Very bright child "bored" at school

[2ndSopranosRule]

I know this will be seen as one massive stealth boast so apologies in advance!

Dd1 is nearing the end of Y3 and has had a miserable year. She's been bullied which is one thing, but she's desperately unhappy with the 'work' side of things because she says she's bored.

She's more or less top of the class across the board and way ahead of her peers in some areas. Gifted (or whatever it's called now!) in a couple. She does music as an extra curricular activity and it's becoming apparent she has real talent on one instrument. Dd will practice rather than play/go on the laptop.

Her Y2 teacher was very good at differentiation and dd flourished as a result. The Y3 teacher less so. In fact one of the things put in place to resolve the bullying was to move dd onto a lower ability table so she'd be wirh friends rather than the bully.

I am starting to become concerned that dd may become so sufficiently bored at school she'll switch off. What can I do to help as she gets into y4? My ideal would be to move her to private but we can't afford that.

[Greenleave]

Cleo, she was lucky to go to a lovely school and she was well stretched.

Not all children are the same and each school is different(even each teacher in the same school). Many children show sign of being academic at very early age and school is for learning more than any other things. It's our choice to choose to lead them and guide them toward the way we want to( also depends on culture, belief, personality, lifestyle). Nothing is the best.
For me my child was showing signs of being academic very early(yr 1), reading books during play time, love and do well with maths. Miserable when maths were too easy, not learning or being stretched at school.
What I did/have been doing: showing her and direct her to other direction where she can be stretched (music) own her own and by herself(I can't read a note). Keep her busy with playing, games(chess), swimming, drawings. She is now stretched and happy and play with her friends at play time, stil ok with maths and English.
Again, it's our choice.
Ops situation is more about the bullying I think!( it sounds very similar to a friend of mine's daughter)

[mrz]

"Also, my friend's DS showed me his state primary Maths papers and they were all multiple choice answers. Why do they do that? Why don't they just work the sum out and write down the answer?"

They don't ... the school your friend's child attends might (although I doubt they only do multiple choice questions) but it definitely isn't common practice.

[Feenie]

Yeah, don't know what they were, but 'state primary maths papers' - no.

[chopchopchop]

It's much easier if you have a gifted reader or writer, people don't think your hot housing your child.

Sadly I can report that this isn't true.

More seriously, I would second everyone who has said go and find out about bursaries for private. They are there.

[Cleo1303]

Feenie They definitely were state primary maths papers. Maybe they are different in your area.

[mrz]

If only such a thing existed

[user789653241]

Cleo, I haven't seen him doing any multiple choice papers. And My ds is doing work beyond YR6, so going to prep which teaches YR4 children YR6 work won't cure the problem. And there aren't any selective school near us anyway!!!!!

[bojorojo]

My previous comment about bursaries at private school may need a little more explanation. At the type of prep school that has quite a few gifted children they award bursaries and scholarships to the best and brightest children. However, their next destination is important to the school. It is highly likely they would wish to discuss with you what your future plans are. They see it as a marketing exercise to get as many scholars and bursary holders into top independent schools. They put their scholarships to these schools on a board in the school. Therefore next destination is important. Lots of the best prep schools go up to 13.

Around me, the very brightest chidren are found in this type of school, not the local tiny private primary school that hardly gets anyone into a grammar school, never mind Eton or Wycombe Abbey. Therefore be careful about assuming allprivate schools canmeet the needs of btight children. some can and some cannot. In fact some are dire!

[catslife]

Actually it's the bullying that concerns me most about your post OP. Children shouldn't be bullied for being "bright" and I think if this issue was resolved your dd woulds be much happier. I would request that she is in a different class next year to this bully (if that hasn't been suggested already).
With respect to moving tables to be with friends, I assume that your dd is still given the correct level of work for her ability in which case that isn't really a problem.

[Feenie]

Feenie They definitely were state primary maths papers. Maybe they are different in your area.

No, they are the same country wide. Could have been a scheme of some sort. But, as mrz says, state school maths papers are not multiple choice.

[ComaToes]

Is it a small school? Because one solution would be for her to move classes, if there is more than one.

Otherwise, we have gone with tons of extra-curricular stuff (music, dance, sport etc) that provides challenge and contact with children who aren't in her class. She still doesn't really have friends, but it gives her something to do which is is challenging and where her talents are appreciated rather than seen as freakish. She's clearly happier when she's learning something new, and since nothing in school is hard for her we felt we had to provide it in other ways - not least so she can practise not getting things right first time, having to try again, getting frustrated etc.

[clam]

What are these state primary maths papers?

[mrz]

They don't exist

[Cleo1303]

The boy I mentioned earlier had books of maths homework from his school where all the answers to all the questions were multiple choice and he had to tick what he thought was the right answer. The reason why I noticed particularly was because I had never seen these books before.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

So not a "state primary maths paper", but a piece of homework at your friends school.

That's quite a difference, probably chosen because it's no effort whatsoever for the teacher to give out, and the teacher knows giving homework is pointless for such young children but lots of parents demand it, so minimal effort all round makes sense.

[Cleo1303]

Well, we'll have to agree to differ because I would call that a "state primary maths paper" (or book of papers). He was doing this in preparation for his SATS.

Do you really think homework is pointless for 10/11 year olds? Really?

[user789653241]

I don't think homework is pointless at all, but I'm foreign. We have home work regularly from start of primary. And I think it's good habit to revise what they learned from early age, and even better to learn to do a bit of learning everyday .

But I think multiple choice maths paper is pointless, since dc can guess answers, and teacher wouldn't know if dc has understanding of it or not.

[mrz]

Perhaps an informed person would call it a "maths workbook" (used by a state school school attended by your friend's child but just as likely to be used by schools in the private sector).

There is plenty of reliable research to show that homework is ineffective for younger children (slightly more effective in senior school).

[user789653241]

School starts age6/7 in my country. Not 4/5 years old.

[BoboChic]

There is also plenty of research that demonstrates the effectiveness of homework. It rather depends on the task that is set.

[mrz]

There is also plenty of research that demonstrates the effectiveness of homework. It rather depends on the task that is set.

It's true that the quality of the task is more important than the quantity of work but it still shòws that at primary age the difference between children who have homework and those who don't is insignificant.

[user789653241]

Mrz, I do understand what you are saying, but is the research comparing children only in English schools or includes other countries?

My ds's school's homework seems pointless to be honest, but homework I had as a child was definitely better than doing nothing. Revising what you learned on the day may put that knowledge in your long term memory. Not doing anything just makes you forget most of things you learned. Take French for example, he learns some words, he doesn't remember it next week. What's the point of having lesson?

[Cleo1303]

Okay, it's a "maths workbook" which is full of maths questions. Happy now?

I think homework is very effective. It gets the children to revise what they have learned in class.

When they are younger they learn spellings for a weekly test and their times tables also for tests. They also read every night to improve their reading.

Learning how to put a project together is interesting and informative and can be a lot of fun.

When they are preparing for 11+ or Common Entrance it is certainly essential and effective for most children.

[mrz]

You obviously know more than educational researchers who incidentally also found learning lists of words for spelling tests to be a very ineffective method.

[user789653241]

No, I don't know better than educational researcher, but I just stated my experience that homework was effective for me.