what I mean is, when the teacher sets the little groups of kids up with activities to do eg. cutting and sticking, colouring in/drawing, writing, making and painting a model, he tells her "I don't like doing work, I'll do mine tomorrow." 
(a bit) but more 
The teacher (very experienced and who taught DS1 (7)) told me this herself, and concedes that they are still very young (he is 5 in a couple of weeks) and that the modern Reception curriculum is supposed to be play-based but she admits she is a bit "old school" and would like him to learn the basics of writing etc before the onslaught of Year 1 as she feels he'll get a big shock when he goes into Year 1 as it's a big change from Reception in terms of what they are expected to do. i.e. concentrate for longer periods of time etc.
DS has NEVER liked to sit down and do colouring so his fine motor skills are not good and I think he gets disheartened when he has a problem trying to write his name etc He has never liked painting etc, would prefer not to get his hands dirty and really he just has no actual interest in it.
Until about 3 months ago he had quite poor concentration skills and when we sat down as a family to play a box game or do the activities in a kid's magazine or something he would playl for 5 minuts then lose interest and go off and do his own thing. This is what his happening in school I think. He has a go but if it doesn't immediately grab his attention he just wants to wander off and play. He is now showing an interest in sitting still for longer at home with games etc but it still seems a problem in school.
Funnily enough, his reading his excellent - he was reading before he started school and is probably at a Year 1 level already. The teacher says his numeracy is good too and that he will clearly be "academic" (if it's possible to identify that this early on). He also enjoys the weekly session of Spanish they do when a native speaker comes into school and teaches them basic vocab etc - his pronunciation is amazing, it makes me laugh to hear him roll his "R"s!!!
Knowing what a step up Year 1 is commpared to Reception, I'm just worried that he's not going to mature enough by September, to be able to deal with the fact that he will just HAVE to sit at a desk and try and write some words on a page. There'll be none of his cheeky "I'll do mine tomorrow."!!!!
His teacher is great, she asked me tonight what particularly interests him so she can perhaps encourage him to do something based around that, but I don't know.....I just worry about him in a way that I never had to with DS2 at that age, he loved being given a task to do and sitting down and getting on with it.
Has anyone else got/had a child like this? Do they mature eventually and realise that they MUST have a go at things when the teacher tells them, even though they might not CHOOSE to do it?
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DS2 (Reception) doesn't want to do adult-directed activities in school
CurlyhairedAssassin · 25/02/2011 17:39
"spy pens" are an inspired idea mrz. Please can I pinch that one? 
You could be describing my DS, again, a late Spring birthday and he really wasn't ready for structure until about half way through Yr 1 although his reading and maths and verbal skills were above average, anything that involved fine motor skills involved a full-on strop. He's never going to be an artist but he has improved enough that he can now write cursive text which is mostly 
legible. We just kept bribing him with stickers to practice, practice, practice and he has got there.
Awwwww......you teachers have such good ideas!!! Absolutely amazing! Yes, you're right, I just need to spark his interest in the whole thing, I think, by any means. So if spy pens will do it (and I think they'll be his "thing") then I'll give it a go.
OHPs, writing on stomach - all things I would never even thought of.
I know there is a bit of a stereotype with boys not enjoying writing as much as girls (and judging by the difference between girls' and boys' handwriting that I've seen up on display at parents' evening etc that appears to be true in our school) but is it really such a universal thing across every school?
Also, as teachers, in your experience do boys like my son tend to "come on" in Year 1 and mature and settle down or will they always be "flitters"? (can't think of a word to describe him really, what I mean is: lacking in the ability to concentrate for very long on tasks given by the teacher.)
Vicky, thanks for your post. Good to hear that he is getting there! He sounds much like my DS2, I agree. Maybe I'm just expecting too much of him at this age. Even the teacher shrugs to some extent when I express my worries and she says "He's still a baby" I think some reward system will suit him down to the ground - that has worked very well with his fussy eating. (god, I sound like a terrible flakey mother, letting him get away with all sorts, but believe me, he is nothing like DS1 who doens't have any issues with eating or sitting down to a set task!)
Perhaps I'll look for some appropriate writing books in WH Smiths or somewhere and get him to practice with the promise of a nice reward or something. Might just work!
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