I'm going to have a big whinge and I'm not going to add a photo so that my kids don't feel compelled to read this. It weirds me out a little that Mackie has read my blog at school on occasion. What do they think all these youthful 12 year olds, about a Mum's cranky, crafty rambling?
My nine year old daughter is in grade four at school. She is a fantastic reader. When she was learning to read, she never wanted to sound out the letters in words or "chunk" syllables. She worked with her own method of "stabbing in the dark" until eventually she became familiar with all the commonly used words in the books she wanted to read.
Now she is your typical bookworm. She dashes through them at a rate of knots and often can't be contacted through the impenetrable cone of silence that a book offers. I love that. I was like that too.
But.
Ever since those early "non-sounding-out" days I have wondered why she seems to have such difficulty with letter sounds and especially recognising the letters used in writing. She has NEVER wanted to write anything. When she has to write she frequently tantrums and sulks and cries. After all these years of reading, she still cannot spontaneously spell & write VERY common words. Birthday cards are torture.
As each new year has started I have approached her teachers and implored them to examine her work. Each year her teachers tell me that she is keeping up with her classmates.
I asked for the school Literacy coordinator to assess her work. That was far less than satisfactory.
This year I was hopeful. The teacher she has was my son's teacher last year and I felt I had a bit of rapport with her. PLEEEAAASSSE I said at the beginning of the year, please check her progress and let me know why she won't write and can't spell. It's not as if she blithely scribbles away regardless of spelling. She is afraid to pick up a pencil, she has been told by her good friends that they are sick of her copying their work, she has sat at her desk crying because she can't complete a simple writing task.
I love her so much. I can't stand it that she has so much upset and fear and conflict in her little life. She is so smart with a fabulous vocabulary and a great sense of humour.
So, we got a letter home, asking us to authorise someone to assess her literacy. Yes. What a great f*!!!!^* idea.
A speech pathologist who works one day a week at the school assessed her in a brief session. Finally after all these years someone could instantly recognise her difficulty. She has Expressive Dyslexia he said. The letters and words in her brain cannot find their way to the page without much prompting. When the class is set a task, she hasn't the foggiest idea how to formulate the sentences, words, letters to complete the job. It is as if she can't remember the simplest details to recount. Even the sounds that individual letters make struggle to get out.
We have been working on it.
The speech pathologist sees her once a fortnight if possible (he has lots of other kids to see) and he has discussed with me ideas for extra work we can be doing at home to help her progress. Now, because it seems as if we need to really concentrate on improving things for her, I have also employed a tutor for her (at the recommendation of the Speechy)
So here's the whinge...sorry if you thought I was finished....every day she has to do some writing work. She HATES it. She can't see any progress and I struggle to see it. I am desperate for this approach to work and she can sense my desperation. We are fighting all the time. She is trying to avoid sitting down, she is being distracted by EVERYTHING. She is sulking, crying and feeling victimised. I am tired of it too. I get home after a day's work and I am dredging compassion and patience from the bottom of a deep deep pit, badly. I am making dinner and supervising the homework, computer, Wii, reading and more reading.
I am sometimes thinking..maybe she doesn't need to do this. Maybe she will get the idea eventually. Maybe in the future people will just use spellcheck for everything. Maybe my approach and all this intervention is counter productive. Maybe I am just spoiling my relationship with her irrevocably.
Blah, I am whinging.