What do children learn in reception?

[vickibee]

Is it an extension of Pre-school? Is it play or formal learning?
when I looked round the village school I was shown the chickens, the allotment, the pond and the goats. All very nice but what about the 3R's?
Any Foundation teachers spread light on this?

Vickibee - the school's got goats and chickens, i think that's fantastic!

My ds is in reception and absolutely loves it. He started knowing most of the letters, but not reading. He could write his name but not anything else and now he's reading really well, can write sentences and do sums. The thing I (and he) loves the most is that he is having a fantastic time and loves school. We've never had a single day where he hasn't wanted to get to school.

I think reception is so very valuable that I really feel people shouldn't miss out reception and go straight to year 1. I understand that depending when the child is born they may only just be 4 when starting school but to me that means its even more important to start them. Not because of the educational side of it but to get them used to the routine, sitting still when told, getting themselves changed for PE, listening to adults and learning respect for teachers.

My DS has problems with concentrating and sitting still, I think this may be a boy trait but I am concerned he will not progress because of this. He is a bright boy and loves to learn but by doing it himself. The school explained that boys and girls learn differently and have techniques in place to tackle this. It is a very small school- only take 16 pupils so Reception 1 and 2 have the same teacher, a two year age gap between the oldest and youngest? Has anyone else come across this?

Your school sounds great. I am

Curly Brunette
The children collect the eggs and they are sold to parents for school funds. They grow their own fruit and veg and use it for school meals. Like the goodlife!!!

My DD is reception said all they ever did was line up!

vickibee, in many schools composite classes are absolutely standard these days, so teachers are often well used to teaching a range of ages. Here in Scotland where you can defer entry for younger children and still go into p1 when you start (=YR), there is usually a bigger range of ages anyway in the classes, anything from a minimum of 4.6 to about 5.10 when they start. It really hasn't been a problem for ds1, who is at the younger end. I'm hoping it'll be the same for ds2, who will be one of the youngest in his class.

seriousy, go for this school! what great life lessons

We are very lucky - we live in a very rural area - there are as many sheep as people!! All the schools are village type schools.
Coconuts - great life lessons with the good life but not in terms of diversity. It is an all white middle class area. My DS will live in a vacuum and will not mix with children from other cultures, religions or race. People live here for life and there is very little migration in or out. I left at 18 and came back 20 years later cos I didn't want DS to grow u in the city

yes, mine's the same..exactly the same. I teach in the local secondary and see how inward looking they can be. I think it can affect the ambition to see whats out there and explore diversity.

Its the only draw back I have found with our local village school!

For a normal lively boy this sounds an ideal school.
My DD2 was very bright, and when I took her to school I told her teacher (who I had known for a while) that I wasn't worried about the academics, but she needed to work on her social skills. DD1 went to a private nursery before school and her class mates could all write a bit before school, that didn't mean they are any more advanced nowadays.

I don't think any UK school (except Steiner?) would only expect kids to be able to write their name by 7. My child with dyslexia could do that early in reception.

Kids in other countries who start school much later, do just as well in international tests (if not better). So I wouldn't stress the academics at this age.

Yes Mummytime Ds does rellay need to learn social skills. He has been to an excellent preschool and he has improved his lietening skills but it is a slow process. He is like a bull in a china shop!
I know this may seem a silly question - what is a school's policy on visiting the loo. He always likes someont ot stand by the door with him and he needs help with wiping , kids aren't v good at that?
OMG I really am going off subject

Most Reception classes would expect a child to be able to go to the toilet and wipe etc by themselves.

IME Reception is as much about the social skills as the 3 Rs. Things like sitting still and listening, sharing, waiting your turn, self care etc. Which doesn't mean that they don't also learn how to read and write, but that is only one part of it.

My DC go to a village school with 16 in Reception and 2 years per class, it works just fine.

vicki, if he is starting in sepember onwards, then you have quite a while yet and he'll learn such a lot in the next 6 months!

A friend's boy was barely potty trained by this stage but ready for school...

...by the following september

Coconuts
He is toilet trained but has difficulty wiping clean even with wet wipes and he gets upset about it.
Jemima
He is rubbish at sharing - maybe cos he is an only child, something we are working on.

Susiewho - sadly, a very low proportion of children arrive in Year R knowing any letters, writing, numbers, being able to count, even knowing how to handle a book ( or indeed what a book :( ), where I teach. I'm sure that our very low Entry Profile scores aren't unusual either.

That's really sad, Lara2. What a shame, particularly as BookStart packs are free from the Health Visitor or library.

Poor little mites! :(