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Primary education

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Original poster

numeracy in reception

42 replies

Adikia · 04/10/2013 21:54

DDs been in reception a month now and told me at bedtime tonight that she's been doing some extra numbers work with one of the teachers and 2 other children. I thought she was about the level she should be at her age (she can count to 60 and write her numbers, knows her 2 times table up to 10x and can add up and take away small numbers).

The school haven't mentioned any extra work so tonight is the first i've heard about it and obviously I can't ask the teacher to explain until monday, so does anyone know roughly what average for her age would be? (she'll be 5 in about 2 weeks)

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Periwinkle007 · 04/10/2013 22:07

they expect them to work with numbers to 10 in reception and then 20. thats by the end of the year. wish someone would do the same with my daughter, we had this last year too. DD1 could do subtraction in her head before she turned 3 but her report at the end of reception said she should 'start working with bigger numbers over 20'!

Periwinkle007 · 04/10/2013 22:07

DD2 is in reception now and complaining they are only doing counting and she wants to do proper maths.

noblegiraffe · 04/10/2013 22:09

My DS can't write his numbers, do anything more than add or subtract 1, maybe 2 and definitely doesn't know any times tables. He has also just started reception, just turned 4.

noblegiraffe · 04/10/2013 22:10

Oh, and he can recognise 0-10 but struggles reading 11-20 although he can count.

AcrylicPlexiglass · 04/10/2013 22:13

She is well ahead of what is expected in our reception class. It's all about counting to 10 here and onto 20 if things are going well. Way less is expected of them in maths than reading, as far as I can see.

milkysmum · 04/10/2013 22:16

Wow I think your daughter is way ahead of what would be expected in reception so don't worry!

Stillhopingstillhere · 04/10/2013 22:16

Mine is 4.4 and he can count to 30. He can recognise numbers to 20, can't write any of them (except 1 obviously) and can add and subtract up to 10 comfortably and up to 20 with a bit of help because he doesn't always get the get the right answer. No idea if he's behind or not! Preschool seemed happy with what he was doing before he went to school but do think they had fairly low standards!

ceeveebee · 04/10/2013 22:21

Is it possible she is doing additional work because she ,and the two other children) is ahead, rather than behind?

Galena · 04/10/2013 22:25

DD is 4.5 and very advanced - can read most 3 and 4 digit numbers, can write all her digits, can count above 200, counts up in 2s 5s and 10s, can add 2 numbers below 20, tells the time to 5 min intervals and is beginning to halve and double. There has been talk of her going into y1 for numeracy. So yes, your dc sounds advanced, so I'm not surprised that she is doing extra work...

mrz · 05/10/2013 06:56

When you say "can count to ...60 ...200 ...in 1s 2s 5s and 10s " do you mean recite numbers to ... or actually count that many objects or actions?

tholeon · 05/10/2013 06:58

Hi Galena can I ask how the discussion with the teachers about your daughter going into year one for numeracy came about? My DS is the same age and at a similar level, he just loves numbers and whizzes through workbooks at home, for fun. I am wondering whether to say anything at parents evening, and whether there is any real advantage in being put ahead at this stage, as long as is happy at school, which he is: so much other new exciting things going on!

mrz · 05/10/2013 07:00

There is no advantage to being put up to Y1, the teacher should be able to plan appropriately for children's needs across a range of abilities.

Galena · 05/10/2013 07:49

The head spoke to me about it and left me to think about it. I am going to be saying no though - as mrz says, the teacher should be able to differentiate.

And I haven't seen if DD can count large numbers of objects, but she does use her knowledge to add multiples of 10, so given 30 + 20, she'll say 'so I start with 30 and count on 2 more tens... 30, 40, 50.'

We also had a discussion about house numbers and she saw 76, 78, 80, 82. She told me they were counting up in 2s and asked me which house was 100, because that would be on this side of the road, but 99 wouldn't.

So, I don't know if she can count a large number of objects, but she has mathematical reasoning and is able to use and apply her knowledge.

And she's 4. I don't really care if she can't count a large number of objects, she'll learn.

mrz · 05/10/2013 07:59

My point was that often parents tell me their child can count to x number when what they mean is can recite numbers to x ... when teachers talk about counting to 10 or 20 or 100 they mean counting objects or actions not simply reciting as this is the expectation in reception.

Galena · 05/10/2013 08:02

You've got me intrigued now... I'll be getting her counting things once I'm up

Badvoc · 05/10/2013 08:05

A good teacher (like mrz) will differentiate and make sure each child has work that they can do, but that also stretches them.
My ds2 was 5 last week and has been in reception for 5 weeks.
He can count to 100 and writes numbers very well (he knows our house number for example).
He also knows all his letter sounds and names and is getting a it frustrated at the jolly phonics work.
No idea what too do about that tbh. I just do word games with him at how. With his letter tiles. He makes his own cvc words from them.
There is such a huge difference in ability in reception...my ds is 5 but is in the same class as some dc who only turned 4 in August!
I really believe reception should focus on social and emotional skills...plenty of time for formal learning after year 1.

StarlightMcKenzie · 05/10/2013 08:13

My Reception dd told the teacher at home visit that she's looking forward to doing sums but she's bored of fractals now.

(That's what happens when you have an older brother with ASD, and quite honestly I'm bored of fractals)

Tbh I was a bit surprised at how low the expectations were for numeracy compared with literacy, but I guess teachers can't teach everything at once.

StarlightMcKenzie · 05/10/2013 08:16

Badvoc, dd has been 'noticed' for her advanced literacy. I don't know what that means practically. I was a bit surprised actually, especially as the teacher said 'well you must KNOW as you clearly read with her lots' which I erm don't (I fudge the reading book entries so she can get her stickers - sorry).

Badvoc · 05/10/2013 08:22

Star :) fractals eh? (Pretends she knows what they are)
Ds2 does seem advanced for his age to me, but then again ds1 had spld so I honestly have no idea. He could be quite average for all I know (which is fine, obv)
Ds2 enjoys reading and school. His vocab, like ds1s, is very good. His grammar also (I am a bit of a stickler there :))
It was ds2s first assembly yesterday...so cute. His class all sang a song about a scarecrow :)
We had to bring stuff for the harvest table and he wanted a pumpkin by I couldn't get one anywhere so he had to make do with a pineapple! Not very atumumnal, eh!! :)

Stillhopingstillhere · 05/10/2013 08:22

Ds can count objects up to 20 before getting confused. Unless they're in a circle. In which case he just goes round and round until he can't count any higher!

He can CVC and has all his single letter sounds and some two letter (sh, ch etc) but this seems to he the norm in his reception class.

Badvoc · 05/10/2013 08:24

Star... I think wrt numeracy it all "jumps" a bit in year 2 in prep for he sats?
I know that in my sons school very able dc like your dd would go up a class ( or 2!) for literacy or numeracy.
I know of year 3 kids who were in my eldests year 5 class for numeracy.
I guess they are on the g&t programme?

Badvoc · 05/10/2013 08:26

We will have a parents evening after half term so I will get an idea of how ds2 is doing then.
He is happy, that's the main thing :)

mrz · 05/10/2013 08:26

Children often find counting claps and jumps etc harder than objects they can physically touch. Counting objects in a line is easier than counting objects scattered randomly (or counting my class when they wriggle and crawl )

NotCitrus · 05/10/2013 08:31

Ds sounds similar to OP-child. I know he's been playing shops, doing stuff with shapes and halves and quarters, and he keeps telling me facts like if you have six things and two things you have eight things, but if you'd added three instead you'd have nine. And he's started reciting numbers up to 100 and asks me what comes after say 109 or 299. I'm not sure he really believes in numbers over 20...

I know some of the kids are still being introduced to numbers up to 10 as apparently this happens while he and a couple others play shops. Though he also spends time flying like Batman, so who knows? I'll be fascinated to hear about him from teacher's point of view in a couple weeks.

Badvoc · 05/10/2013 08:40

Ha!
Yes...ds2 has been playing cats apparently.

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