Yr1 - expectations for retelling stories/plot lines?

[BabyMommaDec2012]

Hi there- my DS is in yr1 and I’m aware that the national curriculum requires pupils to be able to retell stories by writing them in their own words. My DS can write well enough but he really dislikes it and it can be like pulling teeth to get him to do it. My question is, how much promoting is ‘normal’ for a yr1 child to be able to write down a simple and short story that they know? My DS constantly says that he can’t remember details of the plot and so I give him prompts (without giving him the answers - he has to remember himself). I have to give him a prompt for pretty much every single sentence that he writes. He also sometimes tries to ‘cheat’ by missing out the middle of the plot and just writing what happens at the beginning and the end.

I just wanted to get an idea of whether the need to provide several prompts to retell a story is normal for his age (6) or if he’s purposefully just trying to avoid writing. Thanks!

My very high ability Y1s can write without any prompts at all, but most of the class would need a good degree of prompting. I have pictures from different stages in the story to jog their memories. It sounds like he’s doing perfectly well. They do have to retell the stories but for many children that will be one sentence from the beginning, middle and end. It doesn’t sound like you have anything to worry about

Thanks so much Helterskelter! I’ll take it a bit easier on him now - I’ve been thinking that he was just messing around!

As a disclaimer, my son struggles to concentrate/focus in the school environment and he also has issues with regulating his emotions there (he’s currently under investigation by CAHMS). At home, he learns well and appears to be on track but at school he’s behind with writing and maths (he’s exceeding at reading though and is a free-reader). The approach of the school is to be supportive of his emotional needs over his education as they don’t want to pressure him. This has left me in the position of virtually ‘home schooling’ him in the evenings and weekends (I work full-time and have a toddler too...). I don’t get any answers from the school on how he’s actually doing there - they’ve just said that he’s not reached age related expectations for maths and writing but haven’t given me any more details than that (despite me asking several times in order for me to help support his learning at home in a more targeted way). The school disapproves of me ‘teaching’ my son at home but I fear that he wouldn’t learn anything at all otherwise. I therefore haven’t been able to ask his teacher/school if his ability to retell stories is ‘normal’ or not.

How well can he retell stories in his own words verbally? When he reads, how are his inference skills?

Ok you need to back off at the oldest your son is 6 years old in most European countries the emotional development is prioritised over the academic stuff until they start school at 7 years old.

He is exceeding in reading so there is no reason to think that the other stuff won’t come in the near future.

If he is having problems with concentration and regulating his emotions to the extent that CAMH are investigating him. You need to stop with the working at home, just sit and read stories to him that are maybe a little more difficult than what he is doing in school.

His brain will be exhausted after a day at school and then you’re “home schooling” him at home. Just back off and see whether this has an effect on his emotional regulation. I’m over emotional when i’m mentally tired at the age of 41 your son is maximum 6 years old.

Also the qualified teacher is telling you to back off, after probably getting advice from CAMH.

I don't agree with @Maldives2006 sorry. I can understand why you give additional help at home. It's not just up to the school to teach children and in the western world the attitude is too relaxed. China has the largest population in the world and their style of parenting and education doesn't seem to be that negative. Also the same with India recently. There is still a huge battle with mental health in the western world even if you back off. I wished my parents supported my learning at home when I was at school because I needed it. Do what you think is right by your child.

China has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world, I’m not sure they are a good example to use. Finland, Sweden and Poland rank far higher than us in the world’s education ranking and prioritise emotional education especially when the child is barely out of nappies.

As I said it is still possible to support education by reading to your child which by the way is proven to highly improve literacy rates.

I have a child with adhd (inattentive) and dyslexia who is also high achieving. He spent year 4 and 5 being pushed by school with daily homework after a full school day and it nearly pushed him into a nervous breakdown. They are children with developing brains and when the qualified teacher is telling the op to back off then maybe the op should listen.

The child is already being seen by CAMH at the age 6 (maximum) which given the demand on CAMH’s device is significant.

Has anyone heard that Hawksmoor primary in Thamesmead has gone into special measures within 1 year of the head leaving. It was outstanding last year. The new leadership team are rubbish and should be sacked on the spot for Messing up such a fantastic school 🏫

Hi - thanks for your responses. I should clarify that the work I set for my DS at home takes only up to 15-30mins per day on weekdays (usually less than this). The rest of the time is his own. We do a max of an hour on weekend days (this includes his set homework from school). He has a very active social life at the weekend filled with clubs/groups and/or play dates. He’s by no means chained to the kitchen table working all day - we have lots of fun too!

At home he can be silly, is easily distracted and doesn’t always do what he’s told the first time but he presents as NT. He has a lot of friends at the same age and his behaviour is no more or less problematic than theirs in the home setting. Their parents are shocked to hear about his struggles at school and involvement from CAMHS. It’s at school where everything is going wrong - the child that the teachers describe is like a stranger to us. At home, he copes well with the work that I set him and isn’t pressured any more than any other child who’d prefer to be playing rather than doing schoolwork. I’m doing what I can just to keep his head above water educationally. My aim is for him to be able to do his work more easily at school because he is familiar with it. I want it to come automatically to him so that his issues with attention/distraction at school don’t limit him as much.

Ppp i think i read on here that schools rated outstanding often dont have ofsted checks for many years, until the HT leaves. So it may have been i a state already.

Op is it just attention at school?
It's possible by doing extra at home he isnt learning to need to pay attention at school. Because he thinks he will go over it again. Or that he struggles with the noise of the classroom. Hearing issues?

^^Hi previous poster - I didn’t start doing the extra work with him until the attention issues were flagged at his first parents evening of year1 before Xmas. He also had difficulty focusing in Reception too but was still able to meet or exceed the academic age related expectations as his teacher knew that he was bright and took no nonsense from him to ensure he did the work to provide the necessary evidence (he did not achieve the social/behavioural criteria).

I think the not meeting the behavioural targets for reveption does seem to flag for issues that will go on in later years. The dc i know who missed those eyfs ones then struggled in yr 1 and have help in year 2.
My own dc surprised me and met the targets but has struggled anyway. Mainly with the maths. For them it seems that the break between questions allows the mind to wander so never getting as involved with it as with reading.

The eyfs targets for maths are quite low compared to yr 1 when they do add/sub 2 digit nos.
writing in reception is quite hard but mainly focused on actual letters/words. By yr 2 they are writing a lot

Hey Helix - my sons maths ability in the home setting is fine. Not sure why it appears to be going so wrong in school in this area. His biggest problem (at home too) is his resistance to/dislike of writing. Once he finally gets going, his writing is fine - it’s not the neatest in the world but it’s easy to read/legible.