9 WEEKS in RECEPTION and already branded a failure?

[noonar]

i am distraught.

dd started in reception in september.

she's a bright and articulate 4.5 yo girl who has always had very good 'reports' from nursery, saying how well she is doing. in fact, she has often been ahead of her peers in some areas of her development.

today, however, i was taken to one side by her teacher, who said that she did not know enough of her key words to start the lowest level of their reading scheme. she said that she is one of only 3 in the class who are taking home 'pre scheme' books instead.

now, of course, the teacher has to be honest about my child's progress, but the idea of 'ranking' the children in such a tactless way (ie your child is in the bottom three ) 9 weeks in to term really upset me.

i feel gutted. i'm shocked that dd is behind. upset with the teacher- but am not sure if this is justified. i'm worried about pushing her to catch up, as she is already frustrated when we 'do phonics' together.

the teacher said her 'book skills' are good, btw.

what the hell do i do now? i'm stressed about it and don't want dd to pick up on this.

She's 4.5 fgs. My nearly 5 yr old DS doesn't read yet. I find it appalling that such pressure is put on young people at way too early an age. What excatly did the teacher mean by book skills? I would just keep word awareness fun and go through the books with her. Is she being taught phonics or not. If not try some Jolly Phonics, many on here recommend and I'm sure they'll be along soon with far better help and advice. I'm sorry that you're so stressed by this. I can imagine that I would feel the same too in the circumstances.

thanks ali, for your post.

i think she meant that she interacts well when read to, uses the pics to help her read the odd word, likes to be a 'role play' reader, reading stories she knows by heart out loud etc.

they do jolly phonics, which dd is picking up...gradually.

Well firstly - relax: recpetion is very much a settling into schoool experience and most children will dart around in the rankings.

Secondly - what is the school/home interaction on learning to read? Is she being given sound cards or words to bring home to practice?

You only need to look down the education threads (especially at this time of year ) to see that this is not uncommon.

noonar, I would be feeling exactly the same in your situation - but incredibly difficult as it is, I would say TRY to take this with a pinch of salt. Things change very quickly with children of this age, ranking them like this really is facile and misleading and if your dd's teacher doesn't know that, I would be more worried about that than your dd's progress 9 weeks into termtime! I know it's hard not to feel hurt though, there's no worse feeling than your child being done down. . I would have a quiet word with this teacher about not making your dd feel like one of the slower children - teacher expectation is a big factor in children's learning and she needs to be reminded of this IMO.

The teacher is a prat.

noonar, that's outrageous of the teacher - to put the whole thing in such a negative manner is bad enough - but to then rank your child - words fail me

I can't believe she is raising this at this stage in the year. And what exactly does she expect you to do about it, did she say?

"Book skills" are if a child understands what is a title, an author, the blurb, publisher, contents, index etc. as well as which way up to hold the book (I kid you not!). If she has good book skills then I really fail to see what she is trying to achieve by upsetting you like this.

Please try not to worry. It will come to her, when she is ready.

Sorry, no advice but I think this is ridiculous.

When I was a kid (not in this country) we started school at 7 years old. Parents were specifically told to not teach us to read before that so that everybody had an equal start.

It has not prevented me from becoming a reasonably inteligent person (if I may say so myself).

What is the bloody rush for?

thankyou, so much greensleeves, ladymuck and dino for your kind words.

it's good to get a different perspective on this, esp as i do feel strongly that dd has all makings of a good little reader. she just hasnt clicked yet.

i guess it was just a bit of a shock to know that she's the lowest achieving girl in the class- in this area! didnt really need to hear taht, tbh.

noonar, don't worry your dd will soon catch up and overtake the others.

I expect the teacher thought she was just giving you information and didn't realise how it came across.

And whilst I would still emphasise that reception children fly around the cleass rnakings esp in the first 2 terms, reading isn't the only important skill. There is often a difference in individual rankings between reading, writing and maths. Even if she isn't ahead on reading, she may be in another area.

When ds1 was in Reception the children weren't even given reading books until after half-term (ie round about now). Even then pretty much every child in the class had books with no words in them. Most didn't start actually reading books with words in until sometime in the Spring term, and even then they were very simple books. It sounds way too early IMHO for the teacher to be worrying about key words etc.

Reception is meant to be an extension of preschool. That means it should be all about learning through play, therefore they might learn about books (therefore 'book skills' -tho bit of a jargon-y way to put it IMO) and learn some letter sounds and recognition, plus counting would be thru songs and hands-on stuff. There is NOTHING in the Foundation Stage curriculum (which ends at end Reception) about learning to read, except starting to recognise some familiar words.

PLEASE don't worry and don't push her at home. She'll do it in her own time. Never mind 'book skills' maybe the teacher needs some 'tact skills.'...

I'm gobsmacked a teacher could be so thoughtless and tactless with you. I agree with the others who say Reception is as much about settling into school, learning routines etc. - it is a big step. My ds was one of the older ones when he started Reception last year - he was probably about average with reading/writing but I didn't make him do any more than he was enthusiastic about doing (on advice from the teacher). by the end of Reception his confidence, social skills and new achievements were in excess of what I had hoped. When he started in Y1 all of a sudden he has been much more keen with his reading and is now one of the top of his class. I really do think that because no one pushed him and his teachers seemed to nurture what he was good at and were good at encouraging him to try new things it has paid off by him loving school and having no problems keeping up with the work. After all they're still on little.
It seems really early in the school year to be making such comments. Please don't let her comments get you down - I would go and have another word with her.

I am in the gobsmacked team.
Do not push her.
Ds is 6 and only just started to read. In reception he flatly refused to do it and no pressure was put on him. He was not the only one in class like that either.

aah, thanks everyone.you have been very kind.

i know what you say is correct and that we shouldnt push children of this age. the thing that worries me is that i have been very relaxed about it up till now, and look where it's got us! i feel that i must do more with her at home, but will try to make it all 'fun' and turn it into agame.

i know the teacher was a bit flat footed to say the least, but i still have to face the fact that my 'bright' daughter is 'bottom of the class'. i just cant get my head around it, tbh, everyone has always commented on how sharp she is...and now this. it's a real shock.

believe it or not, i am a teacher myself- but have no early years experience at all. so i feel like an all round failure. i desperately dont want to push dd, but i don't want her to be behind either.

Reading skills at this age are no indication of how bright a child is, really. I go into dd's school to listen to the Reception children read, and you wouldn't believe how wide the range of ability is, even at the end of the year. Some are ready for it, others are not, but by the time they finish Year 1 the gap narrows considerably.

Your dd may very well be streets ahead in other areas; neither you nor she are failures simply because she hasn't twigged reading yet.

it really doesn't mean she's not bright

don't push her to do it if she isn't ready - if her book skills are good, then that sounds fab. I think that's what you would hope from a 4.5 yr old. Just focus on the pre-scheme books and help her to start identifying the letters and she'll be on her way in no time.

I can totally see that the range is wide and in my heart of hearts i know that my dd is still the bright girl i thought she was. it's just upsetting to think that the teacher is implying that she's under achieving already.

She's not underachieving - and I don't really think from your post that the teacher thinks she is, either. Maybe she just felt that you would want to know why other children were bringing home reading books and your dd wasn't? They have to put them into groups according to their ability so they can aim their teaching at the right level for each group - she was probably a bit ham-fisted in the way she's told you about this but there's nothing in your post that would suggest she's implying that your dd is underachieving.

Once they "get" phonics, and see the correlation between the letters and the words, it's like a light bulb going on, and there's no stopping them. It will come, when she's ready.

Thanks wigwambam. i think that i've got a bit odsessed with her ranking in the class, and the idea that she's underachieving is probably coming from me, not the teacher, to be fair.

I've been thinking of subtle ways to reinforce her learning, eg putting up labels on household objects such as 'chair', 'television' or 'mum and dad' on photos of us on mantelpiece etc.

any other tips along these lines would be great

I have only read the OP but thought would tell youu that my ds2 is in reception and the whole class has been sent home with ort books with no words, his teacher says getting clues from the story is an important skill. Your DD doesn't sound behind to me, what a lot of rubbish, don't worry she'll do it in her own time.

When I saw the title of this thread my immediate reaction was 'the fuckers'. Even after consideration I think the same thing.

How dare they label a child at such a tender age!!! You can tell I had the odd label during my schooling.

lol dros

honestly, noonar, you get to develop a thick skin when your children go to school. It's the first time you get another adult judging (for want of a better word!) your child. It's hard, but you have to try and not take everything they say too personally - as long as your child is happy and rumbling along at a reasonable rate (and let's face it, 4.5 is still teeny tiny!) and there aren't any serious concerns, it should be fine.

It doesn't sound like she was telling you because she was worried but more to keep you in the loop at where she is at.