Recent study of children joining reception class

This

there is so many reasons other than Sen that would be apart of that statistic to.

2 of mine were not potty trained on time with no SEN needs
although 1 didn’t have Sen needs they has considerable health issues that meant they were late in being able to control their bladder and bowels

2nd their dad died just as they were starting to potty train which also lead to a move in house and a whole different life - started reception needing support but we managed to after things settled down for them to potty train with in a few months of starting.

There's only so much nurseries can do. And a lot of children don't come full time anymore due to cost, parents share days off/longer work days, grandparents help etc.

Sometimes you work your ass off potty training for three days, then they go home for the weekend and are put into a nappy.

Similarly, there's only so much communication work or physical development you can do, when a three/four year old is picked up, a dummy rammed in their mouth, fastened in a pushchair and a screen rammed in their hand.

That’s actually adorable

My DD was daytime potty trained just after her first birthday, mostly on her own. She saw some silky panties with ruffles on the butt that she wanted desperately and she potty trained herself so she could wear them.

But your daughter would learn all those things more accurately and effectively and pick up other skills at the same time if

• An adult played phonics and maths games with her

• she watched TV on a screen that other people could see at the same time so there could be conversation about what is being watched

• she didn’t learn to expect every phone call to be a visible one and learned the important things and the etiquette around making calls rather than just being able to touch a picture of granny and have her appear.

• had an interactive experience taking pictures of someone else and having someone else take them of her

• had someone read books and meditations

• schools stick to giving out real books that are chosen by a real person with knowledge of the child rather than what comes next on an assigned scheme.

I’m not trying to be critical and I know that my own dc would probably spend too much time on a tablet if they were younger, but there is nothing positive in what you have described.

All those tablet activities are just poor replacements for things that children were already doing with their parents before tablets came along.

Of course children need to learn about technology, but technology includes real phones and real cameras. When one year olds can master using an iPhone, I think we can be confident that using a tablet isn’t a skill that needs an entire childhood. Unlike language development, social skills, emotional regulation etc.

We just don’t know though do we.

It’s too early for real evidence and research done on health.

I mean we were once told that smoking wasn’t a problem and even that secondhand smoke wasn’t for our kids.

Anyway, what about the rest of my post? Any thoughts?

There's enormous pressure but it's all going in the wrong directions.

A Montessori bedroom in shades of beige and oatmeal full of organic wooden toys.
A Valentine's Day breakfast spread with heart-shaped pancakes and gift bags for every classmate.
An Easter basket the size of a small planet filled with chick and bunny themed tat.
Hundreds of Instagram posts showing spotless grey-and-white homes and endless "making of memories" which seems to revolve mostly around buying lots of stuff.

It’s not acceptable to send your child to school in nappies, unless they have special needs.
I agree that a lot of people think someone else will parent their child.
I’ve often wondered why some people have children.
The world would be a better place if many people stopped reproducing.

I think the sense of pride that my mum had at potty training, children being able to speak well, use good manners etc has gone. I'm
Pleased that we don't have the same pressure on parents but it's gone to no pressure.

Don't want to toilet train my child as they'll scream/ we'll have to stay in a lot etc
Send them to school in nappies.

Don't want to chat to my children?
Give them a screen

Don't want to have them dislike me?
Give in so they can't socialise

I'm exaggerating but you get the idea

Sorry should have read 'they'll be parents who don't work'

I agree about low expectations, but I'm not sure what the cause is.
I have pondered that it might be smaller families. I know with my younger kids, I had them doing more things, and taking more responsibility, earlier, I was less inclined to baby them.

Many people don't have much experience of young kids and our society doesn't let children do much compared to many others.

Any given data field from this research is never going to give you a reliable % value, given the methodology (although news media in search of a headline will try to suggest that it can).

The value lies in the fact that it's a consistent survey, carried out on a large number of teachers over several years. It won't tell you what proportion of reception children aren't toilet trained. It certainly won't tell you how many are in nappies. It should tell you whether the number of reception children who aren't toilet trained is increasing, decreasing or stable, and a rough guide to speed of change.

Yup, I see this too.

But I would also say, the people I know who bucked that and started early had a lot less grief.

But they needed to be able to pay close attention consistently so they caught kids before they went, and they almost all used no diapers during the training time except to sleep. Nurseries in general aren't up for that.

I mean.
it does contribute to screen time

but that’s about it

I don't think people are questioning the fact that "research" did/didn't happen. More so that you are drawing attention to a specific point which wasn't even the purpose of the survey. A survey is on me of the weakest research methodologies anyway. And the question of the paper is probably something along the lines of "what do people think" rather than specifically "what is the reason for children not being ready for school". These are completely different research questions and so your report of the study is misrepresenting the data.

It's fake news.

@picturethispatsy ohhh I was kind of with you until you put "WiFi and 5G" in there with actual valid points like poverty.

Do you understand how old the technology for wifi is?? WiFi has literally nothing to do with an increase in the reporting of school readiness. Nor has 5G while we’re at it.

We potty trained our son a month before he turned 2. The other mums in our group said we were mad and we're amazed when it didn't go horribly wrong. Yes he needed more support and yes we had to put extra effort in for a bit longer (I just mean watching for cues, being sensible about taking a potty everywhere, helping him with trousers sometimes etc) but it was absolutely fine. He was excited to do it and loved not being in nappies anymore.

I honestly don't get the "wait until they do it themselves" mindset at all. For most it's a skill they need to learn and if they're supported, they'll nail it. It might take more than 2 days, but it doesn't mean they're not getting it.

Obviously this is a general thing, some kids are going to take longer for various reasons like Sen or digestive issues etc. But parents are genuinely scared to even try sometimes because they've heard so many horror stories and have such conflicting information thrown at them.

@EsmeeMerlin that is really worrying

I work in a school and actually some of our most undeveloped children starting school are from nurseries. Our eyfs lead visits nurseries and says some of them are shockingly bad. Young staff who don't want to be there and no engagement with the children. No carpet/circle time, no phonics, no mark making etc.

Flex? Are you 13?

All of those things are positive.

I'd rather my children learn to use technology to benefit their lives in an appropriate way which doesn't detract from other activities.

If you can find an issue with children playing a phonics game, watching an episode of Number Blocks after school, talking to a relative on video or listening to an audiobook, then the problem is with you and I'd rethink sending them to school as they are all activities that take place in the average Reception classroom.

There are studies, plus on social media forums multiple teachers saying the same. But still some do not believe it. I have even seen parents casting doubt on the fact most children were toilet trained before three years old in the past. I guess denial is common.

I’d take these ‘studies’ with a pinch of salt.

There’s a lot of rhetoric around at the moment amongst the media and politicians about ‘parenting’ and how it can’t be trusted and how it’s to blame for the ills of society. In my opinion that is a perfect distraction from what society and politicians are doing (or not doing).

There’s so much not being discussed here and it’s so easy to shout ‘lazy parenting!’ without taking into account so many other important societal factors. Poverty. COL. Lack of family support. Huge cost of childcare. Huge disparity between housing costs an s wages. Early years support stripped away. Child benefit cap and the subsequent increase in food banks. These stress all of this causes.

These are political choices made by our darling politicians.

There also other factors that I believe come into play such as toxins and ultra processed crap everywhere (including in schools). WiFi. 5G. Polluted waterways.

By blaming parents it gives the rest of us an ‘out’ too doesn’t it.

This is not the flex you think it is…😒