[senco-forum] any advice please

I now have a final diagnosis regarding my grandson's performance in

Hi Ruth,

Wow! Lucky boy having you as a grandmother!! The only thing I would add 
to your list is 'Nessy" from Bristol. You can even just buy the games 
for very little money. Unbelievably, the kids at our school seem to 
love the 'SpongeBob' typing programme...quite nausiating for adults but 
the children seem to like it and it isn't as dry as others.

Good luck!

judy
On 2 Feb 2007, at 13:37, Ruth Newbury wrote:

> I now have a final diagnosis regarding my grandson's performance in 
> school.  (This has been a very expensive proceeding!  I can only 
> advise those of you who think teaching is underpaid to retrain as EPs. 
>  You can all then charge £425 for a full assessment.  I might add that 
> this is from the best EP that I have ever met - and who writes an 
> extremely readable report, that can be understood by the uninitiated 
> as well.)
>
> The main areas of concern are his short-term memory, speed of written 
> processing, spelling, reading and maths.  Not a lot to work on is 
> there?
>
> He is a year six student, due for SATs in May.  I am now getting all 
> geared up for the software I need to buy and equipment I need to get 
> in order to get him sorted out.  He is quite a hard-working soul and 
> wants to do well.  He ought to be at the top set sort of level if you 
> look at his non-verbal scores for example but he has a lovely zigzag 
> profile and I am looking for ways to work at home to improve on the 
> low level scores which are certainly demonstrating areas and hold him 
> back in class when he needs to be able to perform independently.
>
> Looking at memory I am about to use Mastering Memory and Time to 
> Revise from CALSC - both brilliant pieces of software.  If you have 
> never met either of these pieces of software have a look at the site.  
> Jane Mitchell also produces a very nice student diary guide as to how 
> to plan your time too.
>
> I'm about to buy an Alphasmart Neo - which comes with a Kaz 
> keyboarding tutor pre-installed.  I'm wondering just what typing 
> programme most of you would choose for a boy of this age.  He enjoys 
> computer games involving blood and gore or football.  Kewala springs 
> to mind but is there anything new out that I haven't met?  As a firm 
> believer in bribery and corruption I'm about to offer a cash payment 
> for either grandson who has finished the course and can key in without 
> looking at the keyboard by the end of the summer term.  He currently 
> has a writing speed of eight words per minute, half the expected speed 
> for his age group so keyboarding is probably the most essential skill 
> he needs in order to be able to perform and a level with his peers.
>
> Wordshark and Numbershark are both on my list as well.  Saw the 
> updated versions at BETT and they both look even better than I 
> expected.
>
> Once I can move him onto a computer I shall produce Wordbar (from 
> Crick) plus a planning tool.  We've already looked at these and he 
> finds Mind Manager the best suited to his style of planning.
>
> Please don't imagine that I'm going to have him working flat out on 
> all these every night.  I'm just looking to get ourselves geared up to 
> work in stages to make up the deficits as we match up what goes with 
> home work (twice a week-one English one maths) and what we can do for 
> fun and what is the additional graft!  Keyboarding is going to be the 
> additional graft initially - 10 minutes every night.
>
> What I am hoping for is advice from you.  Have I picked the software 
> you would choose?  What else might you be doing?
>
> And the diagnosis of dyslexia has proved to be just what he needed.  
> Until the diagnosis he just regarded himself as an inadequate student. 
>  He now knows that with help he can do it, and that soon he should be 
> out to do it by himself in he works at the right things.
>
> And I can also say that you end up feeling very inadequate as a 
> grandparent that you haven't seen that your grandson is dyslexic!  The 
> EP was kind enough to say that all the things we have done with him 
> since he was born have masked his dyslexia.  Looking at his maths 
> performance I had debated about dyscalculia, but because I don't see 
> him work that much I wasn't aware of some of his problems.  As a 
> granny I spend more time cooking with him, or doing the fun things, 
> than I do with the serious issues of home work!
>
> So any advice will be gratefully received.  I'm an old dog always 
> ready to learn new tricks!
>
> Regards
>
>
> Ruth
>