Reception expectations seem really low? Just some reassurance needed.

[moonstorm]

I was looking in class today (there is a display just outside the classroom with info on) and the expectations seem to be things that ds has been able to do for ages- count and recognise numbers to 10, recognise and write own name,talk about a variety of situations.

I know some children come to school unableto do much, and i suppose I worry that ds will be allowed to 'free play' until others have caught up, rather than be stretched.. an any Reception teachers reassure me/ how will they stretch him enough?

I realise I sound pushy, I don't mean to - I just want ds to be stretched - he is already coming home asking when he will learn something... and I don't want him to get bored in class..

Do you realise how young reception kids are. There will be some children that have only just turned 4. In other countries they would still be at nursery. You need to chill and save this type of worrying for when your ds is quite a bit older and let him be the young child he is now.

You do sound very pushy. Perhaps a prep school would be better for your ds?

My son spent a large proportion of his reception year dressed as a lamb

He is now yr 4 and doing extremely well

I think you need to relax- I am assuming he has been in for two weeks?

Just relax-I don't think he will get bored. There will be a whole range of abilities.

I think quite a bit of the focus in reception is learning through play. It is also about learning to work with and play with others etc. I think you need to chill out about formal learning.

Moonstorm, I think you have every right to know your DS will be stretched, but I wouldn't worry at the moment.

How long are the targets meant to be for? They might be for this week/half term/term. Do you have a parent/teacher consultation coming up? You could ask about targets then.

Moon storm - reception expectations are extremely low if you have a child who already reads, and understands number bonds etc. That said, they are extremely high if you have a child who can't recognize his or her own name written on their peg.

4 and 5yos vary so much in their development.

Nevertheless, a good school should be able to cater for all yr r children, whatever their individual needs - so if a child enters already reading fluently, they will be allowed to access books from other year group shelves instead of the reading scheme (or started on the scheme wherever appropriate).

The first few weeks of yr r are really all about learning the new routines of school, and the teachers assessing the children individually to gauge what stage they are at. Most of the learning at this point is through play , but there are lots of opportunities within this for children who have already met the learning outcomes of yr r (and 1/2 whatever) to extend and practice their skills. Eg just the role play corner and the shop - lots of maths and writing for those who love to play with that stuff, and interaction for everyone.

There will always be a reasonable percentage of children who can ace the yr r (and indeed 1/2) stuff on entry, just because of the laws of averages. All kids are different.

If ds is happy, I would let it go, and let him get used to the environment. You can discuss the academic stuff at the parent's evening in the next month or so, as the teacher will share where she thinks he is working, and what he will be working on or towards over the year. If this is stuff he already knows, then do mention it. Some children do get overlooked.

A teacher's job is to help all children meet their own potential, not to turn out identikit models that only meet early year's expectations.

A lot of it is learning where your child sits in relation to his peers. All of our 'norms' get modified a bit on school entry as we see a wider range of abilities on display instead of those we are used to at home.

Give it half a term or so. They are more interested in all the children settling into the routine, behaviour expectations etc to start with. But then the teacher will get to know him and his level and there should be opportunity for him to learn, although in Reception it will generally be through play as this is the easiest and best way for children to learn at this age. For example DS's Reception teacher always put numeracy activities around the classroom that the children could choose to do if they liked during free play. DS always did them as he had an interest, his teacher noticed this and would extend the activities for him when appropriate.

Its early days and its only the third week of term. In many areas they stagger the intake, so some reception children will not have started school yet. I think you will find that they up the pace of learning once the children are settled.

Reception is about social skills and learning the routines of school. Learning to read and number bonds is a very small part of the early years foundation stage.

My son learnt more in reception than any other year of school. He is in year 6 and not been stretched as much as he was towards the end of reception.

Thank you for your replies - i'm not worried about formal learning yet, but most of the 'academic' stuff he learnt at nursery (they managed to do it through play etc.). I wasn't concerned until the end of last week when he asked me when he was going to start learning (he's desperate to tell me about new things)- and then I saw the expectations (which I understood to be this term's). He has been so ready to go that I want him to feel that he is learning something (I worry that his behaviour could go badly wrong if he starts to get frustrated).

I am also not interested in comparing him to others - I just want to focus on my son. You are right it's early days and they are just getting to know the children, but many they already know (it's a foundation stage unit that opened 3 years ago - so only a handful are new each year).

My dd was a bit like that at the beginning of reception, she was very ready for school, and eveyone hypes it up so much ('Oooh, are you going to big school soon..') for months beforehand that I think she thought all the secrets of the universe would be revealed to her on the first day, and it was a bit of a letdown. But once they are all settled in they do get more to get their teeth into.

That does soundly exactly like my ds. As I said, i don't mean to sound pushy (I have focussed on 'home skills' independence/ organisational skill etc, it was the nursery that taught what he knw's of the academic skills), but I want to feel that there is at least a small uphill trend in his knowledge and skills!

The thing about reception class the emphasis is learning through play. He will be learning. He just won't know he's doing it!!

There is likely to be structured lessons too. They may be doing maths, literacy etc, some of which he may already know. He is however learning more than that - he's learning his skills for life and definitely those he'll need to get on in the class room: sitting quietly when required, speak when his turn, listen when others are talking, take on board what others are saying, class rules etc etc. Again he will be learning. Again he just won't know he's doing it!

At this stage the teacher is probably just trying to figure out their entry levels. Yes they are mostly learning through play but in our school they will soon also be put in sets for maths/english etc (next month?) so they can teach according to need.

Agree with above, he will be learning more than academic skills at this point -good pen control through 'mark making', painting, drawing etc. Getting used to new faces, new routines, where to eat, toilets, hand washing, where things are, how to behave to be a good friend etc.

The expectations you saw are minimum expectations. We were similar with DD as are most parents I suspect but there are some who will meet the minimum standards through lots of hard work etc. Doesn't mean your DS will not be pushed.

Our DD was youngest in her school. We felt the same as year around this time. She now reads, writes, counts to 100+, basic maths, shapes and can talk at length about many topics. We are so grateful to her amazing teachers as teaching a 4 year old to read seems amazing to me!

I think the hardest thing is not knowing everything they do at school. Our DD is in year 1 and in some ways, as there is a little less communication with teacher (no one to one chat every night - good hand over but obviously appropriate to her having lots of kids etc) BUT DD can explain more;

Chances are you DS is doing and learning MUCH more than he is letting on

I find it so incredibly sad that you want to ensure your 4yo is 'stretched'

They've got their who life for that

whole

Just to say i sympathise OP! My DD is one of the oldest...nearly 5. The targets for this term are things she has happily been doing for over a year. She has asked why she needs to go to school as she hasn't learnt anything yet...and indeed i suspect she hasn't. I don't want to be "pushy" either, but it seems to me that if the children who enter not knowing things are making progress because they are learning new stuff, then those children who already know things should also be having the chance to make progress too.

They did make a concession to the fact that she can read ...by allowing her to have a stage 1 book with words in...that she was reading 15 months ago ....

Yes, she should be playing and she is, but she should also be learning and I also worry that she will be allowed to stay where she is until the others catch up. I was told by someone once that it does not matter where a child is when they start school, they will all be dragged down to the same level soon enough. She is in a mixed R/1 class so should be able to work with year 1 if needed so the teachers don't have to plan different work for her, but apparently that does not happen in ehr school..(Why???) anyway, I will give it two more weeks then I will pop in for a chat! And if I come across as a pushy parent well then so be it. If I don't push for her who will?? Oh and she is very keen to do things, it's not me telling her to do them, she wakes me up in the morning asking for sums to do........

You'll soon start seeing new things coming home. The first few weeks are very much about getting everyone settled. My DD started reception much like yours. By Christmas she was more or less reading. Not all of them are at the same level, but I would be very suprised if the teacher doesn't start on phonics pretty soon!

He will learn new things, but again through play. DD could write all letter, had to re-learn as they started cursiv writing. DD could read but still had to manage all the phonics.

So there is enough "learning". It could very well be that the teacher is still assessing the children. Just because one mother says "my child can read" it still may need to learn phonics properly.

DD went to nursery 4 full days but still school left her shattered because the whole environment is so different.

youonlysing , how ridiculous that you'd break out the sad face for a child whose parent wants to make sure he enjoys school. You do realise that some children actually enjoy learning something they don't already know? That's what OP means by 'stretched', what did you think she meant? The rack?

Schools generally publish what is the minimum required for the end of that year. However they do tend to work on knowledge that is already there, much of it depending on the cohort. What I mean is that if there is a group of children who can already read and write it is a little easier to do more with them than just the odd one. Or at least that was my experience with the various cohorts my children were with.

I would second what others' said that really reception is about settling in as they are extremely young. Like other's also said, in other countries they are still at nursery until 6.

With regards to others catching up, this is often developmental and you will be surprised, especially with boys, what a difference a year or two makes. Some boys like mine entered reception not being able to hold a pencil and came out 2 years later reading and writing perfectly well.

I had similar anxieties to you when my first daughter started, as she was very mature and had mastered many of the skills required a couple of years earlier. I can't say she loved reception, she mostly put up with it but things got better and better for her as the environment became more formal.

You don't sound pushy at all, OP! You're not saying "my child must be stretched and challenged as he is so intelligent" - you simpley don't want him to be bored! I am in the same boat as you with my DS - he can already read simple books and says he is bored doing letter sounds and I'm sure he is. But I am assuming (or hoping!) that the time spent on stuff he already knows is a fairly small part of the day. There must be lots of other times when he has new things to do and learn. I don't believe they are sitting there for an hour at a time going "ssss... ssss... ssss", despite what he tells me! :) Also I saw a timetable recently where there was a section that said something like "plan work for more able pupils", the implication being that once they get to know the different abilities, they will keep those children challenged. I'm sure that all schools plan for each child individually and the more able ones won't just be left 'waiting for the others to catch up'. I'm going to give it a few weeks and then speak to the teacher if my DS says still says he's bored and I'd probably advise that you do the same.

My DD has just gone into year 1. I felt a bit the same about Reception, until I started helping at school and saw just how enormously wide the range of achievement is. There are children from her class who still cannot meet those expectations that you mentioned in your OP. However DD was appropriately taught and challenged and was working on multiplication, estimation, division, writing whole stories, reading quite complex books and producing some amazing artistic creations by the end of the year. She had lots and lots of opportunities to take things as far as she wanted and the teacher seemed wonderful at pitching things so that the whole class could participate.

Hope this is reassuring!

Our Reception teacher finds that so much of the first half term is spent learning things like classroom routines, e.g. putting up hands to answer questions, getting changed for sport, learning to eat at the dining table with the rest of the form, lots of time is also spent in the toilet as small children need lots of visits to the loo!