Middle school: teachers/parents?

[cjcouple]

I have some questions. I thought we had a couple around?

[dizzycooks]

auroraloo and I have both taught middle school.
What are you wondering?

[honeydew1894]

I teach MS also.

[cjcouple]

Ok great....so B just started MS (6th grade) and last year he definitely started to be a lot more independant as a worker but I notice he would struggle with memory/retrieval. It seems like he takes a while to remember facts.

Can this be normal or should I mention to his homeroom teacher?

For instance he often copies some spelling words wrong from the board. And he makes multiplication/division errors and doesnt always check his work. He knows 8×7 is 56 but he will say. "54, no (long pause)...56".

Do I just keep practicing with him? Seems to be spelling and math facts he struggles with. His writing, science, social studies he does really well in.

Also, he is a bit young. He turns 11 in 2 weeks. Our cut off here is late though-Jan 1 so he not the youngest.

And he is my son with selective mutism so that has affected his academics some and maturity. I'm worried that SM overshadowed a potential memory retrieval issue.

Any study tips/habits you recommend at 6th grade level? Luckily our school has Remind App that texts us reminders of impirtant assignments. So I can help him with his time management for reports / projects. He needs some help there for sure. He doesn't know how to spread out his workload to meet a deadline.

Thanks ladies!!
Sorry to bug ya about school stuff.

[honeydew1894]

Forgive me if this is well known info, but does he get any services at school? Like, is he able to access pre-printed lists? With that age, it is hard to differentiate between lack of concentration and something deeper. I would definitely keep practicing with him as it never hurts, but I don't know that I would say anything just yet. I am a big proponent for seeing how things go in the first 2-3 weeks and then making a plan if need be. Many of the issues my students have between 6th grade usually iron out by 7th.

[auroraloo]

Sept 3, 2017 16:22:34 GMT -5 honeydew1894 said:

Forgive me if this is well known info, but does he get any services at school? Like, is he able to access pre-printed lists? With that age, it is hard to differentiate between lack of concentration and something deeper. I would definitely keep practicing with him as it never hurts, but I don't know that I would say anything just yet. I am a big proponent for seeing how things go in the first 2-3 weeks and then making a plan if need be. Many of the issues my students have between 6th grade usually iron out by 7th.

Nailed it. Wait. 

[cjcouple]

Thank you. It is super early in the year so can definitely wait and keep an eye on him.

No services currently, just 504 accommodations for his SM. Which he is doing fabulous with.

[orval]

Parent of a 5th grader chiming in.
My ds has dyscalculia which is a math disability. He cannot remember a lot of facts no matter how much practice he has had. He is often off by one or two as he has to calculate them every time. He does understand processes and concepts.
Dycalculia also affects working memory. My ds also cannot copy properly off the board or another piece of paper.

I don't think this is a very common LD so many teachers have no knowledge of it. I would just continue to keep monitoring and if it doesn't improve with practice, maybe ask about testing. My ds gets accommodations like the use of times tables and/or calculator.