Year 1 expectations?

[julybutterfly]

DH thinks I'm worrying for nothing but I think DS is going to struggle in year 1. He's very capable but is also, in my opinion, quite lazy and easily distracted!

He is reading KS2 books and CAN write/spell well but, after watching him today, I've realised he can't sit still for more than a few minutes! He was trying to write a story for his new teacher but managed to write the following before getting bored:

'(DS name) and the monster'

X had a monster hoo liked to eet lots. X aksed his daddy to feed the monster but his daddy forgot so the monster got mad

This took him about 20 minutes in between wandering around, reading a magazine and finding about 3 words in a wordsearch.

Is that ok for year one? Are his teachers going to get cross with him for fidgeting?!

Hi,
So glad you posted this, as so similar to what I was going to post.
I think you son is going to be fine, in reception they rarely have to sit and apply themselves for any length of time, and he seems very bright. They will gently and slowly build the kids up to sitting and working over a long period of time...well thats what they did with my dd.

My concern is with my DS (just turned 4) who is due to start reception, and although is able to read simple words, cannot write, or draw. He will refuse point blank to make marks on paper, so we just let it go.... will he catch up sufficiently, or do we need to be a bit more firm with him and encourage him to "have a go"?

I wouldn't be 'firm' but maybe encouraging! Have you tried tricking him into writing or drawing? If he can read the word 'cat' 'dog' etc then you draw a picture and get him to guess what it is, maybe ask him to write what he thinks it is? And then it's his turn...he draws a picture of something and you write the answer?

DS' teacher picked up on his reading ability pretty quickly and he did go to year 1 for extra lessons but then the teacher left and the lessons stopped!

In theory that sounds good, but any attempts he's made he said "its just scribbles" and becomes disheartened, but we'll give it a go.

With regards to your DS, would playing a game that encouraged him to sit and write, like "consequences", or just any board game that requires him to pay attention for more than 10 minutes, help?

grasava in 16 years as a reception teacher I can count on one hand the number of children who started in September able to read or write so your son is far from being unusual.
In reception there will be lots of opportunities for making marks without him having to pick up a pen. Once he has had lots of experience he will feel happier putting pen to paper.

julybutterfly more and more Y1 classes are recognising that small children fidget and expect children to work in short burst rather than expecting them to sit still and concentrate for an hour. Many also offer the type of experiences children will be familiar with in reception only in a slightly more directed way. I'm sure your son will be fine

I think year 1 is a very tricky year for the children really.

It to me seems a in between year a bit like year 3.

Try getting them to play and write/read like writing a shopping list and ticking it off as you go around the shops. That way they are reading and writing. You could also get them to do birthday/Christmas lists etc. Writing a story at the start of year one is unusual as children would still be doing short activities. 20 mins of writing is a lot for a young boy.

If my ds, also about to start year 1, writes something because he really wants to eg. a letter to a friend, he can write a few sentences in a few minutes. If he has to write something he really doesn't feel like he will also take ages. I don't think there is any point pushing anything at this age. My ds does a lot more writing when left to his own devices and a ready supply of paper, pens etc., than if i ask him to do anything.

That sounds pretty impressive for Yr 1 to me, julybutterfly. I'd be impressed if my DS had managed that in Yr 2 TBH. Given that he can read really well and spell then I can't see any reason to worry! DD will write of her own accord but spelling is very mixed, vowels are often forgotten.

Julybutterfly - there will be children in his class who can't read or write at all, much less actually sit still. Plus they all do things for the teacher that they'd never do for Mum!

Ds1 will sit still for 5 minutes doing reading, if it is at the right time of day, he isn't tired or hungry, and his siblings can't be seen to be doing anything more interesting. 5 minutes tops, during which he'd probably work his way through about 3 short sentences of CVC words, painfully sounding each one out even if he'd already read the same word on the previous two pages.

He can do a word search?????????????

I think he is doing brilliantly

My daughter is going into Year 1. She loves to sit and write, draw or colour in, but the only sentences she ever writes are "To Granma I luv ya" and "I luv mum"! She struggles to read anything but the most basic three letter word. And she's far from stupid.

Maybe if we combined your son's ability with words and my daughter's concentration span, we'd be onto a winner!

Seriously, I think he sounds like he's way ahead in terms of basic ability. And he will certainly not be the only child who doesn't find it easy to concentrate for long. Yr1 is a transitional year and he may well find it hard work and moan about there being fewer toys, but I'm sure he'll get into his stride.

Smithagain, my DS sounds the same as your DD. Hes just started Y1 today. In terms of reading, he seems to have gone backwards over the holidays, although his writing and numbers still seem ok, I wish I had encouraged him to do more.

Overtiredmum I think pretty much all children go backwards over the holidays. But they take leaps and bounds forward in other things. In the case of my daughters', this summer holiday has seen them enhance their skills in tree climbing, bicycle riding, identification of obscure rock pool creatures, campfire lighting () and the invention of ever-more-elaborate hairstyles!

I'm sure their new teachers will gently guide them back towards reading and writing over the next few weeks.

Gah! Don't know where that random apostrophe came from. It seems my daughters are not the only ones who have let their literacy slip .