What extra work (or play that reinforces learning) do you do with your y3 dc?

[internationalvulva]

Just that really. We do read with DD at least 3 or 4 times a week and do any hw set by the school, but she is summer born and I wonder if we should be supplementing this to ensure she doesn't fall behind...?

I think if you can try and listen to her read most days and support her with homework then you don't need to be doing extra work with her. Obviously if she is interested in things encourage her but extra tuition isn't necessary.

There is no reason why she would fall behind just because she is summer born, unless you think she is already below the expected level. By year 3 I don't think birth date has that much bearing on levels.

Nothing really, she has homework once a fortnight from school and we help/encourage her with that, but not a lot else. She has spellings once a week but they're easy and she already knows them. She also reads a lot every day, but she does this of her own accord so we dont really have a role in it, apart from keeping her supplied with a steady stream of books. She also has access to mathletics through school, which I let her go on when she feels like it (not very often at the moment)!

I wouldn't worry about doing extra if I were you, unless you feel that she's falling behind. Being summer born isn't really the issue. My philosophy is that I want learning to be fun, not a chore, and so I avoid pushing outside of school. In any case, kids need time to just relax. If you do feel the need to do stuff, make sure it's enjoyable for both of you!

I read with ds3 every evening (for 30-40 mins) before he goes to bed. I encourage ds's 1&2 (17 & 15) to read with him if they have a spare half hour and they will play board games with him - I just can't be doing with board games myself.

We do any homework he has to do and I encourage him to write shopping lists, thank you letters, or just wee notes to us. He also keeps a scrapbook with photos of places he's been or things he's done and writes in it. He does a lot of cutting and sticking - it's probably his favourite thing to do.

We try to expand on topics he is doing in school eg. He brought home an ORT reading book incorporating the story of the Wizard of Oz, a story he hadn't previously heard of, so we bought the DVD for him to watch and a read it yourself book of it to read.

His current topic is " the lighthouse keepers lunch" so yesterday we went to look at a lighthouse and took some photos so that he can put then in his scrapbook. We have also bought two more "lighthouse keeper" books which he loves.

I don't do any extra formal learning with him. They spend enough time in school for that and he is in the top group for everything at the moment so I think what I am doing must be ok!

Ds3 is in P2 (the same as Y1) so a wee bit younger but unless things change drastically I plan to continue as we are. I may look at computer programmes as he gets older but they didn't exist when ds1 and ds2 were that age so I am not really familiar with what's best atm.

DD1 is a July birthday, but it just feels like there is enough to do with school & homework now in Y3 that to do anything else "formally" would be too much & cause resentment & dislike of particular subjects. I bought her a science workbook for ages 7-9 but she said she doesn't want extra work, so I have left it. In previous years she wanted to do workbooks at home, so I guess this means she is feeling more challenged now.

I don't even hear her read that often, probably twice a week, not the 30 minutes a day recommended by the school. She reads on her own and has been on chapter books since Y1. Also I like to read TO her at night and she likes this too. She is now able to sustain interest enough to hear longer stories like The Hobbit or The Magician's Nephew told over several weeks.

Also she wants to try lots of different extra curricular activities (currently piano, two dance classes and swimming) & is very sporty so that takes up a fair bit of time in the week, & I think these things are also very important, as is time to just play.

What I also meant to say is that we do stuff informally. Working out the change in a shop, seeing if she can work out a sum I'm doing quicker than me, talking about how we would work out a more difficult maths problem - bit of a focus on maths as I don't want her to be 'scared' of maths as I was, and I think she is a bit like me and DH in that languages & writing come easily, while maths & science are not so intuitive.

We do 5-10 mins most days times tables practise. They are expected to know them all by instant recall by the end of year 4 but school have very little time to commit to ensuring they do.

Reading - both from the school book and the book we share as a bedtime story.

I ask her to tell me the tables she is learning at the moment. (2s, 5s, 10s is usual at the start of y3)

Telling the time as part of our everyday routine.

Talking about money when shopping. Some pocket money to get her used to spending her own.

Weighing and looking at scales when cooking together.

ok, that all makes me feel a lot better.

We do cook together every week and she is now responsible for writing me a list on a Monday of ingredients of the meal she cooks (with a little help for the more tricky oven/hob bits) for us on a Saturday.
She rides twice weekly, swims, and does a couple of after school clubs. We read a book together, but not every night as we used to, must start that again, although she does have reading time in the evening to read one of her chapter books.
We practice tables in the car occasionally or she goes on squeebles to practice them on her own sometimes. And we play scrabble or snakes and ladders or monopoly about once a week.

I think i was getting myself into a panic. I know, because of where she sits and the groups she works with that she is probably in the lower Half of her class academically. I know a couple of the other mums and am fairly sure they do extras and although i am determined to chill about it and let her develop at her own pace I just don't want to let her down if she is actually capable of more but just needs the time spent with her iyswim. on the other hand I feel that she gets one childhood and it should be spent making dens and climbing trees and making up songs and games, not doing more work!

We are quite outdoorsy, spend most of our time in the garden and she is as happy as any other 7 yr old, so I guess i need to just chill.

Sounds like you have a very healthy attitude to me. My ds has just moved into year 4 & although he's doing well in school, he isn't the type of kid to choose work books etc. he loves to read, so I buy him lots of books & we chat about whatever he's interested in (history, science, guiness world records, Pokemon) but I don't get him to do extra work. Follow their interests, if they are behind in something, help them out, otherwise just let them try out lots of different things (eg music, cubs/brownies, sport, drama etc) & enjoy being a kid.

Yes, I think it sounds like you have a good balance too. Life skills such as cooking are important, and it's good that she has opportunities to pursue her hobbies etc. You obviously spend time with her, and I think that's crucial.

Some parents do push their children harder academically, but to what end? I fear that the kids may lose their intrinsic motivation if they're always pushed and coached outside school, and I think the kind of lifestyle you have described is much healthier and more sustainable.

My immature, young for his age DS has changed to Junior School and I feel there is more expexted now, from me for a start, and I feel we are spending quite a bit of time each day.

DS has a spelling and X tables test each week, 1 piece of homework and the school recommended that we read at least 10 min each day which we do anyway. But what makes it hard is that DS always moans about every bit he needs to do and he doesn't seem to put in much effort in school either.

Before school we read (15 min) then we practice some maths & Xtables (15 min) and in the evening we do spellings and do a Xtable (5 min). We do the homework at the weekend which takes about 20 min depending - I feel it adds up to quite a lot for a 7 yo.

Otherwise I just encourage his interests and read to him, let him manage his pocket money (£1 per week which can be sublemented by jobs or extra reading). He measures out the ingredients for cakes (last time he didn't want to do a small lemon drizzle cake so I made him double all the ingredients).

However, I just found out that DS is in the bottom set for maths despite getting a 2b for his Sats (I would have thought he should be in the middle set?). DS comes home and says maths is his favourite subject because its so easy, its laughable, he said. I spoke to his teacher and she said if DS is finding it easy he is not showing it and that he always needs someone to keep him on track. We had a similar problem last year and DS was moved up 3 table groups in the end, but this year I feel I can't do any more extra with him.

I spend time with my DS every evening. He reads to me, I read to him and he also spends some time practicing his times tables on the ipad. We found a cool app that helps with times tables that keeps him motivated to learn (times tables pro - they have just started learning with this at school too) . We also have to practice spellings for school every day which I also get him to do partly on the ipad (A+Test) it lets you input and record sounds for your spellings each week so that DS can practice in a different way than just writing them out. We also do his spellings on a magnetic board some evenings to reinforce the learning.