Year 4 DS school report - feeling emotional

[Ginblooded]

I have just received my 9yr old DS school report and I'm feeling quite emotional.

(For the record he was assessed when he was 7 and it showed severe dyslexic traits)

It states that he is hard working, polite and enthusiastic towards his work. He needs quite a bit of support from a TA in lessons and they're trying to get him to work more independently.
He is only hitting 'working towards' in pretty much everything, apart from art and music.

It breaks my heart that he tries so hard and always seems so far behind everyone. He told me before lockdown that he has to stay in at break time to catch up on his work because he is too slow :( I know this upsets him.

Annoyingly, I feel he is good at history and he has a real interest in it- he can talk to me about the different kings and queens and battles that have happened and relays whatever he has learnt about it at school, but is still 'working towards'. I don't know if his dyslexia has a part to play as obviously he can't collect his thoughts on paper effectively.

I am so pleased and proud that he is working hard and his behaviour is good (although this hasn't translated to home schooling! 😂) but it is upsetting that he may well have this struggle for 7+ years yet.

I don't know what I'm hoping to achieve from this post really, but it has been cathartic.

@Ginblooded - another mum of a dyslexic DS here. DS2 was diagnosed far too late (Year 9, age 12/13) even though I'd asked several times and had a hunch since primary school.

Sounds similar - he's amazing at the arts/design subjects, and has a real passion for History, but simply couldn't cope with processing/ outputting his thoughts for the question structures at GCSE so dropped it.

Your DS absolutely shouldn't be staying in at break to finish stuff. I found that a key role I played right up to about age 15/16 was helping DS manage his time/priorities and advocating for him with the school about this kind of thing.

Having dyslexia is EXHAUSTING! DS describes it like peddling in 1st gear to keep up alongside everyone else who seems to be happily cruising along in 4th.

When your DS gets to GCSE level think about getting the school to let him drop a GCSE (nobody needs more than about 8-9 anyway) as it will give him a few extra hours a week 'breathing space'.

As others have said, encourage him and help him find 'smart ways' of working which suit his needs. DS learnt virtually all of his GCSE science content from YouTube videos. Touch typing and speech to text can be useful for some.
Also, as they get older and more confident, learning to ask teachers if they can do things like photograph the homework from the board (he could never copy it down quick enough!) or record parts of teaching etc are useful skills.
Audiobooks are good for initial accessing of set texts for English Lit etc.

Ds failed a test because he his calculator on wrong setting. He then started taking 2 calculator with him for exams , each with a different setting and labled

I haven't read any of the replies but just wanted to respond to you & say I know exactly how you feel. You could be writing about my DS2, also 9 & Year 4. Never gets anything but working towards, whereas his brothers are exceeding in all areas. Often overlooked for awards. Everybody says he is lovely, but he has no friends. Has suspected autism. My heart breaks for him every time 💔