Special needs first wk in pri 1

[mashy]

joanne_ang07:

Hi mummies,


I have a child with GDD born in yr 2007, currently studying kindergarten 1, next year he will need to register for pri. 1 for year 2014. Started to look out for school nowsaday. My child is studying in a more academic kindergarten (private school) and is given support from me at home in his school work. I coach him in advance ahead what teacher will teach, and hence his academic in eng and math got no problem. (except Chinese, cos I am at loss with this subject too) He can recognise lot of Chinese word and know some Han you pin yin too, all these are teach by his school. However we don't speak Chinese to him, so he couldn't converse in Chinese.

He can read a whole book (at his preschool level) by himself even thought he got pronouncation prob. Currently having intervention in the morning and speech therapy at spd once every 2 week. he is shy and have prob in communication (speed delayed)

Despite his good academic, teacher feedback that his attention is short, alway need teacher close supervisor on him. He couldn't do his show and tell due to his speech delay, which teacher say it effect him as pri 1 got show and tell, oral n etc...

I was thinking whether to put him in a more academic pri school or just a normal pri school. My concern is if I put him in a more academic pri school, will it be too stressful for him, dealing with academic as well as how ppl will see him as special. Or just put him in a normal environment, normal primary, so that he can cope better?

Hi Joanne

It's still more than 1 yr before he starts primary school. So he will have time to catch up. My son's speech is also delayed and he had poor articulation. He's now in P1, we did show and tell in chinese and english and he's fine. Of course, we wrote the scripts and got him to practise many times. Also used visual charts to help him remember.

Having difficulties in k1 doesn't mean will have difficulties in p1. My son's handwriting was also at least a year delayed. I believe the initial part will be hard but it will even out as they grow older. When he was in nursery, I was contemplating whether to delay his sch by a year. His teachers also said he's slow, can't write, won't talk etc. But when I checked his progress in k1 again, I realise that he managed to be at the level his classmates were by the end of nursery. So judging by that, I deduced that he would achieve k1 handwriting skills by k2 which is sufficient for pri sch level. And indeed he had. now he has k2 handwriting which is acceptable.

My boy also has a short attention span and will do work only if there is 1-1 attn. According to his pri sch teacher, he has improved and is participative in school work.

We put him in a popular but non acad primary school. I like it that it's not so stressful and allows him to catch up in areas that he's slower. Acad driven schs will not allow that. He's enjoying school and learning. Lately he started heuristics and he loved it very much.

[verykiasumummy]

delaying 1 yr is not depriving him of his education or capability… its just about making a better preparation to p1…


similarly, proceeding to p1 doesnt mean he has no problems, he will still need to work extra hard to achieve the average if not better than the others…

[verykiasumummy]

u have to make sure u talk to ur kids about delaying his p1, he will find it curious too… so make sure he understands and also agrees as well… mutual understanding is impt or he may grow to hate his parents for delaying 1 yr later in life…

[jedamum]

joanne_ang07:

Hi mummies,


I have a child with GDD born in yr 2007, currently studying kindergarten 1, next year he will need to register for pri. 1 for year 2014. Started to look out for school nowsaday. My child is studying in a more academic kindergarten (private school) and is given support from me at home in his school work. I coach him in advance ahead what teacher will teach, and hence his academic in eng and math got no problem. (except Chinese, cos I am at loss with this subject too) He can recognise lot of Chinese word and know some Han you pin yin too, all these are teach by his school. However we don't speak Chinese to him, so he couldn't converse in Chinese.

He can read a whole book (at his preschool level) by himself even thought he got pronouncation prob. Currently having intervention in the morning and speech therapy at spd once every 2 week. he is shy and have prob in communication (speed delayed)

Despite his good academic, teacher feedback that his attention is short, alway need teacher close supervisor on him. He couldn't do his show and tell due to his speech delay, which teacher say it effect him as pri 1 got show and tell, oral n etc...

I was thinking whether to put him in a more academic pri school or just a normal pri school. My concern is if I put him in a more academic pri school, will it be too stressful for him, dealing with academic as well as how ppl will see him as special. Or just put him in a normal environment, normal primary, so that he can cope better?

hi Joanne,
my ds2 is in K2 this year and was diagnosed with speech delay when he was in prenursery. while he can speak audibly by the time he hit K1, he didnt manage to pick up proper speech structure (sometimes talking like Yoda, my husband commented ie \"happy, I am\").
i also teach him in advance at home which lifts off a lot of pressure in school - not academic pressure....as if the kid can cope, teacher tend to close theireyes on in attentiveness while my boy maintain his high self esteem. he is doing very well in math and can read, but his grammar and speech still lacks. his chinese is hit and miss type and thankfully chinese spelling in Kindergarten has been easy. his good memory helps in learning tingxie.
we have been on observation list for ADHD which we hope to be discharged by next year with clear report. he has high energy level and very efficient in his work, so he has plenty of spare time in class to boss his friends around/telling his friends about general knowledge he learned from reading at home . show and tell next time will be a problem too for him in P1 as he cant speak clearly, stutters/stammer when he is too focused on telling something and cannot stand still.
as for P1, he will be going to his brother's school which is known for holistic education and from what i observed, focuses more on character, wellbeing on children rather than academic - the elder brother can vouch for it. their PSLE performance is nothing to shout about and the school did not release much info on that too. at P4, the brother is still relatively unstressed, teachers are not stressing them to perform so i hope it is the same for lower primary and not only teacher dependent.

as for whether to go for academic or non-academic driven school, i feel that you should go for schools with character building as core values. because of speech delay, my boy may get teased, but with understanding peers, i am hoping transition will be smooth for him and he can enjoy schooling as much as he does now.

[jedamum]

mashy,

is your boy attending any english enrichment or speech drama that can help in oral/speech?

[mashy]

jedamum:

mashy,

is your boy attending any english enrichment or speech drama that can help in oral/speech?

He is attending British council coz his PD at CDU said he will need that for comprehension in future.

Other than that, he's attending speech therapy with kkh rehab. He still stutters but better. His articulation has improved a lot since he started ST. Now we can understand what he says clearly. My boy has a very good memory so we make him memorize some sentences. We need to take advantage of their strengths to help them.

He's doing well in school for English and Maths even though he is the youngest in the class. And despite him not able to speak well. Somehow when the grammar is on the paper, he knows what is the correct form. So not being able to speak well doesn't mean cannot do English paper. Like a lot of kids here, he also reads exceptionally well. I think reading is a way of compensating his speech delay.

[jedamum]

Thanks mashy

My boy can identify grammar on paper when to use what.
But when he speaks. All wrong. He and she also mix up when he speaks. But he knows the differences. Tenses too.

[mashy]

jedamum:

Thanks mashy

My boy can identify grammar on paper when to use what.
But when he speaks. All wrong. He and she also mix up when he speaks. But he knows the differences. Tenses too.

Same! Somehow the different compartments of the brain isn't working hand in hand. Sigh.

I can always tell when he is speaking or regurgitating. Hahaha. Coz when regurgitating, his grammar is perfect!

[verykiasumummy]

jedamum:

Thanks mashy

My boy can identify grammar on paper when to use what.
But when he speaks. All wrong. He and she also mix up when he speaks. But he knows the differences. Tenses too.

tat's may be due to listening to broken eng environment... take note of ur speech to him, also for dh and in-laws... so that he doesnt think singlish is the right way of speech..

[joanne_ang07]

It seem that our child is similar, no son got no prob in his paperwork too, eg. Vocab, gammar, comprehension and etc. he can read very well too, just that when he speak, he sound so wrong (mixing I and you). Great to find similar case here, I alway thought I was alone, there is no friend’s child with similar case Ard me. And I don’t anyhow tell others regarding my son condition, afraid ppl will treat him differently.