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Does it matter that ds has not learnt much in year 2?

6 replies

shortcut · 12/03/2012 12:33

Ds was really got reading and writing in reception, and went into year 1 very advanced in those areas. Whilst in year 1, he became consistent with punctuation, learnt speech marks, brackets etc. He also really took off with numeracy. He became a free reader too.
Thinking about it today, he hasn't really learnt much in year 2 except not using said as much in his writing, and using paragraphs. He still reads a lot and is still good at numeracy.
I am not complaining, but should he have learnt more or is there any point in pushing him ? I have noticed he seems less focused and teachers have commented that he can be too chatty, when he never used to be.

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learnandsay · 12/03/2012 12:56

Have a think about what you'd like him to be able to do and then teach him how to do it. You can't expect him to be able to do things if nobody has ever shown him how to do them. Sorry I can't be more specific. But you haven't explained what you'd like him to be able to do.

shortcut · 12/03/2012 14:24

What i meant was, he hasn't (from what i've seen), got much better at writing and maths. I don't know what more he could be doing other than the year 3 work but should the teacher be getting him to do this, or consolidating what he knows already. Basically, he has not been stretched at all this year.

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redskyatnight · 12/03/2012 14:34

How do you know he hasn't progressed?

My able DS certainly did Y3 maths in Y2 - but a lot of this is just extension of Y2 maths work. So for example they'd consolidate what they already know and then extend it. I think when they get to this stage you don't see the leaps in progress you do earlier on - for example when your DC goes from not writing at all to writing sentences you see huge progress - at this level it's about more subtle skills, writing sentences in different ways, writing different types of material (e.g. difference between newspaper report and story) as well as consolidating skills already learnt. I guess I'm wondering what your expectation is. If your DS is simply repeating work he did in Y1 and is getting bored I don't think that's acceptable at all.

rabbitstew · 12/03/2012 14:41

Not quite sure what you expect? Is his spelling unimproved? Is his handwriting no neater? Are his sentences no more lengthy or complicated? Is he not writing at greater length? Has he not introduced any new words into his written vocabulary? Are his stories no more exciting or well structured????? Can you really tell all that from memory, or have you been trawling through his old work and comparing it with what he is doing now? Or has the teacher told you he hasn't improved?

Michaelahpurple · 13/03/2012 11:16

I think year 2 is really dull, at least at our shop. Year 1 offers loads of excitement and a really rich curriculum, then year 2 is all about "consolidation" which is probably handy if you didnt' get it it all in year 2, but terminally dull for those who did. DS1 had a really poor year 2, going backwards in all his written work and becoming totally bored, snarky and unmotivated. Am bracing myself to hear that DS2 reverts back to his reception "he is being a handful and misbehaves when bored" behaviour reports.
I have a theory that children who enjoy reception like year 2, and those who like year 1 enjoy year 3.

gabid · 13/03/2012 12:16

Hm, we have a mixed Y1/2 class and I noticed that they are doing traditional tales again in Y2 - I supposed they are analysing characters, events etc, last year they did stuff about the Gingerbread Man and this year it seems Goldilocks, all stories they all have probably known since before pre-school. I can't see the excitement there.

However, my DS (Y2) likes the familiar and stuff that is easy. He is young, immature and needs more confidence. That's how I noticed 1/2 way through Y2 that the maths he is doing at school was too easy for him and it took me 6 weeks to get listened to, DS reassessed and moved to an appropriate set. DS was coasting happily in the Y1 top set and he liked it because it was easy. The school wasn't very open when it came to giving info to parents.

Mayby your DS is in the Y2 top set and the school is happy, but not moving him beyond Y2/differentiating enough. It seems your DS is getting a bit bored and therefore chatty.

I think in future (at least the next couple of years) until DS hopefully matures a bit I would like to know a bit more from the school, e.g. where he is and where he is expected to go in the main subjects. I can't trust them anymore to do the best for my DS - especially after being fobbed off so many times by the school when I asked those very questions.

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