Is my Child being Challenged enough at School

[laurabow]

My daughter started school last September. She has made amazing progress with her reading and maths and generally seems to find tasks set at school quite easy. I have spoken to her teacher who agrees with me, but I am still feel that the work work/reading that she brings home is far too easy for her. Do you think that this will lead to her getting bored or do you think that she is just going to have to wait for the others to catch up? I don't want to overstep the mark with her teacher by questioning the work they are setting her. Any advice would be fantastic please.

I think you're asking about Reception mathematics. If that's true perhaps you should read a few past discussions on that topic. It's a very popular and common topic.

There's nothing to stop you stretching your own daughter's knowledge at home. But a common response to academic concerns of Reception parents is - The Reception year is about a lot more besides formal academic learning.

(Personally I reckon that comes down to belief. But I also reckon that if you don't believe it you've little recourse but to make up what you believe the shortfall is at home. Some schools are unashamedly academic all the way through. But many aren't.)

Well opinions will differ widely on this I imagine. If she were older I would perhaps agree with you but she is only reception and you can challenge her at home in a fun way too. My view (and the view of my childrens school too) is that at such a young age it shouldn't be about challenging them ALL the time because there is a lot to be said for the confidence building that children get from being able to do things well.

If she is not bored now I would personally go with the flow and continue doing "challenging" stuff with her at home. Also bear in mind that learning tends to go in fits and starts so while she might be ahead now, she may go through a perfectly normal period of plateau while others catch up so she won't necessarilly get bored moving forward.

I would play it by ear for now, as long as you feel she is progressing and enjoying school I would be happy, if that changes, re-evaluate the issue.

I also have a DD 4.6 in reception. She loves reading and when we had the parents evening the teacher told me that she was a good reader and that they would be giving her more challenging books. Before Christmas she moved up two reading stages. The first week after Christmas she came home with a book that she'd had in the second week at school in September. I wrote a note for the teacher in the homework diary, the next day I had a note back that she had assessed/read with DD and moved her up 3 levels, i.e one level up from where she was before the holidays.
I don't like questioning the teacher about reading levels or homework either but find that a gentle word in the homework diary does the trick.

Whether she gets bored or not and whether that will have a detrimental effect on her or not is largely a question of personality, very difficult to predict. Reception,as Oggy said, is about so many other things too: if she enjoys those and sees them as valuable then she will not be bored; if she is led to believe that they are not "real" learning, then she will be.

In fact- everything that Oggy said, including the fits and starts bit.

I would be hands off if I were you. Well, that's the way I'm playing it. If DS was coming home and clearly not enjoying school then I would ask more questions but he loves it and he's only 5. They don't start school until 6 or 7 in a lot of countries. If they're having a good time then job done I reckon in reception. There's a lot for the brain to develop before 6/7 other than reading and maths so unless you have a desire for her to go to university at 16 I would chill out.

By the way the only "work" we get brought home is some letter sheets and some sheets of words that DS reads in about 30s. I'm quite happy with that. If he was 7 I would be wanting a lot more, but for me the more formal approach to learning starts at 7 not 5.

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated.