YR2........What should Dd be learning ??????

[nutcracker]

Dd1 has just started yr 2 and i have to say i am really not happy witht the level of work she seems to be doing.

So far she has been given a sheet of words with a note saying for her to practise them until she knows them, but she already does, and has been given spellings which i would have expected more in yr1 as they are far to easy for her.

3 weeks in to the term she still has not had a reading book and her homewrok folder is pretty poor, just game sheets really.

Dd is quite bright but does need encouragement and praise to believe it herself. Since term started she seems to have developed an 'i don't care' attitude which isn't like her when it comes to school work. I think this may be because she is finding thew work boring.

Can anyone give me a rough idea of what she should be doing in yr2 ?? Or a link to any educational websites would be great.

There are 2 yr2 classes at her school and the other class have done lots more work already and seem to have a good routine going.

Oh and is it worth me doing extra work with ther at home ?? I really don't want her to fall behind.

My dd whos the same age as yours has just brought home some homework
the example sum is 49+11=60
49+10=59
59+1 =60

She then had to pick her own double digit numbers and make up the sums adding 11, 10 and 1.

She doesnt have home spelling, but can spell most words up to 5 leters, mainly through guesswork.

Thats all I can tell you as thats all I know!

Well Dd hasn't had any sums to do at all.

She did tell me the other day about near doubles and did a few on some paper but she hadn't been asked to do it as homewrok.

Thing is she quite enjoys homework so it is a shame that she's hardley getting any.

Meant to add also that i have spoken to the teacher and she just said that they will get a reading book soon but she didn't know exactly when and that 1 sheet of homework a week was enough.

nutcracker

My ds who is also in yr2 and is the top group for all subjects has the following work each week:-

Mondays a list of 10 spellings (from the national year2 literacy list)|Spelling test on Friday to check they know the words.

Everyday or how often we read a new reading book. He also has a reading journal that he has to do with every book he reads. Example of reading journal work he can do (and ds chooses out of a list what he wants to do although I try and make him vary them) change the ending of the story, write about his favourite character, look for words that he doesn't know then look them up in the dictionary and write the meaning, re-design a new front cover. This is to help encourage understanding/comprehension of the book. They are tested for comprehension in there SATS tests.

Thursday he brings home a numeracy sheet to be handed in on Tuesday.

We also get library books and ds can choose a maths game each week to bring home. It's really sweet as ds and the other children helped design the games in year 1.

I think you are right to be unhappy and I would def. have a chat with the teacher.

Blooming Eck BH that sounds good!
My dd also only gets homework once a week.
We have a book in her book bag and it gets read 4-5 times a week between me and the classroom assistants.
Nutty there are great online educational things at bbc.co.uk look under education and theres a bit for 4-7 year olds. You can also print worksheets which tie in with the cuurriculum.

Dd also has a reading journal and a different library book each week, but as yet no proper reading book.

They have just started a new reading scheme and have been told that when they eventually get a book they will only be able to have it for one night.

I will have another word with the teacher as i think dd is already becming bored and she's only been back a few weeks.

I wish they would encourage bright kids more, instead of leaving them to their own devices.

I am really impressed with ds's school in that they have always encouraged him and being bright he needs that! It has really helped having the spelling tests although on the downside ds can get upset in the very rare time he gets 9/10 as he is a bit of a pefectionist.
The thing that would bother me the most nc is that they are not encouraging the reading. Sure you can do things at home but the school must have hundreds of books so cannot understand why they are not changing them enough. ds could have a new reading book everynight if he has read everynight. As they are 32 pages I tend to keep them for 2 days as he has the journal as well. Even dd (at different school) in yr 1 has her book changed everynight.
I can sypathise as when ds was in reception he had the same book for a month and I complained and complained. She was a bit of a bag and couldn't be bothered TBH Once ds went into yr1 and was having them changed everyday his reading became fluent almost immediately!

I haven't managed to get them to give her a book at all yet. Her argument that the books haven't been sorted or something doesn't really wash as the other yr2 class have theirs.

Exactly. How on earth can a school not have sorted out the reading scheme yet. They have been back a month now! They must have something for dd to read. How about dd2 is she having her books changed?

Well i have spoken to her once already and she said that the reading books weren't ready and that she would do spellings on a friday.

If she doesn't get a reading book this week then i will have another word with her.
I am also going to get dd some work books for home as she is really keen to work at home so i feel i should encourage her.

nc - good idea about the work books. ds has loads but at the moment has enough on his plate with after school activities and homework.

DS1 has also just gone into Y2 and they started back on their reading books immediately. On average, his seem to get changed about 3 times a week. He gets 10 spellings at the beginning of the week (e.g. flight, fright, balloon) and they are tested on Friday. There are also sheets up in the classroom and they are encouraged to write onto the sheets any words which rhyme with that weeks spellings. Other homework is only given on a Friday and varies. One week we had a number puzzle with lots of subtraction sums on the back, this weekend because it is book week next week, they got a work sheet to fill in about their favourite book (title, author, content, why I like it etc) and they have to bring it in tomorrow with the book and speak to the class about it.

TBH, it sounds like your daughter should be doing more and 3 (or 4?) weeks into term, the teacher should have her act sufficiently together to be distributing reading books, which must be one of the most basic things you do in school. For heavens sake, it's only three weeks to half-term!

With regards to what Y2 should be doing generally, in DS's school we had a meet the teacher evening about 2 weeks ago where his teachers went through the content of each subject for this year and gave us a good idea of what they should know by the end of the year. We were given a summary at the end and off the top of my head I only remember some of it but e.g. in maths they will know the 2,5,10 times tables and we were told how they do the double digit addition in school so that we could follow the same routine at home. We are also given a summary sheet of topics at the beginning of each half of term so e.g. I know that this term is all about houses and buildings, different kinds of building materials, houses through the ages etc.

I know the beginning of term is a bit frantic and it's a lot of work looking after up to 30 children but it does sound like your DD's teacher should be more switched on. Have you spoken to any of the other mums? What is the general opinion on what the kids are doing?

annh - we also had a meet the teacher evening. It was really useful and they even touched a little bit on SATS tests but we will have a proper meeting early next year to go through in more detail.

My DDs teacher said that the class are given things to do, for example, the teacher will read them a story and then they have books where everyday they go back to thier seats and rewrite the story and draw a picture to go with it.
The teacher said that way they can work at thier own pace. So some children may be writing : the cat went to tea it was raining
And others may write : The cat went to tea with the mouse. The mouse said " Would you like some cake?" The cat said "No" The cat and the mouse went outside and played in the puddles. At the end of the story the cat went to live with a rat. The End....
Or whatever, just remembered that and thought I would let you know so you get idea of things.
DD also always comes in saying she did maths and filled the whole page up, but she didnt have to..she wanted to and she could so she did.
So im guessing they are given a set task and can continue doing the same sort of thing till everyone else is finished.

My DS1 has just gone into Year 2.

His homework includes : reading book every night with an activity in his Reading Journal relating to the book, ie draw a picture, write a bit about the story etc.

10 Spellings every Monday - to be learnt for a test on Friday.

Weekend Activities include a Numeracy sheet (this week he had to add up various shopping items, then calculate the change from a £1) and a Literacy Sheet (this week was to compile a Food Diary of everything he ate from Friday to today).

Still no reading book and i'm now not the only one whi is getting very annoyed about it.

Spoke to some other moms who are not happy with the level of work. We all agreed that the excuse that the books aren't ready isn't good enough as the other yr2 class have had theirs 2 weeks now.

I am also annoyed that they have been told that when they get the book they can only keep them for one night as there isn't enough, yet they have enough money to buy interactive white boards for all the classrooms.

I have decided she has until wednesday to give dd a book and then i will raise it again and if she doesn't have a good explanation i will speak to the head teacher.

Here is a link to the National Literacy website, and the list of high frequency words children should read, and i used to encourage my Yr2 kids to spell - hopefully
high frequency words
Also there is a spelling guide
Spelling

The Dfe guidelines are that yr2 children should have 1 hour of homework a week, including reading. The school should have a homework policy stating what is expected from each year group. Try a gentle word with the teacher, if not i would take it further to the head as year 2 is such an important year, when the "real" work begins.
As for no reading books, that is tosh - i used to keep children on a similar level to what they had in year 1 and then alter levels when i had had time to assess them.
Hope this helps? Anything else, give me a shout!