Now that’s not something I ever thought I’d put in one sentence – forward rolls and spellings, but we appear to have some progress in both areas. Those of you who’ve followed the blog for a while will know that Monkey isn’t exactly sporty in any way, shape or form. It would be fair to say that he dreads every Thursday and Friday at school because he has PE and Multisports. Just not his sort of thing. This is the boy, the only child in the school, who refused point-blank to take part in Sports Day last year. In the end he reluctantly took part in a bean bag race holding his teachers hand. He isn’t a climber, he certainly isn’t a gymnast.
But we’ve had a couple of breakthroughs – forward rolls and spellings! He came out of school on Thursday last week full of beans. Mummy I got a sticker! Now this is the boy how never tells me who game him a sticker and what it was for. Mummy, Mrs S gave me a sticker – I did a forward roll all by myself. Bless him, this is a big step, or should I say, roll, for Monkey. To have the confidence to put his head down and go for it. It seems so insignificant to most people but not to us. Forward rolls – wow. Monkey was so pleased with himself, that he’s spent every afternoon since practicing them at home. Often they are more sidewards than forwards, but he’s enjoying it and that’s what counts. A little self belief and a boost to his confidence.
On to spellings, and I have to say, I’ve been dreading the day when spellings lists would be coming home. Monkey has been a rather reluctant writer, to say the least. If you get him writing his name in a card you’ve done well. He is a less is more kind of boy when it comes to putting pen to paper. The frustrating thing is that I know he’s capable, it’s all going in, he just doesn’t like to commit to the process of releasing information, either verbally or in writing really.
The spelling lists have begun and it’s fair to say their arrival wasn’t well received by Monkey. There were meltdowns, tears and lots of ‘I hate you Mummy’. We tried using magnetic letters to make the task more fun and it’s certainly helped. Last week, which seemed like a very long week, saw Monkey getting 7 out of 9 for his spelling test and he was over the moon. I was really rather proud, as I know exactly how much effort went in to that result. I might have had a pack of Lego Mixels in my handbag as a reward for trying so hard. Don’t expect a treat every week, but I am really proud that you stuck with it and tried. It was worth it, wasn’t it Monkey.
He’s been volunteering to try his spellings. There had been a mix up with giving him a new school book to read, and we would normally read that before school each morning and then do his spellings in the afternoon. But on Monday morning we had no school book to read so I suggested that he could try his spellings and then he’d have an ‘afternoon off’ if he could complete his list. I didn’t really expect him to go for it, but he did. I went to get the magnetic letters out – no Mummy, I’m going to try to just read and cover them like you’ve said before. Ok. There was a little cheating going on with one of the words, but he cracked the rest. He needs to work on some of his letter formation but it’s just so lovely to see some enthusiasm for writing and spelling. I hope it’s not a flash in the pan, I’m sure there will be highs and lows along the way.
I’m building up a list of ideas to help him have fun on the days spellings feel just too hard. We’ve got our Bananagrams and Appletters tiles to use, and a few other ideas in the pipeline.
Forward rolls and spellings success, all in one week. Go Monkey!
Any other suggestions, tips and ideas are gratefully received!
Well done your boy! That’s fantastic.
My girl hates learning her spellings….I never thought of using magnetic letters. I think I will give them a try! Thank you for the idea x
Thanks and let me know if they work your end
Go Monkey! What a week, and so lovely that he’s still working on his forward rolls at home, too, a sure sign that he’s proud of his achievement. Boo loves playing Bananagrams and it’s a fun way to cement spellings, too. She likes writing anyway, but a good friend of hers is very reluctant with his spellings and so my friend’s bought the magnets like you and she also has one of the wipe off boards like they have in school to use and her son’s happy using those to write as it’s a bit of a novelty. Fun pens? Perhaps train ones or something? All sounds good anyway 🙂 x
We’ve tried wipe boards in the past but they just aren’t great for us lefties in my opinion and caused more issues than they solved here. He has special Stabilo pens for lefties which he loves and he also uses them at school. It just the actual writing. He’d now happily make the words in magnetic letters and the like but it’s the writing he’s objecting too! That’s my boy 😀
How great that you found such a visual way for him to practice. Sand paper letters are also great they can really help letter formation as they are so tactile. Well done Monkey
Oh thanks, not come across those before so will check them out.
Wow, this sounds like brilliant progress! You must be very proud of him. It’s good that he is feeling proud of himself too and practising at home, so hopefully it’s not a blip and he will carry on!
We will see, I think it’s going to be a rollercoaster with him tbh.
Yay, go Monkey. Good job done on the spellings. I think we’ll definitely be following some of your ideas…learning his Foundation stage words from his envelope he has is going extremely slowly to say the least.
And great attempts on the forward rolls. Must be the week for it because all of a sudden N has started doing them…on the beds! Similarly, his are a little wonky but it’s fun to see.
I was like Monkey at sports when I was at nursery school and my first school in Windsor. I just didn’t get it, was still stood at the starting line when everyone else had finished the race. We moved house when I was 7 and all of a sudden, I was really into sport and was good at it. Maybe Monkey will be similar and something will just click – I guess it’s the case of finding an activity he enjoys. Hopefully his school give them the chance to try lots of different sports rather than just gym work or running.
Well I’m not sure if he’s trying to tell me something but apparently he has now lost his entire PE kit at school. If that turns out to be true I will be creating merry hell. I lost trainer is bad enough!
Oh no. Nightmare. Ours is quite efficient, although I must remember to write his name in his joggers.
The joys of a bigger school
Magnetic letters is a great idea. We use a chalk board or a dry wipe board too. Any mistakes can be easily wiped away – I think there’s something reassuring about that.
Great news about the forward roll too! 😀
It’s worked really well. Chalk boards and wipe board don’t work for us as we are both lefties so you get it a bit of a mess with it all sadly.
What a massive week for Monkey. Well done superstar. I really hope there is no stopping him now. Ethan learnt his letters from iPad games. There was a tile like game where the letter tiles would snap in place. It might be a bit basic for him but it might help to learn some words. It is American though.
Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
x
Thanks, we try to have no screen time really but will see how we go