Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Flip

Original poster

DD bored in Reception

23 replies

fulltimeworkingmum · 04/10/2010 16:49

Sorry if there is a similar thread to this - I have not read through everything. My DD started school last month and is 4 yrs 10 months. I am concerned as she comes home every day and when asked what she has done, she just says it's really boring as all they do is draw and colour and count things. She did know her letters, numbers, colours and ould read basic words before she went to school but she is by no means advanced or a genius. Has anyone else experienced this and what did you do about it? We don't really want to have to move her as it's a really good village school. Advice please.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

ConnorTraceptive · 04/10/2010 16:51

Whenever I ask ds what he did at school he tells me "ate lunch" so the're not altogether reliable when telling you what they did that day!

Reception is very much play based so I think it is a little early to worry.

Original poster

fulltimeworkingmum · 04/10/2010 16:53

OK - point taken. I'll try not to worry so much ( a major problem of mine according to DH!) - Thanks CT!

OP posts:

PixieOnaLeaf · 04/10/2010 16:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

annh · 04/10/2010 17:04

it is quite common for reception children to have done nothing and played with no-one, apparently! Can you have a word with her teacher or is there a parents' evening coming up?

ruddynorah · 04/10/2010 17:06

Does the teacher have drop in sessions or a parents evening coming up? You might be surprised how much she does.

Dd is in reception too. She used to say she did nothing or couldn't remember or played with sticks etc. After a few sessions helping in class I could see she was doing loads!

maktaitai · 04/10/2010 17:10

I found it was useful to be a parent helper (I did a weekly 30 minutes reading - not onerous) for a term, or obviously longer if you can. It's amazing how much you pick up just being 'around' more.

Also, when trying to pump ask her about her day, try making statements instead of asking questions. Like 'I saw that Kirsty was there today' 'I saw you playing with sand when I left' etc etc. I find that tends to get a bit more out of ds.

witlesssarah · 04/10/2010 17:13

completely with the others about the lack of information, it comes in dribs and drabs the best - though DH did have a successful racket in offering some chocolate for three items of information about the day

But there may be something more in her saying she's bored or its boring. Because its meant to be very child led so if she's bored she may be feeling left out, or lack the confidence to get something going.

I agree its worth talking to the teacher about if there's a drop in session soon (which there really should be)

dikkertjedap · 04/10/2010 21:10

I think it would be good to talk to the teacher about things they do each day/week. You can then follow it up with dd and ask more specific questions (or indeed volunteer if this is an option). My dd complained of being bored at previous school, she indeed didn't seem to learn much (village school). She loves her new school and can tell about her day and it is clear that she is learning lots.

EvilTwins · 04/10/2010 21:14

My DTDs regularly do nothing all day in reception Then at bedtime, they drop in stuff like "I sat in the back of the police car, Mummy, and had to put my fingers in my ears when the siren went on" and "they let the hawk fly over our heads Mummy." Hmmmm.

I've also started to hear "it's boring" for the first time ever. But I don't think they actually mean it - I think they've just heard some of the older kids say it.

Chaotica · 04/10/2010 21:17

I think it's worth trying to find out more. I hear a lot from DD which suggests that there isn't enough to do in her reception, so I'm trying to get as much information as I can.
(Or, that what there is to do is not obvious so DD doesn't know how to access it: how to find the paper to do painting etc.)

Kewcumber · 04/10/2010 21:19

DS (same age) does "nothing" at school with "no-one" and learns "nothing". But he trots off every morning very happily which I think is good enough at this stage... I have volunteered to help though

MollieO · 04/10/2010 22:53

Ds did 'nothing' in school for the whole of reception and year 1. Now in year 2 he has to write a homework diary so I get an idea of what he now does at school. It is a revelation.

Portofino · 04/10/2010 22:56

My dd is 6.5 and still does "nothing" all day. She is perfectly happy. And I get a little book that tells me she is doing fine. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

sailorsgal · 05/10/2010 10:49

We were given a timetable for the day and it is jam packed with different activities though ds only tells me what he wants to. He normally says "I'll tell you tomorrow mummy" but never does.

Apparently he went to lacrosse at lunch club (I hadn't put his name down) but he never mentioned it.

AlgebraKnocksItUpANotchBAM · 05/10/2010 11:05

it's weird, kids seem to just suddenly decide to say they did nothing at school. my DD started preschool a few weeks ago and when I ask her she normally says "...something"

or at her daycare centre it's "bike" and that's it!

I know she loves both preschools so I'm not worried, and she's learning so much.

I think it's just that kids are so tired after a day at school they don't have the mental energy required to talk about everything they've done!

BlooKangaWonders · 05/10/2010 11:20

I have a suspicion that our dc think that actually we really know what they are doing minute by minute all day long, and can't imagine why we want to go over it all over again :)

But as someone with the attention span of a gnat, I find it really hard to answer when someone asks me what I did at the weekend

GothMummy · 05/10/2010 13:05

I dont know... my DS (4) told me that at his old school "all we do is paint, paint, paint, and its really boring". He moved schools on Monday into a mixed class of reception and year 1 and I got a very detailed account of the school day which sounded interesting and challenging....though Im sure the old school were doing the same curriculum???

Or maybe its a case that its still really early in Reception, some can read and write and some are no where near that stage so the teacher is trying to cater for all of them? My DS has an early autumn birthday and he had learnt kind of by osmosis most of the stuff Reception year covers, so I was not totally suprised he claimed to be bored...

muddleduck · 05/10/2010 13:08

IME a 4 year old who says that drawing/painting is boring is saying it because they would rather be playing and not because they would rather be learning more advanced things.

AlgebraKnocksItUpANotchBAM · 05/10/2010 14:12

very true - I was worried recently because my DD never did art at preschool (she does plenty at home) but hey, why would she sit down when she could run about making friends and riding a bike? :)

Kewcumber · 05/10/2010 14:15

well I volunteered today and spent a couple of hours in DS's class. There wasn't a child who was bored. No time.

I am exhausted!

DreamTeamGirl · 05/10/2010 21:12

" muddleduck Tue 05-Oct-10 13:08:28

IME a 4 year old who says that drawing/painting is boring is saying it because they would rather be playing and not because they would rather be learning more advanced things."

I think thats spot on Muddleduck

sarahfreck · 05/10/2010 21:42

Sometimes the phrase "It's boring" has a subtext of " I'm tired and I don't want to think about school so stop asking me questions about what I did and let me just chill."

GothMummy · 05/10/2010 21:58

LOL in my sons case I suspect he really is sick of painting and craft activities as its my favourite way to occupy us both and he often says at home that he really "dosnt want to do any more painting today, Mummy!" ;) My fault for trying to turn out a production line of painted Christmas cards!

I agree that a lot of the "its boring" comments are mostly because the poor things are really tired and just dont want to talk about school though.

Flip