Other forums..

[shirlthegirl43]

Many congratulations on the forthcoming event Gwenllian. Forums were not around when I was expecting so I can't offer any advice there.

On the reading/spelling thing I think that while reading would appear to be a valid source of learning to spell (not sure my English is good as I am very tired), it is not always a given that those who do not read will not spell well. Our two sons are very different - elder son hardly reads any books at all and has beautiful handwriting and excellent spelling. Younger son is pretty much to be found at all times with nose in book, comic, back of shampoo bottle but his handwriting is appalling and spelling is not great. His teacher at primary school (taught him for about 4 years as she kept changing the class she taught) thought he had a form of word blindness as he just could not see word patterns (rain - train - grain - brain etc) and would struggle with each word in a pattern group. He is not dyslexic - just crap at writing and spelling. He is brilliant at maths and science though

The boys both laugh at my texting - properly spelled, written in full and punctuated to the best of my ability

[Gwen11ian]

I read a huge amount.. newspapers, magazines, fiction, non fiction, the lot. I can't spell to save my life though.. I think it has something to do with being an artist, and utilizing my right side of my brain far more than the left. We're all different.

Lucky for me there is this wonderful modern invention of spell check. That's why I use foxfire.. it puts an angry red zigzag under every misspelled word, no matter where I type. There are all sorts of arguments against spell check, especially when in school.. but I think it's improved my spelling. It instantly tells me what is wrong, and shows me the correct way to spell it. Eventually, it sticks.

[OllieMartin]

I read a huge amount.. newspapers, magazines, fiction, non fiction, the lot. I can't spell to save my life though.. I think it has something to do with being an artist, and utilizing my right side of my brain far more than the left. We're all different.

Lucky for me there is this wonderful modern invention of spell check. That's why I use foxfire.. it puts an angry red zigzag under every misspelled word, no matter where I type. There are all sorts of arguments against spell check, especially when in school.. but I think it's improved my spelling. It instantly tells me what is wrong, and shows me the correct way to spell it. Eventually, it sticks.

Spell check is handy, but no matter how many times it corrects them, I still always spell "definately" and "necassary" wrong.
(I didn't spellcheck those, so can only assume they're wrong. Is it "definitely" and "necessary"?)

[Two_Sheds]

I would call that, probably mistakenly, dyslexia?

It's a complicated area (and I'm no expert). Meares-Irlen Syndrome tests are being awaited at the mo.

[Two_Sheds]

I still always spell ... "necassary" wrong.

Never
Eat
Cake
Eat
Salmon
Sandwiches
And
Remain
Young

[Nicos]

Never
Eat
Cake
Eat
Salmon
Sandwiches
And
Remain
Young

Well- from your piccies, it's certainly worked for you!!!

( oh - sorry- it's a teaching thingy???- right????)

[Two_Sheds]

spell check, ... instantly tells me what is wrong, and shows me the correct way to spell it. Eventually, it sticks.

What we use in school is Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check

It's different to how I spell though. For me, I remember rules and mnemonics. We're all different, what matters is what works for you

[Two_Sheds]

He mastered the art of 'text talk' years before the term became a household name!

It used to be called Speedwriting or something. You know, big posters on the Tube saying "if u cn rd ths u cn bcm a sec n ern bg mny" Yeah right.

[basketcase]

Wasn't Shibboleth a biblical queen?

Or a character in Fawlty Towers?

[di]

That's so important. The recommended books are so ... dry. Also, the problem for the slower readers is that they are age 10 so the 6 yo books (that they can actually read) are far too childish.

That's why I had a whip round with my OH and his mates (when they were, um, happy) and we bought lots of these for my class.

The boy I've used as an example has just joined the library He didn't previously because his mum told him she couldn't afford it (when I said it was free to borrow books, he didn't believe me)

there's hope yet.

I totally agree...there's only so many times a child can get excited about Biff,Chip and Kippers Dad getting soaked!DD's school have just got a set of more age appropriate stories.They're not the same titles so if you like I'll try and find out more about them...you can't have too many good books!
Although there are obviously children who have physical reasons why they struggle to read,I think for a lot of them it's a case of getting them into the mindset that reading can be fun.Sadly,some parents don't 'get' reading themselves so can't pass on a love of books to their children....'why would you want to spend days reading a book when you could sit and watch the film in under two hours?' attitude.You can spend the day teaching them that books are fun,only for them to go home and be reminded that they're not.
It's such a tricky one,but I'm sure you'll get there with this little boy,you sound like you've got a patient and positive attitude.

DD and DS are both great readers,but put a simple sum in front of DD and she freezes and throws out random numbers at you in the hope that one of them will be right!...so if anyone has tips on how to teach her that numeracy can be fun,I'm open to suggestions

[Two_Sheds]

put a simple sum in front of DD and she freezes and throws out random numbers

have you tried showing her actual physical objects to represent the sums? I use pencils at school (6 pencils add 3 pencils is how many pencils? etc)


there's also lots of online maths games. You'll need to try a few to see what suits.

[OllieMartin]

DD and DS are both great readers,but put a simple sum in front of DD and she freezes and throws out random numbers at you in the hope that one of them will be right!...so if anyone has tips on how to teach her that numeracy can be fun,I'm open to suggestions

How old is DD?
I'm not a teacher, and my mental arithmetic is awful simply because calculators were always allowed at school so why think when you can just bash keys?!
My parents did help though, for example; when we played monopoly I wasn't allowed to count all the dots on the two dice, I had to add the dots together (if you see the difference).
I also found maths easier to grasp if it was relevant. If DD is pragmatic she's not going to be interested that 100-90=10, but she might be interested that a 90p bottle of pop will give her 10p change from a pound.

You can always try stealth maths. Tell her she can't leave the table until she's eaten 65% of her peas and 3/4 of her gammon!

[di]

She's seven(eight in June).
I think(or rather know)that having a Mummy that avoids anything numerical doesn't help.
I guess it's not a lot different from the kiddies who go home to a 'reading is boring' home.
We're going to make a cake in a bit...and I'm going to try my hardest to let her carefully read the recipe and weigh out the ingredients,I'm afraid I'm usually a bit of this and a bit of that cook.

I still have memories of my poor dad trying to prepare me for yet another Maths 'O'level....the table would be full of different veg,each playing it's own part in whatever calculation I was trying to get my head around.
I've been into the school a few times to be shown how they teach numeracy now and I must say it all seems far more relevant than the way we were taught.I'm hoping they'll run another six week course for parents soon.In the meantime,all I can do is try not to let her pick up any more fear of numbers from me.
Thanks for the link TS...I may get them downstairs to have a play while I finish cleaning the kitchen.

[janeyo]

I am a member of ivillage, they have loads of different fora there, including one for each pregnancy month, ie mums due in Jan, mums due in feb etc, It means as the babies are born you are all at the same stage of asking the same questions etc and the babies kind of grow up together!

[Two_Sheds]

She's seven(eight in June)....We're going to make a cake in a bit...and I'm going to try my hardest to let her carefully read the recipe and weigh out the ingredients

We do that in school (made shortbread only last week, bread before Xmas and ginger snaps too).

It is relevant on so many levels: literacy (reading instructions) comprehension (understanding instructions) numeracy (weighing and adding etc).
Science: what happens when dry ingredients become wet?

Oh, and it's just fun too! The best way of learning.