Son behind

[Dbrea]

Hi guys.. so my son who was August born (27th) is now in year 3.. we had his parents evening the other day and they said he's lovely and no problem but is working at a year 1 level.. he can't get his head round maths and his writing and spelling isn't the greatest, his reading is absolutely fine and where it needs to be. Has anyone been in the situation with there child and they've caught up in there own time.. I try and do work with him at home but he's always so tired from school.. I've just found some apps for him to lean through play but has anyone else got any advice.

I'm a Year 3 teacher OP. Is this the first time you've been informed that your son was below the level for his age? What were his Year 1 and Year 2 levels and did those teachers chat to you about it?

If his levels were EXP in Year 1 and Year 2, then something is going on 'now' that's affecting his learning. If you were aware of this prior to Year 3, then what interventions have been put in place to support?

Sorry...lots of questions here, but to give any kind of answers it's important to know a little more.

I would want to understand why he is behind - it could be environmental factors (is the classroom too busy for him? Is behaviour an issue with the school more generally? Has he had good, consistent teaching in class?) or it could be something intrinsic like maturity/mental development due to being young, or it could be some sort of learning difference. Until you get to the source of the issue, I am not sure lots of extra work at home will be beneficial given it sounds like he is behind in many areas.

what did school suggest in terms of next steps or thoughts on the cause of the learning gap?

Truthfully oP I’ve known a lot of summer babies who are seen to “ struggle” in those early years.

Short answer is yes a great many of them catch up and even overtake. You won’t necessarily get that response from a teacher of primary children as the overtaking doesn’t always happen under their watch. I think there is a variety of reasons for this. The first is that lots of the skills being taught in the early years are less about pure intellect and more about maturity. There isn’t really a lot of tough academic challenge but there’s a lot of rote learning, familiarisation with systems and knowing what the teacher wants and producing it, rather than thinking or really working things out per se. Handwriting is just a fine motor skill that improves with practice, not an intellect issue. Often very bright children don’t really excel at any of those skills! Summer children are often pushed into all this before they are really ready, which only heightens their sense of not being good at it.

Many of the brightest post graduate students I have known bemoaned the fact they were behind at that early stage - and I can never read their handwriting! 😂 Just keep his confidence up is my advice.

Honestly they have said in previous years he's working at the lower end of where he needs to be but always still in the area.. he just gets very distracted.. so with his reading which is where it needs to be.. he was stuck on single words for ages.. still into year 1, until my husband sat him down and said what's going on and he said well if I read these books they'll give me harder ones 🤣.. and then he jumped up book levels every week and now he's fine. He gets extra time in smaller groups. I will be honest I haven't done very much with him at home at all and maybe this is where I've been going wrong. I've now got all the apps the schools have been suggesting and plan to start these a couple hours a week.

In my experience if he's nice and not causing trouble he will fall through the cracks. His happened to my dd in year 1 and we've now realised we need to do a lot more at home, daily reading (which we were doing) but weekly maths and English lessons essentially to ensure she understands all the concepts.

This is what I was thinking.. they always say how polite, lovely and well mannered he is.. how old is your little one if you don't mind being asking.

Do the school (or you) think there are any additional needs going on?
If not then do you have the time to allocate say half an hour an evening to try to go through things with him that he is struggling with?

If you want them to catch up, here's my suggestion:

• Schedule some time every week (only once or twice) and spend 45 minutes with them, working on maths and literacy.

• Buy some books from Exam Ninja, CGP or (wince) Amazon. Only needs to be 3-6 (under £50) to cover an entire year of learning.

• Reward him after each session with something (whatever motives him, could be screen time, sweets etc).

I've always done this with my kids and while some weeks are better than others, it's the long term impact that can be seen once they're in secondary school - it's 100% worth it.

Nope.. nothing has been mentioned. That's he's just a lovely little boy so polite and thoughtful but behind x

Thank you for this.. I will definitely be taking this advice

Little and often is the way to go.
And use the weekends and school holidays to make big pushes.

I used to use car or train journeys to do fun type exercises that had learning hidden in them. Number bonds are good to practice as a times tables especially the upper end ones which often get neglected. Mental arithmetic, car plate spotting ie count to 9 with number plates - spot in order 1 to 9 on a number plate. Can be done with letters too. Take them shopping give them a list, let them sort out the price, write on list put in basket etc. Also working out what is the best value of the goods on the shelf. Spotting offers and checking them. Cook with him get him to weigh stuff out from recipes. Chat while cooking. Read some chapter books with him ie above his level, get him really into the story so he feels driven to read himself.

For motor skills try join the dots, follow the maze and similar puzzles. Bingo games, animal lotto etc all have learning outcomes but are fun.

I and my daughter were both late Aug Birthdays. We catch up. Not everyone changes at the same rate. Make sure he gets good sleep and good nutrition and plenty of outside time and that will build his resilience and reduce tiredness and help him with sitting still and working too

I wouldn't do 45 minutes once a week, it's too much in one go for a struggling child and not enough frequency. I would do 15 minutes literacy, and 15 minutes maths a day, have him read to you for 10 minutes and then read to him every night.
Also bring maths and literacy into every day life as much as you can, get him to write Christmas cards, thank you letters, post cards. Get him to measure things, use pocket money and work out cost/change, look at distances and travel if going on holiday etc
I'd also keep possible dyslexia in mind if he continues to really struggle after a year or so of all the extra input.
I would avoid thinking 'oh he'll just catch up by himself because he's a young one' as some suggest. The more you fall behind the harder it is to catch up IME.

Yup, it's all about consistency.

I'd be asking why if you were told in Y2 he was expected (albeit lower end) are you now being told he's working at Y1 level, and what did the teacher say the school were going to do to support him?

I agree with short frequent home study sessions. 45 mins far too long, do 15 mins a day but have a couple of days off and build his confidence.

One thing I found a great help with my DD and maths was to take them to one of those penny sweet shops and get them to choose a 50/£1 bags worth and do the calculations up to the amount they were allowed to spend. It helped them no end with simple math functions and they were always highly motivated.

As well as apps and work books, I would recommend ‘5 minute mum’ on Facebook and insta. She has some really lovely ideas for learning activities (which take 5 mins to set up!) and could help engage your child if he is a bit reluctant. Lots of them are games and challenges. My son loves them!

My son has SEN and some of the Montessori stuff was helpful as its more hands on maths rather than theory. Pinterest and Twinkl website have free ideas. Sometimes its just presenting the info in different ways.

Great advice. I work in a primary and would definitely agree with the differentiation between what is intellect and what is maturity.