Dyslexic child v. upset in school

[YeahBut]

Dd2 is 8 and in Yr 3. We've recently moved and she is at a new primary which has a "whole school" approach to spelling. This means that all the children in the school have their spelling ability assessed and are then placed in spelling groups based on ability rather than age or yr group. Obviously, as a child with dyslexia, dd2's spelling is pretty atrocious. She's completely despondent because she's been put into a group with kids in Yr 1. I've just been into her room to check on her and found her sobbing her heart out because she's "so stupid at spelling she's with the little kids" and "worse than everbody else in her class." I've tried to explain that dyslexia means she learns differently to other people, but that is is a really bright child. I also tried to explain that spelling and reading are going to take a bit longer to click for her.
Any advice would be appreciated. Is it even worth saying anything to the teacher?

I would speak to the teacher and head to tell her the impact upon your child. I would tell them it is damaging her emotional development and how they hope to undo the harm.
Actually it may even be against the Disability Discrimination Act under which people with dyslexia are protected
Really - they should be able to ability group the children in their own class if they want to set such young children
To put an 8 year old with a group of 5\6 because of a learning difficulty seems Victorian and cruel.

wow! snap

My Dd 8 is also dyslexic she has suffered mild bullying for the past two years at school (being laughed at and told she is stupid or a baby) It is very hard for a child of this age to be different in any way. We were having terrible behavior problems at home and things were not going to well at school. Dd started pinching her arms and told me one evening after yet another "chat" about being different that she wished she was dead because she couldn't do anything! Obviously she was being a little dramatic but i was left in tears and marched in ready to confront our senco the very next day. After a very teary discussion i was told that dd could be referred to the school counsellor, she has been seeing her ever since and although life isn't perfect for her she now has much higher self esteem and has learned some coping strategies, if you have a counsellor available at school (or out of school) i would seriously recommend it.

Good luck.

My ds had same problem so I went in to see the teacher. he was taken out the class and put in a small group. He did work with other children but same age, with a TA. This group had different spellings to the main class,easier ones, and he got 10 spellings to learn each week.

Hi , my daughter is dyslexic and i have found it impossible to get her the help she needs so am trying to start up a group for parents in the same or similar situations here is my link
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_needs/1139385- Dyslexia-support-group please contact me if you are interested x

I have a dyslexia daughter and we found this great test online. Its made up of 12 assessment games which do not only look at dyslexia but tells you what your child is good at, and what they are not so good at. After completing the test which you can do in as many different sessions as you want( as you do it online) I then took the information provided to school and spoke through the result of the dyslexia screening report with them. They are now working on the weaker areas.

Schools can buy this software for themselves too although the price is obviously more for schools.

Well worth the £19.99 for a parent though.

The link to the website

www.smartcatlearning.com

hope this helps you as much as i did me.