to be a bit disappointed with school

[tryhard]

Please don't flame me! I'm genuinely wanting opinion on whether I'm being a bit precious or not. So PFB has just started Reception, no staggered start, straight into 9-3, 5 days a week. So far, so good, he seems to be enjoying it. But...the Recpetion teacher has a reputation for being very strict (she's already been heard by another parent shouting at the class from a different room) & getting 'results'. It's an OfSted rated outstanding school, but that's not why we chose it (we chose it cos it's down the road ). It's a big class of 30, there will be shouting sometimes, I understand that. But some of them (including my son) have only just turned 4. They are getting 'homework' and I presume this is why they are an outstanding school, because they push them from the start. But I am a bit disappointed at the lack of heart, somehow, it all seems to be about academic achievement from the get-go, not settling in, not learning through play, nothing like that. When he was in the nursery class at this school, he'd come home with paintings and things he's made, he's now coming home with lines and lines of meaningless scribble which I presume means they're trying to get him to write? I see his time at home with me now as chance to recover physically from the day & have fun, not to do 'homework' at 4. It seems short-sighted and almost old-fashioned somehow to be pushing very young kids hard...or am I just being a bit precious?

Also, OP

You have not mentioned you child's reaction to any of this.

"But at the end of week 2 we got flash cards and Oxford reading tree books. Then in week 3, we got a new letter every day, with a worksheet for DD to copy the letter. It all seem so quick."

I'm confused. How/why are they sending you Oxford Reading Tree books at the end of week 2....? Followed by "a new letter every day"?

How can the kids possibly be reading the ORT books if they don't know letters/basic phonics?

Sorry, just genuinely confused here. What was the school expecting you to do with a bunch of ORT books that the kids couldn't read?

Obviously, parents share books with their pre-literate children, but ORT books aren't really the type of books that you would do that with. They are designed to be decodable so you get very short, stilted sentences with a limited vocabulary. They are graded readers, not books-for-sharing.

OP--it seems that they are sending home picture books for you to share with your child.

I think what you have to remember is this: most educated parents share books with their kids as a matter of course; we don't have to be told to do it. But there are loads and loads of families who just don't do this. They would never (or very seldom) think to sit down and share a book with their child unless the school spells out "You have to do this" and makes it compulsory. So while I can understand that this feels a bit condescending, think of it as a social-mobility measure for the kids who otherwise would never get read to at all. The school has to make it an across-the-board policy in order to rope in the people who aren't reading to their kids voluntarily.

Are the books that your child is being sent home with some kind of "standardized" book that all the kids in class are expected to have looked at? If they are not (i.e. if the books are just random books chosen out of the classroom library), then feel free to just share your own preferred choice of books with your child instead if you prefer, and just tell the teacher that you read the books that your child was sent home with.

There are ORT books without words.

And, painful though it is to admit it, lots of kids really like the Biff and Chip books- I don't really get the Mumsnet hatred of them. They even manage to shoehorn the odd joke in there!

The reading diary is totally normal for any school. I remember my niece having one when she started school almost 10 years ago - so different government and curriculum.

If the children are not learning through play then the school is not meeting the requirements of the EYFS framework. If Ofsted came in they would be flamed. Sounds like they are being pressured by senior mangement who do not know about Early Years provision OR the teacher needs more Early Years training, as what you have described is bad practise!

"There are ORT books without words."

Ah, okay. Although the poster who complained about ORT books coming home was complaining in a way that seemed to suggest that these were actually reading books of some kind.

I don't hate ORT at all--in fact we use them! But I would never use them as "sharing" books. Sharing books is supposed to be about pleasure and about exposing them to rich language and vocabulary. ORT books are great for decoding practice, but not something I'd ever share with a kid for pleasure. Plus, there is the danger that they will just memorize the damn book, and then when they actually come to read it, you won't know if they are actually reading it or just guessing/memorising.

Bertrand
The ORT scheme is disliked because it is not based on synthetic phonics but the rather discredited "look and say" method.

They are not Early Years, they are year 1 aren't they?

ORT books are funny, the children love them, especially the earlier Stage 3 ones. And now that they are so dated, the pictures are quite amusing to adults to. Mum's blue eyeshadow for example

there is the danger that they will just memorize the damn book, and then when they actually come to read it, you won't know if they are actually reading it or just guessing/memorising

There is nothing wrong with memorising the words. It's actually an early reading strategy. Think about nursery rhymes and songs that children learn before they can read. That is memorising and helps massively when they come to actually decode and predict.

Also, when you think about it, we all memorise words once we have learned to read them. Memory plays an important part in learning to read, as do the pictures which give clues to help children predict and decode. It's not all about pure phonics, that just a part of it.

ORT is not a 'look and say' method, it's just that some of the alternative spellings/graphemes won't be learned until later. 'Circus' is a word that appears in a Stage 3 book. The reader would know the ir phonics sound and the 'c' 'u' 's' but might not know that the inital 'c' is to be pronounced as an 's'.

Reception is very much part of Early Years Foundation Stage. EYFS covers Birth- Reception. Year 1 is the next year, which is the first year of National Curriculum.

Yes, sorry, just realised I got you mixed up with the other thread where the child is in Year 1.

www.foundationyears.org.uk/eyfs-statutory-framework/

This is the curriculum your 4 year old SHOULD be experiencing. It is very far removed from homework and forced writing activities! Writing/reading/maths are just elements of a much wider curriculum and should not be put on a pedestal at this age.

Ah, I see Fairenuff!

YANBU. My dd is 4. She's had 2 weeks of half days and starts properly on Monday. We had a curriculum evening last week and the teachers told us that the first half term was all about learning the routines for school. She showed us some pictures of them learning how to get into a straight line which were pretty hilarious. The focus is on learning to follow instructions and routines for the first half term. Everything is done through play. Despite only being there less than 2 weeks, The teachers had written loads in her learning journey about what she can do, her likes and dislikes, the words she is writing independently etc. However, if you ask dd, all she does at school is play. I am a teacher, I know the pressures and would do everything to avoid dd being in a school environment like the one you have described.

Yabu OP. I am sure they do play and also tats not really homework.

It's involving parents in the children's learning, which you should be doing anyway. Signing the book takes 2 minutes and is there so tenge teachers know who has done what and also because some parents won't bother. Not because they choose not to but because they can't be arsed.

I would rather take two minutes to sign a book, if that helps teachers I identify and give more help to kids who dont get that help at home.

As your child goes through school you will learn not to listen to everything other parents say.