Is there any point in mentioning to the teacher that my reception child is bored because she already knows this stuff?

[Aranea]

Dd1 is in reception. She is generally happy there I think, and I am very pleased that she is learning to socialise better. I regard this as one of the main goals of reception really, the other being developing an enthusiasm for school and a positive attitude to learning.

I have a meeting scheduled with the teacher to discuss a couple of things, and one thing she has mentioned is that dd1 tends to stop paying attention and zones out. She told me that she had been trying to use more visual techniques in an effort to hold her attention, but that it doesn't seem to work. She said that she thinks it's a 'choice' on dd1's part to stop paying attention.

I have spoken to dd1 about whether she enjoys listening to what the teacher has to say, and she says she finds it boring having to sit on the carpet listening, and that she tends to start paying attention to her invisible friends instead. She says that because she already knows all the letter sounds it's boring having to listen to it all.

Is there any point in relaying this to the teacher, do you think? I suppose really my main concern is that at this early stage dd1 is getting into a habit of thinking that the teacher isn't saying anything interesting. But would there be anything to be done about that? I presume that in a class of 30 there is no chance of children being taught different stuff according to their level of knowledge.

So do I just accept that dd1 is going to be bored and zoned out on the carpet? I don't want to be Pushy Mummy, and in itself I am not too worried as I don't see any need for her to be progressing faster than she is already. It's just that I think there are dangers in allowing her to think school is boring.

Sorry for waffle.

[Coca]

The danger is in her thinking it is ok to zone out because she thinks she knows everything already. Reception can be a bit of an anti climax for children who have had a lot of input from thier parents in preparation for school. The other kids will catch up and they will be able to start setting work appropriate for each child's ability.

[ninah]

I wouldn't worry
Your dd sounds as if she is settling in really well

[Aranea]

Exactly - so is there any point in mentioning it? Will there be anything the teacher can do to prevent this attitude from setting in?

[Aranea]

x-posts with ninah - do you think it's just all part of being at school then and not a problem?

[Coca]

I'd mention it, if nothing else it always helps to get to know the teacher and build up a relationship in case you have any problems in the future. I have similar problems with dd2 in yr1.

[Aranea]

It's so sad really when you think about it. She has never actually talked about being bored before in her life.

[harecare]

Of course mention it. The teacher has noticed so you may as well tell her why otherwise she'll put all her energy in the wrong direction.

[SE13Mummy]

It's a shame that your daughter is identifying listening to her teacher as being 'boring' at this stage in her educational career!

Whilst it's worth discussing your concerns with the teacher I'd probably steer clear of saying that your DD finds her boring but to ask instead about the strategies the teacher will use to encourage your DD to pay attention e.g. will she say, "X, in a couple of minutes I have a question I'd like you to answer for me about this..." or does she have a different strategy up her sleeve? You could reinforce these by using them at home too.

At the same time I'd also encourage you to try and talk about school using open questions which are positively phrased rather than value-laden (I'm not saying you do this BTW!) so instead of, "do you enjoy listening to Mrs Y?" you may learn more about her day if you were to ask, "tell me 3 exciting/interesting/new things that Mrs Y talked about today...".

Another helpful tactic may be for both yourself and the teacher to ask your DD what she thinks would help her to listen in class - even very young children are often capable of identifying something that might help.

Some children cite boredom as a reason for not paying attention when in fact they are concerned about the level of challenge being too much - not listening can be a good get-out clause! Again, this may not be what your DD is up to but opting out because she considers herself to already know everything the teacher has to say is something that will need to change and hopefully will do so with you and the school working together.

[paisleyleaf]

I think mention it.
You don't want the teacher thinking she's 'zoning out' because she's struggling.
And if the teacher's aware, she might then throw in a couple of questions more aimed at children who already know letter sounds rather than her visual techniques.

[Aranea]

Thanks, SE13mummy, that's a helpful way of approaching it with the teacher. I don't want to put her on the defensive, and can see that I could easily do that.

I do try to ask positive questions in general. I opened up this conversation by asking dd1 what the teacher had told them during carpet time today. She sounded very jaded and said, 'it was about q...' I asked if she'd listened, and she said she hadn't because she already knew about q. So I followed it all up with her and it seems as though it is a pattern developing.

I don't think it is because she is feeling too challenged. The teacher has told me that she thinks dd1 is one of the most able in the class and that she tries to ask her more stretching questions than the others.

Dd1 did also mention that she doesn't like the fact that no-one is paying attention to her during carpet time! I think she is having trouble adjusting to being part of a group of 30, which obviously she will just have to get used to. She only went to nursery very part-time before starting school, and it was a very small nursery with a high staff-child ratio.

[Aranea]

I realise I may be sounding as though I think I have a super-bright dd. This isn't the case - I think she is quite bright, but not particularly a genius. Just wanted to clarify that I am not being overly pfb here, as I know it could sound that way!

[AvengingGerbil]

You're not alone Aranea - I well remember the disgust with which my DS observed that they had spent the whole of the literacy hour doing 'ch'...

(Nothing helpful to add to SE13, just sympathy. Unimaginative implementation of the literacy hour is a curse.)

[IAmTheEasterBunny]

I'm not sure I'd believe a 4-5 year old if they told me they'd spent an 'hour' doing 'ch'! It might have seemed like an hour to him......

It's something children say.

[Acinonyx]

Hi Aranea - as an invisible friend/imaginary life obsessed child (and, er, adult...) I think it would be hard for anything or anyone to compete and be less boring. It may be that nothing short of working individually on something of particular interest or having idividual attention can ever hold her attention. That's how it's always worked for me! So yes, she will tend to drift off in a class.

I think it wouldn't hurt to mention this to the teacher so that she can occaisionally aim something interesting her way - as pp suggests.

[Aranea]

Hello Acinonyx! I fear you may be right actually. I wasn't great at concentrating in class myself as it happens, but I find it a bit depressing to think of dd1 all fresh from the preschool years feeling that way.

Think I will mention to the teacher. I will have to have lots of practice goes in front of the mirror I think as I noticed her getting v defensive when I relayed dd1's comment that she sometimes found it hard to hear the teacher because of other children talking. It hadn't occurred to me for a second that she would feel the need to defend her classroom discipline, but I was obviously thoughtless there. And she is a NQT, so probably feels a bit vulnerable.

[Aranea]

thanks for sympathy, gerbil!

[hellymelly]

oh dear this sounds like my DD and i am at a loss too."school is so BOOORING I hate school etc",and the zoning out.Teacher hasn't mentioned anything and my dd is at a school where she is being taught in another language to the one we speak as a family so I think that may be part of it for her,but like you I worry that if she is bored now,when she has just turned five.....She is a really quick and clever child and I want her to be stimulated but I don't want to put pressure on her,I am happy for her to move at a gentle pace,but she wants to whizz along a bit faster.I will watch this thread with interest for tips.

[cory]

I wouldn't be too sad about it if it only involves carpet time. Ime carpet time accounts for a very small part of the school day, maybe 20 minutes or so. Imho a child comes to no harm from being bored for 20 minutes out of 6+ hours. Mine have often been bored for longer than that at home.

As the teacher says she does try to give her more challenging questions, it sounds like she is not actually left to be bored the whole day. The rest of the day will be geared to the abilities of different children.

It is very useful for children to learn to cope with times when noone's paying them any individual attention. I'd have a gentle chat with your dd and explain that you understand it may be difficult to listen when she already knows something, but that this isn't going to go on forever and that she needs to try. Emphasise how much the teacher helps her at other times.

[loueden]

Hi there - those of you who are worried have a great attitude to your kids' education, and you are right that socialisation and enthusiasm are key parts of the reception year.

Aranea, it sounds like the teacher is trying to use good strategies, such asking open questions and gearing lessons towards visual leraners.Maybe your daughter is a more kinaesthetic learner - in that case as a teacher I always involved these learners in lessons - if I was introducing a new sound I would have them come and help me move the magnetic letters/use puppets/feely bag/write on white board etc.It sounds like your daughter may like this kind of approach, and, coupled with the teacher asking her questions more frequently, this might help lift her out of her obviously exciting imaginary world!

At this stage in the year I would expect phonics progression to move from single sounds and basic blending and segmenting to more challenging sounds such as ee, oo, ck etc - most of these will not have been introduced to any great extent in the nursery. The class should also be doing a lot of 'have a go' writing, which should be challenging and engaging. By Feb I would expect most of my kids to be able to write a sentence, and my more able kids could write a few good sentences where they had made attempts to sound out words, use correct spelling for the common words they had been taught or words seen in reading scheme. This of course was all done in a fun way, using interactive white board, games etc and having children produce own books. Writing is a good way to assess a child's grasp of phonics.

I used to exhaust myself making my lessons all singing and all dancing (felt like I was on a kids' TV show!)- however, I know that some in my class still zoned out, perhaps to to not having a great concentration span. Sitting on the carpet for wee ones for any length of time can be difficult - recommendations are about 20 mins. If I was doing writing or something completely new, my kids could manage about 40 mins - if I was being entertaining!The kids would of course talk about things at group work or if we were having a discussion, but when I was talking they usually listened very well - I'd be a wee bit concerned about your daughter saying that others talk a lot and she finds it hard to listen. In my current post as an education adviser I visit lots of schools and also monitor NQTs - see this happening quite a lot - if there's a bit of a melee going on then kids tend to tune out as too much going on. As you said, tread carefully with teacher on this - could just be that kids are animated during lessons and talking whilst still being on task.

The other posters here have made excellent points and given you good advice - as the year progresses I'm sure she'll get more interested as there will be more and more new things introduced and by now anyway she should be in a group for differentiated literacy work. However, when teaching/introducing sounds, it is well nigh impossible to teach different groups in the active ways recommended. The teacher will probably be going through the sounds quite rapidly and assessing as she goes. Some of the children may need more consolidation/may not have done so well at nursery and the teacher will probably be ensuring that the whole class has a grasp of phonics. However, follow-up work should be differentiated according to ability.

Think you sound like a sensitive person, so go ahead and mantion to the teacher - in a diplomatic way!! She needs to know that this could potentially become more of an issue. As an NQT she will still be finding her feet - all of this will be good experience for her!

Good luck and hope this helps!

[poutine]

hi, I suppose all schools are different in their approach. But in my DC's school, the amount of time they spend formally doing phonics is extremely small. The vast majority of the time is spent doing other things like painting, playing, outdoors, maths, listening to a story, examining slugs in the playground, making models using bits of 'junk', etc, etc etc.

I'm frankly amazed that even a child who already knows how to read could be bored in a reception class! There were plenty of children (at least 4) who went into my DS1's reception class as confident readers but they were by no means bored as there were so many things going on to keep them busy.

[thegrammerpolicesic]

Lou - great info.

Is it the norm then for reception children to be in ability groups for reading by this stage then? It seems like they are not in ds's class and I find it odd that those who are still learning the first sounds are in the same groups as a few who can read quite well.

[OttersOnIce]

I would guess that at age 4-5, her concentration and paying attention skills just need to develop. There is such a lot that is new for them in reception, (yes, even if they know all their sounds/can read), that just being at school is really quite demanding for them, and I would guess her concentration will improve as she matures.
I also found dc didn't use the word "bored" until they started school and start to hear other children using the word. But I think bored" can mean a hundred different things and usually doesn't mean "bored".

[cory]

It's a while since my children were at this stage, but I think they were sorted into ability groups after Christmas, so about this time. Though there will always be times when they are taught as a whole group, like carpet time. Even in secondary school, they are not streamed for every moment of the day.

As long as they are getting enough differentiated time to learn new and challenging time, I think it is also good for them to have to adapt to one another and accept that the teacher needs to explain something slowly to children who don't understand quickly: it's the same skill as taking turns on play equipment or waiting for your parent to help a younger child.

[thegrammerpolicesic]

Thoroughly agree cory - I wouldn't want my dcs to be streamed all the time anyway and think there is tons of value in mixed ability sometimes whichever end of the scale a dc is at.
But I am thinking some of the time it would make sense by now in reception.

[Aranea]

Thanks so much everybody. Loueden, thanks for a very informative and interesting post!

Cory, I'm sure you're right that it is just for a very small part of the day - and I've pretty much said what you're suggesting to her. She looked a bit unimpressed, but there you go! I may be thinking too far into the future, but I suppose I don't like the idea that she will see sitting down in a group and listening to the teacher as automatically dull. (Maybe projecting a bit too much from my own memories of secondary school actually! Some of those geography lessons I actually slept through). I think she has adapted to the fact that the teacher needs to explain things for the benefit of other children - it's just that the only way she has found to adapt is to start thinking about something else. She doesn't play up or distract others.

Otters, I know what you mean about the way children can use the word 'bored' - but in this instance I think she's using it quite correctly. She is saying that it is boring to listen to something she already knows about, which I think most of us would probably find to be the case.

Her reading is coming along very well, and she is very keen on writing (her spelling is marvellously entertaining, I love it). As far as I am aware, the school doesn't stream until Juniors. But I'm not worried about her progress as such - she seems to be doing fine to me - just her attitude!