Today ds wrote 'g'

[Mumofcrazy2]

And threaded cheerios onto sticks which were stuck into playdough. Hes capable of writing sentences and he reads chapter books at home but school have him on yellow band.
How do I approach the teacher on this? I was expecting this before they got to know him but its been 6 weeks and I dont feel any hope that anything is going to change?

[LoisLittsLover]

How old is he? When dd was in nursery she never 'performed ' so they had no idea of her skills

[BrutusMcDogface]

Yes, how old is he? Anc what’s the relevance in writing g and threading Cheerios? [

[BrutusMcDogface]

Oh I think I get it- his work is pitched too low?

[Mumofcrazy2]

Hes almost 5. The other kids are asking him to do thier 'work', if they can pick up on it I'm sure the teacher has?

[BrutusMcDogface]

Do you have a parents evening coming up? Ours are this week?

[Mumofcrazy2]

We haven't been told. I doubt it will be before half term now.
But how do I approach it without sounding like I'm telling the teacher how to do her job?

[Jonnylooongpoo]

He wrote 'G' ... why is that exciting? Threading Cheerios in sticks ... again, not sure of the significance.

Reading chapter books is unusual at 4 though. Well done (?!)

I'm sure the teacher knows what they are doing and won't hold him back, so relax and enjoy him, they grow up too quickly.

[ballsdeep]

He may be able to read chapter books but does he understand them? My son was reading early reader horrid henry chapter books at 5. I didn't think he was gifted, just bright. With a lot of reading schemes, children are assessed through comprehension and out on a colour or band accordingly.

[Helpmedecide123]

In the kindest way possible I don't think the Cheerios thing or writing g is all that unusual for a reception age child.

The reading is more advanced. Do you have a reading journal? Do you write the books he reads in there?

[BrieAndChilli]

I’m saying this as someone who’s child started school with a reading age of 14+, a spelling age they couldn’t quantify as the test only went up to age 8

Can you honestly say that his handwriting is perfect? That his fine motor skills are amazing, how are his social skills? Can he wipe his own bum and tie his shoe laces? Is he able to share and wait his turn, etc etc

Reception (and school) isn’t just about learning as fast as you can and being top, it’s also about being able to apply knowledge and extrapolate from what you know, it’s about social skills and being able to work in a team etc etc
In reception for the first term they will be assessing all the children, finding out their strengths and weaknesses. They have 30 children to suss out.

I remember DS1 bring home a phonics page and not all the letters were filled in and saying to the teacher that he knew all the letters and phonics combinations as he could read anything, I was told that they still needed to follow the path to make sure he knew the phonics in the way that they taught them as all literacy learning would stem from that and if he had bypassed that other things in the future wouldn’t make sense.

There were other things he needed to concentrate on in reception so I didn’t sweat about him being pushed academically. At some point in reception he was put into literacy and maths groups that consisted mainly of year 2s (and I was told that he should have been in a higher group but socially it wasn’t a good idea as the kids would have been too much bigger than him)

[Nousernameforme]

Go in and have a word at least about the reading op. We told and told ds reception teacher that he could actually read fluently when he started school and that the biff and chip books were no use to him. At the end of the year she approached us and said you do know he can read dont you ffs.

[Pineapplemintandstrawberrysage]

When my dc started school, nothing really started until after half term. First half term was more to do with children getting used to school environment and settling in, assessing all the children, teacher getting to know the children, etc.

[Athrawes]

First - consider why you are sending him to school. I send mine to school to learn to socialise and get along with and understand other people, to climb trees and play footie and to interact with kids. He doesn't learn much academic there but he is is learning a lot and for that I am grateful to his teacher.
Secondly - do talk to his teacher but be prepared to hear that he is not performing at as high a level as you expect within a classroom situation. As pp said, reading and comprehension are different.

[RolytheRhino]

In the kindest way possible I don't think the Cheerios thing or writing g is all that unusual for a reception age child

I think OP is saying that while her son is capable of writing sentences all his school are having him do is write g and thread Cheerios onto sticks- i.e. that they aren't differentiating for him.

OP, go in and have a word.

[BrieAndChilli]

Of course you may have a crap school that doesn’t ever individualise kids and teaches the class as a single entity. But I would wait until parents evening, by then they will have had time to get the measure of him, how they discuss this with you will give you a better idea of how they will deal with him in the future

Threading cheerios onto a stick will be assessing their eye to hand coordination, writing a g will be assessing their pencil grip. It may seem mindless and boring but there will be a reason for these ‘menial’ activities.

[RoomR0613]

In the kindest way possible I don't think the Cheerios thing or writing g is all that unusual for a reception age child

I think the OP was pointing out that is all he has done at school today when he is capable of much more.

Not that she thought he is gifted fir writing the letter G.

[Mumofcrazy2]

In other words what he is doing is not challenging.
The teachers have commented in his reading record about his fluent reading. He can definitely comprehend what he reads.
It's not just reading and writing, hes advanced all round.

[LoisLittsLover]

Does the school practice child initiated learning? In dd's class they choose how and at what depth to access the activities rather than being told what to do all of the time

[Medianoche]

I think some of the other posters are confused. If you’re saying that the tasks your child is undertaking in school are too easy for him, are you clear about how child-led your school is? Activities like the ones you describe would only happen at my children’s school if that was what the child had chosen to do. Also worth finding out whether they’ve had to waste a lot of teacher time on carrying out the new baseline tests alongside their own assessments. They’re still settling in. Our school isn’t allocating book bands at all until after half term - just emphasising the sharing of stories until (and indeed after) they bring their banded books home.
Obviously have a conversation if you’re not sure what’s happening, but that conversation shouldn’t be ‘why isn’t Reception more academic?’ Your child will be, and should be, learning through play. It’s what they need.

[MrsJoshNavidi]

My DD was an avid reader from an early age. Could read before she started school.
She never progressed through the bands in school because she thought the books were boring and wouldn't read them.

As long as you're reading with DS at home (or he's reading himself), I wouldn't worry what he's reading in school.

[Mumofcrazy2]

Brieandchilli yes he can do all of his self care, socially and emotionally hes great.

[Iwrotethissongfor]

I don’t think the cereal threading is relevant for 5 year old - my DC is 2 and threads Cheerios onto uncooked spaghetti stuck on a blob of salt dough and has done for a while as HV suggested it as an age appropriate activity. I just googled it and it comes up as a toddler activity.

[Mumofcrazy2]

Thank you for all of your replies. A lot of helpful advice.
I happy for him to play but I suppose I'm worried hes being forgotten about whilst they concentrate on the ones that need help. He just seems so different to his peers.

[HuloBeraal]

Ah I had one like that. Still do. Reading age of 10+ at Reception with comprehension. He’s now in Y3 and has finished the entire primary maths curriculum. He was very shy though and school helped with that. I never sweated about school. We stretched him in other ways at home. Then we discovered he was musically gifted. He plays a couple of instruments at a v high level (think junior conservatory) and so actually being academically ahead is a huge boost because it means we can concentrate on his music at home and homework doesn’t take very long. We find ways to challenge him academically at home though (we are both academics as well).

[pumpkinpie01]

Do you think with the threading of Cheerios they are trying to progress his fine motor skills ?