clever girl yr2

[mitz]

I don't want to sound all big headed but one of my children happens to be seriously clever. I don't take any credit for it, same as I don't take any blame for the others. But I know that at school she is doing work way below what she can do, she can't be bothered with the homework and says at school she helps the other children out or goes and reads a book when she's finished her work.

I've got parents evening in two weeks. What can I say to get the teacher to give her more/different work or should I just shut up and be glad of her 'problem'?

She should be being given work at her level, whether that level is above or below average. If this is not happening then you need to raise it with the teacher.

Homework isn't necessarily a good indication of what is happening in class, I know my DC are set work at their own level in class (or even moved to a different year for certain subjects) but are often given generic homework.

Even if she doesn't find the homework stimulating you should still encourage a positive attitude towards it. It isn't a good pattern to get into to say that you "can't be bothered" to do it, there will come a time when she has to do it.

There's also a lot you can do to encourage her at home - buy her some educational puzzle books, look at some websites.

Agree homework is pretty inconsequential at that age.

After some parental complaints, my Y2 DS's class does the following: Each ability group is set the same differentiated task, then has challenge sheets for individual pupils to collect when they've completed the main task. Prior to the system, DS did a lot of helping other tables/reading in the corner when he'd finished his work, as you describe above.

You could suggest something similar - say you know that DD has to show she has mastered XYZ, but she can do that by zipping through it and moving on to extension work. There's no reason why homework shouldn't be a continuation of the challenge work rather than reinforcement of the main task.

Caveat: The message DS is currently learning from the school's approach is "If I work very hard, I will get more work. Therefore I will work slowly and talk to everyone at the table instead."

Each child is measured when they come into school on a standard educational measure that is England wide. (not sure about scotland and wales) A good teacher each year should get each child to move at least 1.5 to 2 stages from when they come into their year. Ask the teacher where your daughter is on the scale. Then asks what are the targets for this year for her. What improvement are they expecting and how they are working to achieve them

They are standard and are measureable. It will also help you understand where she is on maths reading etc. Different stages for different subjects. So she may be a average year 5 for reading and comprehension etc, and year 7 for maths.

You may get a blank stare at first but talk to the head if nothing is forth coming. All schools are measured its part of the way the the added value is worked out.

Step carefully mind Teachers hate it when you question them about this I found. This was all explained to me by another teacher friend as my DD1 is good at reading and was getting books with no words in them in reception to get her used to holding a book! Well peed me off as she was reading Chapter books as they call them.

Devexity

Thanks for that I'll ask about challenge sheets. On your caveat... I think she'll be fine she's got typical girl characteristics, loves to please.

gammy
That's really interesting I might ask what level she's at. As you point out, I don't want them to get the hump, I need to tread carefully.

Devexity your caveat made me laugh. Ds (yr 2) is refusing to do school or home work. On the occasions he can be persuaded to do it he does it effortlessly. I have tried to find out why he is so reluctant and he says that if he finishes work quickly in class he just gets more work to do so doesn't see the point! As the OP doesn't think she'll have that problem I assume it is a boy thing.

I don't think its necessarily a boy thing, DS1 is hugely competitive and so loves being given extension work (DS2 isn't though). I'm sure there are just as many girls who take the same attitude as MollieO and Devexity's sons.

IME teachers don't hate being questioned, it all depends on the tone and attitude that you take. I'm sure we would all hate it if someone with no experience in the job that we had trained for 4 years to do breezed in and told us in an accusing tone that we were doing it all wrong! There are ways of approaching the subject. I remember last year there was a large discrepancy between what DS2 was reading in school and what he was reading at home. I mentioned it to his teacher at parents evening, but not in a "Why are you giving my child such easy books when he is clearly a genius!" kind of way. Instead I said that I realised that they looked for different skills when they read with them in school compared to reading for pleasure at home but that I wondered whether he might benefit from having something a little more challenging (he was getting in trouble for messing about in class at the time). This prompted her to listen to him read (instead of the TA) and the following week he was moved from ORT level 4 to level 9. I don't think the teacher took offence at me suggesting it, but then I did it very tactfully and without implying that she didn't know how to do her job. I know other parents who have been to see her in a very confrontational manner however who have really got her back up. It all depends how you word it.

Domesticsluttery

Which is why I asked the question. Trouble is, really I do wonder about their competence.

This child is my third and by the time you've seen two through primary school all hopes and dreams of intelligent, motivated teachers have pretty much hit the dust. So I have to practice what to say and how to play nicely!

I think I'm the other way, my sympathy for teachers has increased with every child (my third started in Reception last spring). Of course teachers aren't perfect, but IME there are still a good number of intelligent and motivated teachers out there.

My DS (4.5) seems to have figured out that if he does work he'll just get more, so he does the bare minimum, eg he writes a nice sentence about what he did at the weekend, so the TA asks him to write another one. So next time he is asked to write something, he faffs around for ages so he only has time to write one sentence

You need to reward him instead of 'punishing' him for doing the sentence. Praise, chocolate, attention, more football time.

It's simple conditioning, works with dogs, works with kids.

But don't shout if he doesn't - that's still attention, just praise any attempts at the behaviour you want.

domesticssluttery The teacher I asked in a very non confrontational way was really aggressive about it.
I sort of scuttered off thinking I was in the wrong. I was put right by the teacher friend of mine and told to get back in there as she wasn't doing her job properly. I went back in armed with facts and figures and the lingo.

Turns out that she had no idea and judging by her comments she was on the defensive as once she investigated what she should have been told in the first place she was very helpful and we got on great.

She was really helpful to DD1. But if I didn't have the helping hand from teacher friend then i would have gone off thinking its down to me rather than school.

Not all teachers are good, not all are bad they are the same as any profession. I for one work with some brilliant people and also muppets.

Those of you who have children who are set the same differentiated work as everyone else in a group, and then, have to do more when it's finished, need to go back and ask some more questions.

Your children should be being given appropriate challenges in the first place, not a challenge in addition to other work.

Sorry - that sounded really bossy! I'm just flying out the door and was trying to be quick.

gammy

What you're saying here chimes with my experience of teachers. Although I haven't said anything yet about this particular child with her (comparatively welcome) problem I have, about other children and other things found teachers INCREDIBLY defensive and then aggressive. It seems to me they need to be 'handled' and I'm really going to try to do a good job.

Littlefish

I'm not expecting a perfect world. I just want to be reassured that she's not sitting on the mat all day reading her book.

Agree with Littlefish about appropriate challenge in the first instance.

OMG, I am having this exact problem with my child who is in YR 1. She was reading at 3 yrs, and at 5 yrs old can now read anything. she can add, subtract, multipy, do number pattern problems, equations, and fractions. She can write stories (although still makes occasional spelling mistakes). She brings home the most ridiculous homework. When all the parents are in the playground moaning about the amount of time it takes to teach their kids the 5 simple words for spelling test, I throw them in the bin, as she knows them backwards/forwards etc.
I have just had parents evening and they said to me that she daydreams in class. I asked if she was bored and they said maybe, but she doesnt show them what she can do. They said if they didnt know she was bright they woouldnt have guessed. I have had to nag and nag for harder reading books, and am just getting through to them. They said if was more important for her to make friends at school then to do academic work at her age. My daughter now comes home asking me for work and spends an hour doing Maths & English workbooks at home (off her own back...not me asking her to do it). Its soooo fustrating...but liek you said I dont know what to say to teachers without getting their back up! Helllllpppppp

planetsupergirl

It's an interesting problem. People say 'don't worry she'll be fine even if she's not 'stretched'', but you naturally want your child to reach her potential and it seems a shame to let it go to waste. I don't know what the answer is. It's a shame the gifted and talented thing got the push.

By the way can she spell words backwards? - mine does and I think it's so cool.

planetsupergirl, I think it is more important for children to make friends in school at that age - particularly for a child who is already doing well academically. Social skills are every bit as important in my view as the academic learning.

Mitz sorry if already been said .. is this a primary upto yr 6 ? If so, they can pull resources from the year above to extend your daughter. Obviously this can only be done in the form of worksheets as they won't be able to address the whole class with the level of work she'd be doing. 'Special Educational Needs' occurs at the other end of the spectrum where children who are bright are not catered for in many primary schools

madamesin

It does go up to yr 6.

I think they could easily print out different work sheets. It's a case of 30+ children in a class and she doesn't make a fuss and she's doing ok so why would they bother.

Teachers are used to habitually differentiating to two years above and more, and not with worksheets, either!

As a teacher myself I'd like to think that the parentsof higher performers in my class feel suitably catered for. I tend to plan tasks aimed at the upper end of the class and differentiate them down - it probably helps that I'm used to teaching Y6 but am in Y4 this year.

If a parent came to me with concerns that their DC was being given 'easy' work at school I'd hope that I wouldn't sound to defensive but I would explain my reasoning for not always moving a child on even if that child declared themselves ready.

One example is of a child in my class whose writing is pretty good in terms of ideas and language but the sentence structure is poor, punctuation is often inaccurate and capital letters appear all over the place. This child is convinced I should be happy with what is produced each lesson but, as I've explained and explained, inaccurate punctuation distorts the meaning and until s/he demonstrates consistent and correct use of punctuation marks I will be satisfied that my assessment of his/her performance is correct.

This child's parents have been to see me and I've explained where we're at. They accept the tasks are suitably challenging and that their child is receiving input, support etc. and are beginning to trust my judgement over that of their 8-year-old. I think! However, no child in my class ever finishes everything with much time to spare.

You've been given lots of good ideas about how to approach the teacher. I think asking about how your DD spends her day, how the teacher thinks she's coping with the work and how often she finishes well before the others so has to help/read might be a good way in. The teacher may be waiting until parents' evening to broach things with you re: extension activities, joining other classes for some lessons etc. etc. for all you know . Schools have different ways of catering for G&T children and we're expected to do so even though there's no funding for it any more. I've researched KS3 maths input for one of my Y4s and will be training another in website design but haven't spoken to the parents formally yet because I have a million and one other things to get done.

I hope your DD's teacher is helpful and that she either scraps homework altogether or provides something more challenging.