Underachieving in year 2, how much does this really matter?

[Wornout8]

Just that really. How much does this matter at this stage in education? child is happy enough, not showing signs of frustration although a little lacking in concentration at times. Thanks in advance

[poorbuthappy]

How on earth do they measure underachieving in year 2?

[Redcrayonisthebest]

@poorbuthappy they have a curriculum to follow and outcomes that they expect plus they'll do ks1 SATS.

This is 7 year olds we're talking about.

@Wornout8 it depends on how behind they are? Slightly, needs a push? Then no problem just make sure the school have good intervention and support strategies in place.
Well below expected though, maybe it's time to start asking why and making sure they have the right support. Child may be happy now but could very quickly become disaffected as the curriculum becomes more challenging in ks2.

[JustRichmal]

Could you do some support work at home: Khan Academy online or the Letts Mythical Maths and Enchanted English books or just spend time going over a bit of school work at home. Keep it short, keep it fun and be lead by what the child wants to do.
IME, a child will do better at school if they have parents supporting their learning at home

[brilliotic]

This is 7 year olds we're talking about.

No. The majority of Y2 children at this stage of the year are 6. A quarter or so will still be 6 when they sit KS1 SATS.

But that may be part of your answer, OP. Reception is geared towards 5yos. Y1 is geared towards 6yos. Y2 is designed for 7yos. If your child is 6 and underachieving as compared to a programme of study designed for 7yos, then that by itself is no reason for concern at all.

Lacking more information as to 'how badly' underachieving, all I would say is that 'underachieving' all the time, even if totally within the range of age-related normal, can significantly affect your confidence and self-image, which can have massive long term, even life long effects. That's what I would keep a close eye on, especially if your child is aware that others find school work a lot easier.

[Redcrayonisthebest]

Yes sorry @brilliotic, my comment was aimed at @poorbuthappy who seemed shocked that a year 2 child could be considered under achieving. I suspect confusing year 2 children with 2 year olds.

[Redcrayonisthebest]

@poorbuthappy
They have targets that they have to meet by the end of the year in each subject. For example:
Ma2/2.2b    recall and use addition and subtraction facts to 20 fluently, and derive and use related facts up to 100

If a child at this stage in the year was struggling to count up to 20, or still working on basic addition/subtraction to 10 using counters or cubes then the school would say they are "under achieving" ie not currently on track to achieve that goal by the end of the year.

[cucumbergin]

Interested in hearing answers, as this pretty much describes DS. Behind "for his age" but as he is the youngest, basically significantly behind the majority of the class. He has had intervention (extra support for reading, language etc) since reception, and is making progress but generally seems to lose concentration in class, unless getting 1:1 attention which they obviously can't do all the time.

I worry that things will only get more fast paced as he moves up the school, but equally don't want to add pressure at home. I suspect that by the time he's mature enough to pay attention the gulf may be too great to cross.

[JustRichmal]

don't want to add pressure at home

You could try Khan Academy, just to see if he likes it and stop if he does not. However, as they collect "badges" for certain tasks, dd used to quite like doing it.

Or play games which will teach him; shops, junior scrabble, etc.

Or make up games. "What shape am I?": One person thinks of a shape, (2d or 3d), the rest have to guess it from yes or no answers.

Get a roll of wall paper and put a large numberline on the back of it. You can then do sums, including into negative numbers, by your child walking up and down it. Or they can draw trees at say multiples of three and houses at multiples of 4.

Have pizza parties, with drawn and cut out pizzas, where toys want different fractions of the pizza. If one has two quarters, that is the same as a half, etc.

For teaching maths, keep it fun, make it colourful and stop when the child wants to stop.

[cucumbergin]

Sorry - thanks for the suggestions JustRichmal, I don't want to hijack the OPs thread though. We're already working on stuff with him (there have been several useful threads recently with loads of practical suggestions such as this: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/3441222-Need-a-good-maths-app-that-practices-real-basics-Y2-but-v-behind and others).

My question was more along the lines of the OP. Forget about you could do X, Y, and Z. What about the meta question: how important is it at this stage? Does it even out over time, or have curriculum changes in recent years rammed the primary school timetable so full that there just isn't the space for slow bloomers to catch up as they might have done when we were kids?

I keep hearing about how much worse it'll be in KS2. How often under the current, test-obsessed, regime do KS1 underachieving summer born kids find it possible to settle in and catch up a bit once they're actually old enough to focus?

[JustRichmal]

cucumbergin, see what you mean. I do think Summer borns do need more help and statistically have always done worse, right through school. However, the problem is not insurmountable. My dd is in year 11 now, so I do not know how things have changed recently, but she was Summer born, but always ahead in her year. Teaching 1:1 at home is a lot quicker than in a class of 30 at school, but sadly, I don't think in general, they tend to catch up by themselves at school.

[Fresta]

Depends what you mean by underachieving. If you mean that he is performing at a level that is below the average for his age then you need to look at reasons why that might be- eg. learning problems such as dyslexia, etc. or you might have to accept that he's just not that bright, or not at the same stage in his development as some children.

If however, you mean that he is capable, but not performing to the best of his ability (which is what I understand underachieving to mean) then you need to look at what the reason might be.

[CyclerRider]

My DD (born end of August) was below the average across the board other than sport at that age, worse in maths but she did get TA assistance in maths and I signed her up for mathletics. However she really did catch up in the latter years of primary (other than maths) and in Secondary School. She is now at Uni averaging B+ :)

So I wouldn't press the panic buttons just yet esp if she's only year 2.

[CyclerRider]

Basically what I am trying to say is some children are slow developers then catch up.

[BarbarianMum]

Does it matter? I guess the answer to that depends on what's meant, why it's happening and whether the gap is closing or not. I certainly wouldn't panic at 6, esp if a child is happy, but Id want to understand what was going on.