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.

[LittleLionMansMummy]

Is this a London/SE thing?

No, I live in East Anglia. Might be a recent thing though - how old are your kids?

[SarfEast1cated]

"Oh bless you, of course the teacher was 'amazed' by how bright your nephew is grin She's a teacher in early years, her wow face is automatic!"

[Andbabymakesthree]

My daughter can do much more than her peers. I don't think she's gifted or talented but she is bright (and hard work!!!)

I'm more worried she's likely to coast whilst they go over stuff shes knows and get frustrated by waiting for shoes and coats to be put on.

I did actually stump the reception teachers when they went through things to do to prepare her for school. She's not learnt to read yet as we've had a very chilled summer. She could easily learn though but I've not wanted to make her too ahead.

[BertrandRussell]

... As anyone who has early years teachers among their family and friends will attest. my friend is only just returning to normal after the summer holidays- by next weekend she'll be greeting every cup of tea with "Did you make that all by yourself? For me? That's just amazing!"

[BertrandRussell]

"I'm more worried she's likely to coast whilst they go over stuff shes knows and get frustrated by waiting for shoes and coats to be put on........"

You might be surprised. And anyway, learning how to be patient is a very useful skill......

[AnyTheWiser]

It may surprise those of you moaning that 'his parents' should have been there to know that some children live with aunties/grandparents pretty much all of the time, and teachers are used to seeing this. It doesn't mean a child is any less loved, or not having their needs met- families work in different ways.
You're also likely to find that teachers understand the concept of working parents, on account of most of them being one themselves.

The area we lived in when dd started school, all the schools did home visits, and those families that refused a visit were passed on to social services for follow up- it was that kind of area. Refusal to engage with services such as education can be a warning sign that something isn't quite right, and children need protecting.
Yes, you do have rights, and maybe you're uncomfortable with someone coming to your home, but I think the rights of vulnerable children trump the unease of parents.

[Andbabymakesthree]

Learning to be patient is something we've been working on! Her nursery teacher identified it as the only thing we could set as a goal.

She's very kind and considerate so will help and show others.

She's been bored recently though and I think she's hoping school will help her learn all these wonderful new things. Truth is it will be a lot of waiting and pausing whilst they work out children's ability.

However I'm sure the new friendships will keep her busy!

[SplinteryBottom]

"y next weekend she'll be greeting every cup of tea with "Did you make that all by yourself? For me? That's just amazing!""

Actually LOL at that. Might try it on my DH, he needs some tea-making encouragement.

[SplinteryBottom]

And I am VERY comfortable with the idea the teacher home visit is also an opportunity for a a bit of a snoop. We've not had anyone in our house since the HV days - 6months or so I guess? Nothing to hide here, but if it picks up a child who needs help or is vulnerable then that's got to be a good thing surely.

[needanewjob]

its all good, it sounds like the child is on track and they have a nice supp-ortive teacher

[Brokenbiscuit]

You're also likely to find that teachers understand the concept of working parents, on account of most of them being one themselves.

I certainly wasn't having a go at working parents, as I've worked FT since dd was 6 months old! Have loads of friends who work too. I think all of us would have taken time off for something like this though.

[GoblinLittleOwl]

Truth is it will be a lot of waiting and pausing whilst they work out children's ability
You really haven't got much idea about what goes on in a Reception class, have you?
You will also be surprised to discover that there will be other children in the class with the same abilities as her, possibly even better.

[pudcat]

She's been bored recently though and I think she's hoping school will help her learn all these wonderful new things. Truth is it will be a lot of waiting and pausing whilst they work out children's ability.
There will be plenty of activities for your child to do. The assessments of a child's ability are ongoing, not letting children sit around waiting for others. The room will be laid out with different activity tables and areas. There will be a book corner, home corner, craft, construction, large toys, outdoor play, sand, water etc. There will be a short carpet/story/whole class teaching/learning time. There will be group activities and individual activities. So your child will be fully occupied all day and will be worn out when they come home.

[CaptainBrickbeard]

Home visits are for putting the child at ease - they meet the teacher in their own familiar, comfortable environment and it gives the parent a good opportunity to ask questions and have a chat about their child. I really appreciated ours. It saddens me that someone has said they wouldn't let a teacher in their home - it's so disadvantaging to a child if the parents view school as an automatic enemy and take an adversarial position from the very beginning. Fine if you don't want a home visit, but to assume that the school is being intrusive or trying to catch you out is such a negative way to start your child's education and really doesn't do the child any favours if they pick up on that attitude (which they will).

OP, the range going into Reception is very wide and it makes sense for them to come with the bottom base line for a home visit in order to be encouraging and positive.

[TheSparrowhawk]

You're very naive op. There'll be children going in to reception who can barely speak, never mind read.

What I found bizarre when I was a teacher was how much parents seemed to need my encouragement and approval. I ended up praising them a lot. I'm not a teacher any more but I found myself saying 'that designer is very talented! She's done great work!' to said designer's boss the other day. It takes a long time to wear off! People either find it patronising or they take it really seriously, like you did.

[pudcat]

My daughter can do much more than her peers. I don't think she's gifted or talented but she is bright (and hard work!!!)
Mmmm I bet there will be others brighter than her - those who can read a little for instance.
Be prepared to be shocked.

[daftbesom]

I'm amazed at teacher visiting prospective pupils at home!

I'm afraid I don't have good memories of reception year - my DS could do all the things you mention before he went, and just had to go over the same things again with his peers. (And before anyone accuses me of being pfb, the school inspection reports also pulled the school up for not dealing adequately with children of different abilities ).

Tbh I don't understand parents who don't help their kids learn colours, numbers etc when the child shows an interest.

[Brokenbiscuit]

She's been bored recently though and I think she's hoping school will help her learn all these wonderful new things. Truth is it will be a lot of waiting and pausing whilst they work out children's ability.

As well as working on her patience, perhaps you can work with her on learning to initiate play so that she doesn't get bored?

Most learning at that age should be through play anyway, and there are so many things for young kids to learn and explore. No reason at all to be bored at that age!

[multivac]

"Low expectations"?

Clearly, you haven't seen the boxes that ALL children - some of whom may not even have turned five by the end of the summer term, some of whom will have undiagnosed SEN, and some of whom, as has already been explained come from houses where there are no books, no trips to the library, no talk about letters and numbers, and possibly no English spoken as a matter of course - are expected to have ticked by the end of Reception year, in order to be deemed to have 'made a 'good' level of progress'.

[multivac]

(I didn't mean to imply a correlation between EAL and 'no books, trips to the library etc. by the way - that was a poor use of the word 'and'!)

[Andbabymakesthree]

Pop

[SolomanDaisy]

I don't understand the idea that kids will be bored in reception if they're bright. We're not in the UK and kids don't do any formal learning before the equivalent of year 3, though they have a letter of the week and stuff. My DS has never been bored (and I think he's quite bright, recognised letters and numbers to ten before he turned two etc.).

[oklumberjack]

My dd and ds both had a home visit before school and that was 7 years ago (South West).

Our teachers never brought any resources to 'test' my Dc. She asked them to chat about their favourite toy or book BD just asked them simple friendly questions.

I was always told it was because they do a staggered phasing in and wanted to meet the children to gauge their confidence levels so they could 'phase' in the children appropriately. This all made sense to me.

[Oblomov16]

I don't like the teacher coming to your home bit.
I don't think your grandson is that advanced. Loads of children are more advanced than your grandson, re what they can do just before starting reception. Ds2 wasn't. But loads of children, especially the girls are.