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Original poster

If ds can read in pre-school, how will he not get bored witless in reception etc?

76 replies

Aloha · 02/02/2006 22:14

Ok, i know this is a PARP subject for lots of people, but it's a serious concern for me.
Ds is at pre-school - he's one of the oldest kids in his year as he's September born so he's 4.4 yrs. He's dyspraxic with some Asperger's like traits so he has his problems.He is very bright though, and I think we are only just realising, though talking to his senco/ot etc just how bright.
He can breeze through all the 45 sight words he's supposed to know by the end of reception, and I'm pretty certain he can also read all the words he's supposed to know by the end of yr2.
I really love his school, and the Senco is wonderful and they are talking about the Gifted and Talented register and extension work, but does that actually work? I really want him to love school and he adores learning and I don't want him to be bored witless and go off the whole idea of school. Does anyone have experience of what will actually happen?

OP posts:

singersgirl · 03/02/2006 17:58

Also, I think whether they are bored or not has a lot to do with personality and interests. DS2 isn't bored because he is very sociable and there is lots going on. He doesn't have 'older' interests and is into normal 4 year old stuff like superheroes. There's lots of topic time and role play and free writing time.

I wasn't bored at school because, like other posters, I just read books at my level, was given an individual level of maths work (but not until about Y3) and went into more depth on topics. But I do know lots of people who were...

FioFio · 03/02/2006 18:16

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Lowrie · 03/02/2006 18:45

I think reception and Y1 are very much about getting used to school life and routines as well as the academic stuff. One of my sons finds reading very easy too but wasn't bored- too busy learning how to sit on the mat quietly when required (still hasn't cracked that one!), getting out of eating school dinners by telling them he was allergic to key ingredients, learning that big boys, no matter how kind, don't really want to play with little boys as equals so making do with kids in his class and trying to charm his teacher into allowing him to do exactly what he wanted (quite successfully in one case). I was quite glad he was able to coast on the academic side to an extent (though they seemed to be teaching him at an appropriate level, don't get me wrong) as there was so much else for him to get to grips with.
(must change name back- i am Scummy Mummy, btw)

batters · 03/02/2006 21:10

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Original poster

Aloha · 03/02/2006 23:09

FioFio, every time I go into school they corner me about his reading! But his drawings are well below average, I promise you!
I'm certainly not saying there is nothing he can learn from school, but he is academically minded (and yes he has a diagnosis of DCD/dyspraxia, but he definitely has AS type traits) and so I know that side of things will be important to him. I certainly hope it will be a jolly experience, and tbh I'd much rather they concentrated on social stuff and eating noodles than reading as ds can already do the reading!

OP posts:

tamum · 03/02/2006 23:12

Batters has a very good point- if you're worried that he might be struggling with physical skills it will do his confidence no hard at all to be way ahead of the game in reading

tamum · 03/02/2006 23:13

harm, not hard, sorry.

Original poster

Aloha · 03/02/2006 23:13

Yes, I do agree with that point.

OP posts:

4blue1pink · 03/02/2006 23:15

In my experience the g and t register is a heap of poo!

Two of my kids could read young and were also old in yeargroup....

peronally i felt i was banging my head against a brick wall for a few years of their schooling and havint o progress the reading side of things alone at home. HOWEVER these two are now 9 and 11 and i am glad i battled on as academically they are both very succesful..maybe they would have been without the reading but i will always believe it opened a lot of doors for them when they were young........

Ailsa · 03/02/2006 23:43

Aloha, when you next see the SENCO ask about differentiation, basically this means that the work should be matched to the ability of the child and should be happening in all schools. They should be able to keep your ds 'engaged' and not let him get bored.

Differentiation

As a governor at my ds's school, our curriculum visits for the next year have to focus on this.

HTH

Ibib · 04/02/2006 12:35

Hi Aloha
My son is on the asd (Asperger's like traits). He is 4.5 in reception and can read beyond his age ie year 6++ However you have to realise is their ability of comprehending what they are reading! Once you can read that is it however what you understanding from what you read is a different story altogether. I also have a son in year 2 and I know what the expectations are from reception to year 2. I have said to the SENCO and teacher for him to be treated like the other children even though his reading abilities are extensive because I want him to feel the sameHe loves school and everything that goes with it. I think school are also for other develpoments social side at this impressionable year they should ne given opportunities to just enjoy it all I refused to have him in the G&T register to me it is a paper exercise for government policies!! Enjoy him and his abilities!!!!!

batters · 04/02/2006 16:48

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ScummyMummy · 04/02/2006 16:51

Really good point.., decoding does not equal understanding necessarily.

roisin · 04/02/2006 17:14

I listened to readers in school for many, many hours, and very rarely came across a reader who could successfully de-code, but couldn't understand the meaning.

Particularly with very able children, early readers, etc. their enthusiasm for reading more challenging books is precisely because they understand and appreciate them.

DS2 is 'theoretically' (ie on paper and according to school) a better reader than ds1 at this age, but he doesn't have the understanding to appreciate the more complex texts ds1 was reading at this age. So he's just not interested in tackling them, which is fine by me.

Piffle · 04/02/2006 17:23

I remember being told by ds's yr 2 teacher that he would not understand the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - that was what he was reading at home...
It struck me as a catch 22, how do you learn the meaning if not by reading and facing unknown literary obstacles?
I managed to figure that ds was understanding most of it, he was able to work out much of it by using the things he understood as contextual, so understanding followed from there.
The school were very unsupportive!

ScummyMummy · 04/02/2006 17:35

I think i was a decoding success who didn't always grasp the finer points, roisin. But was v eager to please and would therefore nod wisely on cue. And could parrot back the right words very easily. Not saying that there aren't lots of kids who are very different, though. One of my sons sounds very like your ds2, btw.

batters · 04/02/2006 17:42

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tamum · 04/02/2006 17:46

Same here batters- ds was an early, fluent reader who hadn't the faintest idea of what was going on in any book. It was a real problem for him, because although on the old-fashioned tests he would score as having a very high reading age, they are now tested in terms of comprehension, so he did abysmally. I didn't think it was that uncommon to be honest roisin- I came across quite a few more like him when hearing reading.

tamum · 04/02/2006 17:49

I meant to add, though, that it doesn't sound to me as though Aloha's ds does have this problem.

hannahsaunt · 04/02/2006 22:23

Ds1 is ahead of the game for reading and writing; he just started grade 1 a couple of weeks ago. However, he's certainly not bored (yet) as he's loving getting to grips with the whole concept of school and he has enough energy to do quite a few things out of school which is great - hopefully he'll find life beyond academic things too and be able to cope with life socially and emotionally rather than being pushed ahead of himself just because he's good in one or two areas.

Original poster

Aloha · 04/02/2006 22:27

Ds reads aloud very fluently and with huge amounts of appropriate expression - ie angry when the speech is angry so I do think he does understand most of what he reads. Obviously he asks questions all the time to get to the finer points of meaning - ie why is he sad because X has happened? And I don't want to push him, I just want him to enjoy school and feel the thrill of learning new things.

OP posts:

roisin · 04/02/2006 22:31

But Tamum don't you find that children with that disparity between de-coding fluency and comprehension are not enjoying what they read. They are not choosing those books, and reading them voraciously: but merely performing well when requested.

I think interrogating a child too much about how much they have understood of what they are reading can be damaging to their confidence. But instead I prefer to take my lead from them: If they think they can read it, and want to have a go, and are passionate and enthusiastic and motivated then fine! Sure if they read Lord of the Rings at 7, then they will certainly get more out of it when they are older; but that's no reason to say they shouldn't read it at 7 if they choose to?

Original poster

Aloha · 04/02/2006 22:50

I agree. If they choose the book they are certainly getting something out of it. If I was grilled about the exact motivation of character X in everything I read for pleasure, it might sap the pleasure considerable. Actually I did an English degree, and to some extent that did rob reading of much of its joy.

OP posts:

tamum · 04/02/2006 22:57

Not for ds, no. He does read for pleasure now, but not a huge amount. He seemed to like ORT if I read them to him, but he would get to the end of a book that he read himself and say "I have no idea what that was about". I certainly wasn't interrogating him, it simply didn't go in if he was doing the reading. I have to say if I had let him take the lead at all times then he would never have got past Beano. I think it's really very different when you have children who really enjoy reading- dd is the polar opposite.

drosophila · 05/02/2006 11:33

DS could read before school and when I told his teacher this she assessed him and put him on the apt book. As far as I cn tell they do very little reading in school and most is done at home. Ds is also very good at maths and they don't really accomadate this other than to say how good he is.

His writing is poor and this is what keeps him on his toes iykwim. I think thet do a lot more writing at school than anything else.

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