Exceeding in all areas in reception - confused!

[Knickerbockerglory100]

Daughter is a bright little girl however we are from Italy where formal learning doesn't take place until later so aside from the reading the school asks us to do we don't do any formal learning with her
She writes of her own accord and so on but nothing regimental and no maths work
Her best friend also had the same result and they are now starting tuition to push her forward and suggested I should be doing the same
Her parents are both headteachers, not of this school I should add!
Is this correct? I have a son 5 years older and he was always average and we didn't push anything further as he tried his best and that's all we wanted, but I am confused with what's the norm now!

Your approach is best, she's only little, she's bright and happy at school, that's what matters.

My DD is in reception and exceeding most but not all areas. I plan to check in with her teachers about any ways in which I can help her but definitely not going down a tutor route, she doesn't need that.

Well that's what I thought.
Perhaps they are thinking of the 7/11 plus for their daughter though which we aren't so maybe that's why they are thinking like this
As I'm not from this country I wonder if my way is right!

Your dd is doing very well, so your way is obviously right. Feel free to carry on.

But my way is doing nothing! Is it usual for very bright kids to have tutors? I always thought, possibly ignorantly that only children needing extra help would have a tutor!

No 5 year old needs a tutor.

I agree, should I be doing more to support her or school is enough?

My dd was exceeding in all areas in reception. She's just done her yr2 SATS and is working at a 'greater depth than the expected standard' across the board. I haven't done anything either beyond the usual reading/talking/taking her to places. Certainly no tutors! At that age it's so much more important to play and have time for fun than anything else.

It sounds like you're doing a great job

My DD just received exceeding in all areas for reception. I'm definitely not getting her a tutor. She currently loves learning and I follow her lead - provide her with books she likes, craft activities, stationary and take her on days out that interest her.

I want to harvest her love of learning, not turn it into a chore.

So pleased to hear this.
Tutoring seems the norm here which it really isn't in Italy where I'm from so I have no knowledge at all about it.

If you don't have a problem, don't fix it. It may well be they're thinking about selective school entrance.

We don't tutor as we can keep up with them so far. I do sometimes do stuff at home though.

DS from year 1 onwards was going into school sprouting enthusiasm to learn maths and science. And coming out deflated because they were doing "place value agaaaaaain". So we do try to feed the enthusiasm at home. I'd hate for him to lose that interest. I think being challenged is important for learning to learn.

I also have DD just finishing reception. She's further ahead in the academic parts of the curriculum than DS was. Unless school pull something better out of the bag for her, it's going to be teach her at home or let her sit there learning nothing for year 1. That feels like a bit of a big risk to take. She may be ahead in curriculum, but she could get very behind in terms of developing her ability to concentrate and learn.

Talk with her, ask questions and answer her questions

Read to her, read with her, have her read to you

Go out and about and explore with her

She's only five and she's doing well at school and you have no concerns about the teaching or her progress. She doesn't need a tutor.

Tbh i would take the ratings with a pinch of salt.
Ds got met despite according to them reading orange (probably end of orange), and at home reading purple and any purple levelled picture book etc. Whereas i have seen others on here get exceed for blue. So it is a lot of opinion.
Plus i have only seen 1-2 kids on purple/turquoise in the yr group so at most that many exceeding.
Otoh his writing is crap and he managed to get met for that too.

It is not a fair representation as they dont sit them down and ask them what they know.

definitely no point tutoring though. Wait and see how yr 1 goes.
Some will start to catch up due to age/maturity.
It would be interesting to see stats on what the results meant in relation to the same child at gcse/alevel.
Though i did see on another thread like 25% of boys dont meet writing and a similar number fail english gcse

I wouldn't have said it's the norm in England.

I don't know of anyone who tutors infants !!! Especially if they are little and doing well!

Exceeding description for reading:

"Children can read phonically regular words of more than 1 syllable as well as many irregular but high frequency words. They use phonic, semantic and syntactic knowledge to understand unfamiliar vocabulary. They can describe the main events in the simple stories they have read."

It doesn't necessarily relate to the reading level they're on. Under the NC they're supposed to read books matched to their decoding ability, so reading levels may well only reflect how they're doing on the first sentence of the criterion.

Possibly but the teacher needs to read with them to assess this (and they havent).
Ds understands very well.
Possibly a separate comprehension bit would make it clearer and allow for something to be worked on.

If the teacher isn't hearing the child read at all, you've got bigger problems than reception reported levels, fair enough.

There's also the fact that different schools handle reading levels very differently. DS got exceeding "on blue level". He was a fluent reader. At home he was untroubled by lime, and reading stuff like Dinosaur Cove for fun. Whereas at their current school, children are officially on blue and take 10 minutes to painstakingly decode a page of a blue level book. So if someone says "blue level" on here it could mean pretty much anything unless they also say what sort of fluency they are reading that level and what else they can read if asked.

Just got one of them from library.
Purple/gold level would take maybe 15min. But might take me 10anyway.

I'm not saying your DS isn't exceeding level - if the teacher really doesn't hear him read they have no idea either. Just saying don't assume a child isn't a strong reader just because they're "on blue level" because that's even less of an objective standard.

I am in too minds about tutoring. I know someone who is the head of a state primary school in an economically deprived area, who volunteers their time to tutor academic and non academic children.

The tutoring styles varies across the children's interests and needs, it's also free.

On one opinion, if a child is showing academic abilities beyond the curriculum taught at state school, then extra support for the child should be found. Just the same we have Sen for children who need extra support.

For example my DS4, can barely write his own name, but can tell you all the planets in the solar system, the effect of gravity, tell you all about the dinosaurs, each species, how they became extinct, oh and then tell you all about volcanos too. Thats just a snap shot. But I bet the first thing his reception teacher come September will say is, he can't write his name. Because she can't tick that box.

I can afford to expand my child's interests, take him to London to see the science museums, as one example and will probably consider tutoring if he is still "bright" by senior school, where he will need to pass the 11 plus for the private grammar school. Even if he doesn't need it.

So on the second opinion on tutoring is that, it's not free mostly, and therefore only children who have "available" parents or parents who can afford to outsource the tutoring benefit.

Formal tutoring of 5 year olds, is too much.

Trying to change the ability of a child through tutoring, definitely too much.

Parents paying for extra support to boost their child's academic interests or seeking grants, free options. I agree with.

But I bet the first thing his reception teacher come September will say is, he can't write his name.
I think you're wrong there actually. At the beginning of reception, they're interested in getting them settled into the school routine and getting them talking to the teacher and each other. They will love having a dinosaur expert in residence. Make sure he has lots of dinosaur-y things to take in for show and tell!

They expect to teach them to read and write. Especially writing, even if they already are they'll probably need to learn again in the house style.

I'm a teacher and tutor. My daughter is in reception and also got exceeding in all areas. Definitely wouldn't use a tutor! 😉

See that's the thing, my son knows the alphabet jolly phonics style, and can count to 100 using the Montessori techniques.

But will not put pen on paper.

He can, and I have see him write his name numerous times, and other letters, but he HATES doing it. It's almost always forced. irs due to his sensory behaviours, so where he doesn't like his letters to look different to the letters he is copying (don't get me started with the letter a!)

He is bright, but also has "issues" not enough for Sen but also not enough to deem gifted. I worry that without our parental help (which is totally our responsibility) he would just get lost at school and be classed as disinterested, or even worse disruptive, when eventually his boredom at the curriculum eats away his enthusiasm.

What I really feel for is children like mine, he isn't unique, that have a natural aptitude for learning, and it isn't something school picks up on or their parents. It must be incredibly frustrating for the child.

You've got a v negative view of school there. I wondered how my "away with the fairies" child would do school (and even considered homeschooling! ) But they have loved it. Hasn't been a boring curriculum at all, really interesting topics and so much room for open ended work as most of the day is their "choosing" time. Bright child has truly flourished, kids interests are followed, they've written such imaginative stories and have so much fun.

I think a bright child wanting to learn is perfect for reception!

NewRug, you wrote that your son will be going into reception in September. Not being able to write at all is perfectly normal at the start of reception. Neither of my kids could write anything when they started and the school certainly didn't expect them to - they'd both attended the school Early Years unit where they learnt through free play to develop their motor skills, work independently and as a group, concentrate, listen, speak clearly and articulately, use their imaginations. They did the start of phonics by thinking about the sound in word, but certainly no formal reading or writing lessons.

It sound as though he's had a really pushy pre-school experience, but a reception class should still be mostly play based learning. Our Year 1 classes spend a lot of time working on getting children to count accurately and with understanding.

NewRug, who has been forcing your DS to write and why? That sounds like terrible practice for a preschool or nursery. I would be willing to bet he'll be a lot happier and more valued in a typical EYFS reception setting than wherever that was.