School-aged children
- School-aged children
- any one with children in reception
9/7/08 16:49
9/7/08 14:30
My ds2 started school last September at 4 years at 4 weeks old. He was behind in his speech and definately behind the stage my elder 2 children were at when they entered school. He recognised some letters and numbers 1-30 or so but thats about it. He is now reading chapter books and will enter year 1 on the gifted and talented register. I would have been proud of him no matter what but the way he has progressed is beyond amazing to me.
9/7/08 09:10
Thank you for your kind replies girls. I try not to compare, but it is difficult. It's hard when all the kids from my ante-natal group are ALL September babies, therefore they're all only just starting nursery this year and yet Katie is starting School and they seems to be miles ahead in so many things. I hate competitive parenting. However, when Katie was small, I was always told 'oh don't worry... they all catch up by the time they start school'. Er, well, that's not strictly true. Now I'm told, 'don't worry - they all catch up by Juniors!' There are obviously some very gifted children that these parents are writing about on here as I just feel Katie is so beyond reach with any of these things. *sighs*.... To be honest, right now all I hope is that she settles in well and enjoys going to 'big school' as much as she enjoys nursery as her face lights up every morning when she leaves the house. Now I KNOW that won't last forever!! lol.
8/7/08 21:47
Oh Joey dont stress hun, my ds is a Aug 03 baby and is just coming to the end of his reception yearsand is not doing half of the things that some have put on here but he is a happy little boy that goes to school happily has a few good friends and has settled in to school life well which I think is a big bonus. If you think about it they are all starting school alot earlier this days, he has plenty of time to catch up and they all blossom at some point. Try not to be worried by competitive parenting its a horrible trap to fall in! If your worried about her progress next year have a word with her teacher xxx I wish you and your dd all the best wishes and hope she enjoys school xxx
8/7/08 16:43
Hi Joey4 don't stress about it that is normal for a child of that age, now my daughter can only just count to 20 at the end of year 1 and she can just write gobbledy gook! as for sums she makes her own up and reading only just starting to recognise some simple words she is 6 next month she is one of the young ones also but my other daughter was also one of the younger ones but even she could read and write simple scentences by now and add simple sums properly, just see how she goes on next year. Sharon x
8/7/08 09:43
Wow. Reading this, I feel like my daughter is going to be in 'special needs' before she's 6! She's still only 3, as she is an August baby, but will be starting 'big school' this September along with many nearly 5 year olds. I'm completely aware that she is 'behind' her peers, but am horrified to think she's going to be put in 'the bottom set' in primary school. She can still only count to 10 (she tries to count to 20, but gets the numbers muddled up) She can't write her own name yet (will only do this if you write it faintly for her to copy over) and her drawing standard is probably that of a toddlers. However, she loves nursery and has grown in confidence this last year. I've always had my concerns, but her teachers reassure me that she still is very young and will catch up naturally. Now I'm not so sure! If, by this time next year she's supposed to be reading books by herself of level 8 (or whatever it is you're all talking about!) and writing stories, well... I know a year is a long way off,but even I can see that won't be achievable. I'd love to say anything is possible, but besides the standard crawling/walking thing, my dd has been a late developer at everything. I just hope in years to come she doesn't realise she's 'one of the slow ones' as I think that can knock your confidence for six.
6/7/08 13:28
Hi i agree with you m2j like your son my daughter tries her hardest she does struggle and i know she is behind but she loves drawing so she is more artistic and she loves taking things apart to see how they work so she may be an engineer like her mum and aunty. Sharon x
6/7/08 11:55
My son is in reception, and was 5 in May. I am shocked at the competitiveness of some of these replies. What does it matter what level all other children are at? What matters is that your child is happy, and getting the level of support needed for their ability in the class room. I have never heard of 'sets' for such young children. There are only 16 children in my sons class, and they are all very different but they all have their strong and weak abilities, and the teachers work with that. There is a disabled boy in my son class, and at sports day he couldn't understand the concept of the races. All the children in the race with him mind a line, held hands and ran together. My little boy wasn't in that race, but he did say to me 'mam *** isn't very good at running is he, he cant run fast like me, but that doesn't matter because he is good at other things, he knows how to make houses with lego, he tries to show me how to do it but I still need to learn' I couldnt be more prouder of my son. Yes he can read, and write, and spell, to what acedemic level I dont know, but I do know its to his best level. He tries hard and enjoys it. I couldn't ask for more.
5/7/08 23:13
my daughters in reception,also 5.we have regular parents eves where we find out about our childs development and recently had a report.if you have any q's your teacher should answer em 4u.my child recognises all letter when seeing them,and can also write most of them when told the sounds.she has trouble getting her b and d right,she often thinks d is a b and visa versa,a common mistake at this age.she recognises many words in reading,and can read most of the books well when brought home from school.she is ok at basic maths although has trouble with numbers over 10.she is v confident in school and has a crack at anything whether she knows it or not.im very lucky my daughter goes to a fantastic school which is v supportive and helpful.i hope this helps,emma
30/6/08 17:33
hi my dd is in reception, she'll turn 5 in August so she's one of the youngest. She's basically 2 stages away from free reading, which is around ORT 11, she could only really write her name at the beginning of the year and can now write short stories, She has very good number work aswell although I dont think its to an extreme, she loves science knows all the planets and which is biggest smallest etc basically knows copious amount of general knoweldge, and today proclaimed she wanted to get a job with Nasa and be an astronought by the time she's 11 (fair enough lol)
I am just glad she's enjoying the year and firmly beleive they will learn at their own pace. dd is pretty much self taught. They do put the kids in sets in our school right from reception year but to be fair I think this is a good idea, the children are not told directly but most of the smarter one's clock on to it by the end of the first term. I did not even know Isla was in the top set until she told me. Anyway I think every child regardless of their ability should be catered for. I for 1 am grateful dd is being extended all the time otherwise she'd be bored to tears at school.
Na xxx
25/6/08 06:39
In our school the children are taught by ability level so they are grouped by this. The top group in my dd1's year 1 are currently working beyond year 2 level all across the board. The lowest group in my dd1's class are currently learning letter sounds and numbers 1-5. (The school catchment area intakes children from very different socio economic background.) The difference in ability between the children in the school is shocking. There are year 2 children just learning to write whilst there are year 2 children capable of writing a perfectly punctuated grammaticly correct essay or story.
24/6/08 23:06
My dd is in year 1 but is one of the youngest in the class and is 6 in a month time, but she is bright and is reading at year 3 level, and maths and writing at a year 2 level. At her school there are mixed years, so year 1 and 2 together, 3 & 4 and years 5 & 6. They do all lessons as mixed years except literacy and numeracy where year 1s are taught separatly to year 2s, and then in sets within those classes. I was worried about the mixed years before she started but seems to work OK.
24/6/08 17:34
my dd's school does not band them and I would hate it if they did, they have made a point about classes in year one being mixed with children from all abilities ect. x
24/6/08 15:09
I also totally disagree with 'banding' infants.
How can you split them into ability groups when there is often a year's age difference in one classroom and so by default the learning levels will be widely different.
The difference between a child who is 5 in September/October and a child who is 5 in June/July can be vast.
My son's school has announced that when he moves into Year 1 in September he will be in a 'shared' class (oldest Year 1s sharing with youngest Year 2s). I am concerned how this will work (the school has given affected parents no details or even an indication that they will). How can one teacher teach two different years? I would be very upset if my young Year 2 child were being lumped in with Year 1 children.
23/6/08 23:50
Don't get me wrong I am definitley for children being grouped in classes, but i do not believe it is right for teachers to be informing parents that their child is in the top set, especially in infants I think there is no need for it and thank goodness in my dd's school they do not do that but as I say you do pretty much work it out. In fact I think they are pretty much grouped in a way that my dd can be set work and after a short explanation she can be left to get on with it without needing to much guidance.
I also like the idea of children being sent to work in pairs where there is a less able child with a more able child however this in itself has its own cons, my dd came out of school one day really tense and seemed very stressed and when I discovered why, it was because she had to work with a boy and help him to add up and he just couldnt grasp it. Obviously she was told she had to help him and tried her best but he just wasnt able to understand.
We all know what our kids are like but no child is top of the class at everything and I challenge anybody who says they are. More able kids might have tendency to be more forward with their ideas then a less able child but often the quiet ones get overlooked. I know that while my dd is good with her writing/maths and reading, if you give her a tin of pencils and allow her to free draw she will crumple!
23/6/08 22:28
i THINK grouping in the classroom is a good idea, because the children are working with/competing with other children who are working at the same level as them. they are not as aware of the other childrens abilities and therefore work at an acceptable level that they can cope with.
Teachers do try not to make it obvious about the fact that children are grouped, and rarely tell you that your child is in the top/bottom set, unless its really obvious. (my old teacher was happy to tell me where my child was at, but didnt discuss it with other parents).
my son thrived in this environment.
we have now changed schools (changed countries) and he is in a mixed ablitity mixed age class and is constantly working with children who are working on much easier work, so he sees that and thinks I dont want to do the hard stuff, if I mess up I will get the easy stuff. So now, the teacher thinks he cant do english/maths/reading so he is getting stuff below his abilitiy levels and is very very bored and demotivated, and has struggled to get the enthusiasm back to want to learn.
we are now paying for private lessons to reintroduce harder maths (maths similar to that done in a year 2 class) and he is now really enthusiastic again and loving maths. Trouble is at school, he is still doing maths equivalent to the reception class. they work at lower levels than the uk and feel that children must learn the basics before progressing, but there is a limit to how much basics they know before they progress to more interesting stuff. the school teaching method is good, and it is working. we have been doing tables, and last night, we were jokingly testing him with 6,7,8,9x tables, expecting him not to know them, and he did, most of which he answered quickly. So the private lessons are paying off. I noticed that he is answering the questions much quicker in the classroom as well.
heidih
23/6/08 21:47
I know he will be in the top set because the head teacher called me in to tell me he would be part of a group going out of class doing extra work.
He entered the school just about able to write his name and having number recognition of only aout 1-15, but i am so amazed by his leaps in ability. Of course i'm proud of him, he has worked very hard off his own back to get to where he is.
The flip side is that i would still be proud of him no matter what he was achieving.
I have to add that i am finding that the children are pushed and pushed at school, and the ones who are supposedly more able stay that way. I currently have a year 2 boy who achieved higher than a level 3 in his sats and a year 1 girl who is currently working at a level 3. They are continuously given work to their ability.
Whether they carry on like this or not as long as they are happy with what they are doing i will be proud of them.
23/6/08 14:52
How do you know your child is in the or going to be in the top set, I hate that they refer to kids being placed in groups that way. I have never once been told my child is in the top set but you kind of work it out based on who they are with and what level they are at. I think it is extremely unprofessional of teachers to be telling parents their kid is in the top set at such a young age, can you really see them saying to a less able child parents they are in the bottom set.
I find it fantastic my child is on level 8 ORt (she would have been a far higher level if I had not asked for her to be taken off ORT and given soemthing less boring, she has also repeated a level to be able to do workbooks based on the ones she has read afterwards. At home she reads roald dahl books but she would never get that chance at school.
As equally proud of my child Iam there will be another parent who is chuffed to bits their child is on stage 2 ORT and can count to 10. Mostly because they are not interested in the abilities of what others are doing. So I actually feel bad that i am aware of how they have placed the kids in their groups, why am I so aware of the abilities of others in fact how the hell do I or anyone else know for that matter the order in which the groups/sets are in the class.
So what if our kids are in the top set or the bottom, can spell/write, count to ten, recite their times tables etc etc. I persoanlly think things will even themselves out by juniors as it gets harder to memorise alot of things which is mainly how they learn at this age.
22/6/08 22:39
My son is 5 at the end of July and apparently will be going into the top sets when he goes into his year 1 class. He is reading ORT level 9/10 at the moment and reading it easily. His maths is brilliant (helped immensely with the Maths training game on Nintendo ds), and he can deal with complex sums. He has memorised his xtables and randomly can tell you what 6x7 is for eg.
However i think he has been brought on by his sister who is in year 1 and his brother who is in year 2. He seems to have absorbed what they have been doing.
To think a year ago i felt he was too young to start school, i could not imagine holding him back now lol.
22/6/08 22:32
thanks ladies its so hard knowing where she is we get there reports this week so will see what that says, from what I can tell shes top end of class in reading ect but no one says much grrr
shes a happy confident little girl and just want to know that she is actually managing what she should be x
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My dd is middle of the road and im VERY happy about it. She is not top of the class and not bottom. She loves school has lots of friends and enjoys everything . I will not be pushing her next yr when she starts in keystage 1,i will be happy if she keeps doing what she is doing.
A friends little boy is fab at maths in yr 3 doing yr6 work. He can be hard work he needs to be doing stuff all the time. His mum says she is so happy that he is very clever but would be happy if he was a "normal" little boy.
So swings and round abouts i say. You need help if you your child is at the lower end and the top end,but i just hope the children in the middle dont get left out!