Moving up a class in a state school

[Comfy55]

My September born son just started Reception at a state-run primary a week ago and already I am very concerned. The problem is that he's been in a private run nursery for the past two years and he is quite advanced for his year group. He reads competently, does very well at addition, subtraction and even multiplication and division, writes short stories etc etc. Since he's been at school all they have done is had a couple of books read to them, they have played in water and sand and done some colouring. Although this is all good for learning via play etc. I am very concerned about his academics and given his personality I know he will soon tire of this and start getting distracted. I am thinking he probably needs to be assessed by the school and perhaps moved up a year. His nursery school teachers advised me to try and pursue this before he left nursery but I have no idea what the process is and if it is even possible. Has someone being through this and what is the process? Or is it better to leave him where he is as he has started making friends.

This attitude that academically gifted children are somehow to advanced and too mature for doing things with their hands is a peculiarly British one. The Scandinavian parents I know who have very bright children usually take great pride in their physical prowess too, and in their woodwork and knitting and cake baking. They don't seem to see the one as excluding the other.

I agree cory we should be aiming for "well rounded" children

how can a child who is bored at school be well rounded. Because thats what OP was saying. If a child is bright but not bored fine. But to say he if he misses playing at school for 30 weeks he wont be well rounded -?????????? he will still play in year 1 and year 2. How do home schooled children cope ??? not fitting into your rigid curriculums ? or children who are educated abroad at more formal schools ????
It amazes me that there is so much hostility to idea of a child moving up. Especially as September child ohhhh he might be with children a day older than him how terrible.
Have two friends who turned out, moved up a year at school found out at bumps and babes today. They seem pretty rounded to me.
Sorry but feel alot of hostility is pure competitive parenting at is worse.

maybe the obsession is because for many (obviously not all!), academic performance = success = money = material wealth.

but that's a whole other thread!

Florence, what we are trying to tell you is that a lot of the stuff they do in Reception (e.g. sand and water play) is not just play: it is a learning experience through hands on experiments very similar to that which they later have to do at secondary school. If he is too bored to think up experiments with funnels and objects in water, then he is going to find a lot of the later academic curriculum boring too. My dd is in Yr 9 and she is also doing sand and water play, it just has a posher name.

The OP has not stated that her son is already bored. She has said that she thinks he will be. As she has no personal experience of how Reception teaching currently works, I would suggest that she cannot know this at such an early stage.

Algerbra a happy child will be a happy adult. imo that has nothing to do with material wealth. The vast majority of children are happy at school and more than stretched. But what alot of posters on here are unaware of is how horrible it is to be bored and not stretched at school. And agree a good teacher should spot a child's ability and do that with every child. But the reality is that doesnt always happen.
Alot of schools have mixed age classes anyway, our school mixes year 1 and 2 and year 3 and 4 then divides them according to ability. So I'm sorry but caht quite grasp the horror of OP (where is she) son moving up one year. If that is best for him.

cory im very aware of what children learn through play. Have qualifications in this very subject. But he will still play in year 1 and 2. With sand and water etc. All my children (have 5) have always had sand and water at home. I freeze lids to make ice rinks for toyes, dressing up at home, painting, junk modelling etc etc and how do we know op mum doesnt do this too?

Florence well rounded children rarely get bored because they have many interests

Sorry you are not convincing me. I'm not saying that reception is not important for most children it is. But children are individuals, and a few might thrive in a different environment. Also just remember my middle dd only did from May to July in REception. They had an Easter intake and there were building work in school. so they started in the May. She is the ost rounded person I know tons of friends and at uni now. Also very sporty.

there was

So she did May to June in reception with her peers not in Y1...and remained with her peers

mrz you are totally missing the point to be at school and want to learn and be presented with play is not enough for very bright children. Ofcourse they should play as well. I will repeat that ofcourse they should play as well - but they should also be stretched academically.

Yes she remained with her peers, in year one and they all joined the other children who had started in September and at Christmas.
They had their own teacher for one term for part of the day. But she obviously missed alot of paly element of reception.

play element. She is very birght but like you say would never be bored. But all children are different thats the point. Im not saying OP child should move up. I couldnt possibly know if that was best. But his mum might

Well, no degrees/qualifications in it but just from observation of friends and family (mainly abroad); I do believe some will benefit from starting a year later/staying behind, as well as some would benefit going up a year. BUT how you can decide this from 1 week in reception is what surprises me most. And yes, how can a child be bored in reception. In our school there seems to be such a variety of things to do, running around/sand/water, sitting at tables to paint/write etc.

What I don't understand is what the end game of "moving up" is. There's a whole saga in progress at my elder's orchestra where a parent has managed to convince the music service that her daughter is "too advanced" for the more age-appropriate ensemble and should play in the next one one. So she's 11, and very small for her age, in an ensemble that is mostly 14 through 18. It's a total disaster: the older children have no interest in shaping the conversation to suit a naive 11 year old, there are child protection and supervision ratio issues around trips and all sorts of "all of you can go into town between rehearsal and performance except..." stuff that means the mother is ever-present, and the whole thing is a mini Ruth Lawrence.

And for what? She isn't Yeheudi Menuin, she's a kid whose mother is a former instrumental teacher who has therefore done Grade VI (the threshold for the high ensemble) rather than the Grade III/IV of the lower. So what? A lot of the kids were playing in the lower ensemble with Grade V/VI waiting for a space to come free, and had a whale of a time. The whole thing's basically an upmarket youth club, and the music is an enjoyable by-product. What has moving her up achieved, other than make sure that her experience of the ensemble is almost entirely negative (she looks very glum, because no-one talks to her, whilst her mother hovers).

What I simply don't understand is whether people are intending to start GCSE early? Do A Level early? Go to university early? What a terrible shame to be doing things where you're laughably young (because almost inevitably, hothoused children are not merely young, but young for their years) when you would have got far more out of them had you waited.

Florence you are totally missing the point of child development and that the "play" children engage in at school has a learning purpose

You say that you love your children,
And are concerned that they learn today,
As am I, that's why I'm providing
A variety of kinds of play.

You are asking what's the value
Of having your children play?
Your daughter's creating a tower,
She may be a builder someday.

You're asking me the value
Of blocks and sand and clay.
Your children are solving problems,
They will use that skill every day.

You're saying that you don't want your son
To play in that sissy way.
He's learning to cuddle a doll,
He may be a father someday.

You're questioning the interest centers,
They just look like useless play.
Your children are making choices,
They'll be on their own someday.

You're worried your children aren't learning
And later they'll have to pay.
They're learning a pattern for learning,
For they'll be learners always.
NAEYC

thirdname agree with what you have said. But am just amazed at the hostility on this thread. I suppose OP ds might have spent a whole year in the state nursery ,of the same school.

am leaving this thread now. but wish OP would join and say what she thinks now in light of all the advice on here.

How does play help children grow?
Children?s cognitive skills are enhanced. Through play children learn about concepts, how to group and classify objects, how to make sense of things and events, and how to solve problems. Play often involves trial and error, and problem-solving tasks. Play requires a child to make choices, direct activities, and make plans to reach a goal.

"well rounded children rarely get bored because they have many interests"

Agree totally.

When DS1 started school he was fairly bright in comparison with his peers. But he was also not very sporty, and very shy. Not having to worry so much about the academic side gave him time to concentrate on making friends and getting better at sport. Fast forward to almost 4 years later and as well as being one of the best in his year at reading, writing and maths he is also one of the best at sport, is pretty good at art/craft and music, and is constantly surrounded by friends. OK, we probably could have pushed the reading and writing more and he would have been way, way ahead of his perrs, but instead we have a very happy child who has a wide range of interests. Which in the long run is probably better.

pixie OP said that the Nursery had also adviced it.

and have finally got the message - how dare she consider her child brighter than anyone elses - he may grow up to be richer - what a shallow world :(((