[senco-forum] any advice please...long rambling...

Cassandra here remembers many moons ago

One or two extra thoughts - you can get demos of several typing
programs, or friends may have them so it is worth trying out a few to
see what Connor prefers as he will have to use the final choice for some
time!  Personally I am not too fussed about a child using exactly the
correct fingers - as long as he uses both hands and several fingers, he
will soon be able to type as fast as he thinks wich is what matters.

John has a point with the Wordshark / Starspell debate - some children
love the izzy whizzy busy screens on Wordshark, but others like the
predictability of Starspell - you always know what will happen and where
to get help - definitely better for any child on the aspergers spectrum,
but not just them - Fisher Marriott do a mindmapping program now called
Starthink - not as snazzy as Inspiration or SparkSpace but probably more
suited to serial rather than lateral thinkers.

If you have an EP report there should be no problem with extra time for
SATs
Cheers
Judith

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Judith Stansfield
SEN ICT Consultant
BDANTC (Associate member)
Farm Cottage, 24 East Road, Melsonby,Richmond DL10 5NF
stass at onyxnet.co.uk 
01325 718139   07990572365
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----Original Message-----
From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
[mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk] On Behalf Of Ruth
Newbury
Sent: 03 February 2007 12:05
To: 1BECTA Senco
Subject: Re: [senco-forum] any advice please...long rambling...

I have had a large amount of excellent advice regarding resources - 
provision - lifestyle choices et al regarding my grandson.

This letter has made me think a great deal so I'm actually sending it
back 
to the forum because it contains so many things to think about.

When I've finished getting all of these e-mails I'll make up a list and
post 
it on the forum.  A number of the resources are new to me, things I have

never heard about.

Perhaps we might look at other areas of need and collate our own list of

resources that we would use for a particular difficulty.  Something to
think 
about when the postings get low

So here is a letter from John with my annotations to it.

Lots of things to think about here John.

> Cassandra here remembers many moons ago
> the dreaded words: "You are my Dad, not my teacher."
> Sorry, Ruth... sucking egg land emerges here....
> are you Granny or teacher? Will he let you? Aye, there's the rub...as
the 
> main man once said.

I am lucky - currently I am viewed as a "gold star Grandma"!  And my 
suggestions as to how to tackle homework have already proved to him that
my 
ideas invariably work - we've also got the working habits bit sorted -
he is 
a Scout and a footballer and a youth club member, a  War Hammer player,
a 
drama person, a player of his PSP, a telly watcher et al. He is a good
time 
manager because he is learned that if he is not he loses out.  Currently

happy to have me as his adviser!
>

>
> Best Daddy tip...get school even semi on your side.
> Find that saint with a whiteboard who believes you
> at the minimum.

Form teacher definitely on our side incredibly helpful and well aware
that 
things are not as right as they could be.  SENCo okay too.  The EP's
report 
finishes with a list of strategies she suggests to help Connor manage 
school.  As she sent me a nice electronic copy I cut and pasted the 
appropriate suggestions (on to one side of A4) got them printed off,
every 
teacher who sees him has a copy and there's one up on the staff room 
noticeboard.

> Get your admin sorted out .... and do the letters.
> Make jolly sure all teachers and staff are aware of the prob and
> have read what they should have read re EP recommends.
> Are they geared, willing and happy to support keyboarding in
> lessons? If so...happy land awaits; if not...think real hard what
> you'll do. Delicate country number two.

I don't expect school to sort out the keyboarding, I expect Connor to do

that for himself once we have sorted out which program he likes the look
of 
best.  I am recommending 10 minutes daily.  I have attempted to teach
far 
too many people to keyboard and reckon on about a 50% success rate.
Without 
the initial motivation that we are going to get  nowhere. Connor has to 
provide that, but Grandma and Grandad will also provide a financial 
incentive, quite a big one too, for any grandchild who can keyboard at
plus 
20 words a minute without looking at the keyboard by the beginning of
the 
summer holidays.  I never bribed my own children in any way, and that
was a 
big mistake.  I assumed that they would love learning, and I was oh so 
wrong.  We actually pay out on effort grades at the end of the summer
term. 
£10 for an A, £5 for a B, nothing for a C and you owe us for Ds and Es. 
They have the potential to pick up £130!  And last year they both did.
It's 
a lot of money but it releases us from coughing up more money during the

summer holidays.  You get your money and then choose how you spend it!
I 
actually saw what this idea did for a member of my form in year 10 about
12 
years ago.  This was for a boy who was not a natural student and by
golly it 
motivated him until the end of year 13.  You should've seen his
negotiating 
skills develop with staff only gave him a B!  When he got to B grade he 
would leap off to the member of staff and ask why, and what he had to do
to 
get and it changed to an A. he was also often able to say " but I
already do 
that" which made the member of staff think again.

> Major concern now is that Primary school accept the EP
> conclusions and start to react to them.
> The window for KS2 SAT provisions is rapidly
> closing...get the EP to give written recommends and
> insist, tin hat on and tread on toes if need be, that
> school submit that to get the provisions.
> You could hit "far worse with no such thing" country
> ...... miserable old curmudgeon writes here.... and
> no, I'm not accusing this forum.... but are all sencos reading
> this?

School will ask for additional time for him for the SATs - no problem 
there - just will it be allowed?
>
> Talk to Brendan. & Believe.
>
> Right, outa bitter and twisted Daddy mode and into the fun bit....
> Run L1 and L2 Spelling made Easy as your structured phonic
> progression and bang in the Lipscombe stuff as she follows the
> SME progression. Sand tray and wooden letter it etc and you're
> in multi-sensory country. Desperately emphasise visual if poss
> but multi mode not at your peril. SME + Lipscombe used thus
> will give you great TRTS. And constantly use the freebie THRASS
> chart to show which letter pattern is being used for the sound of the 
> week.
> (one letter pattern per week... not speed boating but oil tanker
speed.)

Some of these are new to me, I shall have to go researching the Internet
to 
find them.

 Then, should you handwrite teach? - no problem with handwriting. You
can 
view beautifully neat misspelled words when he writes.

Should you use a predictive writer? - Perhaps - will review this after 
keyboarding.

Should you go Word + super spellchecking? - will review this later too.

Spelling prog; - in the process of looking.  Wordshark is numerically
the 
highest number the recommended programme to me from this posting.

touch typing prog; - yes yes yes.  I regard this as the key skill for
Connor 
to learn.

mind map prog; - he likes the look of Mind Manager best - I prefer 
Inspiration for me.

Reading per se mprog; - will leave a reading program for the present.
He 
actually gets three reading home works a week when he has to read all
sorts 
of different things.  He also reads each night in bed or at least has a
book 
out and he reads his Warhammer book with his uncle.  Can't do in all, he

needs a life as well

> If he's v forgetful he'll hate constant new thing and flourish
> on structure. I hate Wordshark as it confuses and distracts me
> ..... Star Spell much 'quieter' and visual. I saw beloved daughter
> re touch type progs do same..... the gamey progs no.
> 7 weeks via Mvis Beacon at x10 mins a day.
> You sussed him out on this possible confusion yet?
> Think carefully about gamesy programs.
>
Reading... Eddie's your man to talk to here. That's great reading progs.
- 
Eddie is the best when it comes to anything to do with reading.  I have
both 
his programs and I am surprised that I haven't worn out the CDs!
>
Inspiration.... yep... 'cos you're teaching structure and form
in writing. But it is not fast and for ideas generation as opposed to
 'remembering' writing it is faster to post-it-note and transfer to
Inspiration. ( Oh, anyone got v8..... magic, I've just upgraded.)

Keep to as few as possible programs. He must, has got to,
 it is imperative that, he touch types before entering computer
magic wand wonderland else all goes s-l-o-o-w and looses
the advantages of computing. - couldn't agree with you more.  It's very 
tempting to go and buy the lot but it's getting your priorities right
and 
viewing what is the after the possible and then selling that to him. 
Currently he is agog to learn to keyboard.

Then consider your add on progs.

Oh, the Franklin spelling machine is my friend.- and my electronic 
dictionary is mine too.  However I am a firm believer in getting the
words 
down, rather than getting them down correctly.  I find the second you 
concentrate on spelling what you actually want to say goes out of the 
window.  I'd rather have a good vocabulary badly spelt than a perfect
piece 
of writing.  As far as I am concerned getting the spelling right is part
of 
the editing process not so much part of the initial writing process for
a 
student with specific learning differences.

Maths.... the calculator is my friend.
Any mathematicians out there?
V luckily with the daughter a Maths Advisory Teacher
 set it out what was to be done with my now quantum theorising daughter.
The prob is what to teach as
oipposed to what to learn: A mathematician knows
 a litericist tends to think they know. ( Pax, pax,
I'm not attacking, just stating as a litericist myself
and one who bluffs real good.) - I am no mathematician.  I can add
subtract 
multiply and divide with real numbers.  xs and ys tend to confuse me.  I
am 
okay on geometry.  What I always have to check is the method of are 
currently being taught for a particular calculation.

> Oh, liddle machines...screens...eyes...glare.
> Tiny screens can confuse. Glare on Franklin's can make them
> unusable? -  Glare on anything makes it and usable!
>
> Ah, when does he play, chill out, eat, wash and sleep?
> Eh, he needs a PDA and time management software! < VBG >
> (Sorry, v naughty but I couldn't resist even in so serious
> a situaion. )
> That's my last point... much more success if he enjoys all
> the extras and the teacher/student have fun doing it.
> How's the tech support being provided?  By us - and also the funding
too!
> Magic unbreakable wands they just ain't.
>
Oh, eat fish oil. Philippa recommends this too.  If she recommends it - 
consider it bought.  I view Philippa as my dyslexia guru - and
especially 
where the early stages of learning are concerned - just as I view a
great 
many people on this forum.  There are a good thirty people on the forum
- 
who if they said "black was white" I would have to seriously review my 
current concept of colour.

Check out overlays/glasses, etc. haven't done this yet, but he is on my
list 
to do
> ( A young man and I were discussing glasses
> last Wed when he was handwriting  with me
> .... long ago I taught him when he was Y5/6
> .... now both fly fishing afficiandoes we agreed polaroids were
> great for glare. Mine are magic green. )
>
> My heartfelt good wishes.  And thank you for these John.  I am a firm 
> believer in positive thoughts.  I also believe that lots of positive 
> thoughts from all sorts of people actually make things happen.  You
can 
> call it prayer, you can call it what you like - but I believe it
works.

Thank you so much for this John - I find always extremely helpful to
view 
other people's solutions to your problem.  People always come up with 
something that I haven't actually considered or something that I
actually 
don't know about.  It makes you really think about just what you should
do 
in order to provide the most appropriate support for someone who
actually 
wants to get where he could be.

Regards

Ruth