Did your child find it hard going from reception into year 1 ?

[laughalot]

My ds was 5 in july and has just gone from reception into year 1. He has always enjoyed school but we had tears this monrning.

He is finding the whole thing a bit much. He is a bright little boy and is above average for maths however he struggles with his reading and writing. He had a grip on his pencil last term to try and assist him.

I think because it is more focused on work and not as much play in year 1 he is just finding it difficult. He has never really enjoyed drawing or writing.

I guess I just want to know im not alone and that in time it will get better .

Thanks

I've got 2 young-in-their-yeargroup boys, and both of them found the switch to Y1 difficult. DS2 found it particularly hard in the second term, after Christmas, when they no longer had afternoons in the Reception unit (which used to happen at our school). We had a couple of biting incidents (he's never bitten another child before or since that term, and it happened twice!) and lots of tears.

It did get a lot better, and he loved Y2 and Y3, and has thrived.

DD found the transition from Reception to Year 1 truly awful. She does have Special Needs, including leaning difficulties, which made it worse, but many other children struggled too.

Her move to Year 2 has so far, been much smoother, which has been a pleasant surprise!

A much more sympathetic and understanding teacher in Year 2 has also helped enormously.

It will get better.

Glad to hear all the different positive/negative stories. I am sure in someway it is difficult for every child but some cope better than others.

Today he was fine and went in very happy !!

dd1 is a June birthday, but actually yr1 seems to be suiting her very well - I don't know if it's the change of curriculum/teacher as well, but I think it's because she is now in the "young" class of a year divided by age (they have a young yr1, a mixed yr1/2 and a yr2 class). It did mean her bf is now in a different class, but they seem to manage to keep playing at break time.

Her behaviour generally has improved and she's doing really well with her reading. So I have a positive experience of the transition!

Laughalot my DS had real problems with his grip and one of his teachers had a great idea. She asked him to hold a small ball of blutac in his hand while holding his pencil and it worked a treat! His writing, though still pretty appalling, improved hugely and he now has the proper grip.