Reception age child falling behind

[kezziethecat]

Feeling a bit disheartened after a parents consultation for my reception aged child (he turned 4 in July). My ds loves school, has enjoyed going every single day and wants to do any homework straight away. He's so eager to learn and please. The teacher said he was a lovely, caring and kind boy so I'm really proud of him for that. However she said he was behind in all aspects of learning. To be honest I don't think he is especially academic, although obviously difficult to tell at this age, and has resisted any attempts I have made to teach him explicitly at home but he has been so enthusiastic since starting school. She said if he doesn't catch up before Christmas it may be difficult to catch up at all. Has anyone been in this situation and what did you do to support your child?

Yes, this is really not on. 4 is still almost a toddler.
My DS was slow - or so I thought, at age almost 6, couldn't read! But of course is a graduate and skilled professional now.
Just keep telling him how well he is doing (and if he is worried point out the others are older). It's awful that children can be branded as behind or slow at this stage - it could affect them for years.

Your ds isn’t developmentally ready. He’s focusing on soft skills right now and these are fundamental for good academic learning. Learning is definitely not linear and there are a massive differences in the academic learning levels of children in reception, especially on comparing September and summer borns. Hardly surprising when the oldest in the class has been around 20% longer than the youngest. The gap narrows by year 6.

Just keep letting your ds do him. He will get it.

Is the teacher young or recently qualified?

That is an awful things for a teacher to say, hes has only been at school; what 8/9 weeks!

She could perhaps ask you to do extra phonics/ reading practise with him at home, in a fun way, or she could give him daily interventions. I'm thinking, for example, the school they may move onto a new phase in phonics after Christmas, which yes is harder if you haven't got the previous phase but she should been planning for those as well.

The Teach your monster app is a good app which children like and helps with learning sounds and reading.

In regards to his writing; is his pencil control good? Is he able to draw circles, lines and squares? Or is it formation of letters, teacher is concerned with?

@WunWun

I would speak to the head about this. A reception teaching telling a parent two months in that soon her four year old is going to be beyond catching up with the rest of his class for good is fucking ridiculous.

But it is probably the Headteacher that has put the pressure on her to do this (although they will deny it). At my old school, before I left, we had to set targets on children this young and had to assess every 6 weeks. We had to explain why if we were not making the required progress towards these targets (on a percentage of the class basis, not why child x might not have progressed as much this term). It is absolute bullshit as children do not make progress in a linear fashion and a constant pace. Don't bother going to the Head just ignore it If you want to kick off do it at a much higher level, good luck with that!

But honestly don't sweat it, do any extra at home in a fun way, but don't force him.

They do catch up in their own time. In until summer term, the improvement in kids academically is massive!

I would add that, just because she is under stress. she shouldn't be passing that stress on to you or your child.

He is four. Reception is the final year of the EYFS, which is all play-based. If they pick up any letters and numbers along the way, wonderful. As a primary teacher I’m a little concerned how seriously this teacher is taking it, unless it’s alongside other factors not mentioned here (disruptive behaviour, not focused etc.); I’d suggest having another chat.

Definitely go to the head. If it's coming from the head that's all the more reason to challenge them.

It might be worth looking into a tutor, I know a few have moved online. There’s outschool too.
There’s also apps like ‘teach my monster to read’

Yes in England and yes she is a young teacher.

Yes he can draw shapes, until recently he wasn't writing his name but will do that confidently now. His letter formation on handwriting practise isn't great and he definitely needs practise holding his pencil in the correct grip.

My DS (August born) couldn’t read until lockdown, at which point he was year 2 (6yo). He’d been on the same reading books since nursery. Like yours he was/is really enthusiastic and hardworking in school but resisted any attempts I made to teach him. Over lockdown we did maths, and ignored other work in favour of reading (we alternated sentences). It finally clicked around June/ July and he now reads to himself in bed, but obviously he’d missed most of the work in his first 3 school years as he couldn’t read!
I spoke to his new year 4 teacher in September to ask how best to support him and was told he wouldn’t have guessed he was a late reader and he was doing well. No extra support needed. His report last month says he’s a little behind target, but catching up well. If my DS can catch up, yours definitely can with an extra 2 years to do it in.

My ds (who does have SN) was at the bottom of the class reading wise in reception. By the end of y1 he was a free reader. Progress at that age is not always linear. Please don't say he is not academic at 4.

As someone who helps in school with reading there is a huge variation in ability in reading at this stage and the school should be able to manage that. It's not ok to say that a 4 year old won't be able to keep up. They need to support him at the level he is at.

In terms of supporting him, just do what you can in terms of homework but don't make it a battle. Most of all though read lots of books together and enjoy them.

Do reception children really get homework?? My dd is in year 1 and she got her first set of spellings before half term. Last year she just got reading books. They have only being at school for like 8 weeks, I would imagine most children will not be good readers by that point.
If you really want to practice with him have you looked into reading eggs? My dd used it in lockdown and it's fun and educational

@WunWun

Definitely go to the head. If it's coming from the head that's all the more reason to challenge them.

They will deny it and there's no proof the teacher shouldn't have expressed it that way to the OP though.

@ACanOfBeans

It might be worth looking into a tutor, I know a few have moved online. There’s outschool too. There’s also apps like ‘teach my monster to read’

Please don't get a tutor for a 4 year old.

There was a missing full stop there.should have been:
*
They will deny it and there's no proof. The teacher shouldn't have expressed it that way to the OP though.*

I would be concerned with the teacher, at 4 I don't expect homework and I don't expect a child to be stigmatized. This is reflection on teacher / system not your child. Other countries don't start formal education until later and children do fine. I would be wary of forcing worksheets or more work on them, the key at this age is seeing learning as fun. This is an age where play is important, reading stories together is important, a library ticket is one of the best things we had as children giving access to a whole world of ideas and letting us choose each week something that captured our imagination.

He's four. Ignore her.

This teacher sounds as if she hasn't got a clue. Though she must be giving the children a nice time in the classroom. It's good that he's enjoying it and I think your instinct not to overdo the practice at home is exactly right.

My son is older for the year and so when he had just turned four he was still at nursery. He was very babyish. He had little interest in learning. He couldn't really write his name. By the time he was four and a half this was all quite different. By the time he started school he could read well enough to be a few levels into the Oxford Reading Tree (can't remember colours). By the end of reception he was reading chapter books fluently and with pleasure. I say this because he's now obviously an academic child and yet the nursery teacher when he was four and a bit thought he was immature and behind compared to the girls there. So support your son's pleasure at school, ignore the teacher, and don't write off the possibility that he might by the end of the year be a very good reader!

My ds gets homework 3 times a week. It's an outstanding, oversubscribed school and I have been very pleased with it actually. I am just worried it might not have been the right choice for my ds. The only reason I call him not very academic (I know... at 4 it's ridiculous) is because he is very practical and physical but has always been quite slow to learn things even when he has younger, eg colours, days of the week etc, he's just not that interested in it.

I don't doubt the Teacher's ability to actually teach 4 year old. The activities in class are probably appropriate for the age. The problem is the constant assessment, target setting and tracking progress. That is down to the government and the Local Authority or Academy Trust's interpretation. I stress this for the third time, the mistake the teacher made was in passing on this stress to the OP.

Reception teachers are in a double bind, in fact. They have to show progress the child has made since starting and current assessment, which will be used to set targets in year 2. These assessments mustn't be too high because then the year 2 targets will be too high. I used to want to say to the Head 'just tell me what numbers to put then'.

My ds gets homework 3 times a week. It's an outstanding, oversubscribed school

To be honest some of the best schools I've worked in didn't give any homework at all ket alone 3 pieces in reception. If they cant teach the children what they need to knoa without relying on them completing various homework tasks each week then I would be questioning their teaching capabilities.

The only reason I call him not very academic (I know... at 4 it's ridiculous) is because he is very practical and physical

He's 4!! That's completely normal. He should be learning through doing and play. I also think homework 3 times a week is fucking ridiculous for any primary aged pupil, let alone a 4 year old.