Bored yr 1 kid.

[KirstenMum1]

My kid has just started yr 1. They have asked me to help them ask their teacher for harder work, as 'it's all easy'. I guess my question is how best to tackle this, as whilst I appreciate that in a class of 29 they basically will just have to get on with it, I really don't want them to become complacent and switched off learning. Thoughts appreciated please.

Aren't they recapping what they have learned in reception, or doing some sort of assessment at the moment?
I would wait until parents eve if you have one soon.

During the first few weeks the teacher will assess how the kids are doing and then give them work that is more appropriate to their abilities.

Thanks.

If your DC is bored then I wouldn't wait OP. I would go in and see the teacher right now and tell them. In a class of 30 DC the teacher may not realise that your DC isn't being challenged, so challenged is the teacher in trying to learn 30 new names and get them all on the same page. But boredom is bad and bright DC can switch off altogether if their lessons aren't challenging them. It's not that hard for the teacher to set everyone a task and then to say 'And anyone who finishes that can go on to do this other thing'. Or, if the work isn't hard enough (as opposed to not being in sufficient volume), then perhaps a harder task could be set for those DC for whom it is too easy.

I was one of three DC in my primary school class who found the work easy - all the parents asked for us to be given extra stuff and so we were. From the teacher's perspective it doesn't do to have bored DC in the class, as they can be disruptive. Better that everyone is busy and engaged.

I agree with the others that it's a bit too early to be wading in, assuming your child only went back to school last week.

Is he/she reasonably confident? We had a similar situation last year when DD was in Y1, and I encouraged my daughter to finish her work quite quickly and then go and ask the teacher what she can do next. This made her a ‘problem’ to the teacher, albeit a polite and positive one.

In our experience, the teacher did struggle to set appropriate work at first (actually, right until about February). DD would come home saying she’d helped several other people once she’d finished her own work – it felt like she was being used as a spare TA! Of course, this was beneficial to embed her learning, but there was a bit too much of it, and we were worried other children might start to resent it. DD also did a lot of reading in class to fill time. Eventually the teacher set additional ‘challenge’ activities in maths which helped somewhat, though I wasn’t convinced she was really stretched all that often.

Another option is to encourage your child to stretch his/herself. If given a maths problem, for example, encourage him/her to solve it first, and then invent his/her own extension (bigger numbers, more variables, more stages etc). I know that’s a big ask for a Y1 child, but may be worth a try.

Hopefully, once the teacher has got the measure of the class, and has seen that your child is capable of more challenging work, things will improve. I’d say give it a couple of weeks, and if your child is still saying the same things, ask for a chat with the teacher.

My daughter has just gone into year 2 and is saying its easier than year 1 . I agree its probably just the teachers assessing where they are all at.

Check with the teacher that your child's " bored" is actually to do with the work they are being set, and not just about not being allowed to to do the things they were doing in reception. Lots of children find the step up a bit difficult to cope with, as they are required to do a lot more sitting and listening and formal recording in books, instead of moving from task to task as and when they want. It is the same stepping up from Year 1 to 2, because the ' play' element has nearly disappeared.
And quite frankly, some children will say they're bored when they just don't want to do the work. It's not always about whether they are being challenged enough.

Be a bit careful. Bored does not always mean to a 6 year old whT it means to an adult.

Hi, when my son started reception class he was very advanced, he could already read, add and take away and was working on basic multiplication.. he flew through infants however, now he is in year 3 and his friends all seem to be catching up with him. He's having to work now and apply his brain to subjects like maths and English in a way he hasn't had to before.
In the infants I spoke to his teacher who got out his maths books and showed me what additional work she gives him.
Basically, at the end of each page she'd hand written maybe 4 additional sums. Looked a bit like they were trying to keep him occupied rather than challenge him.
I didn't mention anything then as like you mentioned, there's not just him in the class. I wish now I had though as I wouldn't say he was struggling now but he's learning in a way he hasn't experienced before.
I was told that 'gifted and talented' is a 'thing' that should be taken as seriously as learning difficulties/disabilities. Ofsted like to see what measures the school have in place to measure gifted and talented children.
It's tricky because nobody wants to be 'that mum' that goes into school to tell the teachers their son is a genius grin but I would definitely address it at parents evening.
Alternatively, there's lots of wonderful resources online you could look at for maybe the next year group to keep your child's brain occupied and challenged.
😀

FancyS I'd be pretty peeved if I was you tbh as that shows he made little progress over the time.
My son has just gone into yr1 and for maths his teacher is offering additional worksheets after he has done the class work. He has also been doing some one on one with staff members in both reading and maths and it was always in his notes to go straight to greater depth this year.