to think that there are a lot of threads at the moment worrying about childrens attainment levels in infant school?

[GetOrfMoiLand]

And AIBU to think chill out - they are only 5. There is enough pressure at senior school without worrying about targets, attainment levels and homework for kids who have only been at school for 5 minutes.

Yes and no. IME, the curriculum seems to be so rigid (and I'm not a teacher so I stand to be corrected), that if your child doesn't "get" something, too bad, they're on to the next subject. If those building blocks don't get laid properly in infants, the children then will struggle more and more as they go up the school.

YANBU my DS started in August and has always been interested in numbers and letters, he 'gets' reading and sums and some of the other mums we know keep asking me what extras I'm doing at home with him! I was more concerned about him settling in and finding new friends (no-one from nursery went to same school) than comparing him to everyone else.

No, GetOrf, YA definitely NBU.

The school told me ds was special needs when he started school at 4 yrs 1 month as he couldn't put his stuff away or understand instructions. Also left handed and there is a delay in handwriting.

I worried far too much.

Now he's year 3 and is a fantastic reader and is really good at spelling, and the school are now saying he doesn't stand out particularly from other children and have taken him off his IEP.

Couldn't give a monkeys about targets. I also think at 7 he is too young for homework.

Some of the threads I have read here today have made me think - I was a complete fuss pot when dd was in infant school, worrying about whether she was reading at the same level. I remember her first parents evening - the (very nice) teacher showed me a graph which showed dd's ability compared with others in the class. I was upset when dd's maths ability was shown as being well below average, and I worried about doing times tables, sums etc at home.

Looking back now I should have left well alone. They have enopugh to get on with when they are teenagers and things actually matter. There is too much pressure at such a young age in schools today and I don't think it is necessary.

DS2 is 8 and some of my friends do lots of extra work with their DC's. I love my friends and their children but in all honesty, they need to work on their social skills not their spellings etc.
What good is being able to spell beautiful at 8yrs old if you can't forge friendships and communicate well with your peers?
As my older DC's have gone through the secondary move up i realise more and more that social skills and the ability to interact well with peers is just as (if not more to them) important.
Also kids need to be kids, time spent playing is better and more beneficial than being forced to do extra work by mum and/or dad.

A difficult one - I don't think that parents should worry about where their child is in relation to others, but I do think that getting the basics right will prevent problems later. If a child is doing something wrong, then it is important that it is corrected early imo. A few minutes one to one can have a huge difference at infant stage, but not all schools can provide this.