Reception teachers - what do YOU think is important for a child to know when they start school .

[Themis]

I work at a playgroup and I have two children myself YrR & Yr1 . I was going to write a small piece for some of the 'first ' time school parents about what they & their children should know before starting school.

Eg - social skills for the child , being able to dress & go to the toilet etc.

As a Reception teacher what do YOU ( not your school or governement) want a new child to be able to do and how do you want the parents to behave on first day.

this will also be good evidence for me for my NVQ.

many thanks

Thank you for your replies. Tassi, I will do that, just so that I can peruse. Its so difficult with the bottom wiping. Encourage them now, or becasue it is a difficult technique, leave them till a bit older - he is only 3.5. Questions. Questions.

I would say that it would be nice if they could:

recognise their own name - not bothered if they can write it
be able to organise themselves a bit - ie do coat up, take off jumper by themselves, do shoes (no laces please or hard buttons)
take themselves to the toilet
that they can sit and listen to a story
play a simple game with an adult and other children taking turns

None of the academic stuff matters - lovely if they can do it but not at all important.

I know that at the school I taught at we always felt a little impatient with folders full of work sheets from nursery/pre-school mainly because that is not what their pre-school experience is supposed to be about. We had children starting who could name all the letters of the alphabet but didn't know the sounds, could write all their letters and their name in upper case. We basically had to start again and it was often more of a struggle with them than it was with the children who were completely new to it all. Often schools have their own style of handwriting and like to teach letter formation according to that.

(tassi - Hi! Just wondered if you were new or a namechanger... we have very similar names!)

Oblomov,

Re wiping bottom, I think that I let them do it themselves from very early after toilet training, and then wiped them again, and once they were getting it right gave them huge praise!

I remember 6 months before DS went to school at 4.5, we went to a family party where he needed to go to the loo, and I sent him - with his sister, who was 8 at the time - in order to find it, coz he was more than capable of wiping his own butt, and 10 minutes later his cousin needed to go, and she, 2 months older was taken by her father and wet wipes. . I felt like a neglectful parent, but when he went to school, they were very happy that he was so cinfident about going unaided, and cousin had parents called in to talk about the fact that she wouldn't go unaided, and was givig herself stomach ache holding it in.

This does not mean to say that there are some very nasty pants occasionally, but start now and practice. [hth]

I normally start my children of wiping there own bottoms at the age of four then we just check to see if they have done it properly if not we then just finish it of for them. but dont leave it to late because it can take a while my daughters just turned 6 and only just gone the hang of it and we started with her at the age of 4

Hi tassis I,m new

Welcome to MN tassi, don't fancy picking a different name??!

not really i like it its my surname

oh well...it was worth asking!

hopefully we'll mainly post on different threads or it could be really confusing for us (and everyone else!)

Peachy at having to count to 20 at start of FS2! DS2 can actually, but DS1 could only get to 16 reliably at the end of the year! (He's a bit of a maths whizz now btw).

Nutty, you and me both about the bottom wiping. Really tired of the halloo down the stairs "I've done a wee and a pooooo".

I do honestly think (having helped in FS2 class all year) that by far the most helpful thing for an overstretched teacher and TA in the first few weeks especially is if the child knows how to dress and undress for PE; put on and take off and do up and undo coat; deal with lunchbox if appropriate; recognise own coat and hang it away; and have some knowledge of behaviour eg making a line/sitting still etc.

If the staff aren't spending the whole time doing these things then they can actually teach yr children lol.

Oblomov - I wouldn't stress about much of it yet, he has over a year to go - thats 33% of his life so far! think how much he has changed in the last year etc. Bottom wiping, maybe encourage him to have a go, and 'check' after, but it can be a long way for them to reach!

Lol at putting R and L inside shoes! What 3 year old knows their right and left? Would love to know a good way to teach my dd to get shoes on correct feet. She is starting reception this september so will watch this thread with interest. Thanks.

Oh dear I'm a bit scared by some of the strict standards on here. My ds is a bit of a con merchant. He often says ok in 5 mins but he will do as asked on second prompt. Will he be hated then?

No he wont be hated! Don't worry, I think all of these things are an ideal, and those who posted often said 'have some experience of' rather than 'perfect at'. If I had a class where every child did as they were asked immediately I would drop dead of shock. He will learn.

Haven't read the whole thread. I'm not really a reception teacher, but I do supply in there sometimes!

I would say knowing how to share stuff, and how to sit still and listen when necessary! Going to the toilet unaided and eating unaided.

Phew! Thanks constance

Found this thread really interesting. I do find it strange that teachers would complain about them having started to learn to read etc.
My DD was born in early sept so will be nearly a year older than the younest in her class. If she shows interest I will certainly teach her to read earlier - not sure why it wouldn't be appropriate for her at 4.5 if it is appropriate for an august born 4.1 year old starting school?

I suppose my point is that I can understand it being a problem if you have taught them in the wrong way but given that a year's age difference is very noticeable at this age there are inevitably going to be different academic & social abilities in chidren of this age. Therefore I'm not sure that restricting what parents teach their children before school will help. Maybe a book or leaflet on the best methods would be more appropriate to help parents efforts tie in with those of the teachers?

Someone asked about how to teach small children which shoe goes on which foot. You can get Feet and Shoe Training Stickers for teaching them which shoe goes on which foot, but personally I'd get a permanent marker and just copy the foot shapes and L and R into each shoe. Make sure the big toe is prominent so they can see the difference between the two feet, and explain it to them until they can recognise which is which themselves.

Personally I can remember my Mum asking if my shoes "felt" right or wrong when I put them on, which might also be useful.

Totally agree with all the things that have been suggested reception children must have experience of. It really does help the child feel confident if they have some idea of what they're doing.
I would suggest learning to sit on an adult sized toilet without a training insert; I knew a 4.5 yr old girl who wouldn't do this and her mother had to supply one for her use at school! Admittedly the loos in the reception class were slightly larger than those in the nursery, which was unfortunate, but she was the only one with a problem with them.
A local village school has merged its nursery and reception classes and now calls it Early Years dept. Has anyone else experience of this, and does it work out better for the children in terms of the thread we're discussing?

I find this thread very useful as I just started to look into the "starting school" subject for my DS who's 3 yrs and 3 mths.

Just wanted to add that I was a bit disappointed the other day when one of the members of the staff in my DS's preschool casually said to me "Oh, we just noticed today that your DS recognizes quite a few letters..." and my first impulse was to reply "No dear, he actually knows ALL the letters and their sounds and had known them for a while and the fact the you just noticed today proves how little you know about what his abilities are". But I resisted this impulse, as I'm quite a reserved person, and just smiled to her and said "yes, he knows a lot".

Now, my question is, if preschool is part of foundation stage, aren't they supposed to do some "work" with the children at preschool?

I don't expect them to actively teach children to read or write, but at least to know where children are with these skills and encourage the more able ones.

Also, my DS is not very good at writing yet, so any suggestions as how to improve on this would be appreciated. I don't mean I expect him to write letters yet, but at least to try and form some letters and numbers and be able to draw strait lines, circles, etc.

I don't think they 'should' be 'teaching' them at pre-school - according to the guidelines. If you aren't happy with what they are doing you can always look for somewhere more structured.
ds1 has learnt to read in the last few months, his 'report' from pre-school which came home this week (basically their records from last year), on which they highlight the early learning goals they have achieved doesn't even recognise that he can name and sound all the letters of the alphabet, hear and say initial and final sounds and short vowels withing words (am quoting from the goals here).
The fact that they haven't highlighted these goals means that they can not have been doing any letter/word work with him.

BUT I am happy about this, he has had a lovely time there, he has become more confident and made friends and is alot more ready to progress onto school, where he will have to spend years 'achieving' academic standards.

WRT to writing - at that age you should be encouraging fine motor skills by drawing, painting, making circles in the sand etc - big fluid movements and emphasing the left to right flow - this isn't a natural thing and it is something they need to recongise with regard to the (english) written language.

ha-ha, ds is 6y, going to y2 and you can still hear him call out"i've done a POOOO!!!"
O, and taking turns, listening, do thinhs when tols, hmmm yes that wouls be nice...

I don't often post on here but I just have my son's Key Stage 1 SAT results so I find this quite interesting.

I don't think the teachers care about the academic stuff when they start school. In one of our first meetings at the school when my ds1 joined Year R the headteacher did say that any advantage in coming to school already reading and writing was lost by some time in the Juniors (I can't remember exactly what age - it was nearly 3 years ago now.) Also there is the point already made that they don't want to have to unteach a child who they believe has been taught the wrong way of doing things.

Certainly my son is was only 4yrs 6 weeks when he started school and knew no phonics or how to write. The most he could probably do was recognise his name and signs of shops and trucks and things like that. However, today I am told he has reached Level 3 in reading and has easily caught up with children who went to school already reading. He is also above the national average in maths and science even though he went to school only being able to count to 20.

It seems to me that is more important to be a child and learn through fun. The focus should be on social and personal skills such as going to the toilet, coping with lunch, getting dressed and undressed and generally getting on with people. In fact I think these were the only things on a list issued by the school.

I am not saying for one minute if you have a child who is keen and able to learn that you should not do things with them but that it isn't necessary and you should feel guilty if your child isn't interested and you don't make them. They do have plenty of time at school to learn.

This is very reassuring. My ds is still not 2, but one of his friends can count to 15 and recognise all letters of alphabet plus numbers to 10. WOW! My ds can do none of that...not interested. Only wants to play with balls. Nice to know there is plenty of time for him to learn. Though am hoping that before he gets to Reception, he can sit still for more than 5 minutes.

Don;t know if this has been said already because this thread is too long to read. What about developing fine motor skills - playing with playdough, opening and closing pegs, hanging off things at the park, flicking things (not siblings mind you), threading beads, cutting and sticking etgc