The Goose & Carrot Pub

[RedRegular]

A thread for all who have DC with SN. The thread is deleted in 90 days and doesn’t show in active. The season is changing and the bar is well stocked.

@drspouse i liked the CGP books they have Key Stage 3 English (year 7) they also have a SPAG Book that DD took to.

I think English is one of the trickier subjects to get to grips with. It isn't just about understanding what you read. It's about understanding what tools the writer uses to convey the understanding. E.g. why does the writer use repetition, how do they zoom in and out in a scene, how do they use flashbacks/flash forwards... it's a lot of abstract concepts.

I think it's ok if a student can accept that they just have to learn it, spot it and describe it. DD2 couldn't manage to do that - it made no sense to her and she couldn't imagine the motivation of the author.

Functional skills 2 was a better fit. It's very factual and easier to rote learn.

English is very difficult for DD unless she is asked about the rules of the language and exceptions. Anything that is creative or subjective doesn’t have a fixed formula. What do they want from me? Was often the question.

DS3 is getting through English Language by using a structured framework to responses and shoehorning a special interest or two into the creative writing question. Open a box, you will find a Lego train. Look out the window and you see a train. Find something valuable, a rare Lego piece. Go on a journey, on a train building Lego to pass the time. Visited a new place… you get the idea. He has actually found literature easier. He doesn’t have to understand the meaning, why, themes, etc. He just has to memorise it and regurgitate it.

@drspouse if DS would struggle with EL3, Y7&8 workbooks would probably be too much too. Entry 3 is often described as similar to the level of Y4-5.

It's been a bit of a week here. I needed to pin the school down on what education is available to DD3 next year, so I copied in the case worker at the LA. It's all pretty rubbish. DD3 wanted to do a sociology GCSE, but the teacher who can teach it is fully committed with RSHE, which is statutory, so no. English Literature is off the table because it needs 2 years and the teacher who DD3 wanted to teach it is leaving.

All they can offer is BTEC level 2 science (GCSE is a lot of content to fit in one year and they've only just got a science teacher), BTEC level 2 in Sport, ICT, creative imedia, or catering. GCSE Statistics.

She finds the catering teacher unbearable, and isn't interested in ICT. So I think she'll do the BTEC in science, GCSE Statistics, and the BTEC in Sport. Not brilliant, but better than nothing.

I finally got to bed at 03.30 am last night. But DD3 was really pleased with her stained glass bird that she made her teacher.

DD2 has barely been at school this week. She thought she was lacking motivation but has realised that she's burned out and anxious about the future. I've had no response to my email to the Caseworker, so I'll lodge mediation next week.

We managed to convince her to try school for weekly points rewards today, but the stupid system means that she was demoted to bronze tier because she hasn't been in much. That meant that instead of doing pottery painting and getting a drink and snack, she had to choose between pottery painting or a drink and snack. Her lovely TA knew it would be really hard for her, so she went to SLT to negotiated that she could do something at school and then get a drink and snack. Stupid system.

DD1 is the curve ball. New care provider is assessing on Monday. Stressful. But her LD nurse called to clarify a couple of things today. Firstly, her liver adenoma - she's not happy that there's been no follow up. The real thing though, is 'her genetic condition'. I said that they hadn't found anything. She then asked about the mutation they found on the DDD study. The Bayler Institute asked for DD1's file a couple of years ago because they had noticed something that a few patients had in common, but that's all I was told. Apparently she has a donor splice variation, which the nurse thinks could be responsible for all her difficulties. So she's writing to genetics for clarification. It's frustrating because I was told the DDD didn't find anything, and as I said to the nurse, I've never heard of this variation and if I'd been told about it I would have researched it to death.

@scoopofmintchocchipicecream exactly how DD got 87% in English for 11+ except there were gemstones in the box/cave/field etc set pieces.

@Lougle thats awful (that it was left in a void) and amazing that you might find some prognosis. What a can of worms.

Im not sure how I’m going to get ds back to studying.

I'm not sure if DS even understands enough of what he's reading to work out whether the writer was using repetition!
We tried KS2 CGP books but he needs more practice on each topic than they give you - it's kind of, ok, we've done paragraphs, here's one page of practice - now you know them. Next! Of course if he was actually being taught things then he would write every day and be reminded every day but he doesn't and we can't do that.

DD2 found literature unbearable. "Imagine you were a little girl, running down the streets of London in the middle of the night...how scared you'd be."

"I wouldn't be scared because I wouldn't be so stupid as to be running down the streets of London in the middle of the night. I'd be tucked up in my bed like all sensible people are."

Case closed.

@scoopofmintchocchipicecream the frustrating thing is that when he was in say Y4 he could do Y3 English but then he stopped being taught!

@drspouse how about trying a tutor to establish teaching and being receptive to that? DD’s mentor does not teach a subject but the skills to be taught.

we did not like the CGP books at all they have sat on the shelf pristine sigh. The text design is just too busy and feels overwhelming to acces or understand the content. Finding the right YouTube presenter has been key for DD2 and like your DD @RedRegular a lot of my role has been teaching study skills and being the constant facilitator / keeping her on track as her executive functioning skills & focus are poor she’s done the actual a lot of the teaching herself. We are using AI more to help sense check exam questions as well. She uses it several times to breakdown a really tricky maths questions as the answer alone didn’t help but ChatGPT gave a step by step walkthrough then she did the next questions herself using the same method. Then we were doing media questions from the latest paper but her tutor hadn’t given the answers which are locked online so she uses ChatGPT to sense check what we thought was the answer and cross referenced it with her notes. AI tools can really help with these tasks if you also cross check it.
Anxiety is coming out in strong shouty avoidance of doing revision unfortunately. Thursday was very tricky day. I had to go away overnight for work Tuesday/Wed and DD2 was dream child with DH & DD1 supervising. It’s a common pattern she then gets very challenging with me the next day when the others go back to work like she breathes out again having held it together when I’m not there. But she later apologised and we more on again..
hope exam stress isn’t too overwhelming @scoopofmintchocchipicecream and the final assignment gets completed in the sprint @RedRegular and you can all breathe again with a slower summer.

@drspouse has DS got something he’s interested in a special interest? I stopped teaching “English” as a subject for two years but DD was doing “English skills” via other ways linked to her social interest. The main things we encouraged were, reading every night to herself and we chatted about the books I gently asked questions about the story, plot and characters just chatting not formal. This moved onto audio books now. She had a YouTube channel at 13, so wrote her own scripts to go with her content, she worked out herself how to record them with her own voice or a AI tool voice. She would spend hours editing them to sound right. She then wrote content for a website she developed all linked off her special interest tied up with gaming but all the skills she developed along the way are “English”. We only started on formal gcse content in Sept with a tutor after a two year break from “English” “teaching” as she really hates/avoids anything labelled as English. We also have long interesting conversations walking the dog or in the car and I deliberately challenge her viewpoint to look at different sides of her arguments. Finding ways to weave the skills needed into her life and gaming interests has been key for her confidence as her internally monologue was all “I hate English / I’m crap at it”. Yet she really isn’t. I hope you can find something that clicks for DS. Functional skills maybe a better route to give him what he needs.

Lovely to hear your carving out a small time for yourself running @RedRegular i hope you can continue it’s important to reclaim some you time. I’m on the injury bench at the moment and after only two weeks I’m really missing the buzz from running. I can cycle so I’ve squeezed a couple of short rides in instead.

hooe the shed design planning keeps going well @Tulipandmagnolia & DH can look forward to and enjoy his unexpected retirement.

@Lougle you juggle so much I hope you can keep finding beach sea glass time to recharge yourself.

Sorry if I’ve missed anyone. I read along either pre bed or waking up as days have been busy lately with an ongoing diy project I’m juggling too in our house. I had intended to just do the prep work but after seeing it wasn’t as bad as DH & i expected I’m now doing the bulk of the work at weekends. DH hates diy so I start it then drag him into helping as he’s actually really good at it. My poor arms shoulders hurt though from endless sanding & painting.

The sleepless nights are getting to me this week. I’ve picked up a lurgy somewhere too so that’s great.
I’m with you @drspouse on being baffled that you can’t not be taught and then not be to standard and then be told the reason you can’t do something is you haven’t learnt. It’s just crap. I’d focus on getting him on the courses he can do (like sciences etc). You can scrabble around for English later.
We have been having sad times and have a funeral next week. It’s several hours away and I am leaving ds with his (adult) siblings while we both go for the day, assuming he is stable enough. Difficult.

@Zeonlywayisup - could it be COVID?

IME, schools are always keen to blame DC with SEN for not learning, because it’s all DC’s fault; not because the school is failing to deliver the information in the way DC needs (which would probably help other DC with SEN in the class too)!

@Zeonlywayisup sorry to read someone close to you has died. I hope you manage more sleep.

@Lougle it’s irksome you haven’t been given all the information.

If DD3 is being taught 1:1, a year should be fine for GCSE Sciences (and Eng Lit is the replacement teacher is acceptable to DD3). Lots of EHE DC study GCSEs/IGCSEs in a year. Some with EOTAS/EOTIS or in other SS do the same.

@drspouse have you heard of Anton? Has DS ever tried WordShark? You could look at Tassomai too.

@FrostySunRun sorry you have had a tricky week. Does DD need to do much revision? DS1&3 don’t do any outside of their EOTAS/EOTIS packages because they can’t cope with it. First week of exams went as well as they could.

@RedRegular it is a successful strategy, but it has taken a lot of practice. In the beginning, DS3 typed in the same way monologues verbally. A stream of consciousness without pausing. Without checking on or thinking about the listener/reader.

@scoopofmintchocchipicecream those all look great! Anton looks like it breaks down English a lot more than we are able to do currently.

@Zeonlywayisup it is so very difficult to have sadness. Sorry for your loss.

@FrostySunRun our girls are so similar with what works for learning. Formal English lessons were abandoned pretty quickly.

@scoopofmintchocchipicecream ah the monologue writing! OU word counts are never enough, there is always more information known.

@Lougle get your naps in if you can as those late nights are adding up. We are like a nursery , everyone stops and naps as soon as DD does. How is Ddog 2? Fully recovered?

DCs home and DH out this afternoon, they both did some housework (DD room in particular is very tidy and she did the hoovering!), DS did some writing. I asked him to pick one of the questions and 4 of the words from this Pebble 365 prompt. First pic is his initial attempt and then he changed a couple of things after I asked him to read it through and made a couple of suggestions.
He's getting much better at agreeing to changes but this was a relaxed Sat afternoon and he needs to be doing this every day to improve and he has, er, SCHOOL the other days.