Worried about going into year 1

[Sara567]

My Son is just about to finish Reception and will be going into Y1 in September.
I’m worried how he’s going to cope.
He’s a summer baby and isn’t 5 until mid August, he also has a speech delay which we see a speech therapist for.
He has enjoyed his time in reception but has struggled. His end of year report had a mixture of emerging and expected. He shows little interest in reading or writing, if anything his writting is getting worst not better, he struggles with letter formation and still writes very big. He’s still at the blending stage of reading, reading the occasional word without blending.
I’ve spoken to his teacher several times about my concerns of him falling behind during the year and each time been told he’s a Summer born boy so they wouldn’t expect him to meet the learning goals by the end of class r but that he’s making good progress.
My worry is that he’s already so far behind the rest of the class, how is he going to cope in Y1 and will the gap just get bigger. I feel like they’ve just given up on him using the excuse of him being a summer born.
We try to read with him each day at home, and have work books and practise writing or drawing but it’s a battle everyday!
Over the past few weeks when ever we try to do any “learning” at home he gets upset saying he’s rubbish and that the rest of the class are all so much better than him. His confidence is rock bottom and I don’t know how to raise it!
He always been a quiet, shy boy probably due to the speech delay but I hate to hear him saying his rubbish compared to others.
Should I speak to his teacher again about things to do over summer to help him catch up? But I’ll probably just get the same he’ll catch up in the end, summer baby talk!
Which I’m not sure true, he’s always going to be the youngest in his class, and I’m not sure he’s getting the support he needs to catch up.

[user789653241]

Remember some of his class mates are nearly a year older, and teachers are aware.
Reading is good, but if it's a battle, work books are bad idea.
Do some diary during summer? Don't focus on writing, but stick tickets from the place he visited, encourage him to draw some scenery, write some comment on the post card or photos, etc, etc.
Do some fun writing outside with chalks, on the sand, etc.
Do lots of fun things to develop his fine/gross motor skills, like playing with lego, play doh, monkey bar at the park, etc. It will help massively with writing skills.

[Naty1]

Well, the you gest dont have to be bottom. My lg got exceeded when in yr 1 for reading. It just makes it more likely on average.
What i did was
Read every day
Join reading chest so i had more books (we only got a couple a week)
Then read the real books at bookband (from threads on mn)
We also had the songbirds books at home.
You can make a lot/most of the difference at home.

Writing she met in yr r, probably just. I hadnt done virtually any practice at home. And suddenly she got a lot better at start of yr 1. We did do the birthday cards/xmas and letter to santa etc. She then met in yr 1.
Though still cannot punctuate.

Maths expected yr r and not met yr 1. Here i think the expectations step up a little. NB to 20, adding 2 digits etc. And its all a lot for those nearly 6. Also i think they seem to not focus on learning a method. All this NB is just too theoretical for some kids this young.

[dragonmummy17]

I teach y1. He sounds like a lot of y1 children in September. Many children at this age go backwards over the 6 week break
Reading with him is great. If he doesn't want to read, reading to him is just as good. And it doesn't have to be stories either. The best writers by y6 are the best readers.
Focus on motor control and building his imagination instead of writing. Make large shapes with water, chalk outside, lots of painting
If he has some areas at emerging he should be given support to catch up next year. Make an appointment in September to discuss this with his y1 teacher.

[Naty1]

..they dont have to

[reluctantbrit]

I would try to “work” with him but in a non threatening way. The libraries do a reading challenge, 6 books in 6 weeks. It doesn’t have to be fully read by himself, reading to him works as well if you get him to read together, a word each or he does the last sentence per page etc.

Writing, DD ends Y6 and her handwriting is far from neat. The best is to work in fine motor skills like colouring in, dot-to-dot picture, play doh, beads, cutting out pictures, easy to do if he will get Birthday cards or magazine pictures. The diary idea is good, I think we ask DD for on sentence per day, adding to letters to family if you go awa.

In September I would make an appointment with his new teacher and ask how she/he will look at the areas your DS is only emerging. Go from there.

[WeightedCompanionCube]

I've lost sleep over it (DD2 has SEN issues making it harder for her though) to be honest. Doesn't help that she's got a teacher who, well, putting it politely, I'm not finding the most helpful in the world (to put it bluntly - she's bloody rude). The school as a whole have lots of support and interventions in place for her - but I still think she's desperately going to struggle (especially as a very placid compliant little girl in a class with some very rowdy personalities) - to the extent I'm considering if I end up home educating her.

[MrsPreston11]

Ah crap - sorry I had this post open and the book band one - not my comment looks really heartless!!

Reading clicks when it clicks, just like all the other things, walking, talking, potty training.

Once they realise they can do it and are more confident then they fly with it.

he'll get there, xxx

[BarbarianMum]

I'd take the "so much worse than everyone else" comments with a huge pinch of salt - ime there is a huge range of achievement in reception. Not all the others will be a year older, not all will be writing well.

Ds1 was one of the eldest in his year and is considered "gifted". He still barely put pen to paper throughout reception and most of Y1. Y2 saw the emergence of reluctant (short) paragraphs after lots of persuasion. By Y3 he was getting there, off and away in Y4 and ever since.

For the summer - read with him every day. 10 min of him reading to you, then you read to him (book of his choice). Work on his maths in practical ways - counting stuff, shopping, baking. There are good games you can buy that improve maths (Shut the box for number bonds fi) but even ludo or snakes and ladders will do.

Don't make the poor kid write if he's not ready to do so, you'll just make him hate it more.

[WhiteHartLane]

I'm in a similar position with my DS also in Reception, July born and has a speech disorder.

He is emerging in everything bar Maths (expected). It makes me sad and worried for him but I have had lots of meetings with his class teacher and the SENCO and he has an IEP in place for Yr1 so I'm confident he will get the help he needs.

Is it possible for you to arrange a meeting with his new teacher/SENCO before they break up to see if anything is in place? It would concern me if my DS was coming home saying he was "behind" the other children as my DS never comes out of class sad that he can't do what others do. I honestly don't think he is aware of it.

[FrayedHem]

I think the last couple of weeks of the school year can be really hard on for reception children. You may find the summer break means he's more receptive as he won't have been at school all day.

DS3 is in reception and has struggled with reading and writing (he has SN). As his reading has improved, the willingness to do some writing has also increased. His teacher told me it's because he will be more confident in attempting to spell words now his reading has improved.

Like PP have mentioned, the library do a summer reading challenge and fun engaging activities usually yield the best results.

Do also make an appointment to see the SENCo if you're concerned he needs extra support.