To expect my reception age child to be doing at least a bit of 'work'?

[Hmmmmminteresting]

I may have this wrong as he is my first born. But dc is in reception, prior to this he was at nursery post lockdown till end of Aug.
I wouldnt say he is particularly clever, but he enjoyed learning. He was very good at phonics, numbers and rhyming. He could do basic adding and subtraction up to 30 eg. He could do 27 take away 4 etc. Since he has started school he does nothing, they just play.
Don't get me wrong I am all for them doing this and would much rather they play than sat all day 'working'. But they are literally doing nothing. He keeps telling me its boring. I feel like he has taken 5 steps back.
I asked his teacher briefly if he was correct and she said yes, it's a transition from nursery to year 1 so its focused on play and not school work. I didnt push further but I've come away feeling really deflated.

Aibu to expect them to teach them something?!

As others have said, they do learn a lot through playing, sometimes things you don't even realise they needed to learn.

That said, I'm surprised they've sent home a book without checking where he is with his phonics. My first DC was put straight on the second book band up. My youngest has also just started reception and we get a kind of online photo diary we can access. This week, the teacher gave an individual challenge of working out and writing unfamiliar words. This makes me think they do have some idea of the levels kids are at and are giving out literacy tasks. Many if the other posts are playing with friends though.

In reference to a previous poster's suggestion, I left the phonics work to the teachers. I figured that DS wouldbe bored in school if I'd already taught him this. Instead we played lots of games to learn numbers, vocabulary etc, I read lots of books with him and we spent time learning through play and activities: baking, building dens, imaginary play with zoo animals and so on. So many opportunities to learn all sorts without covering "formal" school work

Our school haven't even sent books out yet...not much point before they start their phonics. The books without words are more about comprehension...looking at the pictures, making a story up, asking questions about the pictures, what might happen next, etc.

We've started learning first few phonics sounds; s, a, t, p, i, n. But there's not many books they can write with those sounds.

My ds said he did "nothing" for the entire nursery and reception years.

Be patient... The children are still settling in, getting used to new rules and new settings. It can take a while for some.

Reception age kid here, eldest child. Teacher told us the first half of autumn term is dedicated to play and settling in, with a bit of learning here and there. No books home yet but a lot of drawings and random crafts
He took so long to settle at nursery that I was dreading the transition to school, but so far so good, phew! He is KNACKERED though!

Reception is heavily play based and I imagine they may be introducing children even Morley slowest given some will have not been at nursery for a long time before starting school.

Having said that if you truly feel that your son wants/needs more challenging activities I would highlight this to them. A child who is very gifted not having their needs met is as bad as a child who is struggling not having their needs met.

Unfortunately children vary and need different things to thrive. What you describe sounds fairly standard of reception from my experience, that doesn’t mean that your son doesn’t need more though. I’d maybe wait it out a few more weeks to see what’s happening further into term them bring it up with the teacher.

My DS is now in year one. It's still the same thing. I wouldn't mind if it was ALL play, but it's the same incredibly basic stuff all the time ad nauseam, in a dull, rote way.

My son was doing sums like that at nursery. (I don't think he is an especially gifted child, before anyone starts. I just think the curriculum is surprisingly unambitious.) When he went back to nursery for a week this summer with his brother, while we worked, he was doing 280 + 42, 7 x 11, that sort of thing, several pages of sums a day. He also read all 20 or so Famous Five books. His homework today was 10-1, 6-1 etc.... He gets one reading book a week.

When I pick him up and ask how his day was, he's so fed up with 'number bonds to ten' that he rants about it and I learn almost nothing else about the school. I find it all extremely disappointing, not because I want him to be hothoused, just because I want him not to be bored shitless for many hours every day. (He does enjoy PE and drama a lot, but they only do those occasionally.)

Plenty of children arrive at school not knowing which way to open a book, because they've never seen anyone reading one.

I volunteered in the Early Years Unit at my local primary school, and I was so impressed by the skill and effort that went in to teaching each child a broad curriculum, assessing their progress, setting them challenging but achievable targets and helping them to meet those targets and doing all of that mostly by very subtly intervening in the child's self- directed play, so that the child didn't even notice. And gradually changing the classroom (physically by moving furniture, and equipment and by gradually changing the routines and expectations) over course of the year as the children learn and develop so that the September playspace gradually becomes more and more similar to the more formal classroom of Y1.

Early Years done well is so beautiful and creative to see.

It's all learning through play- google the eyfs curriculum to see what they're doing. It's not about who can rote count to 20 first or write a sentence it's about a solid basis to progress from- phonics starts with sounds and listening games, fine motor skills start with play doh and threading etc, maths starts with singing and number/shape etc games/art. Pshce starts with sharing, team work etc Hes learning everyday it's just he doesnt realise and that's how it should be at 4. Let him enjoy it, some children can read at this stage but have no coordination or can't share. It's a year of trying to bring everyone up to a certain standard in ALL subjects and setting behaviour/independence levels for the more academic year1. Reception is a hard tear to teach!

This is a common complaint of parents at the beginning of reception, but your child is learning a lot more than you (or he) knows. Things like being part of a class of 30, routines, taking more responsibility, and lots of learning through play.

The best mathematicians aren't the ones who can do complex subtraction at 4, but the ones who gain a deep understanding of number, for example by playing with blocks. Talking and negotiating with other children develops other crucial skills.
Early years education is really skillful, bringing out deeper learning in every child without them even realising they are learning. And your son has hardly been at school.

i'm currently homeschooling my children. My youngest would be in reception is also bright, far ahead of where my oldest was at the same age. However never underestimate the power of play and practical activities ! we do very little structured 'work' or worksheets. The majority of it is creative ways to prepare them for all sorts of areas of their educational journey and they are constantly learning new skills along the way !
It's actually really fascinating when you read further into it all !

You could easily be a parent in my class
Although we haven’t sent any books home yet!
We are doing the baseline assessments, they take about 3 weeks and you’re supposed to complete them before you’ve started ‘teaching’
At the moment we are very much focused on establishing routines (toileting!) and expectations, fostering good relationships/turn taking etc and making sure they feel happy and secure.
You’re right it seems like a long time, but they are only little.
Are you sure that like PP said he isn’t getting confused between tired and bored? DS does and it can be quite embarrassing!
I have been in other schools where the Reception class was much more regimented then ours, very little free flow, no child centred/in the moment planning, hardly ever used the outside learning area, I found it quite sad and the children’s behaviour was appalling!

[quote Hmmmmminteresting]@teddybeans thats really useful to know, I wish we would get told this kind of stuff because it is more than possible that our school may be doing something similar.
We literally get zero communication unless it is telling parents off for parking in dodgy places or which class got the best attendance that week![/quote]
You really aren't getting the difference between nursery and school.

What staff ratio was it at nursery? If you expect the same level of communication from school especially at the moment when teachers can't just talk to parents at the door, you have missed the bit about the other 29 children and how teachers only have 24 hours in a day just like everyone else.

Hmmm, I think the teachers are just settling them in at the moment, it’s their first month of of about 15 years of education, so they’ll be working on rules and routine with lots of play. They wont have started to sort them into learning sets by ability yet and won’t be doing formal learning. This will start though ☹️

I have to say, the maths you describe your son doing does sounds pretty advanced for a 4 year old. I think the main aim of reception is to read and write their name and counting. Adding and subtraction isn’t basic

Can I swap schools with you OP? My just turned 4 and definitely not advanced daughter has been sent home with a diary that I have to fill in daily with maths and reading activities that, it would seem, I have to come up with. Apparently she needs to be reading to herself at least 3 times a week. She can't even write her own name properly yet! I'm also being bombarded with e-mails to download.
This is the third primary school that I have experienced (3 kids) and the difference in approaches is staggering.

Don’t they all do really well in Finland where they don’t even start formal school until the calendar year in which they turn 7?

In all seriousness, OP, if you want to understand more about play-based learning, then you could do worse than read some of the work done by Tina Bruce. And if you want to know about the EYFS and its goals in more detail, have a look at Development Matters in the EYFS.

Felt a bit like this about my son's school, but things are picking up now - he is year 1. He was saying they are bored and not learning, but it's covertly done in school at their age! They are just assessing where the kids are at and seeing how much they know, so it might be a slow start.

You need to look at the progress over the year. My son was well behind yours starting reception - could only read a few words, recognised 1-20, but that was it and he could barely write. He is adding, subtracting and multiplying now and his reading is coming on well. Much of this has been done at home through lockdown, from a bit of extra homework or watching science clips on Youtube. I find if you think about what they learn across the week it doesn't seem much, but over a year you realise how far they have come.

That said, if you find the curriculum isn't challenging enough, I would do a bit extra at home if he is up for it.

@JamesTKirkcompatible
"You are being pretty mean to gifted and talented children here. Would you say that someone with SEN who had challenges in reading or someone with ADHD just had to suck up mainstream lessons and get used to being frustrated? If you are more advanced than the class it has huge impacts on your social and emotional development if it's not well handled. Some G&T teens have massive MH issues because of this kind of scornful attitude. "

You do realise having SEN and being G&T are not mutually incompatible don't you?

I have two children with SEN. One is G&T. There is absolutely NO equivalence between being a G&T child and being disabled.

It's really offensive to suggest that these 'poor G&T kids' needs as much extra support as those with SEN. In an ideal world they'd all get a tailored education. In the world we live in I can assure you that life is far far harder for those with SEN than the G&T.

G&T does not equal disabled.

@ZarkingBell I think you’re being a bit harsh there.

You'd hate unschooling then lol. Its how my children have learned and my 21 year old son just became manager of a cleaning company bringing home more than his dad, lol.

Theres a lot to be said for kids who simply 'play!' lol xx

I start by asking DS what lunch was. He can always remember that and then we sometimes have a longer chat about his day.

Remember that you can't see the teacher's objectives for the different play stations they do through the day. She will have a plan to develop their skills.

It's harder this year because there's no stay and play sessions for you to see inside the classroom. That can't be helped. Look at what the children higher up the school can achieve, and remember that they went through the same process.

I think because of Covid, lots of schools are doing longer transitions. It's great your ds is at that level but I doubt many others are. I teach in year 2 and lockdown has had a massive impact on the children's learning. Keep on doing what you're doing at home, i'm sure school will start to ramp up soon and in the meantime, the social skills he'll be learning will be great. Ps if you're looking for extra stuff at home, teaching him number bonds is invaluable!

My ds (15 now) spent reception hanging off the wooden train with a cowboy hat on, playing Indianna Jones!! He loved it!! Once they get to year one it all stops! He needs to play, so much learning and social skills are developed this way. He may be able to add and subtract but he needs to use his imagination too!! His whole school career is ahead of him! This is the ONLY year he can play!!

My child is in reception and appears to be doing much less learning than at nursery (and eating much more crap food! ).
I am not too fussed about it . Well the learning at least. Not too pleased about the food.
Everyone gets there in the end!

I haven't read all of the posts but I was also starting to wonder the same
my DD has just started reception but during lockdown I had more free time so taught her how to read and write and basic maths il to 20
so far she said one day they did phonics and today they practiced drawing lines and circles which I know is all part of learning but she herself has said to me a few times we don't do work in school mum but we do alot of playing and clapping