Once they've hit their early learning goals then what?

[SkyWalker95]

Just received my son's latest progress report. For half the early learning goals its the normal this is where he's at, this is his next target to work on. But the others say he has achieved the early learning goals so there is nothing for him to work on. Is he just supposed to not have any goals for the next couple of years? That doesn't seem right. What's the next thing after ELGs? Shouldn't he just be on that?

[user789653241]

I think ELGs are for Early years(YR reception). So, he will have different goals for KS1(yr1/2) and KS2(yr3/4/5/6)

[SkyWalker95]

He doesn't start ks1 for a couple years yet, but would he get the ks1 goals anyway?

[user789653241]

Ok, so he is 2 and already meeting expected levels for end of reception?
Haven't goat a clue but I don't think he will get ks1 goals.
Need to speak to the teacher.
If I remember vaguely, they just ticked what they achieved and worked on the ones they haven't.
Ime, ds's nursery manager was actually very enthusiastic and excited about ds's ability, and gave him 1-1 lesson everyday, including getting books from nearby school. But I think we were lucky.

[user789653241]

*got, not goat!

[Maryann1975]

How old is your ds?

[Maryann1975]

And which elg has he reached already?

[SkyWalker95]

He's 3 and it's the reading, writing, and the two maths ones

[relaxitllbeok]

Don your hard hat, OP, because you're about to be accused of obviously having hothoused your son.

Real answer: make as sure as you possibly can that he's going into a good school with enough resources and a flexible class teacher. Move heaven and earth to make this so: the early years of school are where this is most crucial, for a child who is ahead, because he will have limited ability to adjust the environment for himself for a while. Continue to encourage him to read and do maths as much as he is interested in (but not more). Don't worry about him being ahead when he starts school. If he's going to be ahead anyway, your life and his will be easier if he is obviously, undeniably ahead. Obviously, also continue to encourage his development in other areas, e.g. playing with other children, dressing himself etc, not only because they are important in their own rights, but because you are likely to encounter whataboutery, i.e. people suggesting it's fine to ignore that he's reading Harry Potter because he still can't do buttons.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

SkyWalker95 They are probably the least important ELG's though, so I'm sure the big thing is to work on all the others!

[ScarletSienna]

There's plenty beyond the ELG but I expect they'll also carry on with the other areas and really focus on them as it is the prime areas that will support all the other (specific) areas. They'll also look at how he can apply the skills he's got in a wide range of situations etc

Sounds like he's doing fantastically.

[Mistoffelees]

There is a massive range that constitutes a child having met the ELG and then a huge jump to get the exceeding level of the ELG, so it is incorrect for his nursery to say there is nothing for him to work on. For the area of Writing for instance to get the ELG a child should be able to write a sentence that others can read and with many words spelt correctly including some irregular words so a sentence written: Iwettooashop would mean the child achieves the ELG (obviously if they were doing this consistently, not as a one off), they would also achieve an expected level if they wrote: I went to a shop and I bort sum tois. To get the exceeding level there is very little guidance and from my experience it varies between LEAs and what the moderators allow. We were told a child would have to write their own story with finger spaces, good handwriting, capital letters and some punctuation. So in our case the jump to exceeding is ridiculous and more than would be expected from a child at the end of first term of Year 1.
It is very unusual for a 3 year old to have met the ELG already so the nursery may be inexperinced with supporting his next steps in these areas and be unsure of what to 'do' with him now. They would do well seeking advice from some teachers of a local school or at least from a Facebook group or the TES forums.

[SkyWalker95]

Relaxitllbeok had to laugh at that last part, that is literally my son.
It concerns me if they have no goals for him that I won't be able to pickup the slack so he'll end up at a standstill his whole preschool year which doesn't seem fair on him.

[HorridHenrietta23]

Well the national curriculum is focuses on mastery and application rather than simply achieving something then moving on to the next stage so for example writing
I assume he can now write a simple sentence which can be understood by others, most of which is spelt correctly?
Then they'd be looking at how he used and applied this ability for example writing instructions to make a model, rewriting parts of a story using his own language or writing a report during a role play activity. They'd be trying to encourage him to write independently and spontaneously and to choose different forms of writing appropriate to a situation.

Similar with maths, supposing he can add and take away up to 20. They'd be getting him to solve problems with these numbers such as measuring the room to see where a new shelf would fit, having a budget when shopping, planning a party or a meal or working out how many of each material he'd need to complete a model.

Also, of course if he's weaker in other areas then they may prioritise those as it's better for him to go into school as a well rounded learner rather than one who has a narrow but well developed set of skills.

[user789653241]

I thought area must be academics, since meeting physical/emotional side at age 3 is very unlikely.
As Mistoffe said, my ds's nursery manager contacted local primary and spoke with them. She encouraged ds to read to the class, which I think was best thing she's done for him, since he was very shy. They encouraged him to write a diary which he did. For maths, they have done random questions for him to work and stuck everything on the leaning journey book. They bought workbooks for him as well, and came home at the end of nursery.
I didn't know all this was happening except for reading which he mentioned.
By the time he was starting school, the school requested meeting with HT and CT during summer and asked us to bring in books he read, diary he's written, any workbooks he done. And as soon as he started school, they administered ks1 sats test for maths.
It was all very good in reception, put him straight into yr2 class for maths and literacy.
After that, they still sent him to higher year group until time tabling issue came up, and not so good since then.

So, the best thing you can do is try to choose the school which can stretch him all the way, or go private!

[user789653241]

This site has great things you can do with your ds in maths.

nrich.maths.org/early-years

I think developing problem solving skills are very important, especially for very able child. If that's too easy, go for ks1(lower primary) section.

[mrz]

I'd be concerned they are assessing against the ELGs are these are intended to sum up at the end of reception not for three year olds. The development matters are intended for assessment and are much broader. Is this a private day nursery?

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2014/08/EYFSParentsGuide-amended.pdf

[Maryann1975]

As others have said, the more academic areas are, I would think, the easiest areas for staff to stretch your son. If he was exceeding in social areas he might struggle as the children he is playing alongside would be at a completely different stage, with no room to provide older children to satisfy his advancement. But with reading, writing, maths, a good practitioner should be able to think of ideas to stretch his ability and move him on. (Does that make sense?).

[Littlefish]

I'm an early years teacher in Reception. For a child to reach the ELG in writing, amongst a lot of other evidence, we expect them to be able to write at least 4 simple sentences on a linked theme, such as a re-telling of a story. The writing should be mostly spelled correctly, or phonetically plausible and correctly sequenced. The handwriting should be mostly correctly formed. We would also expect to see lists, letters, messages, non-fiction writing etc. Would you like to send me a sample of his writing by private message so I can have a look for you?

[Mistoffelees]

LittleFish why are you expecting 4 sentences with good handwriting when the exemplification material shows clearly that a child can achieve the ELG by writing single sentences that may be typed as well as handwritten?

[ScarletSienna]

Little fish-that sounds quite a lot more than what is required for the ELG.

[FlowerFairyLights]

If they can write a single sentence then there's plenty to work on while in preschool. Children learn best through play and can write and learn at will. I'd leave him be!

[FlowerFairyLights]

Little - certainly my little one and her close friends were all writing 4+ sentences /little stories at the end of reception but they were the able ones. I'm sure there all extremes in the classroom hence I really wouldnt worry at preschool age!

[user789653241]

littlefish, my ds certainly was able to do all those when he was three, except non-fiction writing.(If you consider diary as non-fiction writing, he was able to do that too, a lot more than 4 sentences sometimes. Also once he produced a piece of story, using story wheel he made at nursery, on a A3 paper, with tiny writing. No spelling mistakes, correct punctuation, and neat print. Are these considered non- fiction writing? If so he was able to do that as well. He is winter born, so he is one of the older ones.)
So I have no doubt OP's ds can do it to.

[user789653241]

*too

[Mistoffelees]

Irvine I'm not doubting the OP, I've taught children who have been incredibly ahead in their writing at 4 but what LittleFish is saying is required for the ELG is beyond the minimum.