Can anyone explain how Reception works? I'm worried about DS.

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His allocated school are very set on children leading their own learning and adults guiding. He isn't a naughty child or anything, but what happens to a child who just wants to dig or play Lego all day long? How will he learn his sounds and things?

The teacher made such a big deal during our tour about never making a child do something they don't want to, which seems a bit unrealistic to me, especially as he is forced to do things he doesn't want to (e.g. put on his jacket, eat his veg) practically on the hour!

DH keeps telling me I'm worrying too much, this is true of all children and the vast majority manage to read and write by the age of 6.

Could anyone explain in more detail how it all works? Thank you very much.

Yes the pupils can do what they want (within reason) in most reception classes but they will be expected to move around from base to base. I think you will be surprised by how much gentle prompting goes on by the staff which means that the pupils do manage a lot of learning his sounds etc without him even realising that he is.

Different schools do it differently, but my kids had ten minutes of carpet time (phonics) at the start of the day, then 'choosing' which basically meant free choice of activities in and outside the classroom. If they spent all their time on one thing, the teacher or TA would encourage them to do something different, or they might be picked to do an activity in a group. They do a lot of learning to line up for break, lunch etc, and learning to sit nicely on the carpet for phonics and story time. As the year goes on, there's a bit more structure (eg PE lessons, including getting changed, and starting to go to school Assembly once a week) but it's very much child-led. The shock is when they go into Y1...

My DD was taught writing and phonics in nursery, which they again teach in reception for kids who didn't attend nursery. They learn to read in reception as well. Kids who can't read will get blank picture books w no words and make up a story. I think a lot has to do w when your child is ready. They suddenly get it and start reading. Just like w writing. And of course trying and practicing helps. Buy biff and kipper reading books if u like as u can help practice w him.

You'd be amazed how many dc will just put their coat on when asked at school when they wouldn't do it when asked by their parents.

They will get involved with all sorts of things at school as there is so much going on. At home, I s a big deal getting the paints out or setting up a submarine in a tray of water. But in reception there will be all sorts going on. Lego or digging might be the bees knees at home but there will none new and exciting things at school.

There will be lots of things that they will be expected to do. One to one activities for example which every child will do. It's pretty rare that a child will not want to do them.

Part of having a child start school is learning to let to go, to a degree, and to trust others to nuture your child. And you do, really, need to trust the school. To be honest, I'd be much less worried about a school that says they don't force children to do things they don't want to do as it shows they have confidence n their methods and aren't simply concerned with churning out specific outcomes! You'll hopefully be very surprised at the creativity of teaching approaches. I remember one good example I was given of a group of boys who only wanted to play with the toy dinosaurs. So the staff hid the dinosaurs within the "shop" corner in the classroom and they could only play with them if they first purchased them using toy money, which turned it in to a numeracy lesson.

Phonics tends to be taught in focused sessions but good teaching is short, interactive and fun. It isn't sitting at desks learning sounds by rote.

The Dts school have a little routine that is put up on the board in pictures so they know what they are doing next. A typical day is
Register
Share/news (kids talk to one another about anything that has happened)
Phonics groups (10 mins) normally 4 different groups over 2 classes, split by ability as DT are in different classes but the same phonics group.
Snack can be eaten anytime from 10-11 or not at all if they aren't hungry
Choose - free play at any of the stations in either classroom or outside
Tidy up
Lunch and play time
Topic - this changes weekly - it is currently Under the Sea!
Choose
Reading
Tidy up
Circle and share again

Once a week they have enrichment which is usually forrest school and/or cooking.

Oh and they don't have any desks at all unless they are sitting to colour or craft. They are expected to be able to focus for short periods of time but nothing much longer than 10-15 mins. My two are summer born and absolutely love the routine and even try and stick to it when we are on holidays. Haha.

Try not to worry too much. DC will be fine. x

I think it's very common for more structured learning to come in Year 1. This is plenty for this style of learning. In reception they learn about social behaviour (making friends, sharing, communication, etc.).

My year 1 DS struggled with friendships / communication in reception. And it was certainly right that he had time to work on these before they started handing out spelling tests.

what happens to a child who just wants to dig or play Lego all day long

their parent needs to explain that they are a big boy now and are going to school where they will have lots of time to play but will also have to sit down and work when the teacher tells them to

surely that's basic parenting?

My ds was obsessive (later diagnosed with ASD) but loved Reception - the toy animals would get moved to a shop, experimented on to see which ones floated, he'd be encouraged to play with them in different ways, and with other children.

We told him school was like nursery with bigger and better toys and learning to read, and he thrived. But also was fine with Y1 and more sit-down learning - his only problem was with other children who weren't.

A lot of reception is free play but cetainly at ours there was also carpet time (where everyone learnt together) and "jobs" where small groups would focus on some specific task - like making biscuits (weights and measures) or making a Christmas ornament. The teachers would have lists and make sure that all children had a go at the jobs over the course of the wek. It looked like chaos but it really worked.

In short, your worries are very normal but relax. They've seen it all before and it will be fine.

It varies!

My own school where I teach is very much child-initiated play. They do have carpet time with the class for phonics, English, maths and topic work for 10 minutes but they then work with only one group in English, Maths and Topic so each child will do only three pieces of work a day. They have the areas of provision but rarely do children go into the writing area or are seen with writing implements throughout the day and they are not 'told' to try an activity either. I find it odd because the staff moan about the nurseries allowing boys to 'play on bikes' all day and thus come to school unable to do the basics in other areas of the curriculum. We then find by Y1, the children are not independent at all and are shocked into the formal side of learning. We do have our learning through play but we structure it so they are told to go into an area and we have 2 adult guided activities with 1 independent job.

My son's school has a table space for every child (my work school does not!) in YR. They have exactly the same AoP as my school, larger creative area BUT are directed to table activities early on (usually a game, Lotto, bingo etc) whilst the two adults work with two other groups. Also my son mixes with the rest of the school during breaks, my school's YR do not. They are still in their own playground. My son often comes home and says it is a 'play day' or a 'work day'.

Ultimately my son's school (more successful) encourage independence in YR and make strides to ensure they have a smooth transition. my YR colleagues at my school claim they do, but they do not. In July they still only have 1 group out of 5 doing a 'job' and the rest playing.

Y1 in the first part of the autumn term is a bloody nightmare!

three pieces of work a week - not a day!

DS had a short phonics session most days, and sometimes something else where he was required to 'work', with a teacher/TA (one-to-one or small group). The largest part of the school day however he played with the dinosaurs. For a while the dinosaurs were removed, he then played pretend dinosaurs. They claim that the teachers interact with the children during their play, helping them learn through e.g. clever questioning; I couldn't say if this really happened to any major extent. According to DS, the only thing he ever did at school was play dinosaurs.

He certainly could have learned more in a shorter time, had he had more attention (e.g. if I had home-educated him), but he learned enough. I couldn't say that much of his 'playing dinosaurs' could be described as 'learning through play' but at least he got to play!