What might you expect a yr1 to write in this comprehension question?

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

Im afraid its me again with another school work query.
DS1's head told us that he isnt doing any work at all at school - he was in reception for one term and has been in yr1 for half a term. It was a bit of a bombshell, as we had no idea he was struggling with the work or so far behind the others. HoweverI have been working with him all half term and was feeling really pleased with how much he has come on.

So anyway I was just looking through some of the work they sent back in his book bag ( I assume the emptied his tray at the end of half term). Theres a Handas Surprise work book in it. He has attempted very little. they were meant to draw a fruit in a basket, and an animal for the book, which I htink he could have had a stab at but hasnt. He's ordered some pictures of the story in the correct order. The last question is
"Write about your favorite part. Draw the picture too"
There are five ruled lines and a small space for the picture underneath. TBH, when I saw this I could have wept, no wonder they are so concerned about his progress in school if the others are answering comprehension questions like this independently. He can have a go at writing words, and has had a go at some sentences, but he struggles and unless I help, they often end up as nonsense. Is it normal for kids to be able to write a sentence or two about a book after a term and a half in school, and if so, what kind of level of sentence might it be, complexity wise?

Seems like the teacher and head have very little understanding of 5 yr old little boys - play fighting is normal (my DS and his friends used to play Ben 10 or Power Rangers non stop at this age), fidgeting is normal, difficulty concentrating is normal ...
I wonder how active the classroom is (or how inactive, e.g. too much time on the carpet or sitting listening), and how much of a transition there's been between reception and yr 1. Effective yr 1 classes are run very similarly to reception for around half a term.
Behaviour-wise, you could be describing my DS (yr 2), who is doing really well thanks to his brilliant reception and yr 1 teachers. He's very immature - if they'd let that stand in the way of his ability, I'm sure he would have really struggled, but they knew how to work with active little boys. He's still a right pain in the classroom though ...

She moved him several times and he continued. And wasn't he getting a lot of attention every time she made a fuss and moved him??? Hmmm. Negative spiral, perhaps?

Yeah, thats why I said to sit him on his own. A he wouldnt like it and b, it removes the ability to do it again, and stops him from disrupting. He is much better apparently now he is sitting next to her at group time.

I just keep thinking this must be beyond the normal parameters of just general boy messing about and struggling to sit still, that it must be really extreeme. They must have seen transition problems a hundred times before - so this must be beyond that. Otherwise they wouldnt be talking about assessing him, surely.

A member of my family is being failed by their ds school in almost the same way. They too are saying that he needs a SENCO referral. I think he just needs to be taught properly by a teacher who actually knows how to teach spirited young boys. Not the same as girls at that age at all!

About the playing sonic in the playground - TBH With two boys I think that's perfectly normal, and does not mean they 'struggle to tell the difference between fantasy and reality'. It's called pretend play??!!

My almost 9 yo DS1 in Y4 still quite happily runs around the playground with his friends playing Doctor Who, and my almost 7yo DS2 will play Ben 10 with his friends. The boys get older, the characters change, but the play is still the same. I don't know when it changes, but from looking at my friends boys, it can be anywhere from age 9 to age 13!

What about paintball, Xbox, PSP?
All played by grownups who must have difficulties telling real life from fantasy!!!!

well I thought so too. I really dont know what to think tbh. I am too emotionally involved to see it sensibly I think. The teacher had told the head, that during a class discussion on eye infections (I think someone had recently come back from being off with a bad eye), she had asked ds1 what he thought about it, and he had started talking about xray vision. As the head told me the story she said the teacher had not known what to make of it coupled with a wtf facial expression.
I didn't think that was TERRIBLY weird, I used to be a childminder and had lots of kids through the doors that would more or less ignore the actual conversation and artfully turn it round to something they wanted to talk about more. If he had done that with me, I would have told him to stick to the subject in hand!
Ah well, we will see what happens in the next couple of weeks. I suppose it is pointless me trying to surmise all this on an internet forum really, but thanks for listening anyway!

DS doesnt even have a bloody xbox, its his mate thats into sonic!

DS is half a term into Y1 and would certainly be able to write a sentence or two about a book. The sort of level he is writing at is (I'm going to quote his most recent story rather than a comprehension question because I happen to have it right here)

Rood Snail by GFIMLS's DS
Rood snail was rood to everyone. Octopus thrugh him in the sea. a dog rescude him. it was his birthday He said sorry.

But, although he's a late-January birthday so not much older than your DS, he had a whole year in Reception (his school doesn't do staggered starts). If the school is expecting children who had one term in Reception to be producing the same level of work as children who had three terms in Reception, without any attempt at differentiation, then they are just asking for problems.

If they are setting him up to fail in his schoolwork then it's no surprise that his behaviour is suffering as well (although nothing you've said sounds particularly out of the ordinary).

Once again the teacher sounds like the one who is struggling not your son.

Dont worry he is still only five. Keep supporting him and make life fun for him. He has got the rest of his life to conform.

My DS couldn't do that either, he'd probably just about manage now in yr 2. He is a younger one (aug) is that the same with your DS??

I have started leaving post-its around the house for him with messages such as I love you and he's doing it back, its giving him an interest and insight into the 'fun' aspect of writing so its not just a chore.

Home/school is different, I mean DS writing at home was/is actually legible!! It is at school now.

In yr 1 DS did a lot of drawing pictures about stories and then began to write a word or 2 increasing it as the oppotunity for discussing it decreased and he wanted to get his point across.

Oh and FWIW, OP you it could have been me writing this thread a year ago and it is all fine much better now.

The x-ray vision story seems cute, and kind of normal, I think. So he goes off at a tangent ... is the teacher not able to respond to that (without a put down), then bring him back to the original question? It's what ks1 teachers spend a LOT of time doing, I'd imagine.

It reminds me of a violin lesson DS had in half term - he'd do a bit of playing, listen to a question, ignore it and tell a little story, to which the teacher would reply, 'Wow, that's really interesting, I bet you enjoyed that ... now what do you think about trying this using your 4th finger?'
Now, how hard would it be ... 'Yes, I bet it would be funny to have x-ray vision, but it probably wouldn't hurt. How do you think Bob was feeling when he had his sore eye?'

thanks Numbar, thats encouraging to know. Yes Swill72 thats the approach I would have taken, maybe she did and he still went on about xrays lol!
He's taken his folder of work he's done in this morning, and was excited to show his teacher, told the ta that he had it (teacher was inside) - ta said theacher wanted to see me, went in to get her then came out and said Oh, actually she doesnt want to see you...I hope he has his home school diary in his bag today and I hope she has managed to find time to look at his stuff he took in, I think it will be a positive thing for them to do, where she might get some sensible conversation out of him...

Now Ive had the form to apply for a school place for ds2 come today, and I dont know wether to go and look round our closer catchment area school and chat to them about how they would help ds1, or stick with the school we are at.

It's not going to do any harm to at least chat to the other school.

Thanks, GuyFawkes - btw meant to say, Rood Snail is bloody genius!

Everything you've said about your son sounds like a very normal five year old boy. And I'm a bit that a Year 1 teacher hasn't got a whole army of strategies up her sleeve for dealing with things like fidgeting and not being able to concentrate. Totally normal stuff, particularly after only a term and a bit.

FWIW, my daughter is in Year 1. She wouldn't be able to read a book like Handa's Surprise for herself and she would need someone sitting with her to go through a worksheet. But if it was a book she knew, she'd probably have a stab at writing a sentence about what she liked. In the case of Handa's Surprise, it would probably be something like "wen de goot hit hiz hed", because her spelling is entirely made up and gloriously eccentric.

And I'm guessing she'd have drawn a pineapple, which would probably have looked more like an alien!

Geraldine - whatever else, think you have done fantastically well in supporting your DS in a very short period of time. It is lovely that he is keen and eager to do work with you. I'd try not to worry about where he might or might not be with respect to "average" as he has had so little time in school. If he is learning and making progress with the work you have done over half-term ( and he obviously is)then this shows he is capable of progress and will improve with time!

I hope this makes sense. I just wanted to say "well done" to you for your fantastic response and support of your ds. I hope the teacher responded positively to all the work he had done!

When you are nagging him to revise for his GCSEs you will look back on this time with such fondness!!

lol Sarahfreck, you are so right!
Thanks for the nice comments, his teacher did send a lovely message about his work in his diary today. He also came out very proud to show me his new star chart, and has a very nice teacher who came out with him to explain it all to me (I think she must be the senco person) - he had a much better day, I am VERY RELIEVED!! He has a star chart with a star for each lesson, and one for play times. If he gets all his stars, he gets a half hour activity with the Senco lady doing something nice as a reward.

I feel less stressed about it now we have had some help from the school and that his support teacher seemed to really genuinely be enjoying his company, which is so lovely to see after feeling like he was a bit of a pain in the backside at school!

thanks all, for the support, you have all helped to keep me sane.

My DD is in year 2 and I would have to support her a lot with that! Seems advanced to me for year ones.

Mr Z you said on another thread that ALL your Y1s could do over a page of written work, and yet you seem to think that the OPs DS couldn't be expected to have the skills to do so???

So re-assured there are other children out there like my DD. She too is in yr1 (late August baby). At parents evening few weeks ago teacher began with 'what shall we say about her' and so it went on, chatterbox, not focused, doesn't realize there is a time and a place for such behaviour. I am very relaxed about it now, even when she wrote a thank-you note last week which read 'fuk yoo fo the egs' (thankyou for the eggs). Her teacher also told us that with alot of help, a hard push and a good wind behind her she might be creeping upto average this time next year.
Just let it go. My DD is so much happier than my 10yo DD who is heading for grammar school (fingers crossed), she was a level 2b begining of reception while little sis is struggling with a 1c.

"fuk yoo fo the egs" hahaha! I have no idea what level my ds is....I might get similar comments next week at parents evening!

Oldboden, mrz is talking about "independent writing" I think in the other thread, if youre thinking of the same one as me...where they can write anything at all that they want. Different skills to completing a comprehension task like this one

oldinboden the reason is that all our children have three full terms in reception so by this point in the year they have spent more than twice as long learning to read and write as the OPs son.