watch a bird on the windowsill/his little sister/the dog/the clock etc etc.

Will check out the glue ear - I noticed this weekend especially that sometimes when I asked him to do something I just got a completely blank look. Like I was speaking a foreign language...

The teacher said that he also takes ages to get started - by the time he finally puts pen to paper all the other children are halfway through their work.

Will talk to school and see what can be done to help him.

Mumpbump - FAB idea about asking if he can finish the work at home. The only reason I can think the school may be against it is that losing playtime to finish work is seen as punishment for slow work...

Gotta take ds to Beavers now, will check in later!!

OP posts:

Mumpbump · 20/03/2007 17:33

But part of the reason he is slow is because he is left-handed, then that's not punishment; it's discrimination!! Okay, maybe overstating it a bit, but if he can't help it, how will that encourage him to write more quickly? Hope you get a constructive response...

Original poster

hippipotami · 20/03/2007 17:43

That's what worries me....

To be honest, he has struggled at school from the day he started - he was born end of August, so is one of the youngest of the year, but according to the teacher that is no excuse as the top of the class is a little boy two days younger than ds. sigh...

I have to say, the teacher was not overly keen to let him miss playtime, but did not know what else to do... (she is young and only in her 3rd year of teaching)

OP posts:

singersgirl · 20/03/2007 18:35

Well, I don't think it was very helpful of the teacher to say age is no excuse and quote another child's achievements. It's not an excuse, but it's a reason. I have two August boys and both have struggled somewhat with handwriting.

When DS1 was in Y3, and suffering similarly from distractibility/slowness, the teacher implemented a sticker chart for him - if he started work with no delay, and finished in time, he got a sticker. After a certain number of stickers, he got a merit. It helped.

He also now (in Y4) sits right next to the teacher so that she can pull him back on task. He is still messy, but not as slow.

Original poster

hippipotami · 20/03/2007 18:47

Singersgirl - dss' teacher has tried to bribe him with house points, but she claims that only had limited effect. (he was never bothered about sticker charts when he was little either...)

I think this is going to be an ongoing problem throughout his school career - I know he is extremely bright, he has great memory, dh is an engineer and whenever he takes ds to work with him ds asks intelligent questions about the work, and really seems to understand what is going on. DS also has a great personality and is fab at dancing and acting, and his verbal work is great (when he is concentrating) but his written work is poor...

If anyone has any other ideas I may be able to put to his teacher, please please let me know...

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singersgirl · 20/03/2007 18:54

Ah. DS1 is very motivated by stickers etc, but unfortunately his teacher won't use them in Y4. There is another thread going on that you might like to join - I would try to link but I've got to rush. It's called 'Dreamer of dreams' or something and is about very similar boys!

Baysmum · 20/03/2007 18:58

As a teacher, I would also have given him a laminated handwriting chart which reminds him of how to form letters (and stuck i onto his table)as well as always ensuring that he sat to the left hand side of a table so as not to bump elbows with rh children and always used pencil/non smudgeable pen (eg nice biro). In defence of teachers who seem to get a lot of flack on mumsnet (dont get me started!!) it is frustrating when an able child (who may be a slow writer for legitimate reason ie lhanded) is slow to start work - you just so know that they understand the concept and could produce some wonderful work you just (unfortunately maybe) need some evidence of this in their workbook.

Jennylee · 20/03/2007 21:07

Baysmum, i am not against teachers the teacher he had for p1 and p2 was great, it was just that he changed schools and went deaf with glue ear and got bullied and the teachers did not understand him or gel with me.

Hippipotami I hope our posts help, also glue ear is a sly thing the hearing loss is intermittent and some days are better than others and even we did not realise for quite a while, we thought he was ignoring us

it affects behaviour and can mimic the symptoms of behavioural difficulties, and cause lack of concentration, really deep sleep and tiredness, balance problems(sometimes) and frustration and the appearance of someone being disorganised and out of step with things, and of course deafness which can be mild to severe

kid · 20/03/2007 21:12

My DD is LH and is also falling behind in school. She has poor concentration when it comes to work but is very interested in what is going on around her in the classroom. I don't know what I can do to help her, but its getting frustrating.
Her writing has improved a lot over the past few months by copying text from books. She just decided to start doing it and it really made a difference.

simplycontrolfreaky · 20/03/2007 21:16

feel really cross for your poor ds. he's still only little. has years of school ahead of him. should be enjoying learning and school. teacher should be supporting him and liaising with you re strategies if she thinks there is a real problem.... otherwise she should get off his case. cant see the big deal if he is slow but trying.....

paros · 20/03/2007 21:23

My Ds is yr 3 and June born and left handed so I know where your coming from . My Ds is brightish (doing yr 4 stuff ) but his writing is messy and now he has a pen licence god help us he also only writes small amounts of work ( is this down to left handidness or can he be bothered . I wonder LOL ) I have a vast experience of all aged children . Nanny for 24years so sad to say now his pocket money is split half and half on a daily basis between his teacher (I pay LOL) and me .Because I figured there was no point giving him pocket money if he wasnt putting in enough effort at school,so if he gets a sad face in his book 10p is deducted but if he gets a smiley face 10pis added . so far we started this on Monday and he has had 10p a day deducted bith days .1 by me (homework GRR) and 1 by her (calling out ) Stickers have never worked with him either ,god this has turned into a long post sorry .

rachfran · 20/03/2007 21:39

Singersgirl, think it is very sad that your ds teacher won't use stickers particularly if you know it would help and motivate him. I teach Y6 and still use stickers for some children. An egg timer can also work with some children eg bet you can't write 2 lines befoere the sand runs out etc

Jennylee · 20/03/2007 21:55

Mmm the egg timer is a bad idea if they find writing hard and are trying hard as they then have the added pressure and the other kids laughing and saying 'it's running out it's running out' and get to feel like they are different and that they are not trying hard enough, when maybe they are trying adn just can't write fast...I cannot write very fast compared to others, and I am left handed too. honestly the egg timer can be awful it runs out, they still have nto written fast enough or if they have it is not readable, I mean its like asking a sn child to rush and timing the child even if they are already trying hard and I think the egg timer thing just sucks, I had to home ed, this rushing thing is a nonsense if the child is really trying ahrd and having difficulty with a tsk 'oh lets see maybe we can time it and make the child feel worse pressure and then even more of a failuer and an outcast' only my opinion and of course I am a wee bit bitter as that was one of the 'strategies' that was though up by the ed psych and it made things worse for my ds...mind you who knows maybe it does work for some

Jennylee · 20/03/2007 21:56

rachfan also I realise you were trying to help sorry about my post being a bit hysterical but it is a sorepoint for me

rachfran · 20/03/2007 22:03

Jennylee, not to worry as I said it works with some children and of course I only give amounts of work that are managable so that children feel that they have achieved something rather than failed because they are too slow.

rosie76 · 20/03/2007 22:05

My ds is 7, also left handed, and finding writing a struggle. Seems to be a common problem.

Original poster

hippipotami · 20/03/2007 22:25

You guys are great! Good point about ds sitting on the left - he does not, he is on the right and a right-handed classmate is to the left of him.
Will see if the teacher is willing to swap their places.

Will investigate glue-ear, I thought it did not affect children past the age of 5, but perhaps I am wrong.

I have given him a new notepad, and am asking him to treat it as a diary. Every day for 10 minutes I would like him to write about his day. The idea is that over time he gets more written in those 10 minutes, and as well as a diary he will have a record of his improvement!

Maybe I should encourage him to copy bits of textbook just to get some extra writing practice. I think the more he writes, the more natural it will become, the neater and faster he will become at it. (here is hoping)

Will check out the dreamer thread (have often looked at the title and wonder what on earth that was about )

Thank you all so much!

OP posts:

singersgirl · 20/03/2007 23:57

It is a shame about the stickers, Rachfran. I suggested them to her this year, but she says by Y4 the other children are resentful/take the mickey if children are getting rewarded for stuff they are doing automatically.

Jennylee · 21/03/2007 01:06

glue is ear is supposed to disappear by the age of 7 in most cases, unfortunately my ds is one of the unlucky few.

Rachfran, that sounds like the way you would use it is better, small managable pieces of work would be good, I can see that in that context it would maybe help

Mumpbump · 21/03/2007 09:44

I will ask dh when he gets back from his trip on Friday about his ds (my sds). He is very dreamy and doesn't focus easily, but has very good school results. He is now 13, but he might have some pearls of wisdom from when he was younger... Should just say that sds' handwriting has just been criticised at school so that is not necessarily easily resolved.

Did you see the Times (I think) article about the different way in which boys like to learn?

Original poster

hippipotami · 21/03/2007 10:16

Mumpbump, that would be great thanks.

Did not see that Times article - will try to find it.

Ds definately prefers to learn by doing. He is definately a hands-on type of person (although he can be quite clumsy...)

OP posts:

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