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Gifted and talented

Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

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Original poster

Help not sure how to help/support my 3 year old

13 replies

sammie1971 · 02/07/2011 06:46

Hi does anyone have any advice on how I can help my 3 year old and how to approach school she is due to start reception in September, she will be one of the youngest in the year. I have had a letter home stating they will be starting learning their letted sounds but she is on oxford reading tree level 4 and can read all her reception words and quite a few year one words her spelling is ok to. The school are aware as she started the reading scheme in their nursery ( but it took me 2 tems to convince them it was a good ides) but I am worried she will get bored very quickly. I cant talk about this with other parents as you just sound like you are boasting about your child and I even feel uncomfortable approaching the school as I feel like they are judging me to be a pushy mom

OP posts:

meditrina · 02/07/2011 07:55

There almost certainly won't be a problem.

I'm sorry you've had fights along the way so far, but children enter reception at all sorts of reading levels and any competent teacher will differentiate.

It is common for all children to do a whole class phonics programme - this ensures that every child has a firm and thorough grasp. Again, with a competent teacher, this will not be boring.

When individual reading books start coming home (which may well not be immediate) then you need to check that the standard is what you expected, and you can question it then.

There is a lots of settling in during the first reception term; give that a chance to happen. And I hope it goes well.

lovecheese · 02/07/2011 09:22

Sammie1971 Your DD sounds to be in a very similar position to my middle DD, although she is a December birthday so wasn't a younger one entering reception. She joined in with the phonics lessons with ALL of the other children, as you have to be very careful with ORT books and the language used - they are pretty formulaic and not phonic-based and without dissing your DDs progress it is easy to think "My child can read" on the basis of being able to read some simpler ORT books; the phonic knowledge is absolutely crucial to a child actually being able to read ANY word that you throw at them - eventually, of course, not in reception! - and my DD in year 2 is only just coming to the end of phase 6 and that is in the top group, to put it into perspective.

So, to summarise because I've waffled, I would hang back from going in with a "my child can already read" stance because there is a huge amount to learn regarding reading and if she has a good teacher she should enjoy literacy lessons and lay the foundations for later on.

Original poster

sammie1971 · 03/07/2011 11:44

hi thanks for your comments and i understand where you are both coming from as i have older children however my daughter knows her phonics both individual letter sounds and blends such as ch ar th etc her decoding and word building is good aswell, she was spelling basic cvc words at 2! I understand their is a process she needs to go through but i wondered if anyone else has been in my position?

OP posts:

ASByatt · 03/07/2011 11:57

sammie your dd sounds bright and lovely. I don't mean to sound dismissive, but your dd is unlikely to be the first (or only!) child starting reception with a good grasp of early literacy skills. Are you confident in the school, from your knowledge of how your older DC did? If you're not happy with the school then that's a different matter I guess, but a decent reception teacher will be used to working with a really wide range of abilities, and will differentiate for your daughter so she won't get 'bored.' Also, do remember that there is much, much more to being in reception than literacy.

woolleybear · 03/07/2011 18:07

My daughter is going to reception in Sept already able to read and write quite well. The school that she is going to have said similar to above, she will have whole class phonics lessons and that all the class are split for reading. The split is not only the class but also the other class in the year. They also made it clear that if there are not 3 or 4 children in her year of a similar ability to form a reading group then they can mix between reception and year 1. One of dd's friends is way ahead of her so there will be at least one other child.

This is very unlike the first school we looked at, where the head told us dd would have to learn to count to 10 'again'.

muffinflop · 04/07/2011 12:53

DD is also started reception September and is bringing home ORT 9 books from nursery. I'm actually really looking forward to seeing what they do with her! DS started reception on ORT 5 (I think) and they sent him up to year 1/2 a few times a week for phonics lessons because his writing was nowhere near as good as his reading - although still ahead of his peers. This really helped him.

I'd just keep your DD reading over the summer holidays, let her choose some books from the library rather than ORT books.

Original poster

sammie1971 · 07/07/2011 08:44

Hi thats really usefull hoping they will do something like that with my daughter, dont want her moved up a year completely though as she is the youngest in the year and not ready emotionally. Mixing with year 1 for reading and phonics would be good though, I dont want her pushed hard I just want her working at a level that will stretch her and keep her motivated. Will look forward to hearing how both your daughters do in September will be good to see how the different schools manage them. Especially your daughter muffinflop her reading levels are fantastic!

OP posts:

blackeyedsusan · 11/07/2011 14:23

i found that dd was not recognised as a reader in reception. (asked how many words she need to know before getting a reading book and told she had to have 5 or 6 of the reading games, despite reading all of the old 45 reception words and being able to spell the words on the reading games too. she is still on red band books and i had to push for that, however, we got to the end of this year just starting to read white band 10 at home)

however, we have still made progress with the help of library books. we have read one or 2 books a night straight after school and perhaps another 1 or 2 at the weekend.(she cries if she can't read to me!) I would say try to get her to write in her play as well as I think this is the key to getting ability recognised. they can't deny it so easily if it is on paper. dd has fine motor difficulties and this has held back her writing although her spelling and dictated compositions are good.

ask her to help write shopping lists, lists of jobs and make up her own stories. write a menu for a cafe. labels for a shop, treasure maps with instructions because you are not very clever at reading maps and need some help

little and often will really help, though be aware she may be shattered at the beginning of term and just want to go to bed.

babybarrister · 23/07/2011 07:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FuzzpigFourFiveSix · 23/07/2011 08:01

I would try not to worry. I bet your DD is really perceptive, and if she picks up on your view that she might get bored, then she will start off thinking school is boring! I know it's difficult but just wait and see for a few months. Most of the time they'll be playing anyway, phonics is only a small part of the day. If she says she's bored, then you can start pushing the school more. But she probably won't be bored! I entered school as a free reader and I loved it - I just sat out of phonics sessions with a book, and the rest of the time I was playing just like everyone else.

choccyp1g · 24/07/2011 11:22

WoolleyBear They also made it clear that if there are not 3 or 4 children in her year of a similar ability to form a reading group then they can mix between reception and year 1. One of dd's friends is way ahead of her so there will be at least one other child

I don't quite understand this comment, WoolleyBear, if the child is "way ahead" of you DD, then she shouldn't be in the same reading group, it might be boring for the friend, or hold her back.

DeWe · 25/07/2011 19:41

I wouldn't worry. Dd1 and ds (who's also one of the youngest) started/will start school at about level 4-5, dd2 was over level 9. Dds were reading the reading books below their ability, but it isn't just about reading them at school, it was helpful for their writing and thinking about the story. If there's another child above your child's level then you really shouldn't be worrying at all as they will push the boundries ahead of you if necessary.

We just read a lot at home, which was easy for both dd on finding books to interest them and is slightly harder for ds because his idea of a good bedtime story is a technical book on various (mostly military) aircraft, so I get calls of "mummy what does son-ic b-oo-m mean", although dd2 has persuaded him to try the Rainbow fairy books which requires less inroads on my technical knowledge. (but are boring to listen to him read)

madwomanintheattic · 27/07/2011 03:43

dd2 started yr r and was given ort 10, but was assessed later on that year as having reading/ comp about 7 years ahead of peer group. it was never a problem tbh. in a straight through primary they just use the reading shelves from other year groups. it's quite standard. there were around 4 or 5 children in her cohort that were reading quite comfortably when they started. not unusual at all. teachers are very used to kids reading in yr r.

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