Educational Psychologist
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
Re: Educational Psychologist
Oh good. Yes really go for it with the reading.
I think children can quickly get dispirited if they don't see progress, or teachers recognising their progress. From what you describe this may be part of the picture. I don't think learning to read really well necessarily has to be the long protracted process that it sometimes turns out to be for some children. I won't blind you with research but make sure that if she is learning / has learned phonics at school that you do wherever possible use this with her when she is working out words that are new to her.
There's a rather fun website for telling the time called timemonsters. I don't know if this is right for her at this point in time but do take a look as it may be useful for a bit of fun alongside what you are doing.
From what you have said she does sound very talented in a visual-spatial kind of way. I don't think this is a route one should go down hook, line and sinker as learning-preferences etc have been discredited a little. However, it's good practice to play to all these different ways of learning in your home teaching strategies.
When she muddles up or can't remember maths signs and terminology maybe you can get her to think of her own way of remembering them . There are some small blank playing cards that you can buy cheaply on the internet. When she has come up with her own way of remembering it ( her own picture, word, etc etc) she can record it on one of these little cards and keep it in her school desk drawer, in a memory game you play together etc.
My year 3 daughter will still sometimes muddle a + sign and a x sign for example. Hopefully all children do these things, it's just that some do it more than others, and it takes more practice to stop doing it.
One also has to remember that memory is affected by "stress" and tiredness. So any child in a stress situation ( with a stranger, in a timed test etc etc) or tired may appear to have a worse memory than they actually have. This is where children who are never fazed by anything have such an advantage. The rest have to practise more so that in the situation that takes the polish off their performance they can still do well.
If it bothers her, does her one to one "SEN" help have to be so obvious to the other children in the class?
I think children can quickly get dispirited if they don't see progress, or teachers recognising their progress. From what you describe this may be part of the picture. I don't think learning to read really well necessarily has to be the long protracted process that it sometimes turns out to be for some children. I won't blind you with research but make sure that if she is learning / has learned phonics at school that you do wherever possible use this with her when she is working out words that are new to her.
There's a rather fun website for telling the time called timemonsters. I don't know if this is right for her at this point in time but do take a look as it may be useful for a bit of fun alongside what you are doing.
From what you have said she does sound very talented in a visual-spatial kind of way. I don't think this is a route one should go down hook, line and sinker as learning-preferences etc have been discredited a little. However, it's good practice to play to all these different ways of learning in your home teaching strategies.
When she muddles up or can't remember maths signs and terminology maybe you can get her to think of her own way of remembering them . There are some small blank playing cards that you can buy cheaply on the internet. When she has come up with her own way of remembering it ( her own picture, word, etc etc) she can record it on one of these little cards and keep it in her school desk drawer, in a memory game you play together etc.
My year 3 daughter will still sometimes muddle a + sign and a x sign for example. Hopefully all children do these things, it's just that some do it more than others, and it takes more practice to stop doing it.
One also has to remember that memory is affected by "stress" and tiredness. So any child in a stress situation ( with a stranger, in a timed test etc etc) or tired may appear to have a worse memory than they actually have. This is where children who are never fazed by anything have such an advantage. The rest have to practise more so that in the situation that takes the polish off their performance they can still do well.
If it bothers her, does her one to one "SEN" help have to be so obvious to the other children in the class?