Why is my reception child not being taught to read or write?

[Bluecarpets]

Genuine poster here and have name changed for this. I want to preface this with I’m am not here to teacher bash in any way! It’s a genuine concern I have and would appreciate any help.

My DS is 5 and in reception. He is September born so the oldest in the class. His reception teacher is absolutely lovely; caring, kind, sets up great play for them all etc. DS adores her. However - I can’t help but notice he does absolutely no reading, writing or maths in class. He is really keen, has loads of notebooks he loves to write in, gets books out of the library regularly and is confident enough that we do sight words and phonics at home when time allows (I work full time). During lockdown, the lack of work was really noticeable. They sent home their class writing books in to use and it had two pieces of “writing” in (a couple of words), and an empty handwriting book. The work was not enough by far - still on single letter phonics and basic counting to 10 - and any reading books he has brought home from school have been the very basic letter sounds. I have asked for more but told he isn’t ready - however she has never heard him read!

What do I do? I can keep asking but don’t want to be “that” parent. My eldest DS by comparison left reception an extremely confident reader and writer (different teacher). We don’t have any teacher meetings where I can bring this up naturally and don’t want to look like I’m complaining, as I’m so happy with the love and nurturing she gives to him. Thank you

I really understand your frustration, my very capable year 2 top set child came home with his spellings yesterday, they were words like ‘ball’, ‘all’ and ‘call’. I can only assume they are trying to catch up the children who have missed the simple steps due to lockdown, maybe it’s the same at your school?

You are doing your best at home with him, he’s unfortunate to have started reception during a pandemic so I think things are very much ‘up in the air’ I think teachers aren’t sure what to do, the choice is to go and teach the curriculum or to get all children to the same standard before progressing.

Have you not had either a written report or telephone 'parents evening' conversation with the teacher? My son is in reception and we had a phone meeting in term one and a written report sent home at the start of March. Even the kids who were at home between Jan - March had phonics sessions online and loads of other resources were uploaded for reading and maths for parents to help with.

Ds has brought home piles of worksheets and pictures every day since September, has a reading for pleasure book sent home every Friday and has a reading book which is changed usually weekly as well. He does some at home and I believe they hear him read each week in school.

I would have a conversation with the teacher if you're sure than none of this has been happening. It may not be exactly the same as schools do things differently, but it sounds odd if you've had no evidence of the learning they have been doing.

How do you notice he does no reading or writing in class? I would contact the teacher.

My first thought was, could the teacher be an NQT who has not had much support or monitoring due to lockdown, or just poor management/understaffing? It sounds like your concerns are valid to me.

"Well parents should teach them at home!" isn't really constructive, it sounds like OP is doing some things at home, and there are some children whose parents will not read with them no matter how much you try to encourage it.

I am not teacher bashing either, I left teaching myself because of how stressful it was.

@PrintempsAhoy

I wondered about this when I came to the UK

Turned out, you need to teach your kids to read as parents. I did not know that, so poor DS struggled through yr R and 1, until Mumsnet educated me on this

Felt pretty stupid to be honest. But of course, in a class of 30, there is no 121 reading ...

Well that's a load of bollocks. Is this sarcasm or exaggeration?

My kid is in Y1 so reception only last year. They did phonics and maths every day. Reading log book with comments from the teacher every week. Children gradually move up the reading levels as they progress. Yes, there is an expectation of support - we get books come home with her for home reading. But I think there is also recognition that many parents can't or won't do this.

I do wonder how teachers have managed with reception this year. I'd imagine the first term is always probably more play based, settling into school, then term 2 more focused on learning. But term 2 was lockdown so maybe they've had to adapt? I don't know. Talk to your teacher.

Does phonics work for all children? I think I learned using look and say. My dad taught me though.

@ChameleonClara

What I did was send them to school to play and be with people and got on with what I wanted at home - could you focus on teaching him to read yourself?

Also you need a chat with school so you understand what they are doing, before you critique it.

Exact same as me. My dc love school & are in a nice school but not being stretched. However as the find the work very easy they are very confident learners, love school & are very eager for the next task whether that's with the teacher or at home. They always do their set homework & they tell me what their doing in school eg fractions, I will print out extra worksheets online eg twinkl or UR brainy.. and set them a lego or food challenge surrounding fractions... I am a sahm which makes it possible... I also purchase alot of relevant workbooks to make sure they have their years cirriculam covered & I buy for the next year up once completed... I realise reading this I sound like a desperately pushy mum🙈🙈 but I'm not... I let the teacher get on with teaching my dc in school & don't interfere & I see it as my job to help them reach their potential at home... They are very compliant which helps...

What work did they provide during lockdown?

All you can do is teach him yourself on evenings and weekends. This is how UK schooling is. You either do it yourself properly or it won’t get done.

*I wondered about this when I came to the UK

Turned out, you need to teach your kids to read as parents. I did not know that, so poor DS struggled through yr R and 1, until Mumsnet educated me on this grin

Felt pretty stupid to be honest. But of course, in a class of 30, there is no 121 reading ...*

This did not used to be the case though. In fact, my mum got told off by my reception (class 1 as it was back then) teacher for teaching me some reading and writing before starting school. We had 1:1 reading with volunteers (no TAs or CAs back then).

You said they are doing phonics, counting to 10 and get sent home reading books.

That is learning to read and do maths.

What you mean is that you want him to progress more quickly. With Covid, there has been a lot of disruption to schools and they will be going over things like phonics to get them really secure. If you want harder work, speak to the teacher or the person in charge of the Early Years Curriculum.

Do they not have Tapestry / Seesaw or something similar so you can see what they've been doing? Reception is still EYFS so I thought had to keep parents informed like nurseries do.

Fwiw my two had got through the vast majority of the speed sounds (including two letters ones) by this stage in Reception. Phonics is one of the easier things to teach in a video lesson because it is basically learning by rote so I don't think lockdown is an excuse for slower progress.

Schools can only do so much so I think it's worth taking an active approach with your children's learning.

I would really recommend the 'Songbird' group of books (Biff and Chip are so tedious) and work through them with him.

I worked with both my girls and they've both become very confident readers.

I think this is one where you need to speak to the teacher and get a clear idea of what learning is being done in school. Can you ask for a telephone meeting to talk about your DS?

I would be surprised if they are really doing no reading, writing or maths in Reception, even given the disruption that Covid’s caused this year.
Both of my older DC (pre-covid) were taught the basics of these in Reception, with lessons in literacy and maths daily.

My youngest is in school nursery, which is obviously less formal than Reception, but they’re still doing things like single letter phonics, basic counting to 10 and practicing forming letters in the nursery.

My daughter is in reception and her reading, phonics and maths are all right where she needs, l think the maths only going to 10 is simply because they find out everything for the numbers, 1-4 =5 same as 2+3 =5 then it’s division and subtracting, the use of language of one more one less, only through hone schooling have l found this out because she can count to 50 and recognise numbers and has been able to since the end of nursery.

I also work full time and have spent a lot of time with her doing tasks, l think the books that are sold to learn at home in HB and B&M are a good way to help him and also there’s a app which is free called teach my monster to read and it’s like a little game, while l was working she was next to me playing it. I remember making a post years ago about my son not being able to write his name and someone posted “if you want your son to be able to spell his name you have to teach him” l remember thinking that is a bit harsh but it is so true l really wish l could thank that poster. I think the little monster app also has maths and phonics too. Have a look. Good luck.

And as pp say, when time allows, working on these things with your DS at home will help him progress.