Advice please

[Kammy]

My ds is just 5 and in his first term of reception. He started reading properly around 4 and in the last year has whizzed ahead so fast I can't keep up. Something has 'clicked' in terms of understanding the process of reading and he can mostly work out any new and unfamiliar worls by sounding them out.
At home he is now reading 'Horrid Henry' books and seems not to be phased by pages of text with little in the way of pictures. He absolutely loves it and often reads to himself before going to sleep. he also reads with expression when reading aloud.
He is very quiet at school and when I went for the first parent consultation, I took some of the books he is reading at home in to show the teachers- they were gobsmacked - ds had not told them he could read! They run a reading 'scheme' and have put him several levels up now, but he is still not challenged by what he is given.
This sounds wet - but I really don't know how to take this further with the teachers. We just let him get on with it at home, and read what he wants, but I am begining to wonder if the school should be doing something to help him.
Any advice? How should I approach the school - I don't want to seem like a pusy or overbearing mother.
He also loves maths and has been adding up since he was 3 - he's trying to learn some of his times tables now with his cousin!
Thanks

blimey Kammy, I am gobsmacked that the teacher didn't realise your ds could read! It's not up to him to tell them, SURELY they should have noticed by now!

I was apparently a very early reader who was fluent on starting school and I really don't think the school did anything in particular tbh...I may have been a bit bored but I think I was a very accepting, compliant child and didn't become disruptive or anything - and was plenty challenged at home where my parents made sure there was endless good stuff to read.

Sorry, this is no help I'm afraid! If it were me I'd ask for another meeting with the teacher and ask if there is any 'extension' work she can give your ds to keep him interested...it's so important to keep boys switched on to learning and school, isn't it!

I do think home is as important as school, if not more so - if you provide plenty at home I'm sure this will be a major plus factor for him!

you could ask them to check his reading age...

absolutely the school should be doing something, the teacher has a responsibility to provide suitable work for your son and not let him plod along -
I'd have a chat with the teacher - when was the appt with the teacher? and maybe don't leave it until Jan as there is still 3 weeks left of teaching, or is it 4?!

My dd was reading Horrid Henry, Milly-Molly-Mandy, My Naughty Little Sister and similar when she started reception and it did take a while for the teachers to realise what she could read. They are so busy doing other things. Around Christmas I asked if she could take in the books she was reading at home instead of the reading scheme books (that she hated). They were happy to let her do that and she would read a few pages and talk about the story with them once a week. They encouraged her to read between the lines and think about why things were happening etc. Could you do something similar for your son?
Since then reading at school has been no problem, and tbh she hasn't really needed much help at school, just encouragement. She loves books so much that she doesn't need to be pushed. She has continued to take her own books. In yr 1 she had a reading partner from higher up the school. Now in year 2 other children are reading and she is no longer the only one reading Harry Potter etc.

I think, if he's only just in reception and so long as he's basically happy and not showing signs of boredom (eg disruptiveness, impatience, etc.), that you needn't do anything particular this year - reception children vary enormously in where they've got to academically, and it's quite nice for them all to spend the year sort of settling into themselves & each other. Time enough for academic concerns next year & thereafter, I think.

I'd let him steam along at his own swift pace out of school - if you ever run out of ideas for his reading, you'll find masses on here - and maths too. But I don't think a mismatch between school & home really matters in reception - subject to the below!

HOWEVER: if he does start to show boredom signs, or be distressed in other ways, then advice would be different: keep us updated!

I would have a chat with the teacher in a friendly, constructive way. There's no need to go in all guns blazing at this stage, but it would be as well to make sure the school is aware of what your son can do. On the more positive side, you may find out that they are doing more for him than you realise - and you won't know unless you talk to them.

I would not be afraid of being seen as a pushy or overbearing mother - you are clearly not .

Thanks for the advice, very helpful. I like the ideas about reading between the lines - I had just started getting him to try and guess what happens next in a story and now that he is reading longer stories that he might not finish in one go, he quite likes this.
Good idea also about taking his own books in to read - the books he gets from school are not all that exciting and quite old fashioned and although he reads them at home, it is a pretty cursory glance.
Thanks everyone -children are such a mystery sometimes! as has been said - anything to keep him interested.

They should be providing him with work to match his ability.

Kammy, I was a bit like your DS when I was a kid (reading at 3) and it caused me a lot of problems. My teachers thought I couldn't read until I was 8 (when they found I had a reading age of 15)as I was so disruptive.

I agree you should look out for signs of boredom, and I wouldn't suggest you hold him back on purpose, but I'd try getting him into lots of other non-academic stuff like sports and clubs to keep him happy and stimulated while his classmates catch up. It's so much easier if he's not too far ahead as, even if he has great teachers who can cope now, he won't always have them.

At some point he'll get a less good teacher who can't differentiate the work enough and he'll be bored. I went off the rails and got expelled when that happened to me (at 12). Either that or he'll get taught with older kids and that's difficult socially.

I have not become a brain surgeon - I got as far as dropping out of a PhD -, and I think I have less confidence as an adult than I would have had with a more straightforward school career. I spent a lot of time as a kid being fairly depressed and stressed (I still tend towards depression)as everyone had such high expectations.

I think you should concentrate on your son's social skills and general wellbeing - but work with the school on how best to do it.

Perhaps pay for him to go to Kumon maths classes, may be consider an independent school perhaps with scholarhip help at age 7 and some tutoring for the exams for that in the next few years or just make sure he's happy at school and does a lot of fun extra work at home if he needs it. One of my daughters was taught to read at her school at 3 as the teacher chose to teach her. Another of my children no less bright wasn't interested until 6. I don't think it necessarily shows how they're going to be later which is why the traditional system of sifting them at 11 or 13 by ability has some merit perhaps. If everyone in the class is clever it can make those kinds of children find school easier though which is why some academic private schools which children a year or two ahead of the average can suit some children better.

More interesting comments, thanks.
Crimpelene - I think you're right about the sports and social stuff - we have started a few things like football and swimming, but I can't say he's that interested at the moment. He loves dancing and music, so I'm going to perues these.

He is really enjoying school and making friends well, adn I whole heartedly agree that I don't want him to feel different. It just seems to be in his nature - he sets himself pieces of 'work' at home! I just let him read what he wants when he wants. The school have been reasonably positive about looking at other reading material for him, but it's a difficult balance.
Thnks again.