What do they actually learn in reception/ What do kids actually know going in?

[RBBMummy]

My son is Autistic and its given him certain abilities. He starts school in September and hes very excited. However i think hes expecting too much and i want to be realistic with him. He also doesn't understand that other children cant necessarily do what he can, but as hes my only child i don't know what other children can realistically do at 4 academically. If i can start talking to him about this now he should get it by the time school starts. I just don't know what im aiming for?

Will he be able to sit on the carpet with a group and not shout out?

If he is keen to share his knowledge, waiting his turn might be challenging for him.

Explain to him that he just as he finds some things easy and some things difficult, so do the other children.

Is it actually likely he will have kids in his class who cant read, write, count, ect at all before they start?

Absolutely, only a minority of kids can read upon entering reception, there's absolutely no reason to teach a kid to read before, and there's only a minority of kids who will be interested enough to attempt themselves.

Yes 95% of starters we had last September couldn't read, we teach them phonics and how to sound letters using diagraphs and trigraphs. In maths they are taught to count and recognise numbers,Not all children know how to count to 10.
The focus of learning is done through play in reception actually learning time is limited as most 4 yrs don't yet have the attention span to sit long.

As the year has gone on we now have children that can read,count and do basic sums the biggest challenge is getting them to sit for period of times and keeping their attention on learning. Come year 1 it all changes and is focused more on the learning.

I meant kids who don't know their ABCs yet and 123s and shape and colours. Kids who maybe don't have an academic awareness yet.

Yes lots of children at 4 don't know them when they start.

rainbowsandfeathers Ah ok, whats it like in year 1 then? What sort of things do they learn? I know theres a chance he will be out of year for certain things

At 4 my son was just about speaking in proper sentences. He was at "the beginning stages of Mark making" I. E: scribbling.
He could count to 7.
He's now 5 and can count to 20, do addition and subtraction, draw a decent picture and read some CVC words.
For context: 4 Yr old are still in nursery education where I live and formal learning starts at primary 1.

For god's sake, please don't take responses on a mumsnet thread as an accurate reflection of 'age related expectations' for your child. Ever.

multivac why not, its a good way to get a general understanding

You’re sounding a little bit provocative RBB now. Numerous posters here have told you that most reception starters can’t read or do anything with numbers other than simple addition. So yes, I’m sure there will be a lot of children who can’t do the things your son can. But also, there will a lot of children who can do things he can’t.

There will be children who are naturals at holding court with their classmates, kids who can hang upside down from climbing frames or do cartwheels. My child has a friend who is brilliant at Parkour and one who is an amazing skateboarder. My son is great at making stuff out of empty cardboard boxes..

I’m sure your very small child can find lots of things on offer at school that he doesn’t already know.

In year one they start count backwards as well as forwards - basic adding and taking away, time tables 5,10s. In English they start putting more words together writing short sentences and using punctuation.

The best thing for you to do is before your child starts is to have a meeting and see what plans have been put in place. In my school all children no matter what the ability are all kept in reception for classes and they all learn together so they are learning sounds, numbers and patterns correctly.

It's like anything - he will be ahead in certain areas, and probably behind other children in other areas.

For me, the most important things for a child that age coming into school are play skills, social skills, dressing/feeding themselves, toilet training and managing emotions. Possibly recognising their own name when written

Reading early is not that important in comparison imo.

DD starts reception in September but isn't 4 until the end of July. She can recognise the letter that starts her name, and can write her name (ish) but only because she's memorized the shapes of the other letters. She can recognise numbers 1 - 6 and can count to 20 but always misses out 16 and 17. She can do very basic maths, my older DS has workbooks so we got her one for age 3+, but her attention span is very short. She knows most colours and has good fine motor skills and pen control.

She has no idea about geography that I am aware of. She likes animals and dinosaurs. She knows everything about Peppa pig. She loves to dress herself and makes up very emo songs about how no-one listens to her.

Academically I reckon she's very very average. She's an absolute charmer though

rainbowsandfeathers We do have to visit his paediatrician again soon after we find out which school he is going to work out a formal plan for school. The out of year stuff would be a part of that as a way to try to keep him in mainstream at least through juniors but that does make me worry a little

Op you mustn't compare your child with others, they are all individual and unique, each child is on their own individual learning journey.

There will be kids who know more academics than others, or who are more outgoing, just focus on his school can support yiur child, and that goes getting the best help he can. I say that as a mum of two kids with differing SN.

RBB:

Basically, MN posters tend to be more middle-class/educated than average to start with.

The ones who hang around education boards on MN tend to be more heavily "into" education than average, and push their kids more than the average person (even if they don't admit that they do).

And the people whose kids are average/below average are less likely than those of high achievers to volunteer laundry lists of their child's academic attainments.

Oh, and there's probably a bit of exaggeration going on on top of that...

The result is that the boards here tend to suggest levels of reading and maths and everything else that are just really high by national average standards

I live overseas, and it's tempting to use this board as a benchmark, but I have learned not to, because it's full of 5yos reading Harry Potter etc. Meanwhile, among my RL friends and family members back in the UK I don't know a single child who is advanced at that kind of level.

I also don't know a single child who is swimming hundreds of meters at age 5 (most are just starting swimming lessons at that age)--look at some of the boards here and you could easily come away with the impression that this is typical/usual....!

Aeroflotgirl him being autistic means i have to prepare him as much as i possibly can. Knowing who hes likely to encounter, and the types of things they understand, and what hes likely to be taught will make transition much easier for him. Having a child with autism is all about preparation

"And the people whose kids are average/below average are less likely than those of high achievers to volunteer laundry lists of their child's academic attainments."

Whenever I get the chance I make a point to list my DC's low end of average achievements. It might be a bit embarrassing to me but perhaps it will prevent some other poor Mum from being utterly intimidated by the legions of Harry Potter reading toddlers.

Completely agree kokashi Mumsnetters are "involved" to the point of neurosis and their children reflect that.

My dd is Autistic I found that if I stressed her too much, it wou,d go the opposite way. Take your child's cue, mabey ask teacher or SENCO what you should be doing. I find that the current education system is a one size fits all system, with very little flexibility. Don't force him to read if he does not want to read, sit down and read to him. I got those wipe clean ubsbourne books, on Wrting, time, simple sums were very good, Amazon has them.

I agree unlimited, my YR1 6 yr old ds, who has Neurodevelpmental difficulties, soeech delay, ASD traits, is on the low end academically, it's soul destroying in parents evening when they just impart bad news tgat he is nearly 2 years below everybody else and negative negative negative. It's not my child that is broken, but the education system that does not give young chikdren a chance to go at their own pace and develop their core skills, good for the fast bloomers, but not good for those like ds taking their time. Takes the fun and enjoyment out of learning.

Ds is an intelligent and inquisitive boy, who loves to learn and is developing his skills everyday. He is so good at getting his 11 year old Autistic sister to interact, and communicate, tries to get her involved socially, literally forcing her out of her comfort zone to role play or to interact with him. He helps her with her confidence, as he has loads loves being 'grown up'. He helps calm her in a melt down, and tries to help her. School don't see this, they just see ds as a set of problems, and not a wonderful, caring intelligent boy underneath.

Kokeshi123 i get where youre coming from although im fine with saying things like my child doesn't understand danger yet and im sure others are too but i see your view and there is no real alternative. Just a side though my son did actually read Harry Potter last Christmas...

My school has a massive range of abilities even now, at the start of the year it went from children who couldn't speak in full sentences, recognise any letters or numbers at all or do any mark making to ones that could read well, write sentences and do basic adding and taking away.

In answer to the geography or sciencey things. We do a topic for each half term, which may include science, geography, ICT, RE and/or music, but won't include all of those all the time, the focus is on maths, phonics and play.

Exactly what will get covered and how will depend on the school, and to some extent the children in the class.

I would avoid telling DS too much about school til you have seen the paediatrician and worked out what support he will be getting, I work with autistic children in a mainstream school and I know sometimes things changing is worse than not preparing them at all.

RBBMummy, I suggest you have a look at the G&T board here, especially threads on '2E', children who are gifted and have SEN at the same time.

Because you really need to recognise (for your DS's sake) that your DS's academic abilities are exceptional. At least regarding reading (on the side, is he hyperlexic?) and his knowledge of how things work, you do not mention maths much. Gifted children can have a lot of problems at school. Their gifted-ness is often not really catered for. At the same time children with SEN are also often not catered for very well. Some schools are better at these things than others but you can't count on it. Children with dual exceptionality (2E) often suffer at school.

A friend's DD is highly able, academically (read fluently, and taught herself all TimesTables including understanding them before starting school, photographic memory -> these things are exceptional), but has serious behavioural problems (no diagnosis). Her first year at school was ALL about behaviour. All her 'learning objectives' revolved around behaviour. That year was very very challenging for her, and she learned a lot, but not academically, at all. IMO (and in her parents' opinion) it was fantastic that school focused on, and helped her to progress, in the areas she was struggling, rather than 'resting' on her academic abilities.
But it also meant she was not intellectually challenged at all during that year. If this is the thing your DS 'obsesses' about (puzzles and working things out) then it will take a very careful, thought through approach by the school to use his interests, not to extend his academic abilities, but to work on his social skills/any autism related difficulties.

Also if you read the EYFS framework as has been suggested on this thread, you'll see that the 'prime' areas of learning in reception are
• communication and language
• physical development
• personal, social and emotional development

and if your DS struggles with any of this, most settings would focus on that before worrying at all about how his abilities in reading or understanding the world, where he meets all end-of-year requirements already, can be stretched.