Lucy*(10), starting Home Education

(September 2020 - Present)

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Background

 

I was contacted by Lucy's Mum as she was considering what to do regarding Lucy's education. She was struggling in mainstream education, had been given a diagnosis for dyslexia and was working with an educational psychologist in how to support Lucy in the most appropriate way for her. As you can imagine, the struggle at school had severely knocked her confidence. I had a long conversation with her mum to decipher what Lucy actually needed, who she was as an individual and the best way to build her confidence. This was also supported by the recommendations made in her report.

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How we worked together

 

We started looking at Phonics to see if there were any gaps, Reading and Writing. I identified that there were a number of gaps in her phonetic knowledge. I also found that she struggled to form sentences correctly and avoided punctuation at all cost. 

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When we first started we played relaxed games and activities. We concentrated on:

 

• the reading skills she needed

• phonic gaps

• spellings and ways to overlearn the words

• writing skills.

 

I based these activities around her favourite things to raise her enthusiasm to learning. I have also learnt a lot about caring for horses!

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Lucy was also set tasks for the week to ensure reinforcement of information which is what she really needs.

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As time has progressed, we have begun to use Padlet, a learning platform, which Lucy can focus her learning around and I can see throughout the week. This is great as it is fun, I can respond quickly to any misconceptions and the platform really suits Lucy's way of learning.

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The Outcome

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We now no longer need to focus on Phonics and have been able to introduce the focus onto other areas, such as spelling rules. Lucy has amazed me with her reading and comprehension and inspires me to revisit books as she is always hunting out new, interesting books to devour. 

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Lucy's understanding of punctuation is remarkable and she is now confident to express when she is finding it challenging. Her writing is creative and she pushes herself to improve her ideas. It is very exciting to witness this transformation.

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Most importantly, Lucy now enjoys learning again and is confident and thriving. She makes it hard to remember that I am actually working when she is as confident and entertaining as she now is.