Approaching the end of reception year, have some concerns. am I neurotic?

[MascaraOHara]

So my dd is approaching the end of her first year at school. Her writing is awful and her reading has not progressed beyond the first level "The cat has a hat" type thing.

At parents evenings I was told that she was doing well etc and as she's one of the younest she didn't start full time until after easter, which I have a bug bear about anyway.

Now she has always been behind with her motor skills and expected her writing to be messier than most but I am shocked that she still can not hold a pencil correctly or form her letters properly. I asked her the other day if the teachers help with how they make the letters and she said they didn't nor, according to her, do they correct the way she holds her pencil. I read somewhere that it's very important to learn how to hold the pencil properly.

Reading - I am surprised she has had no progression we read a lot at home and she's not bad with sounds.

So I'm not sure why I posted, I don't know what to do.. leave it alone and assume she'll pick it up, speak to the teacher or look at new schools (I am losing confidence in the school for other reasons also). I do worry that once out of reception she will always be struggling to catch up.

What do you guys think?

Hi. I taught reception for many years. Sorry to hear about your concerns.

Given that she is young and didnt start full time till after Easter (Which is not ideal I know) I wouldn't think you have too much to worry about in terms of your dd's ability. Put it like this,if she lived in Scotland (where I live now) she wouldn't even be starting school till this August. Its not unusual for children to be hardly reading, or forming letters incorrectly at this stage.

However, am surprised that no-one is helping her hold pencil correctly, unless teacher is really overloaded time-wise, as this is very important so that bad habits don't form.

If i were you I would speak to her class teacher and voice any concerns, if you are not satisfied then go to head. If you are still unhappy then maybe, as you suggest, go and look at other schools. I think gut feelings can count for a lot.

It sounds really normal to me. Have you seen the other recent thread about worries about reading etc for children this age ending reception at the moment? Lots of people with similar worries.

My dd1 had awful writing and mediocre reading at the end of reception. She's fine now in yr 2, no reading or writing problems.

Thanks guys, I didn't see the other threads

Did she find it difficult to 'catch up' Fennel?

So, after 2 terms at school she can write a bit and read NCN words (noun consanant noun)? Surely there is nothing to worry about, rather than 'not too much to worry about'?

ds2 didn't start full time until easter and his writing, reading etc was pretty bad.

the teacher had no worries at all about him and now almost atthe end of yr1 he's come on leaps and bounds.

His writing is still messy, but ds1's (yr3) is and so was mine in primary. You'd honestly never know he had so much "trouble" in reception.

Blu, do you mean CVC words ?(consonant vowel consonant)

She improved a lot on reading over the summer holidays between reception and yr 1, we did put in a bit of effort with her on that, but I think it just started "clicking" with her.

And then in the summer holidays between yr 1 and yr 2 we did nothing at all school-oriented with her and her reading improved dramatically over that holidays too (which was nice, a good excuse for laissez-faire parenting )

Please dont get pulled in, You daughter is doing perfectly well for her age/time at school. my third child is also in reception and has not yet started reading and has only just grasped his sounds. My two children before were at roughly the same stage in reception. It all fell into place for them when the time was right and they now both read well.

Apprentice: Ah, well, there you are you see - had my Mum been a Mn-er she would no doubt have been posting
"After 3 years at University studying Language and Literature DD can not recognise the difference between a vowel and a noun, nor where they would fit in a word such as 'hat'. I worry that she will never be able to post anything literate on MN at all".
And her worry would have been wholly justified!

Best take no notice of me whatsoever, I have lost any marbles i may once have had.

Would the school be willing to give you things that you can do at home? They may have ideas that can be done at home as well that would improve writing and reading.

but you made me laugh, Blu, and thats a more worthwhile than knowing about vowels , consonants etc.

(BTW I also did L and L at university. )

Blu!

Mo'H, my dd1 also didn't start full-time till the Easter of Reception and I also worried about her being 'behind'. She is now finishing Year 2 and has caught up with no problems.

My dds' school is now trying to change their intake system, as our LEA is one of the very few in the country which doesn't allow children to start school full-time till the term in which they are 5. At the moment the school is trying to change it unilaterally, against the LEA's wishes, so we'll see if they are successful. According to the Head (new this year) there is evidence that children who have just one term full-time in reception do less well (but I'm not sure according to what criteria, or at what stage of their school careers) than those who have a full year in reception. However, she also says that the vast majority of children do catch up by the end of KS1, so I would really try not to worry about your dd at this stage, and maybe just ask her Yr 1 teacher to let you know early if she has any worries...

Oh, and I wouldn't always take at face-value what your dd says about what the teachers have/haven't done to help her. She may not realise exactly what is going on... According to my dd2 she 'just played' all day every day at school... yet she has somehow learned the basics of reading and writing, and I haven't taught her, so some 'work' must have been happening somewhere.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies, it has been very reassuring.

comes into threat purely to snigger at blu

oh and to give Mascara a slap for being neurotic ///\\\ .. get a grip woman, she's a baby who's been in school amatter of months and is doing rather well

I'm not even sure if ds2 can write ( apart from his name)

oh well I expect that I'll find out when I get his report

lol thanks for the slap Twig, glad I run all the important decisions by MN or I might have gone in all guns blazing.

MN is like a virtual husband

you are most welcome

I shall expect the same in return on my next neurosis

I posted recently about whether my DS2, Yr1 and just 6 was actually SEN- worthy! His reading books from school were ORT stage 3, all "Look, said Chip", "Look at that man", x 10 pages. SUDDENLY, in the space of a fortnight, it's ORT 6 and "Look at where that man is standing. Where can he be going?" etc. Now, he's not reading it confidently or with much enthusiasm BUT he's making only a few silly mistakes (seeing the first letters of chill and saying children before I tell him to look carefully). I can hardly believe it! Be aware this means he's reading at the 'correct' level for his age- he's no genius- but the transformation from barely literate to this was so sudden I was shocked! Best of luck and, as the others have said, keep your nerve- in Australia such a child wouldn't have seen the inside of a school gate yet, either!

I agree. She's still only four and her abilities sound completely normal. Do not get drawn in to worrying!