Son struggling with A-Levels

Spendless

My son has/had this problem and I know a friend's son does too. It's a problem with not knowing how to expand their English writing enough. I realised it when DS was in his latter Primary school years. I ended up getting a private tutor for a few weeks which helped. I did the same when DS wanted to take GCSE Psychology which I knew he was borderline on his English grades for taking.

I'd talk (or get him to) talk to his tutors, see what support they can offer him.

jackyann

It really depends on what he wants to do.

If he really wants to do something that will require these skills, then he can get assessed and the help he needs. In practice, if you can afford it, a private assessment from an Educational Psychologist will speed things up, and provide a basis for your son to think about his strengths & weaknesses and how they may affect his future.

I should add that I do agree that you should begin with his tutors, as they will have a lot of ideas and maybe some recommendations.

If he feels that his interests lie elsewhere, then he may well do best to cut his losses and start looking at what else he might do.

I would add that as with any specific educational difficulty, the problem does show up more as work gets more difficult.

FBaby

That's me! Always was the first to understand the concept/theory, would be the one explaining it to my friends verbally and was always told I could do so better than the teacher. Then came the time to put it all in writing and I just couldn't do so in a way that made sense in a way that guaranteed me a good mark.

I've managed to get A levels and go to Uni, but this weakness has remained and is still with me at a senior position. I've now accepted it, I am good at conceptualisation, I am not at expressing myself on paper, that despite the fact I am an avid reader.

I have thought about it quite a few times, and I think my problem is that I think very fast. This allows me to understand things very quickly, but when it comes to reproducing this learning on paper, I seem to always be a step ahead, so what I write doesn't reflect the present step, but a mix between present and future, and maybe even a bit of past. It makes it very difficult for the reader to understand where I am going. That is despite the fact that structurally, my essays were always good.

It is something that can be overcome, it's just a case of learning what to do to do so. As others have asked already, which part of writing is the main problem?

theoretica

Does he touch type? I wonder if fast typing, as though he were speaking, and then tidying it up might be a way forward.

Mrs_pbradley936

I do have some ideas. Think about the following description of washing your hair:

1. Wet hair.
2. Apply 3ml of shampoo.
3. Lather.
4. Rinse

Then compare and contrast with the following:

1. Gather everything you will need, including a large fluffy towel, your favourite shampoo and a comb.
2. Run the taps until the temperature is just right and then thoroughly wet your hair. Remove the lid from the shampoo and take in the fragrance of it. Pour approximately 3 millilitres into your hands then rub your hands together before running them through your wet hair. Work up a rich luxurious lather and enjoy the sensations created, with all of your senses. Really tune into the thick rich lather.

I could go on but you must get the drift. Maths and science expect clear, concise and correct delivery. Everything else rewards flowery exaggeration which need not be "right" because anything is right if you can present your "reasoning" adequately.

My son with the maths degree hated having to pad out stuff when he was doing English and Humanities. He knew how, just though it rather pointless.

Becles

Jagraf wrote: »

Have you looked through his mocks with him ?

Yes I've looked through them. He's read the answers and knows he's missed loads out and knows what he could have put in, but he just didn't!

He said it's like a mental block and he walks in the room and forgets everything, he writes slow to make it neat and worries about running out of time. The mock he did worst in didn't have a clock in the room so he was panicking about the time.

I've mentioned things in the thread to him and he's going to have a chat with his tutors tomorrow and I'll try and call them later in the week to see how he is getting on and see if they can suggest anything else.

The extra English lessons sounds like a good idea just so he's more confident about his writing. I'll look into that if he thinks that would help.

Bennifred

Get him a watch to take into exams with him that he can have on the desk in front of him - saves time looking up at the wall clocks (which are obligatory in the actual exams). I think it may help your son to be able to use a keyboard in the exams, as well as having extra time, if he has writing difficulties. He doesn't have to have a specific diagnosis to be granted use of a keyboard - it just has to be his "usual way of working".

pandora205

There are a whole of lot different skills required for writing concise, relevant text and for answering exam questions. The plan to support depends on which particular skills are underdeveloped:

• handwriting legibility
• handwriting fluency (speed)
• spelling
• understanding questions (vocabulary knowledge, understanding syntax, etc.)
• answering the right question (knowing difference between describe, evaluate, compare and contrast, etc.)
• making a plan for an answer (writing structure)
• writing an answer in sufficient detail
• writing a summary (precis of information)
• recalling information that has been learned (and learning it in the first place
• making links between different information (parts of the course, etc.)
• following conventions, such as the structure for reporting an experiment in psychology

These are a few of the wide range of skills needed.

The A level subjects chosen are all high verbal, text dependent options, which would prove challenging for someone with writing problems. However, practising the relevant skills would assist in developing these, but of course they require considerable motivation and time.

southoftheriver

I don't have any specific advice, but I would say don't let this make him believe he is stupid or not able to compete academically. I bloody hated my A levels. I have a very responsible job which requires a certain level of knowledge but I would never go back and do my A levels again because it was such a struggle for me!

Despite that I managed to get my degree and a Masters for fun...

bouicca21

Ok, that description is typical,of exam nerves. When you see the tutors one of the questions you need to ask is whether his written work during the term is ok. I suspect not, but if it is then it means you have to concentrate on exam technique.

Forgetting everything as you travel to/ walk in to the exam is pretty standard. The thing is to look at the paper choose the easiest question (in my case it was always the only question I could do), plan the answer, write the answer (having allowed the right amount of time, so yes get him to take a watch in, put it on the desk). Once that is done it is miraculous how it suddenly becomes possible to do another question...