Should my yr 2 ds be writing understandable english by now!

[nuttyworkingmum]

Hello, My ds is 6 he is in yr 2 and the youngest in his year. He is quite good at reading but his writing is still abstract and even doesnt make phonetic sense!. He seems stuck and his spellings dont make sense either really. his teacher has told me he has lazyboygitis!
It seems she hasnt really done much to help him with this. Does anybody know what level of writing a yr 2 pupil should be at? Im worried as he goes up to yr 3 in September.

Your son seems to have grasped (been taught) single letters representing sounds but isn't sure on the sounds that need two or more letters. The test gives you a starting point for supporting him. I would start with teaching one way of writing long vowel sounds
/ai/ /igh/ /ee/ /oa/ /oo/ basically it's lots of short sessions (10 mins a night) show him the written form tell him it is one way of writing /ai/ and I would suggest either using magnetic letters or a whiteboard and pen (TESCO sell cheap ones) and ask him to write /ai/ then ask him to write 'rain' 'sail' 'aim' 'wait' etc If he can manage that I would ask him to write a sentence such as 'The train had to wait in the rain' repeat the same pattern with each new sound but revise what he has already learnt so that it becomes almost automatic.
Hope that helps ...

Thanks mrz, I will try 10 mins a night after his reading. Can I keep you posted to how he`s doing?
I guess as a teacher you need a break too from school, but it is so refreshing to get some support. So again a million thanks

I am impressed at the reception children in mrz's class. DS is in reception and I am interested in how he would manage with that - will have a try later on I think

am truly amazed at some of the posts here - because they highlight how far behind my kids are!
My 5yo is in p1 and can barely write/spell cat and dog.
My 8yo has just been assessed by a tutor (we were concerned by his lack of progress at school) who reckons he's 18mths behind in his spelling - thanks to a really poor p3 teacher who "didn't think spelling is important".
I'm a working mum (bring on the guilt!) and have struggled to spend the time I'd have liked working with both of them.
Instead I stupidly put my faith in private nurseries and school.
I now feel sick at the thought that I've let my kids down

Cybermammy, you have not let your children down at all. In Europe alot of children dont start to write or spell until they are at least 6 or 7. And all children are so different. I work alot and rarely get the chance to do much. I realised my ds found reading difficult a year ago so I made sure he read for 10 mins every night or every other inc weekends to improve his reading. It made a huge difference, now Im trying to help his writing through doing a little 10 mins every other night. If the week is a problem for you, (maybe you dont get back from work until late.) Then do a bit at the weekend. I bought a wipeboard yesterday and we did some excercises mrz suggested and he actually enjoyed doing it, especially as he made it into a game, thinking of words he could use in a sentence, then spelling them on the board and wiping it clean again. So it is never too late to help your child with some extra work. I dont entirely trust how the teacher at school teaches and therefore feel the need to take some action!!

thanks nuttyworkingmum... helps to know I'm not alone, and you're so right - a little bit of effort (even 10 mins) goes a long way.
I'm still so stressed about all of this. My eldest will go into P5 in August - right now he struggles to spell words like 'elephant' and 'great', yet he can read okay and his sums are fine. He seems stuck in the phonics method he learned in p1/2 - so his words are all written as they sound (elifant and grat).

He's bright enough, so I've got to assume it comes down to rubbish teaching and not enough input from me!!
This working mum thing isn't ideal... is it!?!

But I shall take your advice and see if
we can fix this mess - and get my youngest sorted out before he slips even further behind!
Where did you get your whiteboard - was it online??

I got the wipeboard from tescos, it was £2.50 Bargin! It does seem to be those couple of sounds in the middle which my ds struggles with! I wrote a letter to my sons teacher this morning asking her to pop some phonic worksheets in his bag so we can work at home on them. Hopefully we might get something by the end of the week. If not another letter will be in his bag Monday!
My poor son having to work at home as well as school! hmmm some teachers seem to be far to busy to give extra support in the class. I wouldn`t be moaning if she had around 30 children in her class but she has under 20!

hmm No I would still moan if there were 30 children in the class too!

I used to think it was better to let the school get on with things, now I wish I'd moaned more at them when I realised how bad Primary 3 was for my boy.
Let it drift too long... by the time I realised he's slipped so far back, he was in p4. So lesson there is, don't be frightened to harp on at the school - at least you won't regret not having done anything!
I've spent large chunk of today with Scrabble letters, making up words together (kids off school today, I'm supposed to 'work at home' but no work done at all, so late night tonight catching up).
That's been surprisingly good, both kids were up for it and both made a real effort.
So pleased - tv been off all day too, so gold stars all around
Am so much more positive now than I was earlier today - thanks for your input!
Wipeboard on shopping list now!!

Try the games from phase 3 onwards (select the long vowel sounds )
I recommend Phonics International online phonics course

WOW mrz, that's a great link! thank you so much! If it wasn't crazy o'clock I'd be getting him out of bed and to the pc right now to get started.. haha!