transition from reception to year one

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Just had a meeting about what the chidren do each day and what the expectations are. Lots of reading, less play time outside, assemblies every day and numeracy and lots of different teachers to deal with. Seems like a huge leap from reception and my daughter is still adapting. I think she's finding it quite hard going. She gets frustrated if she can't read words in the reaidng book or write words correctly. Also a small group of girls are saying that she can't do certain things like "You can't read!" and "You can't climb there" and "You can't join in our playtimes". It's horrible, really. Can the children work out which table they are on at this stage? Does this attitude come from the parents?

tbh ds' class knew what table they were on last year. imo children this age can be really mean. ds has just gone from reception to a mostly year 2 class. he was a high flyer in reception and the shock of no longer being that knocked him for the few weeks. He is starting to settle to the stricter rules in the class (exagerated by the yr2 expectations for the class) but rockets out the door at then end of the day like a psycopath on a mission to climb/run/shout/bounce/ignore.

I dont think that you are going to be able to sort the small group out completely. its a cruel phase. However we used to stop doing formal stuff and make it more fun when ds got really frustrated last year.

reading - word recognition is part of it, as well as sounding out. we used to have a host of post it notes around the house with the words he was struggling with. Then he would look at the words and try to sound it out. One attempt. He was then sent to find the word. When he brought it back one more attempt. it he could do it word got removed. if not it got put somewhere else for another time. Ds loved this and it helped that it became a game rather then stressfull.

With regards to writing we got a cheap litter tray (new) from tesco or something like that. filled it with some rice and he used to practise drawing his letters in that. He also had cards with letters on so that he could practise putting the words together seperate from the writing part.

It is important to note that we only did this when ds wanted to. the cards were left in his room and he was often found making words when he had been sent there for driving me mad.

Its the hardest thing in the world watching them get upset when they are struggling. She will get this in her own pace. Numerous Mnners will give u stories of late readers who have done really well, so stop worrying about the slow part. Have you tried reassuring her that she will read, but everyone learns at different rates?

Some kids will probably twig about the tables, but my dd doesn't seem to have a clue - she tells me sometimes that there are different targets for different tables, but she doesn't appear to have linked this to any difference in ability. To be honest, I don't think she's that interested in what other kids can and can't do.

It is a big transition to year 1, and I guess some kids will adapt more easily than others - my dd loves it so far. I think you have to give them time to adapt. However, I would have a word with the teacher if the nasty comments from the other girls continue - that kind of thing can really damage a child's self-esteem over time, and the school should be prepared to intervene if necessary.