I really really want to be........mortgage free!

ourcornercottage

Thanks alex, really useful. I'll be honest we do all those things at home and I have said they need to do it in the classroom where they can. We for example chant/sing the times table this has worked for him. We do lots of games and colouring in stuff. For example I requested books where the writing isn't on a pattern background as he can't read a word when it is. Unfortunately an average classroom with kids moving around, pictures on the wall and the hussle and hussle of a busy school leads to a lot of distractions. At home I use very simple worksheets quite often that are completed quickly. The good thing about this online course is that although there is a fair amount of visual stimuli it's designed cleverly to keep the user focused on the maths. This is why I'm hoping it might work well for him. It has started him on year 1 work so is covering the basics which is exactly what he needs. I will report progress. Of course I am still doing our work together too.

In terms of dyslexia it is something I have considered in the past. I have asked the teacher and also in the dyslexia centre (me going though and describing rather than test) but they both say it's very unlikely as he is far too high functioning in many ways. His teacher is the SEN teacher at the school. That said he is 7 and I can just pay for him to be tested now and I might well just do that to rule it out. Actually I might pop in today to make an appointment. No harm in seeing is there.

diamondsonly

HI OCC, I don't have any experience in this area but I would definitely pay for the assessment if I was in the situation. Just so you can then tailor his learning accordingly. Don't beat yourself up about starting too late etc, these kids don't come with instruction manuals and hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Diamonds xx

SueP19

ourcornercottage wrote: »

Thanks Alex and sue

Yes mini is 7, 8 in October. He is a visual/kinetic learner although mostly kinetic, which obviously for the most part doesn't match with the classroom environment. He has also always has an issue visual overload, he can't seem to filter out the important sensory stimuli. Up until year 1 this was a real benefit and he was considered super bright as he absorbed lots of information, now he can't process it quickly enough so it becomes all jumbled in his head. Add to that the attention span of a newt (probably because of the above) it's a perfect storm for falling behind. Despite this he is about average or just above in literacy and reading comprehension but is very behind in maths and also remembering spellings.

His level of general knowledge is extremely high.

He's liking the maths Whizz program so far; it is very repetitive at the moment which is really good for him. We have also started a marble rewards jar so he can get a significant reward for doing extra work and concentrating more. Over the holidays we can really try to get a grip on the maths. It's a real shame the tutor has fallen ill but that is what it is.

I have asked his teacher again to have another talk after the holidays and I am going to request some one to one for him at school. I am also going to try and get a plan of action into place. I am hopeful the maths whizz helps as it suits his learning style in many ways.

Any suggestions would be gratefully recieved.

Take heart OCC, DD learnt to read quickly at school was reading Tolkien at 9) Spelling was another matter, could not spell for toffee, maths was also a difficult one too.

Concentration................do not shoot me BUT does MiniOCC have a playstation??? Concentration was another trial on the parental road...........we found playing Spyro (a purple dragon treasure game) did wonders for her ability to sit and concentrate

Her general knowledge and inquisitive mind was exceptional, always with the why, never fobbed off with half baked answers, always had to have real scientific answers..................she left school at 16 with 3 GCSE's not in English or Maths. She went onto the local college and was diagnosed Dyslexic at 16!! (she was tested by the school at 13 and they said no, they got that wrong) Her IQ masked it, she too is high functioning at IQ of 156. The college were amazed that the school had in-houses tested her

She now has 10 GCES's 2 AS's, 3 A levels, a law degree and a post grad certificate to practise.

Try not to focus on the problem but look outside the box for the solution xx

ourcornercottage

SueP19 wrote: »

Take heart OCC, DD learnt to read quickly at school was reading Tolkien at 9) Spelling was another matter, could not spell for toffee, maths was also a difficult one too.

Concentration................do not shoot me BUT does MiniOCC have a playstation??? Concentration was another trial on the parental road...........we found playing Spyro (a purple dragon treasure game) did wonders for her ability to sit and concentrate

Her general knowledge and inquisitive mind was exceptional, always with the why, never fobbed off with half baked answers, always had to have real scientific answers..................she left school at 16 with 3 GCSE's not in English or Maths. She went onto the local college and was diagnosed Dyslexic at 16!! Her IQ masked it. The college were amazed

She now has 10 GCES's 2 AS's, 3 A levels, a law degree and a post grad certificate to practise.

Try not to focus on the problem but look outside the box for the solution xx

Thank you so much for that SueP, your DD sounds exactly like my son. We don't have a playstation as he doesnt much care for them prefers being outside but will sit and play on his tablet sometimes. i will try to get some games that require concentration for that. I will look for that game you suggest. The online maths program seems to get him to concentrate so thats a good thing.

I popped into the local dyslexia centre and had a good chat. They said about ADD, dyslexia and dyscalculia. or he could be simply behind from being a slower learner. They recommended asking the school to have him tested from what I said to them and to check with doctors for ADD. He suggested it may be more than one of these in combination and only mildly.

I think I may bypass the school and just pay for him to be assessed. It will just save loads of time and effort. I won't need to convince an unconvinced teacher and will set us back about £300. If they diagnose something that can go to the school after the event, if they say its nothing the school never need to know I was questioning their professional judgement!!!

SueP19

Your welcome, it's tough being a parent when they are that age.

DD had a Gold standard primary school and they taught her how she needed to be taught not how the government said but that was lost at secondary.

I saw lots of similarities in your son with my DD that's why I typed. She isn't just Dyslexic the report states a few other things, possibly the things you have said.

After the college diagnosed her in 4 months she went from a D at GSCE in English to a B, the following year she retook maths and got that too.

My best words of wisdom are to trust yourself, like you I took it that the secondary school must be right but looking back I should have raised hell with them, their assessment of her was the opposite of what she demonstrated at home..........when asked how she could pass her English at school, when she was 15, she was told she needed to read books!!! This is advice to the girl who has piles of Political/Business autobiographies amongst her millions of books xx

hiddenshadow

Spyro! I spent quite a lot of time in university running around burning sheep.

ourcornercottage

It is almost nice to hear that I am not totally off the mark with worrying about this. Its also good to hear that your DD with the same kind of issues has been so successful.

Its also interesting to say how your DD masked the issues. I think that is what is possibly happening with miniocc as we put a lot of effort into his school work its masking the issues. People find it massively surprising that he is having any issues at school, most people he meets would consider him exceptionally bright. All of the teachers in the yearly years settings considered him a potential high achiever.

I am going to pay for an assessment I think, just to get it done. Whichever way I will be continuing with the work at home, if there is nothing wrong it will help a slower learner and if there is anything wrong though he will get this plus extra help at school which will be a real godsend for him. That's all I want really.

The marble rewards has got off to a good start, only had to ask once to clean teeth, bath, get dressed. He has earned about 8 marbles already in 2 days. I think about 100 will fit in the jar. The reward is to have a maximum value of £30 so a significant item for miniocc. It should take a month to fill the marble jar with good behaviour. When he went to bed tonight he said in the morning he was going to do the washing up LOLOLOLOLOL! Will makes sure there is not any knives in the washing up bowl just in case he actually does! Doing chores adds a marble.

money wise mortage payment comes out tomorrow. Will update the OP's then and I dont think there will be any more this month after that.

School holidays start Friday Cannot wait

AlexLK

Glad to hear you've come to a decision. Getting him assessed will give you peace of mind and potentially give your son support he may need as early as possible which will benefit him.

I teach a few pupils with dyslexia and once a way of working which benefits the pupil is found, I've not noticed a difference in progress. However, it takes WORK on behalf of both the pupil and teacher. This is something school should do for your son anyway as all people learn differently and with different stimuli. The problem in a classroom environment is often the 15 or so other children if the teacher is not particularly good at differentiating lessons.

SueP19

Hope you had no washing up accidents

I wish I had found the money to test DD, we went through so many tears and tantrums before the test at 16..............once she had it and got help it was as if someone put a bullet up her bum, she realised she could do :rotfl::rotfl:

The Secondary school were awful, at 13 they asked the year (100 pupils) who wanted to go to uni, she stood up with about 10 others where she was publicly told to sit down as there was no way she would be going :mad::mad::mad: In fact she is one of about 3 that did go.

It's been tough, we stood on the school steps on GCSE results day with her just crying her eyes out. She got B in Business, C in Art and History.

That then presented a huge problem I had to talk/railroad/fight the local HE college to take her on a level 2 business course, as far as they were concerned it was a repeat of the GCSE and she would lose heart................she never did even though it was a been there done that.

She then did a level 3 (A levels) course but due to the changes the college made she transferred to A levels after the first year.........another huge fight, college said she would get 3 E's ...........she got a B in Business, C in Law and D in History and ended up with 455 UCAS points. She then got a law degree. As for the LPC most of her tutors said she didn't have the grades but she's a lawyer through and through so we went with our gut and paid for it (£23,000).....she got an unconditional place. I said to her anyone can revise and parrot fashion write it out but to really get it is the key :T:T you can't buy that

What I am trying to say is if you believe your son is bright, you do anything you can, be a nuisance, be a total pain, I nearly left it too late to help DD

ourcornercottage

thanks all, I am feeling a lot better about this all today. Last night did some fun work with miniocc and I really do believe that he is masking some of the issues by working hard. I would really like to get the tests done before the y2 sats so that if there are issues they will go on his official record at that point. Yesterday when we were doing the fun work it can seem like there is nothing wrong, but then mix it up a bit and it goes haywire. I can understand how the teachers are having an issue working it all out with miniocc because I can't either. I really don't know at this stage if they will say ADD, dyslexia, dyscalculia or there is absolutely nothing wrong at all. I suppose as he is young its all very subtle.

Anyhow back to money, the monthly payment and OP has come out of both parts of the mortgage today and the balance is £123,045. I would really like to put another £50 in but the accounts are a little bare so I am going to wait for now. I am hoping to get this in before the end of the month but might not be able to.

The OP's this month are £861.22 so far which is a really good month for me!!! I really don't quite know how I have managed this to be honest. It was a FIT payment month and BF gave another £100 but still its very good. I haven't even had any cashback bumping it up this month so I am really happy.

Now the stats!

March 2015 interest paid 59.68 + 208.18 = £267.86
March 2016 interest paid 52.95 + 184.10 = £237.05

£30.81 Less interest in 2016 if that was the same every month it would be nearly £370 in the year, with compounding etc I would expect the yearly saving to be about £400!!!

Daily interest standing at £8.19. 8p less than last month

Total reduction this month £1445.00 I think that might be my second best ever monthly reduction amount.

As my mortgage is in 2 parts I am hoping to get one of them close to the next 10000 level next month and under it in May. I am also hoping to get the other part of the mortgage below the next 10000 in june/july. Lots of targets for next month!

As it stands right now short and long term savings increases this month.

Short Terms savings up £598.10
Long Term savings/investments/pensions up £2745.06

This might change by end of the month but I am hoping to keep the majority of this amount in savings. I am doing well in my short term savings challenge (save £3000 in 2016) but I need to get a total increase of about £6000 because the guttering money is going to be spent this summer which will be about £3000. Does that make sense, I need to save £6000 to have an additional £3000 at end of the year!
Short term savings increase for the year is a total of £1752.37 so I am on target to achieve the target!

That's all folks, a great month!

Edited : My Savings spreadsheet summery was missing our Royal Mail shares when they floated. I had totally forgotten about them. We brought the maximum allocated at the time and have reinvested all the dividends. They are currently worth £1167 I plan to leave these alone for now, although I would like everything in my S&S ISA I don't want to fiddle for now as I have done alot of account fiddling just lately and want it to all settle down. Maybe will set myself a share price to sell in my mind. Maybe sell if they get to £1500. Maybe just forget about them again for 18 months!!!