Parents' evening advice needed

[Flyonthewindscreen]

It is my DD (age 6, year 1)'s parents' evening next week. I have never been a parent to be popping into school to have words about things or raising problems so am unsure how to raise the following without coming over as a pushy nightmare parent.

DD is a bright little girl, probably no more so than lots of others in her class but she is incredibly keen on reading and writing and has been repeatedly complaining to me that her work is "too easy" and she is bored. There does seem to be a discrepancy between what she is capable at home (writing endless long stories and insisting on doing her brother (age 8, year 3)'s spelling tests and getting most of them right) and the reading books she is sent home with and stupidly easy spellings ("in" and "the", etc).

DD is in a mixed year 1/2 class and will be in the same set up next year, we are in Wales so she will still be "learning through play" as part of the Foundation stage until the end of year 2. DD will have a different teacher in year 2 but her current teacher is in overall charge of infants. So I am worried that the situation will continue and get worse.

Various other parents have made mutterings along the same lines (but it is a difficult subject to raise in case another parent's child is struggling to keep up) so I am pretty sure there is a wider problem of not enough more challenging work being given to those who need it. But obviously I can only speak about my own DD, is there a way of raising this without coming over like the aforementioned nightmare pushy parent?

[beautifulgirls]

Why don't you see what they have to say about her abilities first and then take one of two aproaches:
So as she is doing so well what sort of additional support is she getting to ensure she doesn't get bored and is challenged a bit by her work?
or
I am a bit surprised you say that about her reading/spelling etc as she does seem very keen at home. I think she is more capable than she is showing you and I wonder if we could look at how we get her to show that with some slightly more challenging work. She seems to think it is a big game at home with the things her 8yr old brother brings home and usually does well with that.

[rainbowinthesky]

DD is year one and was sent home similar spellings near the start of the year. I agreed with teh teacher that as she knew them all I would choose suitable spellings for her which I have done all year. We also read her own books at home too. Can you not suggest this?

[Flyonthewindscreen]

Thanks for your replies, beautifulgirls I will take note of your two alternative approaches and try to remember for next week! rainbowinthesky, DD does read lots of her own books at home and does (of her own choice) her brothers' year 3 spellings, I'm not sure how DD's teacher will react to hearing this though...

[Hassled]

beautifulgirls' approach is spot on, IMO. Just be straight - it doesn't really matter if they think you're a pushy parent or not. It's reasonable to be concerned that your DD is bored at school, and to want to address that.

[SaliMali1]

Learning through play or not (am in Wales too) and we challange our children and in fact the Foundation Phase should challange children wo are flying.

[Flyonthewindscreen]

Update, DD's teacher sang her praises re literacy so I said as tactfully as I could that DD had told me she was finding her work easy and asking for more difficult work. I also took in DD's current at home reading book to show what she was capable of at home. The teacher seemed quite shocked and taken aback and said much of the literacy work had possibilities to be taken as far as any child wanted to take it. I pointed out that as DD is very shy and has problems speaking up in class, she is probably too timid to do A, B, C if she is only asked to do A iykwim? DD's teacher said she will look into this.

So went away happy that I had spoken up for DD, turns out it was my DS I should have been worrying about but will have to start a different thread for that .

[helyg]

Glad you got this sorted out. You could be describing my eldest, who is in Year 2 in a mixed year 1/2 class in Wales. He was supported really well last year, but this year is really bored.

Just thought you might be interested in this bit from the Foundation Phase Framework:

"The Foundation Phase curriculum is planned as a progressive framework that spans four years (3 to 7 years) to meet the diverse needs of all children, including those who are at an earlier stage of development and those who are more able. Throughout their formative years, children?s learning develops more rapidly than at any other time. However, progress is not even and children go through periods of rapid development and times when they seem to regress. A curriculum for young children should be appropriate to their stage of learning rather than focusing solely on age-related outcomes to be achieved. Children should move on to the next stages of their learning when they are developmentally ready and at their own pace."

So although it is learning through play, they should be supported at their own level (note my use of the word should)