Summer born reception - how is yr ds doing?

[Sallyssss]

Following on from my post, I was wondering how the summer born boys are doing in reception. My August born child seems very happy, but is struggling with carpet time and concentrating. He is on red band books in the ORT, but just, and is really still only reading CVC words, and some of the most common HFW. he can write short sentences.

I know he is behind some of his older peers in reception, but I was wondering if anyone knew what a summer born should be doing at this stage?

there is no "should", ime. He sounds at least average to me, which is very good for the youngest cohort at this point.

My DS was born on August 26th. He wa sonly securely toilet trained July before school started. He went with verbal dyspraxia which in May had been deemed sever enough to potentially mean he shouldn't be MS schooled.

He's in the 'top' literacy and numeracy groups, his speech is flourishing, and he even got a major role in the production, where he delivered his lines wonderfully. He went through a very rough patch with concentration, mostly to do with the computers in class, and clearly threw more than the usual level of tantrums when told to do things he didn't want to. School called us in, and we worked on it together. This term he has been praised for readjusting to school after the holidays quicker than his peers. His best friend is a July born boy with similar attainment.

I worried that he would be lost at school (as did the EP). Instead, it's been the making of a confident, verbal and thoughtful child.

Ultimately, it ain't the age that matters, it's the child and the teaching.

I disagree, age matters when you are 4, and your peers are 5. Some nearly a whole year older.

sorry, but why does it matter?
they are August babies
they will always be the youngest in the year
the impact of that lessens every year until by University it is invisible

concentrate on things you can DO something about

(ds is 25th August BTW - he gets no leeway from me now he's in year 7)

Age is kind of relevant, but as there's bog-all you can do about it, there seems little point in making it an issue. I'd focus on whether the child is making appropriate progress, has good teaching and is happy at school.

My DS was born in January and has exactly the same issues you mention. He doesn't concentrate at carpet time, has a lack of focus etc etc.

As he is one of the 'older' children I think it's just a matter of personality in his case. He is a second child though and a generally lazy little toerag at home too!

Has the teacher mentioned that there is a specific problem at school?

My 19 year old is an Aug 28 birthday. He has never struggled with being youngest in his year and has good GCSE's and A levels. My 11 year old is a 22 June birthday...he is top sets in senior school. My 15 year old is January 2nd ..she is also all top sets. They could all read well in their reception years,(my youngest child was an extraordinary reader according to his teacher).
I really don't think there is any issue with month of birth,unless you choose to make it one just because your child is a little behind others. There will always be a youngest and oldest child wherever you make the cut -off point!

My ds born on the 31st aug and if born thirty mins later would have been a year below iykwim.

He is now in yr2 and doing really well, top sets In everything and loves school.

However in reception he really struggled and did not start to "get" reading until may of reception year and then everything fell into place.

He has had problems with bullying though as he is the youngest and also the smallest in his year bu t the school handle it very well IMO.

DS had quite a lot of accidents at school and only really stopped after 2 terms. (Fingers crossed). He's very shy but has come out of his shell a bit. He is only just writing independently now. He is doing turquoise band books and is good with numbers. He has 8 or so good friends in his class.

I think age does matter that young but there is nothing you can do about it except take solace that it gets easier as the years progress.

I was an August-born child and my parents got me extra help in English and Maths and I finished primary school in the top stream in all subjects.

DD is end of June birthday so not as young as some, she's also obviously female (not sure if this makes any difference to anything TBH).

She's doing well academically and behaviourally, but she is struggling with the emotional / social side of things. She doesn't really enjoy going to school at the moment, she finds it overwhelming at times, gets upset easily and seems to need more reassurance than some of the others (according to the teacher). We have had tears some mornings, and she also claiming illness in an attempt to get a day off :(

I guess they're all different, but I would much rather my child was settled and happy in school at this stage, rather than top of the class in academic terms.

My dd is end of August and I know the educational issues tend to be worse in August born boys compared to girls. But I have been really happy with how my dd has done this year in reception. She is on red band books whatever that means, she can write short sentences, and has some trouble concentrating. However her teacher is really pleased with her progress and I am really proud at how well she has taken school in her stride and How much she loves it.
When I see you are worried about your ds's similar progress I wonder what expectations you have...and who you are comparing him against.

My twin boys were born August 31st they were also two months premature so should have been in the school year below. In YR R they were behind and immature however with a lot of help, support and fun learning at home they caught up quickly. By year one they had moved up to the top groups and doing fantastic, this continued throughout and they now leave school this year and are estimated As, Bs and Cs at GCSE level this year, they even sat their maths GCSEs a year early in year 10 and came out with a B and a C, their birthday never had any effect on them other than the first year, they were very popular and have done great, my other child April born daughter is in year one and struggling a lot, has poor concentration, struggles with reading, writing, numbers, doesnt concentrate very well so I dont always think the fact theyre very young in the year has any effect on how they learn sometimes its just how theyre meant to be

My DS is born end of July and is in Yr R. We have just moved him to a new school and he is really behind... He knows his letters, but is struggling to consistently remember ch, sh and th. H is also finding concentrating and following thru with tasks hardwork. I am a worrier andwas asking only today on mumsnet what can I do to help him.

My son is an August baby and is thriving at school it helps that he has always loved nursery and school and I am thankful to his teachers for making learning a fun and positive experience from the start. I am so impressed with how he has grasped phonics and reading. He loves writing and from what I can see he isn't facing any problems. I was really worried that he would be behind but as I have mentioned, I am really happy with how he is progressing. I can however, tell he is one of the younger ones; he is still a little more babyish in some of the games he likes to play and is slightly slower at doing things i.e. getting dressed and undressed etc than the older ones.

A child's overall intelligence and work ethic is more relevant to how they'll get on in school than their birth month. In every yeargroup there are high-achieving summer-borns and low-achieving Autumns. And vice versa. Your ds will 'catch up' and achieve what he is encouraged to achieve as and when.

If it's any consolation, my ds is an August-born, and was very wriggly in reception and first term of Year One. Then he "got it" and has been flying ever since. Is on track for A's and A*s at GCSEs this term.

Jaffas - he sounds fine and normal and like lots of the boys in our class.

My summer ds loves his school, thank goodness, even though he's the littlest. Kaekae - like you, I notice my son is more 'babyish', lots of the other older boys are into fighting talk, Ben 10, all that stuff where he is more into imagination based stuff like 'cooking' with mud and twigs. He is definitely slower getting dressed and can't do his buttons. I can see we will be spending the whole of summer holidays on button practice.

My Aug born dd seems to have decided that she's now ready for school. She cried every morning from Sept to February but since then has been happy and involved. She's doing fine academically - blue book band, middle maths group - and now has lots of friends. Breakthrough this week was that she was happy to go to her friend's house without me - never done that before! She's clearly gaining confidence and enjoying learning which I am hugely pleased about.

Sally age matters, but not nearly as much as personality/individual rate of development does.

sally all the research shows that age does matter. All teachers will tell you that age matters.

However, providing a child's age is always part of the consideration (by both school and parents) it should be no barrier.
How you ensure that everyone bears it in mind is a whole other ball games.