Activities and discipline in your child's reception class

[emkana]

From reading various threads I am amazed at the differences there seem to be in reception classes. For example somebody wrote that in their child's class there is a sun and a cloud and children's names get moved from one to the other if they misbehave. Or there is one class where children are only allowed play at midday if they have behaved "properly" up till then. Also there seem to be big differences and what children have learned so far - from bringing books home, having done various letters to learning key words...

well in my dd's class everything so far seems to have been about happy play . Focus was to get settled into routine and to get used to school. No discipline measures that I'm aware of. They will start with jolly phonics this week, they've started talking about the reading scheme (the one with Rosie and Sam) but have not had any books home yet.

I'd be interested to hear more about what goes in different schools. Would anybody like to tell me?

bump

My dds just started and theres the happy sad sun thing happening as well as sticker rewrds for good behaviour and helping to tidy up. There must be some form of discipline thing in place, not all 4 year olds are sweet and nervous, some are little sh**ts
She has a homework book with 3 sounds in it so far and she is to practice writing the letters and cut out pictures startign with that sound. She is bringing home books for me to read to her.
Topic at school is nursery rhymes so shes made a little teapot from clay. As well as painting and lots of play.

I dont think they have any 'sun or moon' stuff at dd1's school.

I think if there is general stuff like bullying going on then the teacher talks to the whole class. If someone is really naughty (like Oliver sticking his finger up his bottom and then putting his finger in Max's sandwich the stuff of legend) they get sent to (horrifically scary) the headmistress.

I actually don't think they are that naughty or if they are a bit naughty they get a ticking off from the teacher and thats it.

My ds's reception class sounds more like your dd's, emkana. He's come home with one or two reward stickers in the past 10 days since he started, and only one piece of work that he did (but then he has never been prolific at the art tables). He also learned a new song, which he is delighted to demonstrate. He seems extremely happy, and always has something to tell me about his day - even if no great details, there's always been an activity that has caught his attention.

Ds1's intro to Reception seems to be fairly gentle which I am pleased about.

The idea of keeping reception children in at playtime as a punishment is alarming to me. They need that time to run and release energy - it's a right not a privilege (I say this with my teacher hat on!).

Wow, how do you know so much about what is going on at school? It's like getting blood out of a stone if I ask ds what he did at school. I don't pick him up as I work full time, maybe I am missing the crucial updates. One thing I do know about is the discipline. They have a "quiet chair" which they have to sit on (he has been on it), the carpet which is away from the other children (he has been on that too) and for when they play outside there is a bench (yep, been on that too). He has brought home one book which we read to him but nothing else. They are staggering the intake of children (the younger doing mornings only) until half term so I think, once the class is complete, they will start bringing home sounds to learn. Good to read what other schools do.

DS2s class has "learning challenges" set up on the tables and the children are encouraged to move between them. The challenges are hidden in play though so they don't really realise they are "working" (like a treasure hunt for pictures around the classroom beginning with a particular letter).

They don't have a reading scheme but teach them how to read by learning the sounds of letters and the blended sounds of letter groups and the reading grows from there. They don't make the children learn to read their "50 words by the end of reception" list or whatever it is.

They don't have a reward scheme or a visual punishment thing like the sun & clouds. They do get sent to the head mistress if they are really naughty - even nursery children do but it's a "scare" tactic iyswim rather than a punishment. I think they can be held in at playtie for short times if their behaviour warrents this but that just means they play indoors rather than outside.

2 letters a week so up to 6 now. DS1 has had a sticker or a stamp everyday so far - according to him for being busy! I know more than most about what has been learnt as the teacher gives me an outline a week in advance so I can pre teach any vocab I think he may have trouble with (he is deaf). Yestaday was very exciting the whole school got a demo on how the ear works (using role play), and why he needs hearing aids and a radio aid, it must have sunk in because other parents were telling me about it in the playground this morning!

tbh I'm not all that clear on the discipline side yet. dh is going to a parents' evening tonight so it may become clearer then. dd does get awarded house points and stickers for things like good listening, neat colouring and so on so think it is mainly positive reinforcement but presumably they also have a system for naughtiness (like Enid's example - bleugh) and disobedience too. They takes turns to be class leader, taking the register to the office, leading the class to lessons elsewhere ie music, library or PE, and handing things out.

So far we've had 2 weeks of Jolly Phonics with copies of the letters/actions being sent home at the weekend for us to keep and practice. They have been introduced to Biff, Chip and Kipper and have been read some ORT stories. Some of the older children are already bringing home tins of simple words to practice and the basic stage reading books but dd is an August birthday so wouldn't necessarily expect that yet.

DD seems very happy. The teachers send home 3 laminated letters with matching pictures for the first two weeks. We were to practise them at home, write a note in the reading book as to how they'd got on, and then each child has some 1-1 time with a teacher during the day to "demonstrate" that they really do know the letter/sounds. Last week they have started sending laminated cards with simple 3 letter words that dd must sound out to "read". Again, we practice at home (usually while eating supper/breakfast), and she must then "read" to the teacher.

They have a "magic carpet" in the classroom which they've been told causes them to be good/quiet when they sit on it for group activities.

For discipline they have the "traffic light". If you are naughty, your name goes on the green light, moves to amber if you persist, and then if you are really bad you move to red which necessitates a visit to the office of the lower school. No one has yet had to make that trip.

Also meant to say that dd often comes home with a little reward star or sticker cellotaped to her blouse. Yesterday, she was recognised/rewarded for being a good listener in music class.

Once a week, the whole school has assembly. Two children are chosen from each class for special merit recognition, and they get a special badge followed by the treat of a biscuit with the headmistress in her office. Parents have confidentially been told that every child will receive this "honour" at some point during the school year.

Issymum sometimes you have to chip it off them don't you. Ds' tie is still like something out of Time Team by Wednesday.
Ds' Reception was all about happy play and gently helping the children hone their listening and concentration skills. No hit list of any sort for children struggling with concentration/listening at such a young age .
The Receptioners participated in a whole school assembly weekly in which one child in each class was given a public citation for kindness/good achievement the previous week and presented with a book (upper school) or a rather manky teddy in a box to take home and love for the week, plus a little certificate. In my experience, valid reasons were found to make this award to every child in the class at least once during the year.
Each class also had a Star Badge to wear for good reading/writing over the week, plus weekly "leader" and "helper" to be back and front of the crocodile into lunch and out, down the road to the library etc.
A bottom/sandwich combo would have meant a trip to the Head I think. But ds' class continues to enjoy legendary status in the school for their innate collective sweetness of temper and tendency to swottiness . Their Year 2 teacher was given them as a reward for having the school's worst class group last year or so the school gate grapevine asserts.
By the end of Reception, Emkana, everyone in the class could read and write to some degree. The Oxford Reading Tree was deployed quite soon in the year.
We had a contact book and there was a lot of sharing of info in its pages.
This is not the state sector btw - but an academically non-selective independent primary in London. We chose it for the excellence of its early years provision (no SATs or National Curriculum Literacy/Numeracy hours, very Montessori influenced) and the sheer niceness of its atmosphere. It is also across the road...

As the school year is jan - dec in NZ my DS is nearing the end of his first year.
It was in at the deep end from day 1 in terms of learning stuff (but then they do start a little older here - on their 5th birthday - so maybe they 'mature' enough to start learning)
We got reading books home daily from the first day ... learning sounds and letters started immediately too. Homework (a sheet in a book - a little activity relating to the sound of the week or the topic they are learning about) comes home on Mondays to be returned by Thursday.
No major discipline routine but the teacher is very firm so she keeps them in line pretty well without the need for suns and moons. From what I can gather the worst thing that can happen to a child is being sent to sit on his/her chair during mat time when they are supposed to be listening and aren't. DS swears blind he has never had to sit on his chair!
They have a very bizarre entrance system here in that as children turn 5 they start school. That means that there are new entrants coming in all year round. DS started at the beginning of the year with a handful of children who had turned 5 over the holidays ... I think there was a total of 10 children in his class to begin with. As children turned 5 they filled up the class and when it reached 26 they started a new New Entrants' Class.
The plus side of that is that the teacher has a small group to start with to teach the ropes to and then as the new kids arrive they kind of slot into the routine by watching the class.
I think that is one of the reasons the teacher has such good control over them.
They have several reward systems in place. Sticker Cards on the wall ... good work, nice manners etc get a sticker ... fill up the card, get a new one ... fill up 10 cards and get a certificate in assembly.
They have 'Busy Bee' awards for hard work (DS has had 3 this year ... proud mummy
They have a Merit Cup that is given out in the lower school ... DS's teacher has only given it out twice this year. The parents of the child who gets it are informed and they can come to the assembly to see it given.
The class also has a cuddly toy (Pippa the Pukeko [NZ native bird]) that is sent home every night with someone. It is awarded for good work, nice manners, kindness to other children - anything really. It comes home in a bag with a little book and the child has to write in the book what Pippa did at his/her house that night.
Lots of painting and craft is done ... lots of activities and trips out (walking to local village ... walks to local beach ... that sort of thing)
Parent Help is a valued thing ... the teacher has a roster up so she has a parent helper in for language work 5 mornings a week. She also sends stuff home to parents to stick into books and cut up for her. I can't do parent help as I have DD but I do quite a lot of gluing and sticking for her.

Also, they put the children in ability groups very early ... I think by the 4 week of the year they were grouped for reading.
Still not sure what I think of that ... but it seems to work and the teacher is able to keep tabs on individuals much more closely from what I can see.

I work full time outside the home too Saxy and we rely very considerably on ds, who is more forthcoming than some I think, plus contact books, plus extensive gossiping at birthday parties with the other parents.
We do also get a booklet at the beginning of the year outlining topics, expectations of the school/family partnership that year, etc. It's very helpful.

Issymum, I have learned that certain types of questions will get a stonewall reaction from dd, while questions worded in other ways will often elicit a more detailed response - ie, more than a single word!

I have a copy of the weekly schedule, so for instance, on Wednesday I can ask about gym, and what games they played and who she played with. On Thursday, I ask about assembly (who got the stars or if they sang etc), or on Friday I ask about what they did in the computer room or who brought what for show and tell. By asking in a leading way, or a way that implies knowledge of her school routine, she often will answer more than if I simply say "so what did you do today".

Sometimes I'm really silly with her, and say something like "did the pink elephant come to ballet today" or "someone told me your ballet teacher was wearing a clown costume today!" She of course, laughs and then often will proceed to tell me what did happen....with a bit of prompting, of course!

I know who she sits next to, so I can say "what did Isabelle have for lunch today" or "did you play with Grace during break today". But the question almost guaranteed to get her talking is "was anyone naughty today?" She then will chatter and tell me about it.

It also has helped a great deal to have a friend whose elder daughter was in reception with the same teacher a few years ago. That friend guides me as to what goes on in the classroom/with the teacher, and what to expect. It helps fill in the many gaps left by dd's patchy responses!

I'm sure you've tried most/all of these tricks, so it may be that your dd is more determined in her silences than my little chatterbox!

DD1 is very forthcoming but curiously uninformative. They do have Rules and if you Break the Rules you get sent to the headmaster. She has become quite punitively keen on this and tries to enforce it on her two year old sister. She does bring home a book recording what I've read to her.

She seems very happy there, now, which is I think the most important thing at this stage.

Ds1 has just started.

The only thing I've heard discipline wise is one child saying to his Mum 'Isaac was on the naughty board today' - no idea what this is but it sounds similar to what others have described.

In terms of work - ds1 started on 7th (but some didn't start full time till 15th). Last week they started on the first letter sounds (Jolly Phonics) so did 's', 't', 'a', 'i' and 'p' and at the end of the week they brought home their worksheets they'd done for that week and they were to practice the sounds, actions and writing the letters. I think this will happen every week.

I spoke to his teacher briefly and they don't start 'reading' until they have done the 42 letter sounds (you can see them on the Jolly Phonics website) and then they will start to bring home books.

In the meantime, we practice the weeks work with them at teh weekend and we have a little book that we write down their progress in.

dd1 had a Maths Assessment yesterday.

me: how did it go?
dd1: I wrote the date
me: anything else?
dd1: no
me: never mind dd1

Oh yes - ds1 has had umpteen stickers for tidying up and the like!

The main things I recall about reception at ds & dd's school (they're now year 2 & year 1 respectively) are that:

• every day when I dropped them off there was some kind of activity set up on tables to ease them into the day;

• very very quickly the learning seemed to stratify into what was required by each individual child. So ds, who's v bright but a Challenge, steamed through letter sounds into reading books and even into writing little book reviews (about which I have mixed feelings), while others were doing just fine working gradually through phonics; and

• similarly, the strategies for discipline seemed to depend on what flavour, let's say, the class was & what was needed - and there I'm afraid it was ds that set a lot of the requirements. So his class had rules, and target sheets, and circle time about respecting others, that (for instance) I should think Marina's ds's class mightn't need.

So maybe most schools take a similar sort of wide view? I would hope so.

Issymum - Sorry, I didn't mean to sound " oh poor me, I work and miss out"

We have not met the teacher yet (apart from at the open day in June when he did a talk). He is sending an appointment home to parents week beginning 17 October where he will discuss ds progress and I suppose raise any concerns we have. I just feel I should be doing something, anything to help give ds a good start. I have the Letts books but he is so tired when I get home (5pm) that I do not think it is fair to expect him to sit and concentrate.

On another note, the sweet child I send into school, comes home a devil! The tantrums are unbelievable and you'd think he had lost his life the way he cries when I tell him it's bath time!