Summer born end of reception report

[lucyb162]

Hi
My DD is v young in her school year, she turns 5 this week. We got her end of year report and she's missed getting expected in 3 of the areas; maths, understanding and confidence. Having spoken with the teacher, she wasn't concerned at all and said she'd come on since she wrote the report at the start of June and from what she said she might've got expected in the confidence and understanding areas. Maths it seems that DD is still inconsistent with recognition of numbers 11 through to 20, which sounds about right. I also gathered from the conversation that she could do with working on her writing going into year 1 as she's struggling with placing of finger spaces and 'holding the sentence she wants to write in her head whilst writing it. She kindly made up a pack for me and DD to do some activity packs over the summer. DD is potentially also slightly behind on her reading as she's on red band books. She told me recently she finds reading a bit annoying. My question is, I've always thought DD was bright (I know, biased) and I've been surprised that she hasn't picked things up as quickly as I'd have thought. Is what she's achieved typical of a late summer born in reception and she's likely to catch up over the next few years?

I'd focus on enjoying stories together and talking lots about what you have read in a fun way. It will help with everything.

I'd also be inclined to play games like snakes and ladders, uno, and the orchard bus stop game to help with the numbers.

Sorry I haven't read the full thread

In case someone hasn't already suggested this, I used to ask my child what story he wanted to tell - he'd dictate and I'd write it out for him to then copy down.

So - he practised keeping ideas in his head - by telling the story. He was creative (honestly some were hilarious) and then got to practice writing. It helped improve his handwriting and spelling a lot.

At least this way the pressure to get all 3 things working together at the same time is off.

Genuinely don't worry about reading levels - red at end reception / start yr1 is fine. A year makes a HUGE difference at this age - listen to the teachers when they say she doing fine.

Good luck!

My 5.5 year old did well in his school report. He cannot ‘hold sentences in his head to write’ !
Her writing looks great.

Honestly, chill! My Aug 28 born failed to meet all targets 'til about Y3, doing a PhD now.

That looks fine for a YR or tbh even a yr1 child. I can understand the phonetic sentence about fairies easily. And that’s a great princess celestia

Could you find an easy version of a book she like? Read it to her then get her to read it back to you, take turns with each page?
They do exercise book with space for drawing at the top.
Draw a picture whilst talking, give her a sentence if necessary, if she's stuck ask her to look at the picture.
Try to do a 'journal' over the summer. Take a photo and print it, ask her to do a sentence for it to show her new teacher what she's been up to.

Oh and whiteboards are excellent too and you can get rid of any mistakes.

She's just 5 FGS!!!!

In some countries she would not be even doing this stuff until she was 6 or 7! It is not a race!

The levels are Gove-induced - do you want your DD to turn out like him???!!!

FGS don't load her holiday with all the stuff the teacher has given you. Leave her be; let her stretch her imagination, go for walks, dance, play, sing, make bread, doodle, skip, get wet and muddy..............

Are you especially keen that she should be bright and ahead of her peers? - if so, why?

Is she happy? - that is all that matters. Boy, does this stuff make me mad!!! What are we doing to our children? Have you seen the mental health crisis for teens and young people.

She needs to be happy and confident - that is all.

I'm too am aghast at the "need to move on" from the imaginary fairies.

Op your dd sounds great. Please do not worry.

My ds is summer born and didn't get school at all until the end of Y2. His writing only really started to become readable at around Y4.
He's just finished Primary School with immaculate handwriting and great SATS scores. He's proud that he's read all the Harry Potters on his own which is more than his 'cleverer' older sister did.

What stands out for my ds his his imagination. He never stopped writing stories about 'imaginary' things. He keeps dozens of notebooks in his room full of stories. He also has a passion for drama, especially comedy.
He's much more creative and imaginative than my dd who was older in her year and was 'ahead' for all of the time at Primary.

Now dd is in Y9 at Secondary. She's still a great student but she's a solid B at most things. She's definitely not a 'exceptional' that some Primary teachers used to describe her as. Everything does even out.

Try to do a 'journal' over the summer. Take a photo and print it, ask her to do a sentence for it to show her new teacher what she's been up to.

Not this, oh please not this! She is just 5!!!

I would do no structured work with her.

Just keep doing what you do - chat, read together etc.

What I would do, is give her lots of notebooks and pens and pencils and let her get on with things. She can scribble, colour do whatever she wants, My ds used to love this. He often never even showed what he was doing. It was just for him.

It's not my child, if it was my child they'd be playing outside but the op has come on asking for help, which is what I've offered.

All ideas and thoughts are welcomed, thank you all. Apart from the Oxbridge comments lady, she's clearly mental. DD has a great imagination, she has a very wide vocabulary and is very articulate. At the moment playing is what she enjoys doing and I want to respect that as much as possible, whilst hoping that there will come a point when she enjoys reading, writing and maths just as much. She is starting to enjoy writing as we've been doing the letters to the fairies, so I feel I can encourage that. She still doesn't enjoy reading so the suggestions around that are all great. Maths she sometimes enjoys, so I can try and do some of the games suggested on here with her. I'm sure that I can get quite a lot of learning done with her over the holidays without making it seem like a chore to her, so that is what I'll aim to do. Thanks all (except Oxbridge lady) x

A close family friend has a daughter born in late August. Her daughter could hardly read at 8 or 9. She is now an investment banker and attended Cambridge followed by Harvard. As others have said your child is so much younger than her peers.

Just to err, even out the posts having read previous posters ‘helpful’ views...

My sisters was a talented published poet with an MA. She didn’t learn to read or write until she was 7yrs old. Her teachers called her backwards and told my parents she may never learn to read (!). By 10yrs she was reading Jane Eyre and the Lord of the Rings, and anything else she could get her hands on soooo... I don’t think you can tell anything by the first couple of years!

I think my poor sister didn’t get on with the teaching methods of the time. I also think she disliked being put on the spot and being forced to guess at things when she wasn’t sure of the answer, especially when she was feeling very judged. So she stayed silent. And they judged her more. So she withdrew into herself even more. She was always like that even as she grew up, so I can imagine exactly how it happened.

I think my parents felt pretty helpless and upset about it all. They believed she was intelligent but they had teachers telling them she was stupid and basically, to give up on her. It was 30yrs ago, in a little village school, so before the revolution in understanding dyslexia and special needs.

I remember the tension and my parents anxiety hoping I wasn’t going to be the same... and the relief and praise I got for just being ‘normal’. And if I picked up on that aged 4, my poor sister two years older would have felt all of that and more.

It was only when she met a teacher she clicked with and who made her feel safe and relaxed enough to she opened her mouth and try to read, rather than just sit there in silence.

Family lore goes that she read the whole book from start to finish. And started to write soon after. And the teacher came out at home time and said to my mother ‘were you aware this child can read perfectly?!’

Anyway, my point is, that early school performance is NOT a simple correlation to future academic success, it’s just not.

Be very careful to make sure that your dd doesn’t think of herself as behind, or not as advanced, or needing to catch up etc.

And make sure she doesn’t start to give up, or feel like something is too hard for her. It can be so harmful if they start to give up, or get upset thinking they can’t do something. So keep it fun, like you’re already doing, and lots of encouragement and praise.

Notes to fairies are a lovely way to encourage writing. Maybe the fairy could leave little gifts or letters back from time to time?

I have a summer born boy, he is exceeding in almost every area, he just gets things. His imagination and arts was expected, he really has no interest!! That makes me really sad as I think he'd really enjoy that side of things if he committed some effort, but it isn't him so I don't push it. I can't say we are pushy parents, we do go to the library and do some bits from workbooks, but currently he is sat eating pombears and watching a Boss Baby marathon....

We use oxford owl website for free ebooks - they seem much more fun than anything else! He is currently on orange, but he can read these fluently so should go up. I can't say that is anything we have done aside from listening every day and encouraging him to learn his phonics. Gold Star workbooks for writing/phonics/comprehension - again he loves these. Doodlemaths app - this has really helped his number confidence.

We also do a lot of talking about numbers in the car. Number bonds to 10, counting up in 2's 5's 10's to 100, odd numbers and even numbers, doubling, halving all while we drive around. Maths flexibility is really great to instil in them, just learning number facts and KIRFs really helps the speed at which they can do things.

Don't worry, Y1 may well suit her more and all of them get to where they need to be.

@WellThisIsShit an interesting story!

The fairies have already sent DD many replies and a couple of gifts. Similarly, she has sent them gifts, mainly items from her dolls house and things she's made. It's all rather lovely, although involves a lot of sneaking into her room in the night!

Your point about making sure she doesn't give up or feel something is too hard is what I'm worried about. Her school is a great school that focuses on nurturing the younger children especially and she has the added advantage that they split the year groups by age so she's with others around her age, so hopefully doesn't feel like shes behind the friends in her class. I'm hopeful that with some encouragement over the summer I can start to foster a love of reading and writing and maths, although I may be expecting too much of her for all 3. I'll see how it goes.

www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/

These make your own pop up books are really fun to do, my DS got one for a present when he was 5 and loved it so much I bought a mini version to do over this summer (he’s 8yrs old now).

When he was just turned 5 we did it as a project together, and he drew the pictures and made up the story, and we decided what each page should say, I wrote it out on pieces of paper, and he attempted to copy it into the book. We still have it as it’s very cute, mistakes and all :)

I think he’ll get alot of out it on a different level now his writing is so much more secure.

The one I got was from John Lewis but I can’t find it now, but here’s the same brand:

www.craftyarts.co.uk/create-your-own-pop-up-books-p9362

@WellThisIsShit

I like that idea and it's her birthday tomorrow - Amazon Prime delivery I think!

My July born dd knew 7 letter sounds at the end of reception. She spent most of the year sucking her thumb and occasionally falling asleep in lessons. She didn't really learn to read until the end of year 2 and was in all the bottom groups for years.

She is now half way through secondary school - has won the academic award for her year (huge school - 8 form entry?) on more than one occasion, on track for A* equivalents in all gcses etc.

A summer born not meeting expectations in Reception does not necessarily mean they will have problems in the long term. It could just mean they are young. In my experience, lower down the school, teachers are very aware of which kids are summer born and understand the effect of this. As kids move up the school, teachers are less aware and less forgiving despite the fact that the effect of month of birth on exam results can be seen on all exams up to degree level.

I'm not a professional but as a mum of 5 (4th is a few weeks older than your dd) then it seems like your dd is doing fine to me. Love her drawing.

in terms of stories - do you do audio books in the car, my children love them. And if you can afford it, the children's theatre things are good too. We have a theatre locally that does things that would cost about £10 for a child and £15 for an adult so not an everyday trip but they 'tell stories' in such a nice way.

@grasspigeons no we don't do audio books, we don't tend to have many long trips in the car with her apart from in the holidays. Would audiobooks be a good way to introduce her to more involved stories do you think or would she still be a bit young for that? She'd happily listen to book after book at home.

We do them in the car and they are quite good for starting chapter books as you can do a chapter in quite a short journey. She is still v young but there is quite a lot of choice. It might give your voice a break.