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need advice. .nursery to primary 1.

24 replies

foolishgoat · 15/01/2014 18:44

Hi.

First can I say I am not writing this to boast or anything. It will sound like I am but I am the total opposite and try to play things down etc. That's why I'm asking for help on here and not to a teacher as I would be embarrassed. ....

My daughter is 3. She will be 4 in a month or so and so be going to primary school august. Her nursery teacher has told me they have let the primary school know that she can read as they will need to accommodate this. Can anyone tell me what this means exactly? is it very unusual to be able to read?

This bit will sound like boasting, but I just need to know if this is normal or not for a 3 year old as I have no family etc to compare with....

  • she can read everything. Newspapers books magazines. Instruction manuals. Ingredients of food. Everything.


  • can identify any number 1 to 1000. Prob more I don't know to be honest.


  • every colour and shape etc.


-can write every letter and number. Upper and Lower case. Can write full sentences and asks how to spell each word then writes


Some other stuff as well but i expect you will be bored already!

I know all kids learn at different speed and will catch up etc. I just wonder if it is unusual and if there is anything I should do about it. Will she be bored in primary 1 if they learning ABC etc?

Thanks in advance for any help

Jen
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itsahen · 15/01/2014 18:45

Miles ahead

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columngollum · 15/01/2014 18:50

You sound as though you're in Scotland. In England some primary teachers actually visit children at home to get to know them a bit. If it's an option where you live I'd invite the primary teacher round to see your daughter in action. From my experience telling the teachers your daughter can do xyz goes in one ear and out the other. If they see it for themselves they might take some notice. I say might because I'm not sure even that would be foolproof, but you can try.

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LindyHemming · 15/01/2014 18:55

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columngollum · 15/01/2014 18:59

The other things is, even if the teacher does believe that she can do all the things that she can do, don't be surprised if she gets the same lessons that the rest of the class are getting. Ideally the school should give her a thorough test and find out what her requirements are, but that supposes that the school has the staff, the inclination and the ability to do that. It might not have and, as we all know, life is far from ideal.

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nonicknameseemsavailable · 15/01/2014 20:27

I think every year there are a small number of children who can read relatively well on starting school and an even smaller number who can read anything. (of course decoding and understanding are different). Perhaps 1 out of an intake of 60? in some schools none, in others a couple.

Will the school take any notice? who knows. Some will, some won't, some will think it is a lie, some will give the child a reading book at their level but keep them in the same classes as everyone else, some will accelerate the child to doing some classes with older children.

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foolishgoat · 15/01/2014 20:38

Thanks for all the replies.

Honestly she understands it all. I've brought her in new books from the library and left her with them and not read a word of it to her then asked her what it was about and she can explain it all. I dont know what she will be like in 8 months time.

I feel a bit more able to go and talk to the school now though as I thought I would have sounded silly so thanks for the help.

I suppose it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Its not as if I can afford to send her to some fancy school anyway so just have to hope things turn out ok.

I just worry as she'll be one of the youngest in her year and she is a tiny quiet little thing. I just think she'll end up ABCing with everyone as she won't want to do anything to get noticed.

I suppose i am just being silly im sure it will be fine. Its probably a good problem to have I suppose. ...

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nonicknameseemsavailable · 15/01/2014 20:59

its ok - I believe you that she can comprehend it (my sister and I could read fluently at 3 and DD1 was fluent before starting school, DD2 is younger but moving very fast at school now)

It depends so much on the school. it really does. DD1 coasted last year and is having to think a TINY bit this year so far but not as much as she ought to be BUT she is happy and confident so I am trying to sort of leave it to see what pans out.

It also depends on what you would like to happen. Would you want her moved to do literacy with older children or if she is one of the youngest do you think that she might be better just sitting with the others and doing the basics again so that she has the social aspect of it with her peer group and can make friends with her classmates rather than spend some time with them and some time with older children.

It is good to think it through before you meet with her teachers but I would also think about holding back a bit and seeing how they deal with it. If the first term is just stuff she already knows, she hasn't lost anything but I would give her that time to settle in and do the social side and other skills and see what the teacher decides to do.

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columngollum · 15/01/2014 21:01

It's also about what the child wants. She might not want to read with older children even if she could join them.

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columngollum · 15/01/2014 21:03

It's also about how the suggestions are put to her. All in all the OP is right, on balance it's better to have a child ahead in a setup not geared to deal with her than have one behind and struggling.

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nonicknameseemsavailable · 15/01/2014 21:04

very true columngollum. DD1 would have been terrified of going into a different class. staying with her peers really helped her settle and gain confidence.

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itsahen · 16/01/2014 08:41

My 3 nearly 4 year old is quite advanced but definately can not count / recognise numbers after 50. She can read and write her name and her brothers name etc but defo not read much else other than get familiar words. I would ask to have a chat with the her new school / teacher about making sure she is not bored whilst still bring in class with her own year group etc. my niece had in class support when she was reading high school books by year 3

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thegreylady · 16/01/2014 10:45

My dd could also read fluently before she was 3. I found that her social skills were less developed (August birthday) and she got very tired very quickly in school. The school let her read what she liked in literacy lessons and the rest of the class caught up at different rates. Ultimately, by the time she went to Secondary, most of the class were equally fluent in Reading and many were ahead of her in Maths. She was always towards the top of the class but never soaring ahead . I believe children's brains are wired to learn different skills at different times so maybe one child is learning to read while another is riding a bike or doing complex jigsaws, drawing or building or just enjoying friends. It is unusual for reading to switch on completely but not unheard of and no cause for concern.

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itsahen · 16/01/2014 12:26

I think thegreylady has a point here. My daughter is miles ahead physically - can climb anything, rides a bike 1/2 mile school and back with no stabilisers at 3, come rain or shine, but is not as ahead on other things. I think it levels out over the years.

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foolishgoat · 16/01/2014 21:10

Thank you for the suggestions and advice. I will speak to the school next week. I did a few little experiments today to see exactly what she could do as I find it really interesting after doing some reading about it today.

So I gave her a little book to read and wrote down some questions about it to check her understanding and she answered them all correctly.

Then I gave her a list of numbers written down, eg eight hundred and forty two and she writes the number next to it 842.

I did other stuff like order us all in height and then order things in weight like doll fridge car nursery etc. She was able to do all that no problem. Also did things like what is odd one out mars Jupiter china saturn and she gets these right too.

I definitely sound like im boasting now " look what my child can do".! So sorry in advance for that.....

Basically I just want her to reach her full potential as im sure everyone does for their kids. I'd feel rotten if she needed extra help to do that but im too shy to get her it.

Oh well I'll see what the school says if I get the courage to go in and see them!

Thanks again

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itsahen · 16/01/2014 21:49

It's not boasting as you are obviously trying to work out whether she is likely to be ahead of her peer group in these areas. If it was me I would defo be speaking to the school and avoiding a young child who will be excited about school, quickly becoming bored etc

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LindyHemming · 16/01/2014 21:50

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Teuchtermam · 21/01/2014 10:23

Dd, also 3, can read anything and understands maths concepts way beyond her years, about the level of a 7-8 year old according to her nursery teacher. Unfortunately she is too young to start primary this year but her attached nursery school have been brilliant about differentiating for her and the best thing is I've never had to say a word about what she can do so the nursery teachers are obviously great at their jobs.

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Teuchtermam · 21/01/2014 15:06

Also, nursery are going to give the P1 teacher a heads up in June 2015 so she can assess dd before she starts school in the August. Maybe you could find out if your dd's school do this, OP? I don't know, maybe they do it for all the kids as standard. I have a ds too but he is younger than dd so I don't know how the system works yet.

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Ferguson · 21/01/2014 18:31

I wonder how she acquired all this, and was it not evident to some extent when she was really little?

Is she musical at all? I worked with primary children for twenty years, as voluntary helper, then TA. I taught informal recorder, keyboard, and percussion groups, and for children who are academically ahead, music is a good challenge to take them into new territory. Keyboards are not too expensive, and it is quite possible to learn from the many self-teach books available today.

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Onesiegoddess · 21/01/2014 20:31

DS1 could read fluently when he arrived at school - we did a bit of work at home so that he would feel confident joining reception. Two other pupils could also read when they joined primary. DS is now 12 and still a high achiever (attends grammar school) , however there were some kids who arrived in reception many moons ago as non readers and they have gone on to achieve just as well as DS.

DS2 started reception a non reader despite being brighter then DS1. I felt confident that DS2 would quickly learn and was happy to wait for school to start the ball rolling.

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Onesiegoddess · 21/01/2014 20:34

I felt it was more important for DS2 to have creative opportunities rather then formal learning before 4.

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foolishgoat · 26/01/2014 14:08

I don't really know how she acquired it all. All I can think of is from the laptop as she has played on there since she was 2 and there were lots of songs about numbers and things. Maybe from there?

I am the least musical person alive...... so probably no use to get her a keyboard as I would barely know how to turn it on!

I think I will just forget about it until she goes to school as the more I think of it I just don't think it would make a difference anyway as the teachers wont have time to teach her on her own. We can just do extra stuff with her at home if school is not challenging I suppose. Im sure everyone will catch up anyway

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sedgieloo · 26/01/2014 17:11

Jen, was your dc an early talker out of interest? Just to add my brother was much like this and I think school failed to engage him, he became bored and he's a bit of lazy toad for it also I reckon. Overcome the shyness and ensure she gets what she needs if you can.

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Onesie · 26/01/2014 22:56

The school should differentiate and cater for your DD's needs but it will most likely take half a year for them to work out how capable she is. Even then expect the emphasis to be on play still as that is very important at that age.

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