reading/writing ablilites in reception class

[He1p]

My little boy is 4 soon to be 5 and therefore started school in sept last year. He is the youngest in his class and I am really proud of what he has achieved in his first school year. According to his teacher he needs to speed up when doing his independent writing as he is always day dreaming or looking to his teacher for help when she knows he is capable of doing it himself? She says we need to work on it or he will really struggle in yr 1in september. He is reading at approx level 3-4 and is writing phonetically and can spell some of his high frequency words. He seems to try really hard but he does find it hard to concentrate when writing and does become easily distracted. He was upset last night because he is not clever enough! Hes 4! I dont like him feeling so pressured at such a young age. Is he behind for his age? Help

Has the teacher told him then that he isn't keeping up? that isn't good at that age.

reading wise that level is fine, where they would hope he would be - huge range from still level 1 up to chapter books but 3-4ish is hoped for by end of reception I believe.

writing wise then they will range again from those who can write a few sentences to those who can write whole little books.

The teacher is right in the sense that yes yr1 does involve a lot more writing, a lot of stories, independent writing etc and he will struggle if he can't do this but I don't think this should have been mentioned to him.

Does he get distracted with other things as well? that should improve with maturity and I also think in Yr1 usually the whole class is sitting working at tables for example rather than in R where some are playing, some are painting, some are running around, some are outside, some are writing which obviously means a lot more distractions. If he is in a classroom where others are all sitting quietlyish working then he will probably find less going on to distract him.

He sounds absolutely fine to me. Those are high expectations to place on a 4 year old. Year 1 shouldn't demand huge quanities of writing - it should be pitched at the level of the child.

Are you at a very academic school?
At the end of Reception my DS was reading at the same level as your DS and he could just about write a very simple sentence (e.g. The cat sat on the mat). And he was probably higher than midpoint in terms of ability (in a school that pretty much got national average results at the end of KS1).

I live in Australia now and my son who is born August 09 will not start Kindergarten until January. He hasn’t been held back – it is standard starting age. When he starts YR1 he will be almost 6.5 years old. I have taught him to read (and he reads very well) but I am sure if he was in formal school now he wouldn't be able to concentrate on writing tasks and would be easily distracted – he certainly can’t spell out word phonetically and wouldn’t be interested in trying to do that !!

Another example: in Singapore children do 2 years of Kindergarten and don't start Year 1 until 6.7 years on average.

I think the issue is that the UK is trying to compete with the Singapore & Chinese systems and compares their Year 1 level to the UK's - despite the fact they UK kids have been in school for less time and are over a year younger on average. (this is a aus article complaining oz kids start too young www.smh.com.au/national/education/students-may-be-disadvantaged-by-starting-school-at-5-years-old-20140125-31ff2.html and here is another one www.smh.com.au/national/education/political-pressure-takes-the-fun-out-of-kindy-say-academics-20140510-zr5b3.html)
We kind of have the same pressures here but the kids have a few months on UK kids (I’m not sure I believe the stat that the average starting age in the UK is 5 – I think it is earlier…?)
I'm not really up on the difference in curriculum between countries (reading, writing, maths etc) but if for example you compare

uk.ixl.com/ Year 1 (UK) maths to

sg.ixl.com/ primary 1 (Singapore) maths

they are pretty similar.
I don’t know what the answer is however, it is becoming a very competitive world !

He is in a state village school in a class of 13 with only two boys whose birthdays are in june/july all the others are before the end of feb so there is quite an age divide. He can concentrate for long periods on things he is enjoying (though I am not sure independant writing is one of them) he overheard the teacher telling me at pick up time that he needs to speed up and after wading through his homework slowly at the wkd I can see what she means but he obviously heard her and now thinks he is not clever enough. I think being a young one in the class has made him feel a bit lacking and he works really hard to understand some of the things that the older children in the class just get. I just dont like the idea that he is going into a mixed yr 1 &2 class feeling like he cant keep up.

He won't actually be 5 until after the end of the reception year so I thought he was doing pretty well and I dont think he is immature but he has the maturity of a 4 yr old boy. Im sure he will be fine and lots of other children are in the same position. It just made me feel sad to see him doubting himself and his academic abilities at such a young age.

he isn't immature for his age, he is just younger and therefore his natural immaturity (normal for his age) seems more obvious.

I think the teacher should have been more careful about whether he could hear or not to be honest but it is done now I suppose.

I would keep a holiday diary. always a good way to get them to write a little bit.

So if you go somewhere or play something in the garden he can write a sentence each evening about that day, draw a picture, stick in a photo or a leaflet etc. To start with you could write the sentence and he can copy underneath (he could help decide what to say but then copy your writing so less daunting) then gradually as the holidays go on then perhaps you could write some of the words and he can put them into his sentence?

I agree with nonicknameseemsavailable - copy work seems preferable at this stage and more relevant if he decides what to say.

Thanks guys and girls i need to chill out and worry less but its hard sometimes xxx we did a "what I did in the holidays" in half term and he was asked by his teacher to show the head because it was so good ,but yes I think it would def be a good idea to do one throughout the summer hols and make it increasingly independant. He has also been doing the fun style maths task books to help him understand and practice what he has done at school and he reads most days. I think he needs lots of praise and confidence boosting too. I always say to him that lifes not a competition all that is important is that you do the best you can do x but sometimes life contradicts that!!!

one thing DD1 has done a lot of this year in Yr1 is retelling fairy tales, so perhaps talk about this. don't worry about writing it but talking about it will put ideas for stories in his head for when he needs them.

Fab thanks x he loves stories so thats a good place to start.

Fab thanks x he loves stories so thats a good place to start.

DD's school do Pie Corbett's Talk for Writing which says children cannot write a story unless they can tell a story. They listen to stories, learn to tell them off by heart, write them as is and finally make a change to the story (verbally) before they attempt to write anything new.

I agree with people saying get him to tell you what to write and let him copy to begin. Then he will have an idea of how the sentences should go. Then, he can start to write his own.

I think at school so far he has been asked to write about a day trip he has been on or describe what is happening in a picture etc though they have also been writing sentences using time connectives (firstly , next , then and finally) to describe things in order. All seems quite advanced to me. Apparently he is quite capable but he needs to concentrate more and work faster?
Makes sense with the writing of stories though. We have a DK silly sentences game too which helps.

my daughters in reception also and one of the mums with an August born son in her class was on about exactly the same thing just before half term.

It's bonkers pure and simple to assess a child on their writing at the age of 4. If he struggles in year 1 it is because they are falling to properly differentiate for the different levels of development. and that is key this is not an ability issue.

I had a chat with his soon to be yr 1 teacher and she said not to worry. He will be assessed in the first few weeks to see if he is capable but finding it hard to concentrate or if he is struggling with the level of work. Then she will discuss it with me and implement some changes to help. Apparently he had a really good day today and got star of the day! Yey he hasn't mentioned not being clever enough since and seems happy

I was a primary TA / helper for over twenty years, and think that too much academic pressure is being put on younger children.

If he has a go at writing ANYTHING that is good! If he gets the initial sounds correct, and a few other letter phonically then that is even better.

Sentence structures in schools I worked in didn't come until Yr2.

He is just too young to comprehend things like that: after all, it's only a couple of years since he learnt to talk!

Try not to worry, don't push to hard, keep it fun and relaxed. If you have a tape recorder or some other recording device, invite him to DICTATE what he wants to put in a story, diary or recount; ideas and imagination are the main thing at this stage.

It annoys me at our infants when they talk about grouping children in yr 1 by 'ability' for e.g maths. As someone pointed out a lot at this age is developmental rather than underlying ability

My son is a very similar age to yours but by quirk of fate he doesn't start until Sept. Although his reading is v good he struggles to write his name and he wouldn't be able to write sentences. He does love storytelling though and plans to dictate a story to give to each of his teachers about them when he leaves nursery.

Have you tried story cubes with him? Ds loves them as it can help him with ideas for a story. He would get frustrated if he had to write everything by hand but loves dictating them. I realise that in class it isn't practical but at home it might help him if he doesn't need to always concentrate on both structuring a story and physically writing it.

Those Australian links are good; second one, remove the ) though.

For reading and writing, if you look in MN Book Reviews, "children's educational books and courses" section, you should find the Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary, which is an easy and attractive book for children to use, on their own, or with adult support.

I'll add my standard Numeracy advice below, in case it is of any help:

?QUOTE:

Practical things are best for grasping number concepts - bricks, Lego, beads, counters, money, shapes, weights, measuring, cooking.

Do adding, taking away, multiplication (repeated addition), division (sharing), using REAL OBJECTS as just 'numbers' can be too abstract for some children.

Number Bonds of Ten forms the basis of much maths work, so try to learn them. Using Lego or something similar, use a LOT of bricks (of just TWO colours, if you have enough) lay them out so the pattern can be seen of one colour INCREASING while the other colour DECREASES. Lay them down, or build up like steps.

So:

ten of one colour none of other
nine of one colour one of other
eight of one colour two of other
seven of one colour three of other

etc, etc

then of course, the sides are equal at 5 and 5; after which the colours 'swap over' as to increasing/decreasing.

To learn TABLES, do them in groups that have a relationship, thus:

x2, x4, x8

x3, x6, x12

5 and 10 are easy

7 and 9 are rather harder.

Starting with TWO times TABLE, I always say: "Imagine the class is lining up in pairs; each child will have a partner, if there is an EVEN number in the class. If one child is left without a partner, then the number is ODD, because an odd one is left out."

Use Lego bricks again, lay them out in a column of 2 wide to learn 2x table. Go half way down the column, and move half the bricks up, so that now the column is 4 bricks wide. That gives the start of 4x table.

Then do similar things with 3x and 6x.

With 5x, try and count in 'fives', and notice the relationship with 'ten' - they will alternate, ending in 5 then 10.

It is important to try and UNDERSTAND the relationships between numbers, and not just learn them 'by rote'.

I am sorry it seems complicated trying to explain these concepts, but using Lego or counters should make understanding easier.

An inexpensive solar powered calculator (no battery to run out!) can help learn tables by 'repeated addition'. So: enter 2+2 and press = to give 4. KEEP PRESSING = and it should add on 2 each time, giving 2 times table.

There are good web sites, which can be fun to use :

www.ictgames.com/

www.resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/index.html

UNQUOTE

Good luck, and I'm sure he will be fine!

My DS is a summer birthday and was similar to how you describe yours at the end of YR. He struggled a bit in Y1, hit his stride in y2 and is now finishing Y3 somewhat above average.

It IS very often a maturity thing - don't let him be down on himself at this stage, bless him! All will be fine.

Have a great summer.

For reading he is exactly where he should be, it sounds like he just needs confidence in his own abilities and to work on his concentration, which is almost exactly what DD's report says, she's 6 in October, so the older end of the year, like your DS she can write independently if she wants to/isn't distracted, it's just she rarely wants to and is very easily distracted. (seriously, I made the mistake of giving her a pretty pencil to do her homework earlier, she wasted ages spinning it round looking at the patterns)

DD's teacher has suggested doing some fun writing to get her confidence up, so we are doing a scrap book over the summer and my littlest sister (9) wrote to her so DD is now writing her a reply, they are planning a midnight feast for their sleepover at the end of term so DD won't ask me for help in case I spoil their plans

Thank you for all of your posts reassurance and recommendations x they have been gratefully received.