worried my son is losing interest at school as work too easy

[purrrfect]

Help, my son loved year 1 and I had no complaints from him as he was doing a lot of work he is interested in and had more spare time to play and read. Year 2 as expected involves more work and less play and my son is complaining that the work is boring as it is too easy. He is at level 3c for his reading and above average with his maths. In year 1 he loved maths and stills enjoys it when I ask him challenging questions but at school he says he hates it now. Even tasks that I thought he would enjoy are boring to him.

It is just he is in a bad frame of mind as the work load has increased or is he genuinely bored?

I spoke to the teacher today who said the work they are doing in maths is preparation work for problem solving exercises that they will be doing later that term so it may be a bit monotonous, but doesn't want to start setting him 'higher' level work as it may start to get difficult and complicated.

Also as my son is very quiet and does not make himself known he his maybe not demonstrating to the teacher his full potential. Its either that or my son thinks he knows more than he actually does.

At the moment I don't know whether to wait and see what happens and have a miserable son (at home and at school)or press for something to assess his current ability which would make it more obvious to the teacher and myself of his capabilities.

Can I please have some opinions.

[NellyJob]

we all like to think our children are geniuses

[purrrfect]

I know, but I had real problems in year R when they were holding him back as they wanted the rest of the class to get to a certain level and did not want him to go too far ahead (this was with his reading). I had the full works from him - I feel ill, I don't want to go etc. and his behaviour at home deteriorated too. I just don't want the same thing for this year.

[Mama1980]

I home ed so my view is biased but my mum runs a school, according to her children who really hate school and say they are bored generally either are in which case you need to seriously talk to the teacher again or there is something else going on. If isn't very usual apparently in such early years so I would be concerned-what does the teacher say? Has she indicated that he's working at a higher level?

[purrrfect]

He is in the top groups for everything and the work completed so far that the teacher showed me was all correct (maths) and finished in a good time - my son says he is told to go and read if the work is finished early. His teacher did mention that he is very quiet and not got as much confidence in giving his opinion or answering questions in-front of the group, which may affect how he is perceived by the teacher. The teacher in year 1 said he was well above average - but how much I don't know. I got the impression the teacher was aware he is very capable but not aware of how capable my son thinks he is (if that makes sense)

[purrrfect]

sorry, I would like to mention if a ask him maths questions at home he can calculate sums in his head (for example 6+8-5) in a couple of minutes, has a terrific memory for facts and figures, loves puzzles like sudoku, codewords and enjoys reading books.

I know at home he is capable but i'm not sure how capable.

[numbum]

A year 2 child answering 6+8-5 in a couple of minutes is in no way ahead in maths surely???

[purrrfect]

I don't know, maybe that was not the best example and it seemed like 2 minutes to me but was probably a lot less and I have given him more difficult combinations before as well. For maths this week at school they were doing simple addition on paper, and something where they had break a larger number into hundreds, tens and single numbers eg. 245 is 200+40+5, again all on paper. They definitely haven't got to the stage of adding and subtracting in one go yet.

I know he's not gifted in maths but to me he seems more advanced than what he is being taught at school but how advanced I don't know.

[alcofrolic]

They've only been back two weeks!

We're doing some simple preliminary work on number lines - how to remember all the stages with all the information, so that they can progress to bigger numbers more quickly.
Several of the boys (yes, it is boys) think this is far beneath them, and are missing important parts of the addition process. They are going to be very pissed off in a week's time when the girls are doing HTU + HTU, leading to vertical addition, just because they've been too complacent to do the donkey work.

[purrrfect]

Do you think i'm jumping the gun a bit at the moment and should give the teacher some time to prepare the group for harder work later on in the term.

[alcofrolic]

Yes. At the beginning of Y2, the teacher has to make sure who absolutely understands place value and this can take a couple of weeks. S/he can then fly with the children who do understand it, and plan intervention for those who don't.
Place value is the root of all work for the next few years!

[mercibucket]

We are in the same boat, but going to wait til half term. Ds is in top set at school but he was last year as well so I suspect he is 're-doing' work. We'll see. It is good for them to feel challenged not bored by easy work but give the teacher time - this could be covering the basics time

[mercibucket]

We are in the same boat, but going to wait til half term. Ds is in top set at school but he was last year as well so I suspect he is 're-doing' work. We'll see. It is good for them to feel challenged not bored by easy work but give the teacher time - this could be covering the basics time

[RedHelenB]

It IS important to have number bonds, times tables, hundreds, tens & units secure because obviously when they move on to problem solving they will have more to think about than just is the answer correct or not eg what operation does this require, what is a good estimate for the answer to be, can I solve it in one step or are more steps necessary?

He sounds typical top group as it were & they do sometimes get complacent because often they do find work easier BUT they will all have their difficulties & if basics aren't secured they could come unstuck further along the line,

[purrrfect]

Thanks everyone for all your help

[amidaiwish]

yes leave it a while
i was helping in school this week (yr2) and they were going over a lot of old ground from yr1
the teachers have to, to refresh everyone before moving on. to check who knows what and where any big gaps are.

fwiw he doesn't sound particularly ahead, top group but not so far ahead that the teacher would find it difficult to differentiate ongoing.

i think the move to yr2 is hard for many of the kids. there is more pressure on the teacher to get through the work, so less down time / play time for the kids. it suits some kids (my dds have always preferred yr2 over yr1) but many are struggling, don't want to go in in the morning etc...