DS met (exceeded) ELGs at beginning of reception? What should I expect?

[leeloo1]

DS (starting reception in 2 weeks) will be one of the oldest in his class and is also quite able - for literacy this is tricky to evaluate (as we take turns reading pages in his story books, he needs reminding to sound out unfamiliar words and I don't know what 'level' he is at...) but in maths the ELGs are very concrete and looking at the list, DS has met and exceeded the goals:

e.g.
He can count in 1s and 10s (to 100) and in 2s (to 20)
He can read numbers to 100 (and beyond)
He can order numbers (to 20) and correct numbers that have been swapped over
He can say which number is 1 more or less than a number
He can say what double and half a number is (e.g. what is double 4? what is half of 10?)
He can use physical objects or mental arithmetic to add 2 numbers (e.g. whats 3 add 2? To subtract more than 1 he uses his fingers to find the answer)
He knows number bonds to 10
He can share out and use halves/quarters/eighths/thirds/fifths in practical problems (e.g. he can count how many people are eating and work out how many portions do we need to cut apple into'

I'm not suggesting that any of this is rocket science/genius level, and the teacher will need to do her own assessments of where he is etc, (in addition to settling in him and the rest of the class of course) but he is able and I don't want him to get bored or think school is 'easy' and he doesn't need to try.

So, in practical terms, should I expect his reception teacher to be using the Y1 curriculum for extension work. Or is that beyond the remit of differentiation?

Sorry this is long, but any advice would be appreciated.

An interesting study found a connection between precocious achievement in childhood and premature death, or rather an early death as an adult.

As a precocious early over-achiever, I would be very interested in this!!

This age, things are so fluid. My son (now thirteen) could do all op describes at reception. Is now set 5 of ten at secondary and was middle from year 4 onwards. Ability, in my view, is innate. My son is very average in ability, CAT scores and more trad IQ scores (generally about 105 to 110) )prove it, so we push him to be his best, but he won't be top. The reason he did so well when little? We pushed him.

Likewise, some who struggle in nursery come out of themselves later.

Cheryzan Ah, thats sweet of you to say - thanks!

Obviously I did my very best to support/teach/nurture all the children in my care when I was teaching. I also worked with some outstanding teachers, who you couldn't wish for any better for your own DC. I also saw some very poor teachers - often off sick with stress, couldn't cope with the children/differentiation/life in general. And of course most are somewhere inbetween.

Also being a parent is different to being a teacher - as obviously I'm far more invested in how my DS fares longterm. I don't think that that is unusual or anything to be criticised for.

runningonwillpower

"Why aren't teachers just trusted to do their jobs?"

Because some teachers aren't up to it? Have you seen how many posts there are criticising teachers and their attitudes/comments to DC/lack of ability? Teachers are just people - not Gods to be worshipped - hopefully they all do their best, but I don't think it behoves any of us well to blindly trust them to get on with it. I will of course support my DS' teachers as much as I possibly can.

"We all want the best for our children but the OP's pre-school assessment and its detail suggest a very involved and anxious school career for all concerned."

We agree on the 1st point at least. But no, I don't think we'll have an anxious school career thanks. I'm doing my panicking about how best to support my PFB starting school on here rather than in real life. As far as DS is concerned I'm telling him that school is fantastic, he'll love it and have a great time.

To everyone else, thanks for the opinions - especially those I read yesterday when I was fretting before going to meet the teachers for the first time. It'll be interesting to see how the year goes.

HarumScarum, it was discussed on a a programme on Radio 4. It was all about successful adult adjustment.

I found it very interesting because both my brothers are dead (in their 40s) and both had scholarships to Oxford at 17.

Just realised after reading a PPs post that the reason our school may be more free flow in where children are taught, is that we have foundation phase right through to year 2, so children being taught in a different classroom are still being taught in the same style as those in reception.

OP, I remember being puzzled by the comments DS1 had at playgroup and nursery and thinking he was capable of so much more at home. He was a completely different child away from me than he was at home. It took until year 2 before he really showed his light in school, although his teacher did realise at the end of reception he really could read, it wasn't just me saying so, but that point he was reading books like Harry Potter. It didn't make any difference me saying "but he could count to 100 when he started reception, do sums, read etc" because he wasn't doing it at school.For him the first few years at school were definitely about learning confidence, how to work in a group, make friends etc. It hasn't held him back - he still scored really well in his year 6 SATS, Welsh standardised tests etc. DS2 and 3 were completely different, no hiding their lights under bushels and they are referred to by the teachers as "always able to provide the answers", their academic skills have always been very well assessed by the teacher.

I could have written your post when DS started school.

He was a very able pre-schooler - arrived at school able to read fluently, and able to manipulate large numbers confidently (could read 6 digit numbers - no, I didn't hothousehim, but he discovered telephone numbers, numbers on telegraph poles, numbers EVERYWHERE and NEEDED to know what they said - could add and subtract 3 digit numbers mentally etc etc).

Academically he had a brilliant time in Reception. His Reception teacher was interested in him, it was a R/Y1 class so did much of his work with them, was able to use the 'learning through play' times to e.g. construct tables for each group in the World Cup, changing them each day including the (sometimes negative) goal difference etc. It took a little while for the school to become convinced of his ability - the report from the neighbouring pre-school helped there - but once they did they managed both bringing him on and working on weaker areas (poor fine motor skills meant writing was difficult for ages, and he has many ASD traits so they worked hard on the social skills for him).

Year 1...now that WAS a disaster...the advent of more formal 'whole class' learning, and thus a limit on the time he could spend 'exploring on his own at his own level', the greater focus on 'neat writing', and the combination of a difficult class and a teacher back too soon from maternity leave.....not good, led to selective mutism, temporary HE and a total change of school... but that's another story! It did, though, give me a healthy dose of perspective on what was REALLY important - that DS was healthy, happy and had friends, not which ELG he could tick off.

He ended primary last year, with 6,5,5 in his SATs but much more importantly as a happy, outgoing boy who was popular with classmates and teachers.

(I should probably say that I wasn't a teacher when DS was in Reception - I trained a few years later, partly because of what I learned through his experiences.

Certainly I keep a weather eye out for 'DSs' amongst my pupils - not always those who seem most straightforwardly 'clever' in the ways that schools expect them to be, those who may find a lack of social skills or fine motor skills, or simply tasks with far too low a 'ceiling' stop them from showing their full ability...

But equally, I qould say with even more certianlty that it is not in Reception that the problems tend to arise - it is once learning becomes more 'formal' and tasks acquire 'ceilings' rather than being open-ended)

Thanks for that teacherwith2kids, its interesting to hear from someone who has been through the system - and I'm really glad its worked out well for your DS in the end - it sounds like much of that is down to your efforts to support him with HE/changing school etc, as well as your DS' hard work, so well done to you too (I hope that doesn't sound patronising, its not meant to).

I think you're right that DS will really enjoy the open-ended learning through play in reception. :)

I've just been having a huge wobble in confidence about how DS will find starting school and gaining a new baby sister at pretty much the same time. I guess I'm pinning my hopes on the fact that DS loves learning new things and facts and my feeling is if he can come home and say 'wow mummy, today the teacher told us that...' he'll be happy, whereas if he's saying 'well... we just did learned the phoneme ssss today and counted to 10 and I wanted to count to 50 but there wasn't time' he won't be so enthusiastic. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes though.

Oh my goodness op, why are you assessing your child against the ELG's when he is so little? No pressure then? You should surely know as a primary school teacher that reception is far more about developing the social and emotional aspects of school? Just let him be and see how he goes, then re assess things when he's settled in. He will feel the pressure that you are exerting on the situation.

My DS was similar to yours in relation to maths at the start of Reception OP. He has just started Y1. I don't think he has learned an awful lot he didn't know already in maths in the last year, but I don't really have a problem with that as he has learned so much more in other area's. He wasn't reading much at all before he went, and he is now reading fairly fluently.

I would echo what several other people have said, there is a lot more to learn in reception than just maths and reading. In your shoes I would watch and wait, and only speak to the teacher if there seems to be an actual problem. It is still fairly early days.

I feel its natural for any mother to worry about their child in reception, whether they are a teacher or not. School is as a big change for the parent as well as the child in someways.

Reception is about social skills and learning about the school enviromnent. In many ways a reception classroom is a better place for the more able child than year 1 because most of the learning is child initated.