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

1 2 3

Original poster

If your child can read before they go to school, what do they do while everyone else is being taught?

56 replies

hunkermunker · 31/08/2006 09:20

And are books for able readers more interesting than they were when I went to school? I remember reading about flotsam and jetsam on a beach. Ooh.

No idea whether DS1 will be able to read before he goes to school, but he's definitely got an interest in it (and in numbers), can count and recognise words (usually logos) and knows all the capital letters (from watching mucho Countdown when DS2 was teeny ).

I'm aware this is a bit braggy, btw and Not The Done Thing on MN. But I Don't Care.

OP posts:

foxtrot · 31/08/2006 11:44

DS1 starts in reception in a couple of weeks. Althought i have encouraged his interest in the world around him - dinosaurs, volcanoes , planets etc - i have put off teaching him to read (he knows all his letters) because i don't want him getting bored at school. Also there are so many different ways to learn - phonics etc - that i didn't want to go off on a different tack from the school and confuse him. I just found out that the school also teaches joined up writing from the start, so he will have to relearn his letter writing to include all the correct tails and hooks and whatever. I will be making sure that if his reading skills take off quickly he gets the level of books he needs.

electrica77 · 31/08/2006 11:50

lol I'd forgotten about finger spaces and learning capital letters! Having kids must be great for reliving your own childhood- I can't wait. Only 6 weeks to go! My dp has amassed a collection of puppets and can't wait to start reading to the baby so he can do all the voices and stuff lol.

In theory, inclusive education means that high ability and special needs children (is that still pc?) and all the ones in the mid range can be educated together and still receive an education appropriate to their needs. I personally don't believe this works in practise, and I'm not sure that most teachers do either.

electrica77 · 31/08/2006 11:55

Greensleeves, try and remember that your experience was your experience, and that your child will have his own. he might take to it like a duck to water! I think you have to cross bridges when you come to them. It must be terribly upsetting for you when you had a difficult time yourself, and I think all parents feel that initial separation anxiety anyway, but most kids find something at school to enjoy.

puddle · 31/08/2006 11:55

Good point foxtrot about cursive writing. They do that at ds's school too.

Social skills are a tricky one certainly. I think with boys some of it is about maturity and just getting older helps. A good primary will encourage good behaviours in children and help them work together to make the class a good place for everyone to be, while gently guiding children who find the whole social interaction side of school more challenging.

One of my ds's best friends sounds very like your ds greensleeves. He's a boffin, no doubt about it. But much loved by his classmates for his big brain and slightly eccentric ways!

Twiglett · 31/08/2006 11:55

Ummm electrica .. shouldn't you be nesting

lazycow · 31/08/2006 12:00

You know GS my dh feels the same about school that it is a 'trial of endurance' He also constantly says things like 'well children can be quite savage etc' as I think that was his experience of school. He is an academic now and loves his work and is generally much happier/content in life than I am.

I on the other hand did not mind school too much in fact even enjoyed bits of it but for some children I believe it can be an ordeal.

I would be willing to consider homeschooling if when it comes to it ds has difficulty at school but dh seems to think that is a bad idea. Given his experience I'm not sure why. I really don't think I could bear to see ds go through the sorts of things dh describes.

electrica77 · 31/08/2006 12:01

I'm a forward planner lol

I think education has just been on my mind lately. All part of the build up no doubt. Its also difficult to nest when your landlord takes more than a month to replace a washing machine and you can't wash any baby stuff, and when your bloody cleaner keeps not turning up!

I've retreated to the internet to talk about things that won't affect me for 5 years- I think this is what's commonly known as 'denial'!! LOL

Jimjams2 · 31/08/2006 12:10

Reception is more about learning the social rules of school. They do a huge amount of queueing, they need to learn to sit still and to work in groups and listen when told to. They need to learn to eat their lunch quickly, and to get changed for PE.

Reading will be done at the child's level.

The biggest concern I have about ds2 starting school next week is that he takes ages to do buttons and is crap at putting socks and shoes on. That's going to affect him and potentially his self esteen way more than how many words he can read.

JanH · 31/08/2006 12:20

Does he have to wear a shirt or a polo, jj? If it's an actual shirt, can you train him to just undo the first 2-3 buttons and pull it over his head?

IME they spend very little time in Reception doing what you would think of as "work" - just organising them seems to take up half the day! And the work they do do is usually done in small groups so it can be tailored to group ability rather than whole class.

Infant playgrounds are far better supervised than they used to be - again IME - there will always be odd children playing alone from time to time, but not always the same ones, and they're not necessarily unhappy to be alone. hunker and greeny, I think you both need to be a bit more optimistic about what your boys' school experiences will be like

JanH · 31/08/2006 12:21

And can he have velcro shoes? And keep his socks on for PE?

Greensleeves · 31/08/2006 12:21

Well, I am optimistic in front of him Jan

Original poster

hunkermunker · 31/08/2006 12:43

Oh, totally optimistic and v "there" for him, Jan - think that was part of the problem with my school days - I didn't feel I had anyone to talk to about it. I couldn't "let anyone down" iywsim. No real reason other than self-imposed thing though, I don't think.

OP posts:

JanH · 31/08/2006 23:14

Oh good, I'm glad you are optimistic to them, but I hope you can also be for yourselves; going to school is such a big adventure, like so many other new things in childhood, and it's nice for all of you to be able to look forward to it (in all senses)

Once mine were at school I found there was so often something about to happen in connection with one of them that there was always something to look forward to - in all senses! - now I only have one at school at that has dwindled rather

singersgirl · 31/08/2006 23:28

As other posters have said, they do a lot more in Reception than just learn to read, so even if your child is already reading, they will not spend all their time going over stuff they already know.

Some of it depends on the temperament of the child. DS2 was quite happy to spend 10 minutes filling in a worksheet of rhyming words, even though he wasn't learning anything - it was easy and quick, and he likes words. He wasn't so happy to fill in pages of easy numeracy work, as he would rather have told the teacher the answers in a few seconds than labour (as his writing skills are not very good) to form the numbers correctly.

For DS2, learning to write (not spell, but physically write) has been the challenge of Reception, as well as turn-taking, wiping his bum and putting his socks on the right way up.

Original poster

hunkermunker · 31/08/2006 23:29

I've got to get over the playgroup hurdle before I do the going to school one... I remember someone else taking home the drawings I'd done, lots of boys charging about on ride-on toys, having my ear banged really hard against the climbing frame by an evil boy and weeing on the top of the climbing frame. Oh and learning the phrase "to and fro" when the leader told some girls off for pulling the wendy house curtains to and fro.

I just didn't like children very much, I don't think. Still don't, if I'm brutally honest

I think I'll probably involve myself with the school though - PTA, etc. So at least I'll know a bit about the teachers, etc. Or is that mad?

OP posts:

Thomcat · 31/08/2006 23:30

He'll proabably be made to do algebra while waiting for kids like my DD to catch up.

swedishmum · 31/08/2006 23:33

After we moved to the sticks from Bromley had a constant battle with dd1 - she spent all of primary school on a slightly different planet from the rest of the class. Her fab YR teacher gave her Y2 work, but when she moved up to Y1 she was given much easier books etc. it was a constant niggle. She was articulate, could read and had social skills before reception and the poor behaviour of others held her back. Only now she's at grammar school does she have real friends her own age she has something in common with. Dd2 and DS have changed schools - low expectations at 1st one - but dd3 seems to be v v bright. Advice - don't choose a small school - not enough stimulation from other pupils unless you're in a particularly bright year group.

twiddlingthumbs · 01/09/2006 10:42

That's a bit uncalled-for Thomcat.

PanicPants · 01/09/2006 10:46

Don't worry, you child will be taught to further their ability - whatever that is - through the teacher differentiating work given to the children, as well as using strategies like directed questioning, within carpet sessions.

NewTermAtMaloryTowers · 01/09/2006 10:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nemo1977 · 01/09/2006 10:50

hunker sounds a bit like my ds who is 3 in oct.Doesnt actually start reception until sept 08. He knows all his letters and sounds, can count past 40 and recognise numbers letters some basic words and is alwyas wanting to know more. Although as others have said socially he is not very good and his speech is poor[been referred for salt]

dinosaur · 01/09/2006 10:56

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Original poster

hunkermunker · 01/09/2006 11:13

I think what really worries me is that he'll be picked on if he is bright. I was and it was vile. That's what's really upsetting me - and I know I'm worrying about it well in advance, btw. Humour me, OK?! [knows people get exasperated with me]

OP posts:

singersgirl · 01/09/2006 12:31

There are lots of bright children at my childrens' school (state primary in affluent but mixed area) and, at least at this age (YR and Y3), no one is picked on. At 4 or 5, even though children know that some can read better than others (for example), they don't seem to make any qualitative judgments about it - it's just a fact. Later, it may change, as children themselves become more competitive, but achieving at my boys' school is seen as a good thing.

So there's no reason your son will be picked on because he's bright.

Also, not all bright children are socially deficient either - not that you said that, but there seems to be an implication in some of the posts that it's likely. DS2 is bright as a button, but a sociable, cheery chap with two or three best friends and a whole lot of other people he happily plays with. He likes Batman and Power Rangers, as well as pointing out glottal stops, onomatopoeia and that the Greek word for 'no' looks like 'ox'.

Mercy · 01/09/2006 12:59

Singersgirl, I agree that not all bright children lack social skills or are likely to get picked on. My brother was bright but also outgoing, chatty, confident, made friends easily, etc.

As for my dd, her lack of social skills are connected to her confidence/ outgoing nature in a different way.

Hunker, I can't remember how old your ds1 is - is he at playgroup or nursery?

Flip

1 2 3