Reception - bright, academic but daydreamy and ponderous child!

[Bumpsadaisie]

Hi there, just wondered if any teachers or parents had any thoughts about this or experiences to share.

My YR (just turned 5) DD is excellent at reading and writing and numeracy and got "exceeding" for these ELGs in her recent report. She is a bright girl and a keen reader with a real interest in history and factual books - she devours her Usborne Beginners books and pretty much reads them alone (I think they are around purple band).

However for listening, understanding and speaking she got "emerging" largely because she daydreams, doesn't listen always as she is involved in whatever she is doing, and her speaking can be inconsistent. School say if she is enthusiastic about something she speaks to groups confidently, clearly and in quite a complex way (I know she has a v. sophisticated vocab). But she can also be disengaged and take forever to make up her mind about something or organise her thoughts to answer a question. Ponderous is the word! She is like this at home too sometimes.

I have read somewhere that getting emerging for speaking/listening/understanding and exceeding for literacy is quite an unusual profile, i.e. you would expect a literate child to also be good at the communications and listening side?

She also got emerging for self-care and the comment that it takes her a long time to get dressed and she needs prompting to not get distracted.

Does anyone have any experience of a child like this? I have seen her at assemblies and things, sometimes she is really switched on but other times just zones out.

We are in the system for a hearing check as there is a family history, but she seems to hear whispers from the next room so I am not sure that this is the problem.

Is it just personality? Is she an introvert and zones out to preserve her sanity? Does she have some kind of attention deficit problem? She is capable of greatly sustained concentration if she is interested in something, in fact that is when she finds it hardest to be alert to other demands on her attention I think.

Or is it just that she is a bit slower in this area of development and as she matures she will be better able to focus her attention to the requirements of school? Her little friend is probably not so bright but much better at remaining switched on and focussed on the teacher and what she is meant to be doing. My DD bless her is in her own little world some of the time - I don't think she is much bothered about getting attention from the teacher or fitting in with what other people want her to be doing!

I would love to hear any stories of children like this, whether its something they grow out of or whether it turned out to be just the way they were!

thanks
Bumps

Hmm I think you're maybe worrying a bit and getting a bit bogged down in the detail of these reports. She's only little and at this age there are big differences between different areas of ability, before it all evens out a bit more as they get older and more used to school.

See my oldest is in p4 and I don't even know what "emerging" means in this context. I'm not an uninvolved parent and it's not that I don't care, but remember all this jargon and labelling is constantly being reinvented and fiddled about with and changes all the time. It's basically saying she's clearly bright, but finds a couple of other things tricky. But because everything can be so variable at this stage, it's unlikely anyone would assess for things like ADHD or dyspraxia for another year or two. And the reason they wouldn't is you probably don't need to worry, as they would expect what you're describing to just sort itself out.

The only thing I did think is make sure her eyesight/hearing is all OK, as that's one possible explanation – but she's still probably normal.

I would also add, it's pretty hard for a 5yo not to zone out in a boring school assembly. I certainly did and I have a highly intellectual career!

I was a child like that. I still do zone out at times, and yes, I am an introvert, so there could be an element of that. I think, from what you have said, it is probably just how she is. I used to drive my teachers mad, as I would spend far too much time staring blankly out of the window, but somehow I would have taken in enough to get the work done. She is obviously taking in enough to have got exceeding in the areas she has, so I don't see any reason for concern, but then I would say that.

Thanks both, in retrospect perhaps I have got a touch of "First School Reportitis!" and need to calm down a bit!

I think very bright children are either completely 100% 'with it' or they are completely the opposite and in their own little worlds. I suspect a large number of the worlds genii (is that the plural of genius?) are probably big day dreamers...

she quite probably finds half of what goes on at school so unbelievably easy/dull/predictable etc that she would rather be trying to understand something complicated she is thinking of. who can blame her.

Do get her hearing checked but otherwise don't worry for the moment.

I'm sure she will progress perfectly well; give her sympathetic support and praise (which I'm sure you already do) and invite her to confide any anxieties to you, if she is able to (possibly not easy).

I'll try and look back sometime, to see other replies and how you are getting on.

My sister was just like this, still is really, and went through school a year ahead as she was very, very bright. It just seems to be who she is and her conscious/social brain zones out. It's nice people are all different, try not to stress about it or fix on the details.