How do you get a y2 to work to their full ability?

[lexcat]

Just had a parents evening and have been told dd could get level 3's in her sats by the end of the year but......
Made me feel very proud till the "BUT" came.
She just don't work she is often the last to finish work if finished at all. She will do anything else to get out of work. When it's done it's the smallest amount she can get away with.
I've always encouraged her to try her best but she has admitted to not doing her best or even trying too. At the same time she loves school and hates hoildays.
How to you get your child to do their best? Or at least to have a go and make some kind of effort? As I would be nice to be a proud mother and not if she tried harder. Or if she got her work finished.

[cba]

will watch this with interest

[anniebear]

My DD was 6 the end of Aug and is in yr 2

she is doing really well and quite above average

But......we got the but also at parents evening, they said she doesnt have the same drive that some of the older girls have

they think it might come with age, as she is the youngest

But why will it? I think she is happy as she is and isnt bothered about having "drive"

sorry, no help, but know were you are coming from!

[LIZS]

I sense dd (another August born 6yr old) is coasting a bit. She could try harder (ie won't bother with "easy" spellings and do homework neatly, rather rushed). She is up with the older ones academically but doesn't bother to do well herself and not sure how much push she gets. Planning to raise it at our parents' meeting next week. Ours don't do SATs but PIPS.

[dingleberry2]

My dd1 is August, she coasted a lot in y1 and we were quite worried, to the point of deciding to move to a better area with better schools. I also got her a tutor for maths briefly in Y2, which seemed a failure at the time (she was tired after school and just played him up, he wasn't great!). But it seemed to help, looking back. We also helped her more ourselves at weekends and did those workbooks with her with stickers which she enjoyed. We picked out just one or two pages in the areas she wasn't getting, like telling time.

She began to motor later on in Y2, got all 3s and is really going for it in Y3 Juniors. She competes with her friends to hand in homework first. She's not the top of the class but I think she is really doing her best now. She's older and more mature, and the things we did with her showed her that we cared about the schoolwork a lot.

We still want to move though!

[throckenholt]

apparently year 2 is when they start to pick up - often from a low base. It is also a year they often find hard (probably for the same reasons).

I have a July born boy in yr2 - we also bot the BUT at parents evening. Apparently if he is concentrating he can do most things with ease - but when not concentrating he can hardly do anything. Apparently he managed to write 3 (small) words in 15 minutes the day before parents evening !


I think with him a lot of it is confidence - he doesn't want to do things if he thinks they will be difficult - the trick is to somehow make him think it is not difficult - or if it is - then it is worth the effort.

[chopsterHeadsOffEverybody]

dd does this. It's actually getting worse for her, because she is now in year 3 and so far more interested in friends and socialising than working. I was really shocked at her classwork, as she had done so little work.

I'm dealing with it with bribery mostly. She gets 50p if she gets all her spellings/tables/homework correct. It seems to be working, she got 10/10 for the first time last week. I'm also planning to get her granddad to have a chat with her, as she respects him a LOT, and will listen to him more.

I've also started talkign to her about why we have to work at school, and I was told that children at that age need to learn that schoolwork isn't optional, and she needs to get stuck in.

Good luck with it, I know how you feel!

[Carbonel]

Tricky one this. I am dead against SATS becasue I think a lot of the teachers put undue pressure on the children.

These youngsters are only just 6! I think it is something which comes more easily with age - particulalrly as most people on this thread with similar problems have summer born dc's. I think also with the summer borns, it is a confidence issue - they see thier older 'peers' doing somehting easily which they struggle with.

I would tend to work on confidence and effort at home - I always try and praise when they have tried hard and done their best. Altho me and my dc's are competitive i am trying to teach them to be competitive with themselves and not others eg improving spelling marks, running just that little bit faster than last time (avoids problems with racing each other as dd, being older, always wins and neither hate losing!)

Not had my parents evening yet - have that joy next week! Might mention this to teacher and see what strategies she can come up with too

[chipkid]

agree with carbonel-I have a summer year 2 child and he has a real confidence issue as most others in his class are autumn children!

I hold on to the belief that he will catch up eventually and try hard to let him be a child although I do find myself nagging him about homework, doing his best etc a lot of the time!

[lexcat]

Thanks everyone feeling better about things today.
Their is a part of me who knows it will come but why is their this need to impress the teacher anyone would think it was me a school.

[nickToD]

Totally agree with carbonel. Reason why school going on about potential level threes is to make them look good. Six year olds SHOULD NOT be chained to desks achieving levels. They should learn through play, have fun, laugh, be silly, be with their friends, go on nature walks etc. Encourage her in out of school interests- dance, brownies, sport, art. There is plenty of time for dilligence later on. Children in most other civilised countries don't even have formal schooling till 6 or seven and they far out perform children in the uk.