Primary school year 1 too formal

[tooyoungforschool123]

My daughter has entered year 1 of primary school as is so unhappy with the more formal learning . She is a summer born. 27th August 2008.
She started reception in April and enjoyed the play based learning. She really needs this reception time now too. There seems to be too much of a jump to formal learning in Year 1. This particularly doesn't suit my child.
There should be a choice for such late summer born children to start reception from age 5. If she had been born 4 days later school would have worked for her. She would be starting reception now.
I am seriously considering taking her out of school for a year to home educate.

It's a tough one really because this early in the school year, lots of kids of all ages are struggling to adapt.

You might be surprised, she might settle down soon enough.

I'd hold tight for at least the half term and even a bit longer after that before deciding.

Or would a less formal setting work for her? At the school where I work the Reception children are in the same class as the year 1 children and continue the play based curriculum but with a little more formal teaching in a separate group at various slots throughout the week. Do you have any other schools close by?

My dd who is August born really struggled with the transition between reception and year one. It was really difficult for pretty much the whole term leading up to Christmas her reading dropped off a cliff, she couldn't be bothered with it at all, and she moaned about school every day.

I was at my wits end about it, and then, in January, she just suddenly "got it"

Over the first half term though January to February she progressed quicker than she had done in the whole time she had been at big school, and really started to enjoy school again. She is now in year 2 starting to outstrip some of the Autumn born kids in ability which is amazing considering where we were at a year ago

What helped us was that her teacher was very supportive and happy to chat about my concerns, and I felt she kept an eye on her in class which gave me reassurance (whether she did or not in a class of 30 I have no idea but she gave me the impression she did anyway )

So what I'm saying is hang on in there...

Oh yes, when I say August born I mean late August too, she was 4 and 2 weeks when she started school so teeny compared to some of them

I would talk with her teacher and share your concerns with her/him first. They will be able to give you a better picture of what is happening at school. It is still early in the school year. Maybe she needs more settling in time.

Be careful - if you take her out of school for a year to home educate then there is a high probability neither of you will want to return to institution-based learning again

Not all schools are the same.

Some children prefer more "formal" learning.

What difference do you think just one year will make? Could/would you continue HEing longer?

Some children do struggle with the formal learning. I have been told many times that the jump from year R to year 1 is the biggest jump at school.
It's much less of a jump now than it was for dd1 7 years ago. But even those who struggled badly were fine by the end of the year. Just took a bit to get used to it.

However my dc all seemed to prefer the more formal approach. Particularly ds (summer born) with hearing and concentration issues found it much easier to get on when they were all working at similar stuff than most of the class was playing.

It's odd that they've made such a jump from play based to more formal learning so quickly, our school phases it in over the year precisely because it makes things easier for the children.
Hang in there until Christmas, she may start to settle in over the next few weeks.
I should say that my DD is only a week older than yours, she's the oldest child in the year but still struggles with certain things in school the same way that the youngest does. The jump to KS2 this year has been particularly hard for a lot of them (it's quite an old year).

And I've just realised that my last paragraph was utter bollocks, lack of coffee and a night owl toddler makes it hard to think this morning, please ignore xx

They really shouldn't be going straight into formal learning at the beginning of year one.

The recommendation is that they have at least half a term transition between the free flow of reception to the more formal sit down work in year 1. (Although the government have now recommended that this transition happens at the end of reception rather than at the start of year 1 bastard Gove- stealing our children's childhoods)

DD1 (now Y5) was an autumn birth and made this transition with no bother. DD2 is a summer birth and has just started in Y1 with a few grumbles.

They had started the transition in the last term of Reception so she was prepared to an extent, and she is enjoying it, but she says there is too much 'learning'. Reading practice books are coming home as they did in YR, but homework will start soon (online maths, spellings and learning log projects), and I'll need to make this seem as fun as I can.

There seems to be a lot more pressure in Y1 than there was when DD1 was there, with the phonics check and the increasingly raised bar from Mr Gove.

I do see a lot of positives though. She has never been much of a talker, but her conversation skills have improved markedly in the last week. Everyone is noticing this, not just me. She is actually less tired after school, strangely since the work is increasing. She is taking more of an interest in the after school clubs, but this is probably more due to the fact that more are offered when they get to Y1.

It's early days yet in the term, and my advice would be to keep positive about it. We all panic occasionally about our children and the time of year they were born makes a big difference when they are small but they all get there in the end.

Ds is one of the older ones and he found the transition after reception very hard. He went into a mixed y1/2 class and it was immediately a very formal setting. He went from happy go lucky to grumpy tweenager overnight. It came to a head one night when he started crying, tipped his head over and said "it's all coming out of my ears".

He had a lot of homework and it was all too much. I spoke to his teacher and agreed he would read one school book a week (from 5) and would only do 30 mins of homework, 3 times a week.

This is what learning in school is like. As a mother, I wish they had made the transition more playful. As a helper in school, they have a huge curriculum to get through. I just made it easier and fun at home.

why did she only start reception in the April?

It doesn't seem long enough to have settled in properly before the year 1 curriculum starts.

Yr 1 is more formal in dc school but then that leads into the even more formal yr 2.

I realise that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but why did she not start school in september with other four year olds last year?

Rather than opting for home education do you have the option of other schools. If you could find a school with a mixed R/ year 1 class then prehaps your daughter could have some more playbased learning.

I suggest you speak to the teacher before doing anything drastic.

DSI is finding Y1 a massive transition.... not helped by the teacher telling them how hard they'll have to work. An early birthday and generally at ease at school but lacking in confidence with reading and writing and now he's dreading not just this year but the rest of his schooling! I'm sure he'll be fine soon enough but it's certainly a big jump.

If she started in April then she missed over half of the reception academic year. IME they do get through a lot of basics in that time, mainly numeracy and phonics, but also learning to sit nicely, take turns etc.

DS was a pest in reception year but transformed into a smart little pupil once he started Y1. He's autumn born and was more than ready for formal learning.

I am a year 1 teacher and we do our best to make the transition manageable by making sure there is still time to play, planning lots of fun activities, small group work and slowly building up the children's stamina. Some schools are better at dealing with this than others.

The difficulty is that my instincts tell me to keep things less formal but I am under a lot of pressure to fit a lot of things into the day and certain results are expected by the end of the year.

In my NQT year I taught a year 1 class who all had had only a term in reception (though most had been to the school nursery) and it was really hard balancing the pressures from above with the needs of the children. I assume that you child isn't the only one in the class who only had a term in reception so hopefully the teacher will make allowances for that. Speak to the school about your concerns.

Thank you so much for all the replies. All very supportive and great advice, Thank you
My daughter started reception late as I felt it was too much for her to start just after turning 4. She only started nursery in November last year too. With hindsight i feel she could have started in January as reception is so play based like nursery. My other concern then was she was unable to go the loo on her own, and no help is given with this at school.
She loved the reception term and would be so enthusiastic about going. Her learning improved so much in a short time. She discovered writing and was writing lovely little simple sentences when she got home illustrated with lovely drawings. Since she has started year 1 this enthusiasm for writing has gone. No more writing at home!
She has complained of feeling sick (butterflies) when going to school and also in the day. She says she hates school as theres too much writing and she feels sick. She only likes playtime.
She cried to sleep last night.
I have spoken to the head and teacher many times. but there isn't much they can change as class of 30 with year 1 and 2 together.
I am going to make another meeting next week, and email my concerns so they are listened too more.

Sounds just like my ds. I can't say that he enjoys school but is a lot more settled this year.

It's almost like a cautionary tale I'm afraid to say. Reception to me is a great way to easing them into school, ready for the more formal stuff. It's such a shame that the Foundation Stage wasn't explained to you more.

I think it would be a bad idea to now plan to HE for one year only, because you would only be delaying the problem for a year.

You really need to make your decision now. If you decide to keep her in school, you will need to be positive about your decision, not look back, then meet with the staff with this frame of mind to work with them to help her transition.

I wouldn't be too worried about the writing at home. She is doing more in school so won't see the need at home just now, but if the enjoyment was there it will come back. As MsC says a lot of what they do in Y1 is still a lot of fun. If she likes playtime she must have friends, so maybe you could focus on these as a positive about school to get her over the wobbles she's having just now.

Thank you again.
I agree that taking her out for one year might just delay things. She might then have all the stress again next September.
I have found out some schools allow part-time with school with home stud too. But I doubt the head teacher would agree as counts as agreed absence which then doesn't help attendance charts for school.
Is year 2 so much harder again?
I was wondering whether i should ask whether she could be taken out of class a bit and put with reception for writing times. But they might not allow this and maybe this separation from her class would bring too much attention to her.

Again, to me, you are talking half measures there. Although it sounds harsh, and I don't mean it to be, if you keep her at school you need to bite the bullet, buy into it properly, keep her with children in her own year group and let her get on with it.

She is going through the same problems a lot of children have after returning to school after the holiday after the first term. It just happens to have coincided with the move to Y1.

If you are positive enough I'm sure she'll begin to love it again. And in my experience, the transition from year to year gets a lot easier.

Good luck.

My ds found the transition from yr to the next year very difficult. He is now in y2 and will move to juniors next year. As it's the same site, I don't think the transition will be as hard, it's just more of the same.

This is what school is like until year 12/3; resistance is futile. The school will be used to dealing with all kinds of issues, including your concerns. Ask to speak to her teacher. I agreed a reduced homework plan which made my ds happier at home. What do you want them to do.

Unless you hold her back a year, your dd will always be one of the youngest. I think your coping strategy should start at home. I don't expect my ds to be the best, but I do expect him to try hard, even when he is asked to do something he doesn't like. It's difficult to see them upset. School can be hard.

my youngest who is december born spent 3 years in a mixed R/Y1/Y2 class (v small school) and despit being nearly 8 found the jump to formal learning a bitter pill to swallow.