A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Discussion and advice on Sixth Form matters

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2childmum
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Location: S E London

Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by 2childmum »

I have suggested this too - but she hasn't managed to find the SEN teacher whom she needs to speak to yet and she isn't very confident so I'm encouraging this first.

She needs very visual resources - in our experienced extra help from teachers always seems to be print based, which doesn't help her at all. The font of the textbook is also not brilliant for her (although she can read it it is taking up a lot of energy). She has found that Snaprevision is fairly accessible, and has found an on-line set of videos for chemistry too, so hopefully that will help.

She has always needed more 'scaffolding' than my son - just dropping her in the deep end just causes anxiety and then she can't learn anything. She will get there in the end on her own - she did with her GCSEs once she found the visual resources she needed - but she needs more support initially.
quasimodo
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Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by quasimodo »

2childmum wrote:I have suggested this too - but she hasn't managed to find the SEN teacher whom she needs to speak to yet and she isn't very confident so I'm encouraging this first.

She needs very visual resources - in our experienced extra help from teachers always seems to be print based, which doesn't help her at all. The font of the textbook is also not brilliant for her (although she can read it it is taking up a lot of energy). She has found that Snaprevision is fairly accessible, and has found an on-line set of videos for chemistry too, so hopefully that will help.

She has always needed more 'scaffolding' than my son - just dropping her in the deep end just causes anxiety and then she can't learn anything. She will get there in the end on her own - she did with her GCSEs once she found the visual resources she needed - but she needs more support initially.
It seems your dd is not suited to the type of education which predominates ever since education was based upon material from the printed press.I presume since you refer to a SEN teacher she has been already assessed in the past.Have you also had her assessed for visual stress in case tints of a particular colour may be of assistance in any reading glasses ? in the past there was little scientific support for the many parents who reported welcome help for their children from such glasses.Recently I have seen some articles which do report some recent research in support.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln
2childmum
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Location: S E London

Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by 2childmum »

DD has been diagnosed with dyslexia and also Irlens syndrome and wears green tinted glasses - they do help up to a point, but she often complains that, just because she wears them people assumes she is 'cured', but in actual fact they just allow her to read for a bit longer than she would be able to otherwise. They don't help with 'dodgy' fonts, and with keeping track of where she is if copying from the board (she has to read through from the beginning to find where she is every time she looks up to copy the next bit).

Print based education is certainly not the best for her - which is why she needs to find other resources, which I am happy to help her with just to save her time, as all her work takes longer than average. Despite this she came out with a credible set of GCSEs and decided she wanted to do A levels, so I'm doing what I can to support her with that , without doing it all for her!
doodles
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Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by doodles »

2childmum wrote:DD has been diagnosed with dyslexia and also Irlens syndrome and wears green tinted glasses - they do help up to a point, but she often complains that, just because she wears them people assumes she is 'cured', but in actual fact they just allow her to read for a bit longer than she would be able to otherwise. They don't help with 'dodgy' fonts, and with keeping track of where she is if copying from the board (she has to read through from the beginning to find where she is every time she looks up to copy the next bit).

Print based education is certainly not the best for her - which is why she needs to find other resources, which I am happy to help her with just to save her time, as all her work takes longer than average. Despite this she came out with a credible set of GCSEs and decided she wanted to do A levels, so I'm doing what I can to support her with that , without doing it all for her!

We too have been through this (different problems ) and VI can be so hard 2childmum. So many assume that because you are wearing glasses everything is fixed and there is little appreciation of just how exhausting reading can be, how hard certain colour print and paper combinations are and what a difference a font can make. Well done to your dd and I hope that she gets the support she needs.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !
MrsChubbs
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Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by MrsChubbs »

Totally endorse talking to the teacher re any of the sciences. The courses are very content heavy (particularly biology) and students have to find different ways of working from GCSE. The school/sixth form should be helping them with this as a year group and certainly in the specific subjects. One of the best techniques is to get the teaching schedule for the term (or year) from the teacher so they know what topic the teacher is going to cover in the lesson. Then read through the chapter BEFORE the lesson, make notes with big spaces and highlight with a highlighter areas that they don't understand. (Or they can highlight the text book if they prefer). And why they don't understand it so they can ask the question in class.
This will allow them to focus their attention solely on what the teacher is saying/showing in the lesson and acts as a reinforcement of what they have learned and understood already and clarifies hopefully what they have struggled with.
They can then add to their notes as soon as possible after the class. To really nail it they should look up exam questions which they should try first and then with their answers. If they still don't get it, ask a friend who does to explain it to them. If still no, book time to see teacher.
Get a WhatsApp group going for the class so they can share questions/queries and encourage each other to work.
Sorry for the long one. Hope it helps
Tinkers
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Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by Tinkers »

As a little aside, but continuing the dyslexia theme. For those of you who aren’t quite sure what it’s like being dyslexic, have a look at this.
http://geon.github.io/programming/2016/03/03/dsxyliea" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This doesn’t quite fit how mine affects me. For me letters change shape to a similar one and they twitch, so a c might change to an o or a b changes to an h. I do get letters swapping with the ones next to it, but not as bad as in the link I’ve posted.

Each individual gets affected differently and what works for one doesn’t work for another. I found the open dyslexia font great, but I can’t use it at work as we have specific fonts for documents etc. However a friend of mine (also dyslexic) finds it makes things worse. I’ve been able to change the background colour for word, excel, and outlook to one that helps the letter twitching, but if I’m hosting a meeting or get an email from someone who has used the same colour for their text it can cause issues.

Reading and writing takes up a of concentration. However I have no idea what it’s like not to be.
I hope your DD gets the assistance she needs.
doodles
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Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by doodles »

DS finds some colours of pen on the white board particularly hard. Black is the best followed by blue but after that it's difficult, and as for anything in yellow - forget it!
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !
Tinkers
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Location: Reading

Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by Tinkers »

I struggle a bit with blue on white. Black on a pale turquoise seems to be best.
Tinkers
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Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by Tinkers »

For those with DCs doing chemistry, my sister (a chemistry teacher) has passed on a couple of good websites.

https://chemrevise.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And

https://www.chemguide.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The second one looks quite dated but she tells me that once her students see past that they really quite like it.
2childmum
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Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 4:02 pm
Location: S E London

Re: A levels 2018-2020. long wait 2

Post by 2childmum »

Thank you everyone for your support and understanding. DD has had a busy weekend - with friends, so that helped her relax a bit. I'm going to sit down with her tonight and help her write a sort of profile of herself - what she finds helpful/not helpful, and then encourage her to find the SENCO to go through it with them, and also try and go through it with her teachers. She hates to make a fuss, but she has to learn that she may have to push to get what she needs.
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