Is there any point asking for ds to be "stretched"?

[mybabywakesupsinging]

Ds1 is just 5 and in reception. He is fairly settled, although not the most social of people.
Anyway, he is fairly bright. He can read quite well (he could read all of this). He understands fractions and can do them in his head, can multiply, understands place value etc.
He brings home reams of paper he has "drawn" and written on. There never seems to be any indication that someone has said "good, but actually you spell that like this" or encouraged him to form his letters correctly. He never does any maths. His school reading books he can read easily first time in 5 minutes flat.
Is there any point in asking for him to be given something to do that pushes him just a bit from time to time? Our main concern when he started was whether he would settle in, behave reasonably and get to know other children, and overall things are OK.

Never does any maths??

How good is his writing?

If he's happy & settled I wouldn't try to fix what's not broken, personally. But maybe ask about the apparent lack of maths work. Perhaps that opener can progress to more general questions about his development.

Id say that this stage in his education is too early to be asking him to be stretched, reception is as much about learning through play and social skills as it is about reading/writing/arithmetic etc. Take him to the library, do little "projects" with him at home, buy activity books from Smiths if he enjoys that sort of thing but dont worry; If he is ahead of his peers his teachers will soon know and any good school should start to stretch him when it is appropriate(BTW DD is in Yr1 and spent reception top of class with another girl; I just ensured she read loads and now in YR1 her teacher told me recently that she is being stretched)

He can write; the relative letter sizes are random and his spelling is wobbly...at home he would ask how to spell things, at school i think he just guesses (not necessarily a bad thing).
I have never seen any evidence of maths, nor has ds ever mentioned it.
We go to the library and he is keen to choose things to read. He tends to choose books with a lot more words than he would get from school, think he has worked out that the stories are better...
DH is good at maths, and has taught (older) children, and seems to understand how to help him. I suppose he might get confused if someone else showed him a different way of doing things; maybe best to leave well alone for now.
Just a bit regretful.

The main thing in Reception is that he's happy. He sounds like he is, so I'd guess it's best to stick with that for now. Yr1 is where they seem to push the academic side more, so if you feel he's not being challenged next year, I'd say that's the time to start asking questions.

i reckon leave him in recpetion tbh

id ask for harder reading books.

are oyu sure no maths?

with my dsses i have always asked for a handwriting book ( one of the ones with gazillion lines) and made them do a diary when i though their writing was shit

Ds does maths but it's so basic he could do it when he was about 2.

Like counting to 10 or 20. I think they did counting in 10s. Do you think they do stuff but it's just not anything new so he doesn't comment on it?

Maybe harvey. Although he comments on most things at school, I suppose it might not count as "sums" in his eyes.
Will leave till year 1, then.
We had those handwriting books...

I would ask to see his work so you know what's going on. IIRC ds in Reception was mostly doing weighing and patterns for maths, but I could be wrong. He really enjoyed it.

And I would keep a close eye on whether you think he is bored.

Can you/your partner go in to help his class with reading? I think it's a great thing to do in Reception and you learn such a lot from just being around the class. DS's Reception class was NOT stretching at all (he's not particularly bright) and I was quite worried at some points, but I thought the work they were doing was reasonably enjoyable for ds, and what he was getting in terms of pastoral care, horizon broadening and fun was really good. We bumped up his reading at home and did lots of maths games. And asked lots of questions of parents of children in Yr 1.

You are right choosyfloosy, not easily bored but he is a nightmare if he is, all his old obsessive actions (switch flicking, ordering toys) re-start, would drive everyone mad.
He does have fun. The "work" he brings home is stuff he's drawn/written and he always happy to produce reams of recycling art/writing at home...

The main thing in Reception is that he's happy.
I used to think that, but I've changed my mind.

My DS is in Y3 and quite a few years ahead of his peers in maths, mybabywakesupsinging. When he was in reception he was a bit like your DS in ability. He was quiet, shy, just got on with the work he was given. We thought it was far below his abilities but didn't say anything because teachers kept on about social skills and about reception just being mainly play. Things didn't improve a great deal in Y1.

By Y2 we were tearing our hair out. Our DS was miserable, used to come home crying because of how bored his maths work was, started becoming disruptive in class and exhibiting other behaviour problems.

I took it upon myself to read up a lot on the teaching of more able children, become an expert in the G&T program, and take a very hands on approach to working with the school to cater properly for him.

We've got our happy, well behaved boy back in a few months.

The only thing I kick myself on was trusting that as the school has exceptional OFSTED results, fantastic league table scores in everything etc., they can be trusted to provide properly for someone in the top 1% of ability. They can't.

Since then I've worked with other G&T coords & leading teachers, the LA's G&T rep, attended G&T meetings, conferences and seminars and assisted with G&T planning both at school and LA level. Here's my low down: Most schools are worse than DS's school. Most teachers don't know the very basics of their own G&T responsibilities and have no training or motivation to let higher ability children progress at their own speed. Quite the reverse in fact - they have motivation to "narrow the gap".

My advice: Don't leave it till Y2.

Thank you. Appreciate the advice a lot.
Ds has a parents evening coming up and DH is going to ask about maths at school so we know what he is actually doing, and also ask that he is given more interesting reading books to choose from. Don't mind them being easier than he would do at home, he likes to sit down adnread something at one sitting to ds2, but the really beginner ones are boring him! Other than that I remain happy that he is more settled than we had hoped for.

Have you looked at the EYFS curriculum? It is not a hothouse for stretching children. It is designed to allow all children access to a broad, creative curriculum. This will include numeracy activities, but not the type you'd recognise from your schooldays,as the numeracy curriculum has changed a lot. The emphasis is on practical activities. Don't antagonise the teacher by asing for a Reception child to be stretched. They will be aware of his abilities and will be doing a huge range of thimgs to extend his learning, but probably in an age appropriate, informal way. Enjoy his happiness and stop worrying about academic progress.