what should I expect from dd's first term in Reception and can I prepare her over summer?

[imaginaryfriend]

Dd's due to start Reception in the school where she's been full time in nursery since January and part time in nursery since the January before. So she's familiar with going to school, being there 9am-3.15pm, eating there etc.

She's very shy and reserved by nature and hasn't made an awful lot of friends although the girls in her class seem nice. Because she's very reserved she's tended to spend most of her time in nursery around the arts and crafts tables which I think won't be there so much in Reception.

Anyway what I wondered was what kind of structure they're likely to have (given that there will be variation school to school) in general, what sort of academic / social achievements are the goals of Reception? Are there any reading books or any other things I can get to help ease dd into the schedule?

Hi IF

My ds is in Y3 now, and dd starts reception in Sept.
Our school teaches them letter sounds in reception - they use the jolly phonics system. Jolly phonics books, activities, games are available in the ELC. They are also available on-line but I have misplaced the leaflet the school handed out for this.

Then, when the little ones are ready to progress to reading they are started on the lower level Oxford Reading Tree books.

So, have fun with Jolly Phonics and ORT, and I am sure you will give dd the boost she needs to fly!

Sorry to hear dd's rash has now involved her eyes - you seemed so optimistic a few days ago.

Have a lovely weekend.

I have misplaced the leaflet the school handed out, otherwise I would give you the website address. (must remember to finish sentences!)

sorry, should have read your OP better, just thinking of when my DS started. Might help someone else though.

I hope I didn't sound tesky kbear it was just that everybody kept saying the same thing about toilet / clothes

hippi her eyes got involved about 10 days ago but it seems to be resolving. I didn't mention it on the other thread because I get fed up of hearing myself be optimistic then pessimistic again. So I wanted to leave it on an up. Plus some Jewish magic thinking that if I act positive it will change the situation. Thanks a lot for your advice here. I'll check with the techers next week about which learning system the school uses. I'm not planning anything major just the tiniest bit of prep to help her along. She needs all the extra confidence she can get.

Having said that she's just today been moved up a class in swimming and the man who came to assess the class was asking me lots of questions about her and said she was the most naturally talented 4.5-year-old he'd seen in years! He's moved her into a class that you normally have to be at least 6 for because of her ability. I had such a proud mummy moment I was quivering which I know is a bit daft but it's been such a hard 6 months. Swimming is somewhere for her where nobody even looks at her face.

Oh IF - you are probably right to stay on the positive, it sounds as if it is slowly improving!

Well done your dd for being so good at swimming! My dd (also 4.5) is a keen swimmer and the best in her group. But here they don't move them up until they are 5 because of insurance I believe, so she is stuck in this group for a while.
(But I don't think she is up to the level of a 6 year old!!)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. We have just come back from a fun but exhausting day in London - we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and whizzed round on the London Eye. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the South Bank. Lovely...

hippi, you were so close to us then all day. We live about 10 minutes East down the Thames from South Bank Centre. Rainforest Cafe is one of dd's absolute favourite haunts for lunch although we don't get to go there that often. I must take her this summer actually.

When's your dd's birthday? Mine is 5 in October .

You know I hadn't thought about insurance re. swimming. Maybe I should check that. I don't actually think the age thing matters at her baths it's more to do with ability. So for instance in level 1 she's been with one 5-year-old boy then the rest must've been at least 7. Whereas in level 2, from what I've seen, they looked between 6-8. Dd is so confident in the water, it's a delight to see. Especially as I can't swim myself!

Oh you lucky lucky thing to live there. We love that part of London - it is so lively and bustling and happy. We had a fab day - Rainforest Cafe was so lovely.

Dd will be 5 in December.

Our pool does not group lessons according to ability until the age of 5. So until then dd is in the 4-5 group, which is a real mixture of children with armbands, with woggles, and without armbands. Some can swim, some only doggy paddle. Dd is just beginning to swim above the water without armbands (so not a natural swimmer really) but she is the only one in the group who loves to go under to retrieve things, and who will often swim underwater.
I was never a natural swimmer - I am Dutch and in Holland swimming lessons are compulsory in primary school - I vividly remember crying every morning because of swimming.

Anyway, sorry for the change of topic

I hope the school can point you in the right direction regarding some early letter/reading schemes and you and dd have a fun-filled summer.
(My dd would happily spend all summer learning letters and trying to write, she sounds as keen as your dd )

My dd's like that too. I don't like to say it as it sounds like 'my little genius ...' type of thing. Well, she's far from a genius but she's very academically inclined and will often just spontaneously say to me 'tell me the letters that make up the word rabbit' or something like that so she can write it on the blackboard. Given that she's keen and enjoys it I thought I might as well show her how to do things in the right direction to fit in with what the school will do.

Your dd sounds like a great swimmer. Swimming underwater is brilliant. In dd's last group, level 1 which is just one level up from the pre-schoolers beginners group, there were kids of all ages from dd to 3 boys who must've been close to 8 but were swimming for the first time so were in that group. It's actually been very hard for dd to be with such big boys because she can't keep up with some things the teacher asks. For instance if the teacher tells them to take 10 big steps out into the water, they'll be half way across the width and dd will have only managed 3 steps (the water's neck height on dd when she's standing on the bottom). The teacher's not always that good at waiting for her to catch up which annoys me.

Yes, off the subject, but I think the subject was done with anyhow!

Are you far from London? I'm not mad on living round here to be honest. It was fabulous when just me and dp but since having dd there are lots of minus points. We'll get out when we can!

if she is asking how to spell things (your example of rabbit) then ask her how she would spell it, ie "what does it start with, what do you think comes next, what does it end with" etc.
My ds is 5 in sep, and also starting reception in sep. My mum (a retired reception teacher) has been teaching him to work since I went back to work (after ds2) in March - she has them 3 mornings a week, and has been using the Oxford Reading Tree books. She got the reading at home pack (which is 12 books, 3 each from level 1 - 4) from The BookPeople, and then brought the school books from e-bay (6 books in each level).
Lots of people diss them, but ds has enjoyed reading them, and now he has finished she is just using other books.
I got him some readalong books with cd's recently (either The BookPeople or Redhouse) and he really likes these and listens to them in bed.

He also loves numbers and we do lots of number puzzles when out in the car, so it is just something to pass the time.

We have been doing lots of experiments recently aswell, and finding out about things - which he loves.

Sounds like she is ok on the main independance things, so she should be fine - it really is alot of learning through play and they dont expect alot, so it sounds like her confidence will be ok when she realised she knows stuff that she is expected to do.

The other thing you may wish to do is some numbers with her if she is as keen on them. At our reception induction evening we were given a leaflet with sample games. For instance - make 11 cards numbered 0 - 10. Ask dd to put them in order. Then take one away when she is not looking - which one is missing? etc.

Also, get a box of 100 beads/buttons/pasta pieces, take it in turns to roll a dice and take the number of beads according to the dice. First person to get to 20, 50, 100 (whichever target you wish) is the winner.

We live in Surrey IF - close to Woking so only just over 20 minutes into Waterloo by train.
Best of both worlds really - lots of lovely woods and common land surrounding us, we are within walking distance of the banks of the Basingstoke Canal, yet very close to London if we fancy a day there.

I second ChasingSquirrels - the Oxford Reading Tree books are fab. I have really enjoyed reading them with ds when he was in reception (4 years ago already ) and am looking forward to dd bringing them home. I started to feel like Biff, Chip and Kipper were family and could not wait for their next adventure..., maybe I need to get out more!

Those are really great suggestions, thanks. I'm going to look into the Oxford learning tree books and take it from there I think.

You are lucky, hippi, that's what we'd like to do eventually, live just outside the smoke. Within reaching distance but happily able to flee when at home!