Yes I know, it's a strange analogy, but it kind of works...I watched the Rocky VI special features tonight & Sylvester Stallone said how he wanted to make the film because he wanted to leave behind a legacy saying that age was not a barrier to achieving. He was so passionate in his words & belief, but I remember when the film was being promoted how he was slated for 'being past it,' and 'ridiculous'. But HE believed in it, and justly so, it is a good film, with convincing acting and a good storyline, and it finished the Rocky legend....
I think that the fight, barriers and criticism that Sylvester encountered when making this film is comparable to the fight, barriers & criticism that parents encounter when they raise the fact that their children may not be able to read due to visual stress. A lot of people don't believe that it even exists, a lot of teachers do not know what it is; much less what it means, most sufferers have no idea that they are, in fact, suffering, and it would seem that the government deny it's existence in order to save their precious money.
I find this attitude very strange; in a world where we know how different brains can be, that vision is completely different for different people, and where thousands have been helped through coloured overlays or tinted lenses, that has been scientifically proven and used in many Schools, how can its value be denied?
I only happened upon visual stress by accident. My husband was a trainer and was asked at a training day by a delegate, if he could change the background of the slides to red, otherwise he couldn't see the writing. Upon arriving home, my husband questioned that maybe this was the problem that our daughter had...we looked into 'irlens syndrome' screened our daughter and realised the questions that she answered (just on the back of an Irlens pad of paper) strongly indicated that she had visual stress. I had not heard of it before this, and I was a teacher AND thought I was pretty in touch with educational issues - not at all it would seem. After asking my daughter's school about this, I got nowhere, they did not really believe me and my daughter continued struggling...
I did more research and contacted my opticians. Luckily my local Specsavers had an optician whose nephew had visual stress, and she had recently been on a screening course. After screening she said that my daughter should definitely be assessed properly & told me about an opticians nearby - Leslie Warren in Sevenoaks that did the full colorimetry assessment.
So we went & my daughter had a full colorimetry test. The results were incredible. My daughter was asked to read letters that the optician pointed to and she consistently read the letter 2 letters on from where she was pointing - THAT IS HOW FAR THE LETTERS WERE MOVING ABOUT. When the right tint was found, she read the letter the optician pointed at SPOT ON. And what's more, she could READ. I was in tears in the opticians (and I am not an overly-emotional woman!) The results were unbelievable - I NEVER though my daughter would read - and how could the poor thing when the words were rolling off the edge of the page and jumping about?
So I paid £80 for the test, and a further £350 for the glasses, and my daughter has gone from strength to strength. This is not solely down to the glasses, she has had flexi-schooling and a lot of extra help for her specific learning style...BUT she would not have been able to do any of this, (and go up 3 National Curriculum Levels in only 2 terms, when the yearly expectation is only 2), if it wasn't for her glasses. She CANNOT read without these glasses, and if she had not had them, she would NOT be reading now.
Please tell me, why it is that the Government say that they want every child to leave Primary School being able to read, write and do maths at a certain level, BUT they are unwilling to provide these children with the glasses to allow them to do so? I am short sighted...I got my glasses on the National Health. I could have walked up to the board to see my school work if I needed to in order to access education; these children cannot do this. They have no hope of understanding text without these glasses and yet they are denied them. People say that the understanding of dyslexia and related issues has improved. It has not. We have the knowledge, but not the acceptance. But our children are lucky, there are many fine parents and fighters out there, and we will fight on, until, as Rocky Balboa says, 'We did it, Adrian!'
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Sunday, 18 November 2012
My first day Flexi-Schooling and The Cross Word!
Last Friday I had my first full day flexi-schooling a child that was not
my daughter. I have been given the privilege of being trusted by her parents
(who are also funding the sessions) to take her out of the 'norm' of her School
and try new methods in order to improve her access to education in the long
term. I had her all day, and whilst I thought that a full day would offer her
the best chance of rapid improvement; I was a bit nervous that it would be too
full on...just me and her, would it be too much?...and what would we do for
breaks with no other children around?
I needn't have worried, the day flew by and we achieved so much together. We worked on Toe by Toe and time enabled us to really get through some pages. Then we went on to identify the 1-100 most used words that may still be spelt wrongly. It is strange, unlike my daughter, this girl has fantastic handwriting (no fine motor skill issues here), and good spellings in general. But there are some fundamental mistakes, that unless corrected will stay with her always. Mostly, her issues are with homophones (words that are spelt differently, but sound the same), in this week's case 'there, their and they're', so it's not so much a spellings issue but 'what do I use when?' issue. We tried using 3D letters and writing in water on the deck, but a test showed she was still unsure, so next week we will be drawing, using acronyms and making the words with clay. And she will know when to use them before the day is out!
Another huge issue for her was telling the time. We had already worked on clocks, sorting the hour hand (0-12) from the minute hand (0-60), which took quite a while - 'look at the length of the hands, the long hand points to the minutes - the dial on the OUTSIDE of the clock, the short hand points to the hours - the dial on the INSIDE of the clock.' Then we had broken the clock down into the minutes, at first the 5-minute intervals (5x tables here), but that got her confused with the hours, so we counted them as individual minutes and she finally understood the concept of 60 minutes in an hour....BUT then I realised the problem, knowing that there are 60 minutes in an hour and 12 hours in a day & night is okay, BUT it does NOT help us tell someone the time! After all, we do not say '50 minutes past 2', we say '10 minutes to 3' - TOTALLY DIFFERENT! No wonder the poor kid was confused! So we halved the clock face & started to label the minutes in 5-minute intervals from the 12 down to the 6, so each half of the clock had 5,10,15,20,25,30 as the minutes. Now she started to see what to say....finally she could say 'ten minutes past 2' and 'twenty minutes to 3' (she understood that when the hand went past the half way mark we were 'to' the next hour. SHE COULD TELL THE TIME! Next week we will talk about quarter past, half past and quarter to...but I was over the moon, and my tutees mum said she was too when she got home that night.
We tried to do a bit of Touch-typing then, using English Type, a really good programme. My daughter always takes ages on each lesson, but is very accurate. This girl was the polar opposite! She stormed through the lesson at a rate of knots, (her method of coping with her dyslexia), and consequently had to re-take the lesson 3x as she was just too inaccurate. It was amazing to watch as she hammered at the wrong keys on the keyboard; as much as my daughter needed encouraging to even start for fear of making a mistake, this girl needed holding right back to avoid making too many! This programme will be fantastic for her - not only to learn keyboard skills, but also the pace in which she must work to avoid getting things wrong all the time. She does the same with her reading, and we are working on that too....they say people with dyslexia are all different...they sure are, and it fascinates me!
With regard break times, they were easy too...she drew pictures, and played with my 5 cats - she wants to be a vet, just like my daughter - I hope I can help them get there...
And now - The Cross Word
I have just heard my 5 year old son reading a 20 page Biff, Chip & Floppy Book from the Oxford Reading Tree. These books used to fill me with horror when my daughter bought them home...in fact her mistakes when she read one one night gave me the title for a book I have written! The experience was painful to say the least, as she struggled with each letter, not able to put them into words, and not recognising the words even though they were repeated on every page. As for non-phonetically spelt words such as 'said,' and 'one,' there was no chance! And this went on to till Year 4 - aged 7, until I intervened with Toe by Toe. Tonight, my son, read a book, much more difficult than she could just a short while ago... easily...he did not struggle with the word 'said,' he sailed through every page and understood fully what he had read. He is bright, he is quick, he is competitive and wants to achieve...BUT he is NO brighter, NO quicker and NO better in the intelligence stakes than my daughter was at his age....he just has a natural ability to read symbols. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased and proud that my son can read, I celebrate his achievements, and am so relieved that he does not have the same issues as my daughter.... BUT.... I am hopping MAD that my daughter and I had to go through so much when it was SO, SO obvious that she had dyslexia. And I am HOPPING MAD that so many other children are going through the same experience as I write this. I was a Secondary level teacher with no knowledge about when or how a child was meant to read...however, the teachers at my daughter's school did have this knowledge. What the hell happened? How could they not see that this bright little girl should not be struggling with such a simple and innate ability? It is appalling what these children go through, when their issues are as plain as the nose on their faces. IF THEY CANNOT READ, THEY ARE NOT STUPID, THEY HAVE A GIFTED DYSLEXIC BRAIN - DEAL WITH IT TEACHERS - DON'T IGNORE IT! If you can't provide the specialist teaching they require, that is one thing, but at the very least put them and their parents out of their misery by telling them that you 'get it, it isn't their fault, and THEY ARE NOT STUPID.' I implore you......
I needn't have worried, the day flew by and we achieved so much together. We worked on Toe by Toe and time enabled us to really get through some pages. Then we went on to identify the 1-100 most used words that may still be spelt wrongly. It is strange, unlike my daughter, this girl has fantastic handwriting (no fine motor skill issues here), and good spellings in general. But there are some fundamental mistakes, that unless corrected will stay with her always. Mostly, her issues are with homophones (words that are spelt differently, but sound the same), in this week's case 'there, their and they're', so it's not so much a spellings issue but 'what do I use when?' issue. We tried using 3D letters and writing in water on the deck, but a test showed she was still unsure, so next week we will be drawing, using acronyms and making the words with clay. And she will know when to use them before the day is out!
Another huge issue for her was telling the time. We had already worked on clocks, sorting the hour hand (0-12) from the minute hand (0-60), which took quite a while - 'look at the length of the hands, the long hand points to the minutes - the dial on the OUTSIDE of the clock, the short hand points to the hours - the dial on the INSIDE of the clock.' Then we had broken the clock down into the minutes, at first the 5-minute intervals (5x tables here), but that got her confused with the hours, so we counted them as individual minutes and she finally understood the concept of 60 minutes in an hour....BUT then I realised the problem, knowing that there are 60 minutes in an hour and 12 hours in a day & night is okay, BUT it does NOT help us tell someone the time! After all, we do not say '50 minutes past 2', we say '10 minutes to 3' - TOTALLY DIFFERENT! No wonder the poor kid was confused! So we halved the clock face & started to label the minutes in 5-minute intervals from the 12 down to the 6, so each half of the clock had 5,10,15,20,25,30 as the minutes. Now she started to see what to say....finally she could say 'ten minutes past 2' and 'twenty minutes to 3' (she understood that when the hand went past the half way mark we were 'to' the next hour. SHE COULD TELL THE TIME! Next week we will talk about quarter past, half past and quarter to...but I was over the moon, and my tutees mum said she was too when she got home that night.
We tried to do a bit of Touch-typing then, using English Type, a really good programme. My daughter always takes ages on each lesson, but is very accurate. This girl was the polar opposite! She stormed through the lesson at a rate of knots, (her method of coping with her dyslexia), and consequently had to re-take the lesson 3x as she was just too inaccurate. It was amazing to watch as she hammered at the wrong keys on the keyboard; as much as my daughter needed encouraging to even start for fear of making a mistake, this girl needed holding right back to avoid making too many! This programme will be fantastic for her - not only to learn keyboard skills, but also the pace in which she must work to avoid getting things wrong all the time. She does the same with her reading, and we are working on that too....they say people with dyslexia are all different...they sure are, and it fascinates me!
With regard break times, they were easy too...she drew pictures, and played with my 5 cats - she wants to be a vet, just like my daughter - I hope I can help them get there...
And now - The Cross Word
I have just heard my 5 year old son reading a 20 page Biff, Chip & Floppy Book from the Oxford Reading Tree. These books used to fill me with horror when my daughter bought them home...in fact her mistakes when she read one one night gave me the title for a book I have written! The experience was painful to say the least, as she struggled with each letter, not able to put them into words, and not recognising the words even though they were repeated on every page. As for non-phonetically spelt words such as 'said,' and 'one,' there was no chance! And this went on to till Year 4 - aged 7, until I intervened with Toe by Toe. Tonight, my son, read a book, much more difficult than she could just a short while ago... easily...he did not struggle with the word 'said,' he sailed through every page and understood fully what he had read. He is bright, he is quick, he is competitive and wants to achieve...BUT he is NO brighter, NO quicker and NO better in the intelligence stakes than my daughter was at his age....he just has a natural ability to read symbols. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased and proud that my son can read, I celebrate his achievements, and am so relieved that he does not have the same issues as my daughter.... BUT.... I am hopping MAD that my daughter and I had to go through so much when it was SO, SO obvious that she had dyslexia. And I am HOPPING MAD that so many other children are going through the same experience as I write this. I was a Secondary level teacher with no knowledge about when or how a child was meant to read...however, the teachers at my daughter's school did have this knowledge. What the hell happened? How could they not see that this bright little girl should not be struggling with such a simple and innate ability? It is appalling what these children go through, when their issues are as plain as the nose on their faces. IF THEY CANNOT READ, THEY ARE NOT STUPID, THEY HAVE A GIFTED DYSLEXIC BRAIN - DEAL WITH IT TEACHERS - DON'T IGNORE IT! If you can't provide the specialist teaching they require, that is one thing, but at the very least put them and their parents out of their misery by telling them that you 'get it, it isn't their fault, and THEY ARE NOT STUPID.' I implore you......
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Flexi-schooling for Dyslexia - It's Happening & A Tip!
Flexi-schooling...can it really happen? Well apparently it can. This Friday I am 'flexi-schooling' a little girl that doesn't belong to me! I have been tutoring her for about 6 months now and her parents have seen big improvements...but they have also realised that an hour just isn't enough. The girl is in Year 5, and is where my daughter was BEFORE I flexi-schooled her. She is different....instead of being reticent to try anything for fear of failing, she is like a bulldozer, crashing through questions & tasks in the hope that if she talks the talk, and walks the walk, nobody will realise that she doesn't actually have a clue about what she is talking about!
But her issues with regard stuff we all take for granted are so similar to my daughter; she cannot tell the time, is struggling reading and spelling and particularly with maths concepts. The only way to really help her is to tackle each thing slowly & with creativity. BUT.... back to the main event - flexi-schooling - how did it happen?
Well, this little girl's mum approached me wanting the same for her daughter as I had done for mine, and I agreed that it would really help. She is in Year 5, there is only a year and a half till Secondary School and time is ticking.....So she put the wheels in motion after some advice from me; she got her daughter assessed for dyslexia in School, visual stress at the opticians & is awaiting an appointment for auditory processing from the hospital. Well, after the dyslexia assessment it was clarified that her daughter had definite traits of dyslexia (why had they not explored this possibility before her mother asked?!) and that her levels of attainment were not where they should be.
So...after more phone calls and letters and little response, this little girl's mother finally got a meeting with the Head Teacher. I offered to attend as an advocate, professional that knows the girl's educational needs and a friend. I was glad I went. The girl's mother was (as I was when dealing with my own daughters education & happiness) emotional; I (for once) could remain passive and professional - a place I like to be!
At first, the HT was fully supportive of the idea of one-to-one tutoring, but when she realised we weren't talking about 1hr, but a whole day per week, she balked. I explained that results were quick, and that we may need no longer than a term to get the girl back on track, and she relented. I have the girl every Friday until Christmas, and then we will review it....Flexi-schooling has started! I will keep you updated as to our progress....
A TIP
Working with a few tutees this week on spellings I discovered the following about teaching spelling THROUGH/THREW
Neither is spelt phonetically so I considered the word through - well take off the th and it spells ROUGH - 'think of something rough I said', my brilliant tutee came up with 'a starfish'
We drew a starfish with 5 legs, a face, then put R,O,U,G,H in each leg.
Then I asked them to draw a cave round it, and write T one side & H the other.
So....when wanting to spell the word THROUGH - this is the image....I know it sounds crazy & long-winded...but it works! And they are 'most used words' so important that they know how to spell them.
For THREW we threw a beanbag back & forth sharing letters
throw (T)
throw (H)
throw (R)
throw (E)
throw (W)
I also emphasised the sound 'ew' (yeoouuu!)
Much fun had by all & another word learnt!
Try it!
God I love teaching these kids!!!
But her issues with regard stuff we all take for granted are so similar to my daughter; she cannot tell the time, is struggling reading and spelling and particularly with maths concepts. The only way to really help her is to tackle each thing slowly & with creativity. BUT.... back to the main event - flexi-schooling - how did it happen?
Well, this little girl's mum approached me wanting the same for her daughter as I had done for mine, and I agreed that it would really help. She is in Year 5, there is only a year and a half till Secondary School and time is ticking.....So she put the wheels in motion after some advice from me; she got her daughter assessed for dyslexia in School, visual stress at the opticians & is awaiting an appointment for auditory processing from the hospital. Well, after the dyslexia assessment it was clarified that her daughter had definite traits of dyslexia (why had they not explored this possibility before her mother asked?!) and that her levels of attainment were not where they should be.
So...after more phone calls and letters and little response, this little girl's mother finally got a meeting with the Head Teacher. I offered to attend as an advocate, professional that knows the girl's educational needs and a friend. I was glad I went. The girl's mother was (as I was when dealing with my own daughters education & happiness) emotional; I (for once) could remain passive and professional - a place I like to be!
At first, the HT was fully supportive of the idea of one-to-one tutoring, but when she realised we weren't talking about 1hr, but a whole day per week, she balked. I explained that results were quick, and that we may need no longer than a term to get the girl back on track, and she relented. I have the girl every Friday until Christmas, and then we will review it....Flexi-schooling has started! I will keep you updated as to our progress....
A TIP
Working with a few tutees this week on spellings I discovered the following about teaching spelling THROUGH/THREW
Neither is spelt phonetically so I considered the word through - well take off the th and it spells ROUGH - 'think of something rough I said', my brilliant tutee came up with 'a starfish'
We drew a starfish with 5 legs, a face, then put R,O,U,G,H in each leg.
Then I asked them to draw a cave round it, and write T one side & H the other.
So....when wanting to spell the word THROUGH - this is the image....I know it sounds crazy & long-winded...but it works! And they are 'most used words' so important that they know how to spell them.
For THREW we threw a beanbag back & forth sharing letters
throw (T)
throw (H)
throw (R)
throw (E)
throw (W)
I also emphasised the sound 'ew' (yeoouuu!)
Much fun had by all & another word learnt!
Try it!
God I love teaching these kids!!!
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Change? - yes it can!
Well, it's been a while since I met the Head teacher at my daughter's school following her entering Year 5....life has been busy! Sorry!
I was/am also still in a bit of shock after the meeting, and was kind of waiting for the bubble to burst! So far, it hasn't....
My husband and I both attended the meeting; I was fully expecting a 'no' to the flexi-schooling option as I had had an email from the specialist teacher at KCC after I wrote asking what her opinions were regarding continuing to flexi-school my daughter. I was both shocked & disappointed with the response, she stated;
'I think that **** can cope and that she benefits from school socially and with the broader curriculum. I am not sure about flexi-schooling; it is very uncommon. Moving schools, educating at home or seeking private education...these are the usual routes. I can see the logic for what you have done...keeping the social input but also providing intensive support, but KCC won't have had many instances of this ccurring. There is no doubt that your intensive support has boosted **** confidence and enhanced her basic literacy and numeracy skills........I cannot tell you what to do and have no intention of doing so but the skills that **** has learnt on a one to one basis need now to be applied across a range of tasks and situations for the benefits really to be seen. Where and how...that's your call. But I do know that she likes school. Given her range of difficulties, learning is never going to be quick, easy and without much effort. However, ***** has resilience and if you work with the school, sharing targets and objectives, giving **** time, not pressure, and above all, encouragement, then I am sure that there will be a happy resolution.
- not sure about flexi-schooling because it is 'uncommon'?!?!?!? So?!?!?! It has worked amazingly well, is the fact it is 'uncommon' a good reason not to do it?
- 'learning is never going to be quick, easy and without much effort' - quite frankly - what a crock! She learns easily, quickly and with the same amount of effort as anyone else when she is taught in a way she can learn.
- she will be okay as she is 'risilient'?!?!?! Risilient to what? Potentially - not being able to access education, being teased by other children for her purple glasses and not being able to spell? Being consistently told to 'try harder' by teachers when her poor little brain is trying at least 3x harder than the other 'clever' kids? Being put in front of tests and exams she can never achieve? Why should she be bloody risilient?
and the worst bit? 'time not pressure, and above all encouragement' is the key...Excuse me? Isn't this basically saying 'back off pushy parent,' well I am not pushy. I don't want my daughter to go to Grammar School, acheive A* grades or be in the 'top' sets. I am quite happy with her the way she is thank you, but I do want her to be able to have basic literacy/numeracy skills that are essential for living in our society! So sue me!
Needless to say, I was a bit miffed (to say the least) at this response. I responded saying so and indicated that I hoped Kent would soon catch up with London, Devon & Leicestershire and embrace flexi-schooling.....then we went to meet the Head...and I realised that maybe I had been a bit hasty to critisise the KCC Ed Specialist who may have just been giving me an alternative point of view, whilst still supporting me in ways that she could whilst remaining 'impartial' ....Why do I say this?
Well....the Head was amazing! She had the timetable ready to discuss which afternoon we would flex-school my daughter. She said she would be given extra time in exams. She said her teacher would communicate with me regarding her learning regularly. She even talked about potentially getting her a Statement. She even said she 'wished more parents were as supportive as we were.' [was I dreaming? I have asked my husband several times since & he has confirmed it was said!]
So, there was no fight, my daughter (after 3 years of meetings, letter writing and tears) is being recognised as having dyslexia, scotopic light sensitivity, auditory processing issues, hypermobility and dyscalcula. She is also being recognised as having amazing confidence, leadership skills, amazing depth perception, original thought and a lovely personality...she even bought home a Headteachers Award this Friday that said, 'for always putting in maximum effort at all times.' My daughter was so pleased - I was over the moon!
So for all those parents out there who are struggling with the school system - keep at it, you will get there...I don't quite know what has happened, has the Head finally realised we were right? Has KCC put pressure on? Has time, experience & the fact that 'this mother wasn't going away' paid dividends? I don't think I will ever know, but my daughter is loving school, my daughter is loving her flexi-school which teaches her 'her way' and her mother is loving feeling that it has all worked out.
Long may it last - so this Blog can get back to giving hints & tips to help others teach these amazing children.
I was/am also still in a bit of shock after the meeting, and was kind of waiting for the bubble to burst! So far, it hasn't....
My husband and I both attended the meeting; I was fully expecting a 'no' to the flexi-schooling option as I had had an email from the specialist teacher at KCC after I wrote asking what her opinions were regarding continuing to flexi-school my daughter. I was both shocked & disappointed with the response, she stated;
'I think that **** can cope and that she benefits from school socially and with the broader curriculum. I am not sure about flexi-schooling; it is very uncommon. Moving schools, educating at home or seeking private education...these are the usual routes. I can see the logic for what you have done...keeping the social input but also providing intensive support, but KCC won't have had many instances of this ccurring. There is no doubt that your intensive support has boosted **** confidence and enhanced her basic literacy and numeracy skills........I cannot tell you what to do and have no intention of doing so but the skills that **** has learnt on a one to one basis need now to be applied across a range of tasks and situations for the benefits really to be seen. Where and how...that's your call. But I do know that she likes school. Given her range of difficulties, learning is never going to be quick, easy and without much effort. However, ***** has resilience and if you work with the school, sharing targets and objectives, giving **** time, not pressure, and above all, encouragement, then I am sure that there will be a happy resolution.
- not sure about flexi-schooling because it is 'uncommon'?!?!?!? So?!?!?! It has worked amazingly well, is the fact it is 'uncommon' a good reason not to do it?
- 'learning is never going to be quick, easy and without much effort' - quite frankly - what a crock! She learns easily, quickly and with the same amount of effort as anyone else when she is taught in a way she can learn.
- she will be okay as she is 'risilient'?!?!?! Risilient to what? Potentially - not being able to access education, being teased by other children for her purple glasses and not being able to spell? Being consistently told to 'try harder' by teachers when her poor little brain is trying at least 3x harder than the other 'clever' kids? Being put in front of tests and exams she can never achieve? Why should she be bloody risilient?
and the worst bit? 'time not pressure, and above all encouragement' is the key...Excuse me? Isn't this basically saying 'back off pushy parent,' well I am not pushy. I don't want my daughter to go to Grammar School, acheive A* grades or be in the 'top' sets. I am quite happy with her the way she is thank you, but I do want her to be able to have basic literacy/numeracy skills that are essential for living in our society! So sue me!
Needless to say, I was a bit miffed (to say the least) at this response. I responded saying so and indicated that I hoped Kent would soon catch up with London, Devon & Leicestershire and embrace flexi-schooling.....then we went to meet the Head...and I realised that maybe I had been a bit hasty to critisise the KCC Ed Specialist who may have just been giving me an alternative point of view, whilst still supporting me in ways that she could whilst remaining 'impartial' ....Why do I say this?
Well....the Head was amazing! She had the timetable ready to discuss which afternoon we would flex-school my daughter. She said she would be given extra time in exams. She said her teacher would communicate with me regarding her learning regularly. She even talked about potentially getting her a Statement. She even said she 'wished more parents were as supportive as we were.' [was I dreaming? I have asked my husband several times since & he has confirmed it was said!]
So, there was no fight, my daughter (after 3 years of meetings, letter writing and tears) is being recognised as having dyslexia, scotopic light sensitivity, auditory processing issues, hypermobility and dyscalcula. She is also being recognised as having amazing confidence, leadership skills, amazing depth perception, original thought and a lovely personality...she even bought home a Headteachers Award this Friday that said, 'for always putting in maximum effort at all times.' My daughter was so pleased - I was over the moon!
So for all those parents out there who are struggling with the school system - keep at it, you will get there...I don't quite know what has happened, has the Head finally realised we were right? Has KCC put pressure on? Has time, experience & the fact that 'this mother wasn't going away' paid dividends? I don't think I will ever know, but my daughter is loving school, my daughter is loving her flexi-school which teaches her 'her way' and her mother is loving feeling that it has all worked out.
Long may it last - so this Blog can get back to giving hints & tips to help others teach these amazing children.
Monday, 17 September 2012
Nothing changes - or can it?!
So, here we are in a new term in a new school year. My daughter is back in School full-time, and I am awaiting a call from the headteacher to discuss our flexi-schooling options (if she decides we should have any). I have written a 3-page letter to my daughter's class teacher outlining her difficulties as I haven't had any previous contact with her, and am meeting her tomorrow to discuss how she is going to put the recommendations given by professionals into the classroom setting - wish me luck!
But my daughter is, so far, happy at School and that is the main thing. She is so much more confident after her term flexi-schooling and seems to grasp everything (even spellings!) much more successfully.
So what am I whingeing on about now?!
All the others.... I tutor don't I, so I am seeing other children who are stuck in the place that my daughter was, with no confidence, no understanding about why they are struggling and no enjoyment of School. I hear their voices and I see their 'dead' eyes as they give up on a system that just doesn't cater for them. And then I hear about the Education Secretary's wise decision to change the GCSE into a qualification that will exclude success for dyslexic students even more. You know what I think? Dyslexic people think 'outside the box,' they challenge accepted practice (even the way words are spelt!), and are often tantamount to genius in certain areas. So of course our Governments want to keep them down by excluding them from an education - who wants someone who challenges the system in Government or in high flying public sector positions....they want 'yes men' (and yes - it is usually men too). By denying them a GCSE English and/or Maths they are stuffed. And so Government is full of the top 20% - we all think the same way - brains. Brilliant!!
Sometimes I feel that the system is just too big to beat, but then I read another facebook entry, twitter post or blog with similar stories to mine, or I help a child struggling and suffering in our education system & I think I can't give this up.
But, I also need some help! So if you or anyone you know has any ideas, inspiration or clout with the powers that be to improve the education of dyslexic students in mainstream schools - please get in touch, my email is narinda@algarsacademy.co.uk, I look forward to hearing from you!!
But my daughter is, so far, happy at School and that is the main thing. She is so much more confident after her term flexi-schooling and seems to grasp everything (even spellings!) much more successfully.
So what am I whingeing on about now?!
All the others.... I tutor don't I, so I am seeing other children who are stuck in the place that my daughter was, with no confidence, no understanding about why they are struggling and no enjoyment of School. I hear their voices and I see their 'dead' eyes as they give up on a system that just doesn't cater for them. And then I hear about the Education Secretary's wise decision to change the GCSE into a qualification that will exclude success for dyslexic students even more. You know what I think? Dyslexic people think 'outside the box,' they challenge accepted practice (even the way words are spelt!), and are often tantamount to genius in certain areas. So of course our Governments want to keep them down by excluding them from an education - who wants someone who challenges the system in Government or in high flying public sector positions....they want 'yes men' (and yes - it is usually men too). By denying them a GCSE English and/or Maths they are stuffed. And so Government is full of the top 20% - we all think the same way - brains. Brilliant!!
Sometimes I feel that the system is just too big to beat, but then I read another facebook entry, twitter post or blog with similar stories to mine, or I help a child struggling and suffering in our education system & I think I can't give this up.
But, I also need some help! So if you or anyone you know has any ideas, inspiration or clout with the powers that be to improve the education of dyslexic students in mainstream schools - please get in touch, my email is narinda@algarsacademy.co.uk, I look forward to hearing from you!!
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
The fight goes on....
Sorry to all those who read this blog...I haven't written for a good while now...I have been too riled up! I got to the end of my term flexi-schooling my daughter, and was so proud of our acheivements. I have a folder full of the work we have done: she has learnt how to tell the time; the 2,3,4,5,10 and 11 times tables; understands tables and fractions; knows the sequences of days of the week/months of the year, can spell the 1-150 (out of the 300/75% of ) most used words confidently and has read 3 'proper' books cover to cover and can read sooooo much better. We still have work to do, especially writing skills, but I was so happy with her progress....
Then I had a meeting with the School, the last week of term. During the time I flexi-schooled my daughter I was given no support or guidance, or requests for progress...being me though, I kept a detailed log of progress and was able to show this to the Headteacher. Then, after being suitably impressed, she hit me with the news that she was no longer going to let me flexi-school. I was devastated, and said I would do anything to continue - go into School, do any hours most suitable, but 'Please, please,' I said, 'don't take this away from us.' She said that my daughter showed 'little progress in assessments,' (despite going from way below average in the SATs at the beginning of the term to average [average? - amazing!!] in the CATs at the end of term ), and that on that basis she could not let flexi-schooling continue. She had not talked to me, my daughter, heard her read or talked to her class teacher. I eventually persuaded her to allow me 'some time - maybe a morning' to tutor her, 'but this would be discussed in September..'
I went through it all, I would change Schools, take her out altogether & home School, move both my children to another School, maybe even move and get a new start...I was so angry and disappointed.....But time heals, and I have decided that if I am to help other parents in this situation - which is something I want to do in the future - I have to stick it out and fight for my rights. I was made to feel a failure, then I got a present of an inscribed pen from a tutee I have been helping in a similar way to my daughter saying 'To a brilliant tutor,' and I remembered who I should listen to.
So watch out - for the next instalment in September. Ding, ding!! Round 2!!
Then I had a meeting with the School, the last week of term. During the time I flexi-schooled my daughter I was given no support or guidance, or requests for progress...being me though, I kept a detailed log of progress and was able to show this to the Headteacher. Then, after being suitably impressed, she hit me with the news that she was no longer going to let me flexi-school. I was devastated, and said I would do anything to continue - go into School, do any hours most suitable, but 'Please, please,' I said, 'don't take this away from us.' She said that my daughter showed 'little progress in assessments,' (despite going from way below average in the SATs at the beginning of the term to average [average? - amazing!!] in the CATs at the end of term ), and that on that basis she could not let flexi-schooling continue. She had not talked to me, my daughter, heard her read or talked to her class teacher. I eventually persuaded her to allow me 'some time - maybe a morning' to tutor her, 'but this would be discussed in September..'
I went through it all, I would change Schools, take her out altogether & home School, move both my children to another School, maybe even move and get a new start...I was so angry and disappointed.....But time heals, and I have decided that if I am to help other parents in this situation - which is something I want to do in the future - I have to stick it out and fight for my rights. I was made to feel a failure, then I got a present of an inscribed pen from a tutee I have been helping in a similar way to my daughter saying 'To a brilliant tutor,' and I remembered who I should listen to.
So watch out - for the next instalment in September. Ding, ding!! Round 2!!
Friday, 29 June 2012
Months of the Year & more on Auditory Processing
Hi all, Flexi-Schooling is going amazingly well and we are seeing massive improvements in my daughter. She can now read a book (so far 3 TO THE END - something I NEVER thought would happen a few months ago!), spell 100 out of the 300 most used words, knows her 3&4 times tables fluently, has improved her handwriting no end and has bundles more confidence & a joy for learning which had been rapidly disappearing before I started all this. BUT......
Sequencing - this has always been a problem! Days of the week, Time, Times tables, and MONTHS OF THE YEAR. My daughter had just about mastered days of the week, and is getting much better at time & timestables (helped massively by numicon - but that is something for another Blog!), but Months? At 9 years old, she still didn't have a clue.
This bothered me, after all - how could the seasons be truly appreciated and understood, without a sense of how the month names fitted with them? So I tackled the situation. It was a bit of a trial - but amazingly, after struggling for years, it only took about an hour to rectify!
1) I set out the 1-12 numicon shapes (but you could just have bits of paper labelled 1-12) on the table.
2) I then got my daughter to write all the names of the months that she could remember, in whatever order. We then added any she had missed.
3) Then I asked my daughter to stick the months on the correct numicon shape, e.g January on 1, March on 3 etc, if she looked like she was going to go wrong, I put her right.
4) We then talked through the months, using any 'memory tricks' that we could think of, e.g 'Your birthday is in November, the 2nd to last month,' 'Christmas is in December, the last month', 'August is great, it's in the middle, & it's your Summer hols!' We also separated the months into seasons,
Winter - Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb and discussed that it gets cold in November (when our birthday's are) and then we have Christmas. Then the New Year starts & often it's even colder & sometimes even snows! Then in February it is still cold for St Valentines Day.
Spring - Mar/Apr/May - it gets warmer in March, the mad March hare hops out & all the flowers start to spring up! In April we have April showers, but it doesn't last long because May is always lovely & a special month as it's our Anniversary.
Summer - June/July August - June is the beginning of the Summer Term and in July we are really in Summer for your cousin's birthday, August is the BEST month as it's when the school holidays occur!
Autumn - Sep/Oct - We go back to start a New School Year in September, with brand new uniform, shoes & a new teacher! Shortly after is October, and Halloween & Trick or Treat!
5) After talking about all this for some time, including vivid descriptions including colours, feelings, likes/dislikes, images etc, I removed the stickers with the months on & stuck them on the edge of the table in a random fashion.
6) I then asked my daughter to stick them back on again, in order.
7) She did this a few times, and then I packed everything away & asked her to recite the months in order 3 x.
8) She could do it! And ever since she has been able to not only know the months in order, but also whether it is the 6th, 8th or 12th month! Last night, she worked out how many months it had been since she had had her ears pierced to see whether she could now leave them out without the holes closing! Independant thought! I never thought I would see the day when she didn't ask me these things.....
If your child is struggling with sequencing months - try this method. It only takes an hour - and it works! (I have now tried it on other dyslexic children too, with the same results).
As an aside - I have finally had the Auditory Processing test done & it is true - my daughter cannot hear a 2nd instruction as her brain is too busy processing the first! Equally, she gets very easily distracted as her brain hones in on periphery noise (birds tweating, people whispering, horns beeping in the distance) rather than a person talking directly to her! So if your child consistently gets comments like 'lacks concentration,', 'needs to listen carefully to instructions,' 'needs to stop putting their hand up,' etc etc on their reports, BUT you know they are not a naughty child - get them tested! They get more time for exams if they have this issue - so it's worth it.
Ah well - onwards & upwards! There is still a lot to do, but we are getting there. Please let me know if you use my 'Months Method' & any results you have - I would be most interested to hear your experiences :)
Sequencing - this has always been a problem! Days of the week, Time, Times tables, and MONTHS OF THE YEAR. My daughter had just about mastered days of the week, and is getting much better at time & timestables (helped massively by numicon - but that is something for another Blog!), but Months? At 9 years old, she still didn't have a clue.
This bothered me, after all - how could the seasons be truly appreciated and understood, without a sense of how the month names fitted with them? So I tackled the situation. It was a bit of a trial - but amazingly, after struggling for years, it only took about an hour to rectify!
1) I set out the 1-12 numicon shapes (but you could just have bits of paper labelled 1-12) on the table.
2) I then got my daughter to write all the names of the months that she could remember, in whatever order. We then added any she had missed.
3) Then I asked my daughter to stick the months on the correct numicon shape, e.g January on 1, March on 3 etc, if she looked like she was going to go wrong, I put her right.
4) We then talked through the months, using any 'memory tricks' that we could think of, e.g 'Your birthday is in November, the 2nd to last month,' 'Christmas is in December, the last month', 'August is great, it's in the middle, & it's your Summer hols!' We also separated the months into seasons,
Winter - Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb and discussed that it gets cold in November (when our birthday's are) and then we have Christmas. Then the New Year starts & often it's even colder & sometimes even snows! Then in February it is still cold for St Valentines Day.
Spring - Mar/Apr/May - it gets warmer in March, the mad March hare hops out & all the flowers start to spring up! In April we have April showers, but it doesn't last long because May is always lovely & a special month as it's our Anniversary.
Summer - June/July August - June is the beginning of the Summer Term and in July we are really in Summer for your cousin's birthday, August is the BEST month as it's when the school holidays occur!
Autumn - Sep/Oct - We go back to start a New School Year in September, with brand new uniform, shoes & a new teacher! Shortly after is October, and Halloween & Trick or Treat!
5) After talking about all this for some time, including vivid descriptions including colours, feelings, likes/dislikes, images etc, I removed the stickers with the months on & stuck them on the edge of the table in a random fashion.
6) I then asked my daughter to stick them back on again, in order.
7) She did this a few times, and then I packed everything away & asked her to recite the months in order 3 x.
8) She could do it! And ever since she has been able to not only know the months in order, but also whether it is the 6th, 8th or 12th month! Last night, she worked out how many months it had been since she had had her ears pierced to see whether she could now leave them out without the holes closing! Independant thought! I never thought I would see the day when she didn't ask me these things.....
If your child is struggling with sequencing months - try this method. It only takes an hour - and it works! (I have now tried it on other dyslexic children too, with the same results).
As an aside - I have finally had the Auditory Processing test done & it is true - my daughter cannot hear a 2nd instruction as her brain is too busy processing the first! Equally, she gets very easily distracted as her brain hones in on periphery noise (birds tweating, people whispering, horns beeping in the distance) rather than a person talking directly to her! So if your child consistently gets comments like 'lacks concentration,', 'needs to listen carefully to instructions,' 'needs to stop putting their hand up,' etc etc on their reports, BUT you know they are not a naughty child - get them tested! They get more time for exams if they have this issue - so it's worth it.
Ah well - onwards & upwards! There is still a lot to do, but we are getting there. Please let me know if you use my 'Months Method' & any results you have - I would be most interested to hear your experiences :)
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