to think the expectations about children starting Reception are very low?

[mendimoo]

I look after my nephew a lot because his parents both work long hours (NHS.) Today he had a home visit from his teacher before he starts school next week. She bought some things with her as 'ice breakers' and, in her words, was 'absolutely amazed' by DN. She bought some five piece peg puzzles that my two year old has been able to do for months. DN showed her the 100 piece puzzle he'd completed that morning and she was gobsmacked. She asked some leading questions to see if he knew his colours and again was shocked that he did. Again, my DD can pick out colours and colour sort and she's two - DN has known his colours since around 18 months.

DN also demonstrated that he could read numbers 1-10 (he can read 1-20 but she didn't have the resources to stretch that far), read CVC words and use words like more, less, bigger, smaller, the same to compare objects and groups. She asked if he could recognise his name and was really shocked that he could read and write it.

I think reading the CVC words is a little ahead but don't most children know their colours and numbers by reception age? The teachers expectations seemed extremely low.

[Aeroflotgirl]

iwould because I was probably dev delayed at school, had later dx dyslexia and dyscalculia, it made it harder. Yes there was so much ignorance surrounding disability, you were labelled stupid, were called names by the teacher if you were on the slow side, or if your understanding was not good.nowadays things like that are picked up at pre school or earlier, and help is put into place before the child starts school. Which is what is happening with ds 4.8 years, who has dev delay and speech and Lang delay. Parents are also so much more aware too than they used to be,

[YeOldMa]

flowergrrl77 our family is drowning in invisible disabilities as we have a genetic condition which runs through it; I was certainly always in trouble for being lethargic and lacking in concentration but 35 years ago when I was training we hadn't been made aware of Aspergers, EDS, ADHD or any of the other conditions which may not be immediately apparent and may need a child to be treated in a different way. We weren't even discussing bullying policies! However, the deprivation was a complete shock to me. I was aware people were often poor in money and may have different ideas in parenting or education but the lack of interaction with many of the children (except for telling them off) really surprised me.

[Aeroflotgirl]

It's threads like this that highlight what ds cannot do, but I have to be positive and think of all the wonderful things he can do and will do once he starts school. It's not a competiton, each child is on their own learning path.

[Aeroflotgirl]

Ds responds better to school environment than to me. I will do anything that teachers set for him to do to support learning at home.

[IWouldLikeToSeeTheseMangoes]

Exactly Aero and I'm sure your DS will come on in leaps and bounds It can only be a positive that there is so much more awareness around recognising and diagnosing potential problems these days. I think that's why the original post was a bit potentially aggravating as complaining that a child/nephew is ahead of their peers seems a rather petty grievance to have when other children achieve what on the surface may appear small but to them and their parents it's huge.

[YeOldMa]

Thank you, IWould. I am profoundly proud of my DS. His spacial awareness has definitely improved because he managed to wheel me around a theme park without crashing into anything...he still cannot read a map though and as I can't either, we went to some unusual places!

[Aeroflotgirl]

Exactly iwould, he is toilet trained in time for school and can manage this himself yay, even though he is slow on the academic side, he has lots of friends, he is a happy and sociable little boy, can follow instructions and is getting so much better, so I am happy with that. I have a dd 9 who has ASD, dev delay, learning difficulties goes to SS. it shows you that you just cannot compare, each child is on their learning path whatever that may be.

[IWouldLikeToSeeTheseMangoes]

YeOldMa so you should be that's sweet I can't read a map either if it's any consolation and hate asking directions but usually get there in the end

[IWouldLikeToSeeTheseMangoes]

Aero that's a big achievement for him and well done you! Sounds like school will be great for him

[ThoraGruntwhistle]

I have thought for some time that children should have already started learning to read by the time they start school, but I've been shouted down on it before.

[Aeroflotgirl]

Thanks so much Iwould, he is able to do so much that is not academic, can ride a bike, learning to dress himself, join in and initiate conversations, and games with children, can count to 20, knows colours, since going to preschool, and with his 121 help he has accelerated. No he does not know cvc words, sums, times tables, spellings, reading, 100 puzzles, but like every child has different skills. Threads like the op make me angry.

[Aeroflotgirl]

not really Thora reading with your child is important, asking questions about the story,

[Aeroflotgirl]

They will learn to read at school, they will have their own technique tgat they use.

[IWouldLikeToSeeTheseMangoes]

That's fantastic Aero And you're right being academic is by no means the be all and end all to being happy in life and building meaningful relationships but to be honest it sounds like he's excelling in the learning side and the social stuff too. Also I did even not even know of the term CVC words until this thread

[ErrrrrNo]

Why could neither parents be there even when offered an alternative date? Most workplaces would let you have an hour off for child related shizzle.

Pretty sure this is not about baseline testing, its about making the child feel confident and happy about starting school and showing the amazing things they can do.

Is this a veiled 'is my nephew a genius?' thread?

[Aeroflotgirl]

Thanks so much IWould, I diden't know what CVC words were until this thread either . I certainly and most definitely thing the expectations of children in primary school have increased since when I was in Primary, we never had SATS or homework. It seemed less stressful, I went into primary school not knowing how to read and write and learned those at school. I recently bought some KS1 books to do with dd ASD, I was shocked about what they were expected to do nowadys, some of the work I was doing at 11/12, not at 5-7 years. It certainly seems more pressurised, that is being passed down to the kids who are feeling it.

[Aeroflotgirl]

I would he went into pre school last September at 3 years 8 months, and was functioning on an 18-20 month level, now he is on a 3-3.5 year level, and some of the EYFS targets he is reaching are for his age, so I am so happy with the input he has had from his school nursery. He will be going to the school in September.

[Aeroflotgirl]

He will learn it when he is ready, I am not going to spoil his confidence by putting pressure onto him, but will follow his lead.

[IWouldLikeToSeeTheseMangoes]

Totally aero i don't remember getting homework at that age at all! But apparently they get it straight away now? Seems way too young it's a big enough transition as it is. I'm going to start throwing the term "CVC words" into everyday conversation now Least we've learned something new!!

[Aeroflotgirl]

We have I would, I think because of ds difficulties they will not lay it on as hard, I will certainly speak to the teacher if they are. In some countries and where my mum is originally from, they don't start school until 7 so 4 is very young, and to expect them to do all those things. No wonder a lot of teens choose to leave education after GCSEs, the ones I know anyway. It takes the fun and enjoyment out of learning.

[IWouldLikeToSeeTheseMangoes]

I was thinking that too Errrr. Maybe the teacher was also wondering about the parents and she went a bit overboard with other topics rather than mention it?

[IWouldLikeToSeeTheseMangoes]

Yeah I think there's a lot to be said for them starting a bit later aero. And if they are going so young it should be a gradual thing. Enough pressure in life as an adult they need to enjoy being kids!

[IWouldLikeToSeeTheseMangoes]

That's amazing how much he's come on in such a short time aero

[Gallievans]

My DD is near!y 15 and doing really well at school. She could read her name when she started reception, knew her colours and numbs (in two languages). But she's not a bookworm despite us reading to her every night!

On the other side of the scale a friend of mine has 6 children bsdtween the ages of 15 and 3. The youngest two (4 and 3) would not know what to do with a book if asked, the only time they are read to is if either I or one of their grandparents are babysitting. Yet they can both feed themselves, are toilet trained and can operate smaphones, tablets and the TV Another friend's 4 year o!LD can on the other hand read very well and wouldn't know what to do with the tablet. Different strokes for different folks. Any of these could grow up to be the next Brian Cox (phoar!) , totally average or be an underachiever, but it's far too early to tell. It's good that your DN and your own DC are doing well but that doesn't mean the teacher thought they were a pair of mini genius!

[Gallievans]

Or genii if you want to be pedantic about plurals!