Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Flip

Original poster

Differentiation in Reception? Experiences please!

18 replies

singersgirl · 31/01/2006 12:41

I know there are lots of posters with very able children here, so am sure some of you will have some wise words here!
DS2 (youngest in his Reception class) is a brilliant reader and pretty ace speller, and his teacher says he is extremely capable in maths too - she has mentioned that 'G & T' stuff a couple of times.
She is very keen to stretch him and has given some writing/spelling work to do at home. But he is not yet 4.5 and really tired after 6 hours at school.
I suppose I would like him to get differentiated work at school, rather than after it. There is so little free time anyway when they are at school all day. He is actually quite swotty at the moment and likes to do his spellings, but I feel bad.
He is still very young and he is also having some behaviour problems at playtime - mainly leading other children into silly pursuits. Think that is related more to tiredness than anything else.
So I'd like to ask those of you who had children who were significantly ahead in any area in Reception, did the school provide any differentiation eg going to Y1 for reading? And how successful was it?
Should I ask his teacher about what's possible in school time?

OP posts:

Auntymandy · 31/01/2006 12:45

I would ask what can be done in school time as he will be tired after school and needs time to chill. Even if his kind of chilling is reading etc

foxinsocks · 31/01/2006 12:51

every child in reception was on their own individual level for reading - so dd was just on a higher level. In yr 1 now, she gets much longer free reader style books but ones which have a subject tailored for her age.

My honest opinion is that reception is all about learning to deal with the social aspect of school. As long as they give him a reading book that suits his level, then I would focus more on having friends round and getting him settled into the school than on school work. I personally wouldn't have wanted dd to have extra work at home because she too was absolutely exhausted from school (and to a certain extent, still is now!).

Mud · 31/01/2006 12:51

do it at the weekend. our kids get homework from reception class. Your child wont' see it as omework but as something fun to do at home.

Also tiredness as an excuse for behaviour problems is a bit thin. All the kids are tired. All the kids lead each other into silly pursuits its called being 4 or 5 [girn]

silverbirch · 31/01/2006 16:16

Hi Singersgirl,

My dd was a very able reader in reception, according to her teacher she was reading at the level of a yr 6 child even then, and she was a very motivated academic sort of child at 4, so we had some of the same issues. My dd took her own books into school to read (they all read individually in reception) and filled in her own reading record book but still enjoyed some of the phonics type games they played in class. And I agree with Foxinsocks, there is so much more to reception than academics. The reception year was the year my dd blossomed socially before there was too much pressure of school work and I was pleased she was not pushed too hard so that tiredness wasn?t an issue. She wrote at home for fun but that was self initiated and part of her games. If your ds is motivated and enjoys spellings then I would do them at home as a game for fun without the pressure of added school work, I would find plenty of books for him to read and places to visit if he enjoys it, then learning at home can be for fun rather than work.

elastamum · 31/01/2006 16:35

the school should be able to cater for her in class. All the children in reception in my sons school read at their own rate so it shouldnt be an issue to give your DS appropriate material. Maths is usually worksheets so the same goes. I would hesitate letting a reception child join a YR1 class as they dont necessarily have the social skills or size and confidence to hold their own. As for after school work my DS2 chooses maths over sport any day of the week and we do as much or as little as he wants - it is his idea of play and as long as it is play not a chore I think that is fine

Original poster

singersgirl · 31/01/2006 20:56

Thanks for feedback, everyone.

The reading isn't really a problem as the teacher and I have been finding things he enjoys - he's reading "Flat Stanley" at the moment.

Elastamum, I feel that he's too young to join a Y1 class, but was interested to see if any other schools did this.

Mud, I know tiredness is a lousy excuse for bad behaviour, and to be honest I'm more worried about his playground antics right now than the work. There is absolutely loads he is learning at school, and I guess I just wanted opinions about 'extension' work out of school.

We'll carry on doing the spelling as long as he is keen!

OP posts:

Orinoco · 31/01/2006 21:01

Message withdrawn

marialuisa · 01/02/2006 09:54

My DD is apparently quite bright and in Reception. She is in a class of 9 at a private school with a teacher and f/t classroom assistant which probably makes things easier! The class as a whole is working approx 12 months ahead and DD is further ahead still.

Her class teacher is very keen not to make DD's ability too obvious so DD will often do the same basic task as the rest of the class but it will be extended. For example they did a piece of work on "The Magic Box" and all wrote a story, however DD's story was significantly longer, has a definite beginning, middle and end etc.

In maths she is given separate worksheets that extend a theme the class is working on, e.g. the class is working on addition and subtraction up to 20, DD works with numbers up to 100.

We have a bit of a funny situation with reading-DD is a voracious reader and TBH we have reached the point where it just isn't a concern any more. DD's teacher feels that it is important DD has a "reading book" that looks similar to those for the rest of the class so she doesn't stick out too much. However the reading scheme level to match her ability would be dull beyond belief so DD has a top level Rigby Rocket or similar which is changed every day. DD also chooses a couple of books per week from the school library which can be just about anything. The teacher or TA hears her read aloud every day and they work on things like expression, pace etc. so it's kind of like speech lessons really. They also look at punctuation in the books and then try to get DD using whatever (question marks this week) in her own written work.

fennel · 01/02/2006 09:56

i'd really say it depends how keen he is to do this at weekends or after school. my dd2 is 4.5 and doing very well in her reception class. they have writing books they can but don't have to do at home, she currently really likes doing this and does several extra writing exercises a week. plus we find extra books for her to read. the school doesn't push it though at this age, for her or for other children they are very much into letting them play a lot at the reception age.

Original poster

singersgirl · 01/02/2006 12:27

Thanks everyone.

Marialuisa, my DS is definitely not as advanced as your daughter and nowhere near writing developed stories. In fact, his poor fine motor make writing quite laborious.

But with 30 in his class, he is currently only being heard read once every 10 days or so. He reads to me at home, of course, but I feel he should be heard as often as the other children with emphasis on vocabulary, punctuation, rather than fluency.

9 in a class - that sounds good for everybody!

OP posts:

Miaou · 01/02/2006 12:55

Yup singersgirl, rather than getting extra work at home, dd1 went into the main school to do reading and maths while she was in nursery - she just went through for short half-hour sessions - enough to keep her interested but not so much that she got tired of it.

Piffle · 01/02/2006 13:15

Singers girl I simply let my ds read more advanced books at home with me and did his spellings. I refused to have him on any extra work programme due to his age and also his tiredness.
He started to do extra in yr 3, that fitted in well, although he was quite bored in yr 2, I did things with him outside of school, like drama and music classes to stimulate him in other directions. This really paid off one of the risk you run by extedning too early is the pressure to put them up a year, we were lucky to resist this.
Leaving it til later did my ds no harm, he is in grammar school now and on the G+T programme (not that it does much atm and this is yr 7!)
the teachers priorities in yr1 lay with helping the least able more. Confident readers are left to it I found.

Mog · 01/02/2006 16:41

Marialuisa - I was a bit gobsmacked when I read your post. In dd's state school reception the children are not even writing sentences. What age are the class and are they progressing so fast because of the small numbers do you think?

LIZS · 01/02/2006 16:54

singersgirl, do they have any volunteers to hear reading at your school. Ours doesn't seem to in Reception as a matter of course but do in Years 1 and 2. Perhaps your ds2 could also benefit from that. dd is in a class of 16 and they are heard every day. What do they do if, for example, he finishes sooner than the others, do they giv ehim more to get on with ? I'd be reluctant to push for any specific differentiation or extra out of school work so young, as long as he isn't getting frustrated, and let him develop socially and behaviourally and improve his fine motor skills.

roisin · 01/02/2006 17:05

Marialuisa - it's great to hear such positive reports about your dd and her school. It sounds as though they are handling her and her classmates perfectly. I hope it continues ever thus.
Roisin

Orinoco · 01/02/2006 20:38

Message withdrawn

Original poster

singersgirl · 01/02/2006 22:48

LIZS, there are lots of parent volunteers helping with reading and I've heard lots of children, but DS hasn't been listened to. Tonight he really wanted to finish his chapter but he was so tired I had to take him to bed.

Mog, I reckon the small numbers must make a difference, though I know a couple of children in Reception at local private schools with small classes and they're still writing words or sentences.

Still, DS2 got a sticker for every playtime today!

OP posts:

marialuisa · 02/02/2006 08:15

Orinoco-your DD not coming is probably why our Reception class only has 9 kids and the other Reception class has 10! Glad she's doing well where she is

Thanks Roisin, we ae very happy and after parents' evening last night even more so! Her teacher is putting so much effort into getting things right for DD and making sure that she still gets to be a Reception age little girl. It is a very close knit school and the other staff know DD already so we're hopeful for the future.

Yes, I do think the class sizes make a difference. DD's class operate on a 1:4.5 ratio and there is plenty of time which makes a big difference to the staff and kids.

Flip