Nearly 7 year old struggling at school - Year 2

[Happyclappy20]

Felt sad tonight- my ds said he finds school work really hard. He struggles with maths, reading and writing. Hes such a lovely boy, full of ideas and loves practical things - creating inventions etc.. I hate that school seems to suck this out of them and expects so much at a young age. He didn't meet the requirements for phonics or Maths and Writing levels at the end of Year 1. Hes beginning to compare himself to others. He writes is b and d the wrong way and the same with two digit numbers. He is so knowlegable in lots of subjects - bugs, geography, nature etc... and hes very articulate, funny and makes friends easily. Should I worry or hope he clicks with it all soon? We read regularly etc...

Speak to the teacher about him struggling and needing extra support.

Try to find ways to build up his self-esteem and confidence. Lots of praise for effort, rather than results. Make it clear that you value the things he can do and does know. And you know he can and will learn to do all those other things. Make sure that when you practise things with him, they are small easily achievable tasks and again, give him lots of praise for effort.

Let the teacher know how he is feeling so that he/she can also build him up a bit.

BTW, b/d confusion and reversal of numbers are very common at that age. As a teacher I would be concerned about his phonics knowledge, but hopefully he will be getting lots of extra support this year.

Speak to the teacher and ask what they think he needs support in. I'm sure he will be receiving support if he is struggling in school but it will help if you can continue the learning at home. Whenever parents ask me I always give them things that we have done in the classroom! Keep reading with him too! Reading will help with everything, did he pass the phonics screening?

For his numbers/letter reversal.. keep practising everyday. Do it in the bath, mud, water anything! Make it exciting and not just sat with pencil and paper! But also don't worry, let him do all those fun things at home as sadly they don't get time for it in school :(

Could he be dyslexic or have another specific learning difficulty?
He sounds bright and engaging and yet struggling a lot with school work - would be worth getting him assessed so he can get any specific support needed.

Speak to his teacher, ask what you can do at home to help him. Letter reversal is very common especially b and d.

The teacher may be able to give you specifics of what they have been covering and how they teach it. For maths practical methods such as using counters and number lines help to grasp concepts.

Even in year 4 and 5 we use base 10 ( individual cubes that can be clicked together for the ones, rods of 10, plates of 100 in a 10x10 square etc) and counters to help children visualise larger numbers and place value. I volunteer in a primary school.

Thanks for your replies. He didn't pass the phonics screening and is on Orange oxford reading tree. I think hiscreafing is progressing and he loves Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton books being read to him. We do lots to encourage his interests at home but notice his lack of confidence once school starts. Would school flag up possible dyslexia? He loved writing but was told by his year 1 teacher that he wrote to much and it was 'quality not quantity'... it's put him off now.

working on his strength and coordination can often help the academic side. so biking, swimming, martial arts etc can help with reading (spacial awareness, better muscle strength etc) and be totally different than sitting down.

Don’t worry - my son is in year 2, also confuses d and b and on green books and nobody in his (high achieving private) school is concerned. he got tested for reading ability, and ended up “average”.
Teachers just said as he’s a bright boy he’ll catch up once he’s readyz

Good to know thank you.

Happy - you gave just described my Son. No advice for you but it is comforting to read the replies