Year 6 a shock to the system

[PhilomenaButterfly]

DD started year 6 last week. She's forgotten the same piece of homework 3 times. Last night she asked me to tell her teacher because she was scared, which I did this morning.

Her teacher says that she's strict because it's preparation for secondary school, which is exactly what I told DD last night. DD's an absent minded professor, very bright but forgets "real life" things. I don't know how to help her improve her memory.

She was crying last night because she's finding year 6 stressful. She says she got told off yesterday for touching her book. She says they're supposed to sit like statues. Is that right?

I have 2 questions. How do I help her improve her memory, and how do I help her cope with the strictness?

TIA.

Bump

In upper KS2 (I forget exactly when) I got DS1 to design a 'reminder timetable' for him and DS2 to go on the back of the front door. It worked quite well (as long as they remembered to look at it).

If she has a phone already she can practice putting reminders on it. If not, do it on yours - it's still Y6 not Y11!

Hoping the strictness will a) be something they get used to b) will ease off a bit after the start of term and c) will be less of an issue if homework etc is remembered!

Fingers crossed for you both.

She needs memory aids! No one can hold everything in their head. It's more about habit than memory- getting into the habit of writing things down- and then checking regularly.

Weekly planner at home- with all the regular reminders/ deadlines.?Could be paper based, or a whiteboard etc. Or just a big weekly view diary.

Lots of kids like to use diary/ events/ reminders on their phones- but most schools do not allow them access to their phones during lessons- so this probably isn't a good method..

Give her post it notes for her pencil case at school then if any one-off things arise, she can quickly write a note.
Get her into the habit- she's got this year to practise.

Don't aim to remember everything! Write it down.

If the school don't provide homework diaries then give her a small notebook and say she must write down all homework and messages. This is good practice for secondary. You can't remember everything.

Then always check homework diary when get home from school!

just to echo others, write things down for you and her.
Put up a visual timetable, eg Mon hand in homework, Tues reading record etc. get her to check and make sure you check.

make sure you create a space for homework, and make sure she packs her bag the night before so she has time to go through her check list.

The strictness I am guessing is deliberate to give them a sense of 'this year is different' and will be easier as the year goes on.

Thanks everyone, that's very helpful. 😀

lists! teach her to write lists. I write lists for everything. always have and will always need to do so.

You can get little white boards, I forget where I saw them the other day, Wilko, The Works or Poundland it must have been, which are already divided up with days and then she can put it by the door, or where she keeps her school bag and then she can write on it things she needs to remember.

Does she have a homework book/diary yet from school? If not get her a little notebook and she can write down things to do/messages/homework etc in it, also if you can find one with it you can get ones with a little pocket on them where she could put any school notes or letters when she is given them so she doesn't lose them.

Yes, a time table is handy for this age and will prepare for secondary.
The homework and every class now will be preparation for SATS, she'll be working on it for the whole year.
The strictness is because nothing can interfere with SATS and the most important thing, the school stats.

A school year planner might help. Try make using it a fun thing. I find that straight out of school dd(now Y7) barely remembers anything. But once she's kicked back a bit and we chat about the day, her memory improves.
I've also found that there is a lot more online at dd's secondary school about what is expected which helps.
She could have a little notebook about her person at school or in her bag to scribble down things to remember as they crop up.
Yes, a bit more personal responsibility is expected but I'm sure it's more a few tweaks needed than some sort of personality transplant.

She has a homework folder. She brought that home yesterday with no homework in it. She went to a party straight from school today, so I won't know if she's remembered her homework until she gets back.

We'll implement a lot of these ideas, thanks so much everyone. 😀

She's back home, we'll try the notebook. She says she doesn't get homework on specific days.