i said i wouldnt be pushy, i said i wouldnt be pushy [repeat over and over]

[misdee]

but dd2 is bored at school.

i dont want to be pushy.

but she is acting up and said she is bored and the work is too easy.

she has just started year 1.

i want to leave till half term to see if the new teacher is just guaging dd2 ability, dh says give them another week.

[FluffyMummy123]

Message withdrawn

[FluffyMummy123]

Message withdrawn

[misdee]

that my view as well icod. half term. teacher is new to the school.

[misdee]

how did i get two threads? wobblyfingeritis?

[AbbeyA]

Leave it until half term or parent's evening-the teacher is only just getting to know them.

[Hulababy]

In what way is she bored?

Is it every subject she finds too easy? Or just literacy/numeracy work?

When she finishes the "easy" work what does she do then? Does the teacher give out extension material for her? If not, what does she end up having to do?

There is no reason for even the brightest child at this age to get bored in a classroom - it is very easy for a teacher to give more challenging work at Y1 stage.

Is she acting up in school? Is she getting into trouble because of it? If so, what does the etacher say?

[Twiglett]

nah go in on Monday and say "look here you, DD2 is patently very bored in your form. Do you realise how very bright she is? Do you? It's so sad that you are not appreciating how very clever you are. Why do you think that is?"

[Elibean]

Ah, new teacher, that makes a difference. Half term, then.

[Tinkerbel6]

Yes give it until half term, they havn't been back long so are still settling in so it could be they are being assessed on their ability and are not being given the work that is suited to their needs just yet.

[misdee]

lol twiglett, thats what i want to avoid!

she is pretty much ahead in all areas hulababy, which was fine last year as she got her work from yr 1+2. she is just complaining she is bored, and she is acting up at home as well. not at school as she says she tries hard to keep herself calm at school (dd2 is very bouncey and active).

i know they are assessing them again regarding ability and trying to find where all the kids 'fit' atm, so dont want to push it iykwim.

she is finishing the work fine, but just says its too easy.

[Hulababy]

Even in subjects like Geography, History, etc?

How does she deal with the non academic areas of the curriculum - which is presumably the afternoon school sessions?

Sounds like a bright girl if she knows to not act up at school.

Speak to the teacher and discuss your concerns - you don't need to go in saying DD is bright and bored in your class...but go in gentle and explain what the issues are and how the teacher feels she is doing. Then ask the teacher to work with you and DD for strategies.

If she finishes a piece of work - what will the teacher do to ensure she is challenged a bit further....that type of thing.

[bigTillyMint]

How do you know she is bored because the work is too easy? Is it her that is telling you?

My DS says lots of school work is boring, but that is, in his case, code for I don't want to engage with it incase I don't do it as well as some of my friends.

I can see that she could get worksheety type stuff done quickly and easily, but what about when they are asked to write news, or a story, etc? There is no ceiling on how long, well-composed, choice of fantastic vocab, etc. IME, bright children produce reams of fantastic written work.....

[Hulababy]

TBH I too would be a bit scpetical about her saying that "all" the work is too easy and boring. ASk your DD for more specifics.

Just thinking of some typical work as examples:

Art - this can't be too "easy" as they will have a lot of free fllow stuff, so it is hard/easy as the child want it to be.

Writing - one of the biggestproblems here is that the instructiun might be to write 3 sentences about xxxx. Now if she just writes 3 sentences, yes it will be too easy. But what is to stop her from writing more, and in more detail. The teacher could ask her to add ore details, more descriptive words, look at punctuation, etc, and to illustrate her work carefully. Sometimes the extension could be to type it on the computer.

IT - there are so many ways this cn be made more challenging by looking at all the options. Fpr example, I have shown DD how to start doing mini presentations on PowerPoint, hpw to present her wor in different forms using word, DTP and Power Point, how to incorporate images and manipulate them, how to use google, etc.

Geography/History/RE/etc. - not sure what the topic is but again a lot of this is written too - so adding more details. It is unlikely she will know all the subject matter for subjects like these at this point surely? If she has then the teacher needs to get her some more materials to look at and explore further, based on same topic but asking your DD to consider them in a nother way.

These are just some very smple things I see happening a lot in DD's classrooms, and way more.

[misdee]

thanks.

i dont know the ins and outs of the classroom and how it all works, as she has just started year one and reception was all about learning through play.

she is writing in sentances, (finger spaces, full stops etc etc) and whilst her teacher said most of the class wont get past the pink ruth miskin books, dd2 is two away from starting those pink books.

i am not sure on how much history/geography they are working on atm.

i am a bit concerned that whilst most of the class is working on one thing, dd2 has al;ready covered that last year. maths and literacy are her current strong points, but as yet i have no indication on other areas.

as i say, i am trying not to be pushy. and just concentrate on her enjoying school for the learning and social aspects alike.

[Hulababy]

Just have a quiet word with the teacher. Say you are concerned that she seems to be playing up a bit and has commented on school, and ask the teacher what her take on things are with regards to DD at school.

There really is no reason at all for your DD to get bored at school at this stage. The school will most probably have come across very bright children before and should know how to deal with them. It might have been a while or the first time for this techer, esp if new, but there should be things in place or avaialable to draw on. If there isn't then they need to get something srted - for your DD and others who may come into the school in future years.

Books shouldn't be an issue - they can just get books from the years above, or even just free reading eventually.

And writing work can always be extended - just a spare couple of minutes with the teacher or a TA to explain to your DD what she can do next - question marks, speech marks, exclamation marks, joined up writing, lengthier peices of work, etc. Lots they can add without making it seem to far away from what the others doing - can still be writing about same topic/theme for example.

Same as with Maths - they will have stuff from higher years they can introduce.

[peanutbutterkid]

If she's doing RWInc then surely she should be mixing with other classes? DD is y2 and going into a classroom nominally for Yr3-4, but I think there are children age 6-9 in there.

[peanutbutterkid]

I just have to point out too that being boerd is not always a sign of being clever (I'm sure it is in misdee's DD's case, but not every child's case). Non-academic kids get bored, too, because they don't understand what is going on, and there isn't anything else but academics at school, so they're bored because they don't have anything to do.

DS1 is bright but gets bored because he's so lazy, he just doesn't want to work.

[peanutbutterkid]

Blimey at misdee's DD.
My DD (Y2) is supposed to to working at level 3 already (says head teacher), and she's only just started the Pink level, but then school has only just started RWInc, so I think lots still in flux.

I spoke at length to a parent-TA about RWI the other day. She said that (in her opinion) RWI was great for getting them reading fast at a basic level, but it doesn't offer enough scope for creativity (like creative writing)... also, that her own child had been classified down a lot (reading level books) because she's not strong on decoding in the RWI way, but she can read better than the books she's now bringing home; basically, RWI isn't perfect for all children.

[misdee]

blimey good, or blimey bad?

her teacher has mentioned that some children will be going into year 2 to do some work, and has said dd2 will be amongst those children so am feeling better about it. she bought home her first bit of maths homework last night. has completed most of it already. dh laughed when he saw it, as it is easy, but i think just leave it for now, and let her settle a bit more.

kerrymum get off your hands and say something

honmestly, after dd1 struggles at school, having dd2 zoom through everything, i am totally thrown and not sure on how to act. i really dont want to be pushy.

if only there was a class on dogs and their breeds, dd2 would pass everything, its her current obsession and its driving me mad.

[misdee]

i did ask if they could have her in year 3, she is tall enough to fit in there as well lol.

[peanutbutterkid]

blimey good, i meant (would anyone be so rude as to say blimey bad in this context? )

My dd is only obsessed with ways of sneaking sweets and biscuits out of the cupboard when she thinks I'm not looking.

[PoorOldEnid]

misdee I have started doing half an hour a night with dd2 after angsting about being pushy

she is also finding year 1 a breeze and comes home fired up and desperate to do more

so when dh comes home he gives dd3 and I spend half an hour with dd1 then half an hour with dd2 (who doesnt actually get homework yet)

we are doing spelling workbooks and maths workbooks.