To expect good grammar from a year three teacher?

[MrsFC]

I live in zone four of East London, and while I am originally not from that area and have a different accent, DC, DP, CM, exDH and all DC's friends do, and have a fairly pronounced East London accent.

Now: I have NOTHING against an accent from anywhere in the country, I really don't. But I DO have issues with the bad grammar that can sometimes come with it, for example:

'we done this at school today Mummy'
'Where is the book we was reading Mummy'
'I didn't eat nuffink for lunch today'

I have spent the past five years patiently correcting DC and explaining basic correct grammar to him. I also explain that while lots of the grown ups he knows speak incorrectly, he must not correct them, but must listen to how his teacher and I speak. I am lucky in that he is a competent and avid reader and so I have been encouraging him to read Harry Potter books to try and instill it in him further (top tip - if you want your son to read Harry Potter, buy the Lego DS Game - it worked for me!)

Anyway - I digress. I went to pick up DS from school yesterday and they came out of a different gate.When we found them his new teacher said to me:

'I'm sorry you wasn't told'

I was taken aback and mentioned it to another Mum friend of mine with a child in the same year(I could only mention it to this one friend as the other Mums probably wouldn't have noticed TBH). She smiled and said I was being a bit snobby.

What do you think? And what would you do, if anything?

My Year 3 English teacher told me that "good" and "nice" were terribly sub-standard words to use in speech or writing.

And I went to a sink-estate primary

Aitch/haitch is localised, MrsFC - it's the standard form in Ireland, for example, and for many people of Irish descent in the UK. It's a bit of an unfair shibboleth, as it often reflects origin rather than education.

DH (teacher) had a colleague who thought the subject he taught was called 'Math's'. He was about 40 and English was his first language.

It was DH's job to check and collate his form's reports, and this bloke has written all over them that 'Amy has made a great start in her math's lessons this year' etc, etc.

When DH pointed out the error, colleague didn't believe him at first. DH had to get one of the English teachers to back him up!

It's pronunciation rather than grammar but someone on the "no no" thread was talking about glottal stops without using the specific term.

I'm from the S.E and hate them obviously, but I do think that they are charming when used by Scots. It has a completely different effect.

Bu(tt)er - terrible.

Sco(tt)ish - lovely.

I also cull people I went to school with on FB who boast about having been to a "grammer school" because I know I won't be able to help myself one day

"DH (teacher) had a colleague who thought the subject he taught was called 'Math's"

Bearing in mind that it's a contraction of Mathematics, with the apostrophe marking the elided letters, that doesn't seem unreasonable. Oh, you thought he was making a plural wrongly?

I would talk to the head.
You might not be the first
Seriously, you have to 'av a word!

tokyonambu - Well now you come to mention it I see the logic of using 'math's'

But you just don't see that, do you? Rightly or wrongly 'Maths' is the accepted form.

'Math's' just looks weird and wrong somehow.

I was told by my English teacher that the word 'nice' should only ever be used to describe boyfriends and jam tarts.

I'm curious as to what an East Midlands accent is LeQueen? Maybe I have one? I don't say 'me duck' though.

As a Scot living in SW London, I had to get used to educated people saying "I fink" and "fank you". It was very difficult. It also took me ages to realise that in Wiltshire "sistificate" is simply the way that the word "certificate" is pronounced...

I don't do these things but I don't ask other people to change. Given how simple English is in its verbal forms - e.g. "to be" has two forms in the past (I/he/she/it was and you/we/you/they were) - I don think it unreasonable that native speakers should be able to remember them and use them correctly... It's a good thing they don'tspeak German or Russian!

Typo alert: I don't think it unreasonable

I don't think there's anything you can do about it unfortunately.

DD2's pre-school report was horrific - every word that ended with an S had an apostrophe before it .

being a scheme wean i can sill revert to colloquialisms and had some earthy but fab teachers.accents and nuance dont perturb me.prefer a brainy perosn wi local accent than a yap full o gobstoppers perfect enunciation talkin keech

But scottishmummy we get a half-wit with a local accent talking keech - there are no good sides to it.

oh dearie me.worst of both worlds.grim

I love that Mitchell & Webb sketch! for anyone interested.

lynli your child sounds a lot like mine...
mine argued about statistics of probability with his teacher.

Apparently a maths book says 'what are the chances of...' and it is meant to be 100%, or nil, they were just starting a topic - anyway,the question was
What is the probability that all boys will become men?
Answer 100%?
It is according to the book.
My son argued that it is less than that, as some boys will die.
I can't help thinking he is right, and the book is wrong.
Anyway, his teacher got a bit tired of him...

I think your only reasonable course is to change schools. His friends and his teacher will play a huge part in shaping his language. Am a bit that you did not look into this before you chose a school. You don't really think you are going to change the language of so many people for the sake of your child's education do you?

However, my children go to school in West London and I do wonder why my 7 year old (year 3) has not been taught the difference between I (subject) and me (object).

I wonder if it is too easy to become a teacher sometimes. Perhaps we should pay them more in exchange for raising the standards. And my kids go to a "good" school. So, goodness knows what less fortunate people have to put up with.

I was in the dentist the other day, and a little boy (about 5) said to his mum, "I have writ such-and-such". she said "you have wrote not writ". my face went
you have written - the little boy's version was closer than the mum's!

Oh dear,nickelbabe

MrsThisIsTheCadillacOfNailguns

if you live in the East Midlands, there's every chance you don't believe you have an accent.
I believed that until I moved away from Nottingham to go to Uni.

seriously - we don't realise because our accent is so very normal.

you don't need to say me duck, but I bet you and I would recognise each other's accents ( at least to the county, if not the town!)

Seriously?

There is an option for all of you grammar fanatics: private education.

The teacher was simply using non-standard English.

I am absolutely that anyone would advise their dc to be on the lookout for speech errors. Ultimately, your son will speak as you do if you press the issue: the lesson you teach by making him 'grammar detective' is one of intolerance (and lack of respect for authority).

The dialect of English you speak is an accident of birth and culture. It doesn't really impinge upon your ability to impart knowledge. The conventions for written and spoken language differ, you know.

I say (like many Irish people) 'I was only asking' but would never write this. It's a mark of my Hiberno-English, not an indicator of my intelligence.

Pffft indeed.

I've told DH he's never allowed to talk to our children, because he says "i done" and "you was"