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Original poster

reading in reception -- am i being too laid back by throwing ds homework in the bin?

46 replies

Lozzer · 05/02/2006 14:36

I was just looking at aloha's thread about her son and reading at school, and now I am wondering if I am being a bit silly by not doing any of the "key word" homework with my ds, who is in reception?
We do plenty of other stuff like painting and cooking and gardening and we play outdoors a lot (we live in Malaysia). And I do read lots of books to ds BUT I never get him to look at the keywords he brings home from school, or any of the jolly phonics stuff. Infact, I normally put it in the bin.
My reasoning (to myself) has always been that plenty of kids don't go to school until they are 6 or 7 and reading isn't a priority right now. But I think most of the other kids in ds class can probably read a bit, and now I am thinking I SHOULD make a bit of a reading effort so ds doesn't feel left out at school. Any opinions please????? Am I being a tad laid back on the reading front?

OP posts:

BudaBabe · 05/02/2006 14:40

Yes - have to say I think you are. He will struggle at school and think it's his fault. If you don't want him to follow what they are doing in school why is he there??

There are 45 words that they are expected to knwo by thte end of Reception. That then leads on to more in Year 1. Your DS stands a chance of ging into year 1 with the same level of reading as he started Reception.

Can't believe the teacher hasn't commented TBH.

WideWebWitch · 05/02/2006 14:40

I don't think you're being too laid back, I wasn't worried about my ds reading in reception, not at all, but then I don't think they should necessarily be at ft school then anyway. So I'm with you on it and I was fairly laid back too and prob did plenty of chucking away too. I think reading books to him is absolutely fine and the way to go. I like your thread title, made me laugh! I bet everyone else disagrees with me though.

Rowlers · 05/02/2006 14:41

Yes.
DP's mother never spent a minute reading with him when he was a child. As a consequence of this total lack of interest he was very late reading. He was behind his peers and still resents it now.
Chucking homework in the bin? Not a good message to your child, really.
Children with support from home fair better in school in my opinion.

BudaBabe · 05/02/2006 14:42

My DS is 4.5 and is in Reception. I think they are really to youg at 4 to be learning to read but that is the curriculum. I would worry that they will struggle in Year 1 if haven't learnt the basics in Reception IYSWIM.

WideWebWitch · 05/02/2006 14:42

Is he 4 or 5? Many countries don't send children until 7, I don't think it does them any harm at all, they're little for such a short time. I did lots of looking at number plates and stuff when my ds showed an interest but nothing when he didn't iyswim.

BudaBabe · 05/02/2006 14:43

I agree that many countries don;t send until 7 but the UK does! So if you are in UK system or going to be surely you should support what the school are doing?

WideWebWitch · 05/02/2006 14:44

Yes Rowlers but it's not homework is it, it's key words with a suggestion that these are the ones to concentrate on. isn't it? I agree if a child is asked to complete a specific piece of work then parents should help them, absolutely, otoh I think 4/5 is far too young for them to have to do anything once they get home.

WideWebWitch · 05/02/2006 14:44

OP is in Malaysia, not uk isn't she?

BudaBabe · 05/02/2006 14:58

Yes OP is in Malaysia but I assumed (maybe wrongly!) that it was a British school. We are in Budapest and DS is in a British school and follows UK curriculum.

Original poster

Lozzer · 05/02/2006 15:11

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, I am in Malaysia, not England, but ds goes to an English curriculum school.
Ds is doing fine at school, learning lots of social skills and doing his "reading" bits of the day at school. My point is that I don't reinforce his "key words" and writing exercises at home, and I wonder if I should?
Its not that I am unsupportive of the school (which I think is the impression I gave from my original post.) We do plenty of other school-related stuff and I help out in swimming and IT lessons each week. Ds and I have spent most of this morning sorting out shirts for a school fund-raising drive for a teacher in Vietnam, and we do lots of fun stuff at home. That includes book reading. By book reading, I mean that I read ds books. Some have pictures, some don't.
Ds doesn't seem to be bothered about reading himself, so I have up until now, not pushed him at all.
But from the general tone of replies, I think I had better start soon! Thanks for letting me know what you think. x

OP posts:

Rowlers · 05/02/2006 15:13

True WWW!
Without being too bothered by the outcome, I'd perhaps at least show an interest in these key words and get into the habit of sharing in the learning process.
I suppose I'm swayed by my own and DP's experiences and feel that, in most cases, parental interest makes a big difference to "performance" and the child's confidence.

Enid · 05/02/2006 15:14

I would push it a bit

I never did with dd1 (she showed no interest) and then found she was miles behind others in the class.

sometimes I feel like throwing her homework in the bin (they have a book to read aloud every night) but if we really really can't face it I write in her book that we were too tired

Original poster

Lozzer · 05/02/2006 15:30

Think I had better go and look up those key words then! Are they standardized? I mean, is there a website somewhere that lists the key words for reception? Or am I going to have to go and ask the teacher (who luckily is very lovely and competent) for some new lists to replace the ones I threw in the bin?
Many thanks, Lozzer

OP posts:

Enid · 05/02/2006 15:35

they are standardised

I think they are on web somewhere hold on

Enid · 05/02/2006 15:37

this looks like them

Original poster

Lozzer · 05/02/2006 15:58

Many thanks, Enid.

OP posts:

mixed · 05/02/2006 16:03

I think his reading books from school are useless and don't bother to much with it. Do read lots of books with/to him otherwise (which he really enjoys). Not teaching him the key words doesn't mean you don't take an interest in what he does at school.
For what it's worth ds hasn't brought any key words at home at all. I'm sure he will catch up if he is behind others. What I gather from him anyway is that somwe children could read before starting school and some don't, and he isn't bothered that he can't.

chipmonkey · 05/02/2006 16:04

I did go to a lot of trouble with ds2 but he still never remembered them the next day.

ScummyMummy · 05/02/2006 16:08

I occasionally used to "lose" my sons' homework when they were in Y1, I must admit. I think they had an over-zealous teacher because they had sheets and sheets of it. They didn't get any in reception and now in Y2 they seem to get a much more sensible amount, luckily. I personally believe that kids "get" reading when they're ready and there's not much point in doing more than encouraging them and showing enthusiasm, Going through the words over and over won't help unless he's ready, ime. I know others disagree though!

spacedonkey · 05/02/2006 16:13

I agree with you scum. I think foisting reading homework on a child who is showing little interest is counterproductive. Better to read books with children for pleasure - they'll "get" it when they're ready.

LIZS · 05/02/2006 16:15

We are reasonably laid back about dd's "homework" but then as she is enthusiastic we can probably afford to be and are usually led by what she wants to do. She has a tin of about 6 sight words, reading book, workbooks to go alongside reading books, 3 simple spellings to practice once a week, and a list of words whichs he cuts out but we rarely do anything with that. We may do one or two of these per night (or often in the morning between dropping ds off and her starting) but if I feel she's too tired or just done enough for the day we won't press her.

I do think it is worth suggesting to your ds that you at least look at whatever he brings home together. If nothing else it shows your interest and enocuragement in his "work" and suggests a discipline which he'll need to establish for himself in the future. However if he doesn't want to do anymore with it, I wouldn't force it at this stage. btw ds started to read at aged 5 1/2 in an International school - he wasn't given much formal exposure to phonics or reading schemes at school prior to that - and is well up with his UK peers 2 years later who began (as dd has) at 4 !

BudaBabe · 05/02/2006 16:38

They do all catch up by Year 2 from what I have heard. I just feel that as the ARE words the are expected then they should know at least some of them!

Lozzer - are you in KL? What school in Vietnam are you fund-raising for? We lived in Vietnam for 6 years (pre DS)!

Really miss lots of things about Asia!

singersgirl · 05/02/2006 17:42

Also think it depends on how your DS feels. If he's strenously objecting to looking at his key words, I'd be inclined to do what you're doing (well, maybe not throw it in the bin).

If he doesn't mind, though, I'd run through them with him. It need only take 5 minutes.

When DS1 was in Y1 (in UK curriculum school in Singapore) they were given 5 minutes mental maths to do every night - learning facts etc. He hated it, so we did it once or twice to show willing, but I didn't force it.

Aloha · 05/02/2006 17:45

Just pointing out that I am strongly opposed to homework at primary myself. My ds wanted to read, loves to read and is utterly indifferent to painting and playing outside. But I can't see why you wouldn't want to encourage reading (just as I try to encourage ds to play outside) as it does open up such a wonderful world to children IMO (and IME)

WigWamBam · 05/02/2006 18:03

Aloha has said exactly what I was going to say. I also don't agree with homework in primary schools but developing reading skills is a different thing.

Your point about children not going to school until they're 6 or 7 doesn't really convince me either - I don't believe that reading is something you can just sit back and allow teachers to teach; vast amounts of it have to come from home as well, and if my child wasn't going to start school until 6 then I would be teaching her at home. Reading is such a gift to children, even young children, and it seems a shame to deny it to them.

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