Would you expect more from the school? (Yr2)

[whizzylala]

Hello all,
Just wanted to some thoughts if that is ok. My DD 6 is in Yr 2 now, she is a bright child, no genius but top of class. I know we all think this about our kids but school have confirmed this with us.
She is at prep school there are 14 in her class and she is very happy. The thing is they just don't seem interested in stretching her, she just stays on the top level reading books (which she was on in reception) has easy spellings to go through the motions of each week and has to sit through daily phonics which she hates.
I am not a pushy person and really just go along with this as there are so many positives and things I love about her school, it is not an academic hothouse, although gets good results to senior schools etc, there is much emphasis on happiness to achieve, it is very nurturing, good on discipline and the extra curricular is all great.
Half of me thinks just to leave things and let her coast as she is happy but the other half of me thinks they really should be pushing her a bit more - she even tells me whe wishes she was in Yr 9 (!) so she could have tricky spellings. I encourage her to tell the teacher this so they see it coming from her rather than me. I just don't know what is right - to stretch them as far as they can go as long as happy or just to keep going at the level her friends are at. My mum did her reading book with her last night and seemed really shocked at how easy it clearly was for her which got me thinking. I dont think too much about the reading, she reads aloud beautifully (when inclined) and reads lots of books by herself.
Would you just continue to go with the flow or do you think I should be asking them to do more with her?
Thanks.
Whizz

[emy72]

If it was me, I would at the very least go to the teachers with your thoughts and see what their opinion on this is.

I would have thought that in a class of so few it would be easy for the teacher to differentiate the work in order to stretch her.

You could say that your daughter has specifically told you she would like more stretching work and see what the teacher's reaction is.

Good luck!

[marialuisa]

It sounds rubbish. Why isn't she choosing books from the school library? Not sure about the spellings-DD was given differentiated spellings and TBH although they were big words she didn't find them hard to learn as her phonic knowledge and vocabulary were so good. The thing she did find stretched her at that age was to have to incorporate 5 or so intersting words into her creative writing. The words wouldn't be hard to spell but she had to show she could you them, for example: tedious, lamented, churlish

[PorkPieLove]

Yes have a word...it's early days in the new year but her teacher should have noticed your DD needs more to tackle.

I agee on the books...she should be allowed to chose them from the library now...you are paying for prep and they need to prep her according to ability.

[inkyfingers]

If she reads widely at home and can take on more challenging stuff, she's unlikely to come to much harm. But school mustn't become a turn-off for her.

Go in to see her teacher. Cos you're not a pushy person you won't come over heavy or critical. Just say you're concerned and 'what can we do to keep her motivated?'

[iloverainbows]

My daughter is at a very similar sounding prep school to your DD and exactly the same thing happened to her last year (and it wasn't just her). None of the bright children were stretched, it felt like we were just in a holding pattern for year 3.

It might be worth going in to understand how they are structuring the groups ie are they ability teaching, what the learning objectives are for your DD etc and voicing your concerns about comments she is making.

[mrz]

I think children should be stretched so perhaps an activity to accompany the reading book would be appropriate.
Sorry she may not like daily phonics but unless she knows all 150+ phoneme/grapheme representations she has more to sit through in the foreseeable future and I would be linking spellings to these.

[whizzylala]

Blimey, I had no idea there were so many phonemes etc..... her spellings are still based on those on the jolly phonics double sounds(yawn!)
rainbows, this is exactly how I feel infact I had had exactly that thought before I read you message - that she just needs to get through this year until next year in middle school brings variety and subject teaching from different people, shouldn't have to just wait it out though really.
I think I will have a chat and see what their expectations are for her and use a couple of the suggestions here - should would love the idea of using new words in her writing.
Thanks.
Whizz.

[mrz]

whizzylala there are 44 phonemes (Jolly phonics introduces 42) but 150+ ways of writing them think - ai - ay - a_e - eigh - aigh- ey are all ways of representing one sound.
At the moment my Y2 children are working words like "fierce and fiercely and pierce and piercing in phonics

[mrz]

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