[DPR]

My DD is struggling at school with writing (Grade2). She gets very angry at herself if she doesnt get it right. Frustrated is a mild word I would use with her as it seems far beyond that. She tries very hard to remember words but just isnt retaining the information. Today I found out from her teacher (yep 4th term) that she isnt where she should be. So I am panicking. She obviously needs extra attention with reading, writing and sound words ie boat, our etc. She gets upset when we try to help her with things, I have seen her be positive with her remedial reading teacher but her everyday teacher says she has a "I can't" attitude and we don't know how to break her of this thought process. Sorry feel like I am rambling, but at the end we need help. She is falling behind and her teacher admitted to me today that she should have one on one attention, therefore a tutor looks the way to go. Also if anyone knows if there is a "summer" school available in Perth SOR that would be great. Any advice welcome.

[Overtherainbow]

Is it possible for you to work with her? Is she missing sounds out of her words, jumbling the sounds or using the wrong letters to make the sounds?

Get her sight checked at an optomotrist, it's free and can rule out other issues.

I'm assuming she knows her basic one letter sounds and it's the digraphs and blends that are confusing her. Work out where she has lost it and move from there. There are many resources out there to help you.

Spelling is something that needs daily work and assistance which is why it doesn't pick up as fast in remedial programmes. Choose a sound and work on it. Let her write a few lines each day that are meaningful, a letter, a diary, etc. Write the correct spelling above each word and choose 10 to learn how to spell. Choose the most common words first.

[DPR]

Thanks RTT

Is it possible for you to work with her?

We do, although she gets very angry with herself and us when we try to correct (gently) or show her things.

Is she missing sounds out of her words, jumbling the sounds or using the wrong letters to make the sounds?

She is using the wrong letters to make the sounds, not completing the words (spelling issues) she writes (spells) like it sounds ie magec, boks, ist (its) etc

She has had no interest to read, which I think is also where the "I can't" attitude comes in. She is very critical of herself. Her confidence is very low.

We also have a 20mth old who requires attention after school to his bedtime so it has been hard to find uninterrupted quiet time to help her. It may seem like a lame excuse, but until DH gets hope at 5:30-6pm its just me and DS ensures he is there in both our faces. I feel guilty as it is and feel I have let her down in the hugest way but now we have to pick it up and figure out what to do to get her back on track.

Thanks for your advice.

[Gudrun]

I second the idea of taking her to a behavioural optometrist (even if the eyes are fine they have nifty computer programs that can help kids who have trouble with reading and spelling).

I also think getting her tested by an educational psychologist is indicated. It is possible that this can be done through the school. If not you will have to go private and pay (eg through SPELD). But the advantage is you and the teacher (make sure the remedial reading teacher gets a copy of the report) will get advice on strategies and understanding.

The ed psych should be able to recommend tutors who know what they are doing.

Once you become properly informed you will be better able to help her and encourage her.

This post has been edited by Gudrun: 19/11/2012, 11:51 PM

[Overtherainbow]

Bring back the fun :-)

I had a reluctant reader who is now loving books. I would chose a book based on her interest and take it in turns of reading. I'd have to read her interest level and base what she did on that. Sometimes she read a sentence and I read the rest, other times she read a page, I read a page. She is now into Enid Blyton and can't get enough because she sees the point to reading. Together we are now working our way through A Little Princess.

When kids struggle to read, they are so busy decoding the word that they don't retain the story behind the words. Home readers should be close to 100% accuracy level. Reading to teach reading should be at 90% accuracy level. When they get stuck with a word, give them time to get it (count in your head to three), then give strategies to decode; sound it out, read forwards, use the pictures, etc. If they are still stuck, give them the word so the meaning is retained. If they lose the meaning, there is no interest.

Make some games like snap and fish with the spelling words. When she's learnt the words, put the cards into a boardgame to help them go into her long term memory. Write some of the main words down and stick them around the house so they're seen frequently.

The word its spelt ist isn't being sounded correctly. Is there a speech or hearing issue?

[Glowworm80]

My son Is in grade 2 as well and he is not where he needs to proceed to grade 3 comfortably. He has recently moved schools and his new teacher has picked up on quite a few things, that seemed to have been overlooked at his last school.

Firstly for him it's his disorganization gerting ready for lessons. He wastes at least 10-15 min getting himself ready, at which stage he has not heard the instructions.

He also has been recently diagnosed as short sighted and with an astigmatism. He was diagnosed at the local Specsavers, but both his tutor and his school have suggested having him assessed at a developmental optometrist.

I googled tutors and found mine, unfortunately she is NOR. She does a program called cracking the abc code http://www.crackingtheabccode.com/ It is a good program and is apparently recommended by some dyslexia organizations. How it works for us is we see the tutor once a week for an hour. She then 'tests' him from the last week and introduces him to the next weeks work. Each day I sit down with him and do the work which comprised of 5 activities focusing on a specific sound. For example 'ur', 'er' and 'ir' as in church, flower and girl. We say little rhymes like 'u' plus 'r' makes 'ur' as in church. The five activities take about 45 min to an hour... I am hoping it gets quicker as we get more into the program. Ideally we should be doing it for 30 min 5x a week plus tutor time. I also have a young baby and hubby is FIFO, so I am looking at getting an additional...and cheaper tutor to help out with a few of the afternoons.

I have also sat down with the school and we are in the process of developing an individual education plan for him, which hopefully will enable him to get extra resources in class for next year. His teacher has also been giving me sight words to go over and over with him, he barely knows year 1 words nevermind year 2!!

Lastly I am trying to make reading more fun, and encourage him to ready to his baby sister. I always thought if he read lots it would automatically improve his literacy, unfortunately as a few professionals have explained to me this is simply not the case always.

I will also be getting him assessed by dyslexia Speld foundation http://www.dyslexia-speld.com/ to rule out dyslexia, even though I don't think he has it, I want to be 100% sure especially since there is a strong family history on both sides.

I know how stressful this is, but hang in there. I have been assured by many people that it's not too late, to help them catch up to where they need to be.
If you want to talk or need any more details on the programs etc let me know. I am seeing the tutor tomorrow and will ask her if she can recommend anyone SOR. Or you can contact the cracking the code website and ask her.

Good luck:-)

ETA: Paragraphs

This post has been edited by Glowworm80: 20/11/2012, 01:51 AM