Advice 6 year old

CeNedra

Hi.

My 6 year old just finished senior infants. During December she became very ill with virus that hit her brain and spent a month in hospital and a month at home recovering. The school were amazing and I helped her stay on top of school work with their guidance. I thought she was doing great. All queries from teacher right up to end of terms said she is doing very well and her school report was very good (not perfect but very good). There was a possibility of residual impact of the virus (especially behavioural) but based on feedback direct from teachers I didn't think there was.

Then I got her school books home on Friday and was shocked. Her writing is a mess. She makes the silliest mistakes. Add up numbers and colour the answers a specific colour, 7 = red, 5 = green etc etc, she got all wrong. She will not write tidily unless I stay on her case, but she can. However, I am really worried with the quality of work.

She is going into 1st in Sept and the teacher is real old school. Excellent teacher but the kind that has the kids in a straight jacket and everything has to be perfect. This little one is far from perfect but an absolute gem of a child all the same!!!

In short, I'm worried about what to do.

Should i spend the summer revising all the senior infants stuff and give her a start on 1st class, maybe get different books than the school has so I want just do the same think again.

Interested in any teachers view here. Especially when her teachers last year (she had two) both gave great feedback on her until the end and yet I don't see it in her work!

Thanks for help,
CeNedra.

Chickus

If some of my parents saw kids workbooks they wouldn't be impressed either. .they are a resource and many teacher's dont take them too seriously at this age. .some are glorified colouring books ..she may have a very good grasp of the mathematical concepts orally and in practical activities and when it comes to the book she just wants to be the first to finish (very often the case at this age)...how is the handwriting in general?

CeNedra

She absolutely wants to be the first to finish everything. Just speeds her way through it. Doesn't matter what to be honest.

I'm trying to get the quality message across to her.

She is as bright as a button (I believe) which is why I was taken aback by the extent of the messing in her workbooks and why I was comfortable with what the teachers said all along. But homework is always a struggle for neatness that I really insist on.

Any idea's on how to break this? Is it just keep at it?

CeNedra

And her writing is only good when I insist on it. If I am not hanging over her she will create a big mess, but she can do it if she wants. When she went back after the 2 months out of school her writing was o.k. but you can see it getting worse as the weeks went on in her books.

I think I was reinforcing the message that messes are unacceptable, but that lost a bit of ground.

There were 33 in her classroom (2 classes mixed).

ShaShaBear

I thought when you first said about the hand-writing it might have been regression and maybe she was struggling with a steady hand etc but I think its more likely a rush to get finished causing the sloppiness.
For what its worth, many of the girls I went to school with had disgraceful handwriting even at leaving cert level and have degrees and steady jobs now. Maybe as the workload requires more thought than she needs to give at this level (especially if she is particularly bright) she will take her time?

evolving_doors

Maybe just leave the 'school books' and pressure out of the equation and work on the handwriting/counting your her own way during the summer.

Write a birthday card/ post card for relatives /making lists etc... just don't be hypercritical of the neatness. Just make it fun no matter what the outcome. The more she does the better she'll get. For counting just pose questions when shopping (how many green apples or red apples etc!) or making the dinner (how many plates / potatoes / carrots ).

Moonbeam

maybe google for handwriting with out tears and look on youtube at jolly phonics.

bellissima

My written presentation always left much to be desired, from Junior Infants right through University. It did not stand in my way, fortunately. I have observed pupils over several decades and have come to the conclusion that some are just naturally neat and others have to work harder at it. Thankfully in exams we are scored on content. I would praise her for every effort and concentrate during the holidays on language development and on learning that is incidental and fun. Sometimes children who are not neat at hand writing can also be disorganised about their belongings. This can be a considerable disadvantage. If the little girl does not have this problem I would not be overly concerned. I remember the practice many moons ago of comparing one child's handwriting unfavourably with that of another! Very unfair!

byhookorbycrook

I'd work on her motor skills rather than handwriting, she may be able to write nicely for a short time but her hands/arms may then be too tired to keep it up.
http://www.cgscoil.ie/ga-ie/tuismitheoir%C3%AD/agcabhr%C3%BAledoph%C3%A1iste/motorskills.aspx

http://www.tlsbooks.com/preschoolfinemotorskills.htm