Can unstretched dc catch up the following year? (year 2)

[buttonup]

If your dc gets away with coasting for one year because they are not being stretched by their teacher, is it possible to catch up the following year with a good teacher? And who is at fault? Should the dc be more motivated to push themselves to produce their best work, or should their teacher make sure they do?

Yes, they can catch up. Easily.

It's nobodies fault. It's just life.

Thank you IndigoBell. I have really been fretting about my ds. He was apparently working at end of year 2 level in year 1 and this year i have seen no progress at all. The class haven't even had numeracy this week. I have heard the year 3 teacher is good so i am really hoping it all sorts itself out next year.

If he's in England he's only had 5 or 6 weeks this year. You wouldn't expect to see progress.......

How do you know he hasn't had numeracy? How do you know it wasn't incorporated into another topic like cooking or art or science....

The kids rarely know what they're learning ;)

Thank you again IndigoBell. I think you are just what i have needed. I am a bit of a worrier.

Listen to Indigo she talks a lot of sense

Most kids will excel and slow down throughout their time at school. Sometimes they are working way ahead of expectations, at other times, just at expectations and it is normal.

A good teacher teaches kids without them even realising that they are doing maths, literacy, science whatever because she probably doesnt label them.

If you ask most children what they have done at school they will say nothing. Or they mention playtime and lunchtime activities.

If you ask them did they do maths, english, spelling, reading, writing, they usually say no. (then you go in the classroom /and look at their books and realise that they have done loads of stuff)

This is the first term of a new school year and there will be lots of assessments being done but the teacher will be covering the curriculum as well.

I would say dont worry, keep an eye on your child and talk to the teacher when it is appropriate to do so.

Yes, they can catch up. Progress is rarely linear. DS made 2.5 years progress in year 2 after stalling in year 1.

DS had a crap teacher in Year 3 (he was retiring, and lets just say DS learnt a lot about Doctor Who and watched a lot of films that year ). He made no progress. In fact I'm going to dig out his end of year reports for Year 2 and Year 3 again to compare.

Year 4 he made excellent progress, which made me realise how crap the teacher had been the year before and wish I had voiced my concerns at the time .

What a surprise...reports for every school year from Reception, but no end of year report for Year 3 . They must have explained it at the time, but I can't remember.

Glowing report and excellent grades for end of Year 2, but I remember now we got his Year 3 grades on a scrap of paper that DS had written on ("he told us to write them down and show you") and I found in his pocket when I went to wash his trousers.

I remember questioning the lack of progress and the soon-to-be-retired-guy teacher said a level 3 in Year 2 is not the same as a level 3 in Year 3. I remember accepting that explanation at the time, but it was only when DS improved so much by the end of Year 4 that I realised no, it was crap teaching, period.

I perceived my children did next to nothing in primary school ... I kept them off a huge amount to do interesting things outside school ... but they were/are terribly happy, well-balanced ... and they got into all the selective secondaries we applied to with minimal turoring from us. If they are happy coasting at school, that's fine (although a bit of a waste of time and a shame) ... but you have to keep them uber-stimulated outside. Ten years on, I wonder what I made such a fuss about with our under-achieving reception.

moominmammacat

Um, how did you keep them off? Only because I am thinking I need to do the same with my son... he seems bored stiff and is not doing much at school - been thinking it is really sad as he is so young and I think would get more out occasional days out with me than he is at school..... we certainly do more learning activities at home than he is doing at school, nothing special just crafty things, cooking, reading, finding numbers on roadsigns and going on trips out and about. He is in reception by the way (and not particularly enjoying it)...Wish I had kept him at home until he was 5....

Thanks
Succulentawe

Lots of devious means ... and we only just escaped social services with no. 2 ... lots of osteopath visits (true but then we went on to science museums) lots of music (exams, performances, lessons ... school supportive about this), then when I could think of nothing vaguely truthful, headaches and minor malaise. Nearly came a cropper in reception when I took them to flower show and they appeared on front page of Times. You could ask school if he could do half days. When one of mine was in Y5 and had several music exams he came home every afternoon to practice. Good luck ... keeping them happy and interested in life is the way forward.