Ds starting reception next week - am starting to worry!

[BooMama]

Ds (who was 4 in June) is starting reception next Friday, part time. He spent last year at a separate playgroup three mornings a week and so is skipping the nursery year and entering at reception (there are going to be 4 others that I know of at least in the same situation from his playgroup in his year at school). I think he will be fine with the increase in hours, at least till he goes full time at Christmas. What is concerning me is the standard of learning he has reached so far and how this will affect him in the classroom.
He can write his first name (it only has 3 letters) although it is a bit wobbly and you can't always tell what it says. He can count to 10 and sometimes above but inconsistently (ie he often forgets '5').
He just doesn't seem to have much enthusiasm for drawing or anything that he needs to take time over. I know I shouldn't compare him to other children (especially 2 girls who are 7 months older!) but there seems such a vast chasm between them - and yet they are going to be in the same class.
He is also quite quiet and I just worry that in a class of 30 he is going to get overlooked.
I don't know if I need reassurance or advice!!

Hi BooMama, this isn't really advice but my ds was 4 in March so is starting reception shortly. He sounds like he is at a similar stage of learning to your ds in that he tries to write his name (4 letters) but it is hard to make out, his drawings are very primitive and rushed and he can count to a little over 20 but the numbers sometimes get muddled.
Perhaps you can have a word with his teacher/classroom assistant on the first day? I'm pretty sure lots of parents will be feeling the same concerns. Personally I'm more worried about his speech, he needs SALT and doesn't say his name properly, but I feel quite laidback about his numeracy, etc.
Hope someone with experience can reply to your question too.

My ds1 (also 4 in June) will be starting Reception a week on Monday. There are things that he can do that the other children can't but there are also things that ds1 can't do that the others can. It all seems to balance out in the end. FWIW your ds sounds fine. My ds1 is a long way from being able to write his own name and I doubt very much that he will be the only one. In Reception the emphasis is very much on learning through play, just like playgroups/pre-schools etc.

I really would not worry atall Boomama.
I am a teaching assistant in a primary school & have been working in the reception class 4 some time.
It is now evan more play based than ever (4 the 1st term probably more so than nursery) & the teaching staff take into consideration that some of the children are very young. An awful lot cannot write their names when they start in reception & some still cant when they leave for year 1!
My ds1 is starting school in September also & he will be 1 of the oldest (he is 5 a week after he starts)& he still reverses the letters while writing his name & gets muddled after 12, while counting (the nursery tell me that number skills r his strong point!)
So I really would not worry. The school would rather have a child with good social skills than 1 that has been pushed educationally. Hth.

Your ds sounds well within the normal range (I am a primary school teacher - well, was - my dd is starting school in September too and I have two ds's already at school). Ds1 definitely could do very little in the writing and drawing side of things when he started and he was a June birth too. Also he was, and still is, painfully shy and easily overlookable (excuse the word). Reception is very much an introductory time to schooling and a lot of emphasis is put on socialising and adjusting to school life in the first few months. If you have any concerns on the social side I would definitely speak to the teacher very early on so that she knows your concerns and it will help to bring your ds to her attention if he has slipped under the net a bit. The academic side I wouldn't worry about at all as he sounds fine.

Thank you all so much for the reassurance!
The day before he starts the teacher and teaching assistant are coming to our house (for 20 mins)to meet me and ds (as he didn't go to their nursery) so I guess that will be a good time for me to mention my concerns over the being overlooked issue!
I'm relieved to hear that his academic achievements seem normal for his age! We have never pushed him in that area but recently started to worry that we may have been failing him by not pushing! I had this idea that so long as he was having fun everything would just fall in place and that we had to keep enjoyment high(ie with books) to keep him keen! But he is my first child so I have no experience to base anything on! What he has learned with writing and letters has primarily come from playgroup although we do 'play' counting a lot at home. He was given a Galt Early Activities Starting School Sticker Book for his birthday and we have just completed it (doing it bit by bit over the holidays). He has really enjoyed doing it but I suppose it has drawn my attention to the difficulties he has with copying letters and suchlike. So I am very relieved to hear that he isn't really behind at all!
I just had visions of him starting, being considerably behind the other children and yet also being overlooked because of his character!