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?

I'm gobsmacked at this. My dd is also 4 and in reception. She's definitely behind the average. She doesn't recognise most letters, can't reliably count to 20 etc but the at parents' evening the other day the teacher didn't even bring it up and when I did he just said it really doesn't matter at this stage. Please don't worry about it too much. He's 4!

Learning at this age should be fun. We used to put key works or letter sounds on the stairs. They would read or sound out the letters as they went with bed. As they got older we timed how long it took each night. This was particularly good for the tricky words that you can't use phonics to sound out, as they learnt them quickly and by sight.

I also completed toe by toe with them. If you do this it is only 5mins per day. Set a timer and do not be tempted to spend more time on it. We just finished the page we was on once the timer went off. Because they knew it was only five mins they were happy to complete it. It definitely supported them to be reading fluently much quicker than they would have been. However, it is boring which is why I'd urge you to stick to no more that five mins per day.

I wouldn’t be concerned.
At home focus on turn taking games, use a dice to look at the numbers. Memory games. Practical things like shoes and coat, zips, opening packets, things to be more independent. Whatever you do needs to be fun. Try a memory game with matching numbers then order the numbers. Hold fingers up and ask him how many. Use playdoh to form letters. Work it into play.

In effect the teacher has announced to you that she's not capable of the basic teaching skill of differentiating. I'd be inclined to go back and ask why, and indeed whether she needs some remedial training.

Having a majority of the class reading is so alien to me. Our p1 dc are just starting on the satpin sounds and only this week the concept of creating a 3 letter word from some of the sounds. Only some of them are actually ready for that and some of them are turning 6 early next year. The youngest child is 4 yrs and 9/10 months. No one has a reading book or homework and a few can write their name. We're concentrating on improving grip not having high expectations for handwriting. My youngest dd is in primary 3, is nearly 8 and has just got her first ever piece of official homework this term.

@CaptainMyCaptain What are you talking about? I'm not talking about taking her to court over it! Do you really think that people shouldn't be called out on things because there's no proof?! You have no occasion idea what's going on with this situation anyway. The head at my DD's school would take this very seriously. Not all heads are the same. Honestly, you're being poisonous on this thread.

She said that the class would move onto new material at Christmas and if he didn't know the basics he wouldn't be able to keep up with the rest of the class.

She shouldn’t gave said this. But you shouldn’t worry about it, as PPs have advised.

If it continues to upset you, though, ask for another chat with her and tell her it’s been upsetting you thinking he’ll be written off and falling behind at 4 years old and presumably she didn’t mean that, so what would be the school’s plan to help him not ‘fall behind’?

I really do hate the assessment criteria that lead to academic expectations of tiny small people. Don’t kill his love of school, OP, and don’t let school kill it either!

My child was like this at 4 and turned out he was dyslexic. My other child was also like this at 4 but we were then told she was “gifted” in English when she went to secondary school! Essentially it is really hard to tell the academic trajectory of child in reception. It is important to monitor progress though so appropriate additional support can be put in place if needed. This teacher seems to be really negative, which is crazy at this stage!

This is a pretty negative thing to say to you. It sounds like your lovely DS has lots of things he is doing well in too though.

My DS6 is autistic and only started talking at 4. He repeated reception but has massively caught up this year with reading and maths because he is now ready for more formal learning.

@kezziethecat this must have been horrible to hear! I’d be really concerned and you should definitely have another conversation with the teacher with what she imagines will happen if he doesn’t catch up. Will he just be ignored?!

For at home try looking at the five minute mum (google it or @fiveminutemum on Instagram) for some good games around letters and numbers. Trying to make it fun so the kids don’t think it’s learning. Also another vote for reading eggs my DD loves it. Good luck and try not to worry. Sounds like you have a lovely little boy 😊

She may be a qualified teacher but that doesn't mean she qualified to teach early years or has.much experience with it. Sounds like her expectations are too high and too focused on structured learning (letter formation and reading) rather than learning through play. I'd challenge her on it

Having a majority of the class reading is so alien to me.

Agreed. At this stage of the year in reception it would be unusual to have more than a handful reading, let alone the majority.

@kezziethecat

Apparently he has amazing concentration and behaviour and good personal and social skillls so it was all academic - reading, writing and maths mainly.

Experienced reception teacher here.

These 'dispositions for learning' as they're called are an excellent predictor of progress. He had just turned 4... I wouldnt expect him to have the maths and writing skills of a child nearly a year older at this age (don't forget readiness for writing is largely physical development)

Baffling saying he won't catch up. And did she give any positive suggestions? If he is keen to do it that's the most important thing and that keenness can be damaged by pushing too hard. If his speech and understanding is ok then please try not to worry.

Phone the teacher and ask for some specific areas to work on. You'll need to know which phonics programme they use (read write Inc or jolly phonics for example), what maths they are focusing on (number bonds to ten for example), writing targets (letter formation?) and ensure he is reading to you every night - the school should have provided a reading book. You mentioned your DS doesn't like to work at home but it's worth trying again. If it's linked to his work at school he may be a bit more enthusiastic. Or try a sticker chart with rewards

DS really struggled in the early years.
In year 1 he was in a maths group on his own way behind everyone else where he was using plastic animals to count to 10 - he didn’t actually master that until the first term of year 2, we all tried so hard but he just wasn’t getting it. By mid year 2 he was in the middle of the class for maths - thankfully he wasn’t written off in reception and like many children made progress when he was ready to learn.
He’s now year 8 has multiple SEN, didn’t learn to read until he was 8 but is now in middle sets across the board.

This was my twins last year, behind on all academic aspects. It got to the point I had a glass of wine before parents evening cos I found it so depressing listening to everything they couldn't do and how far behind they were.

So much homework and they hated it, I hated it. It was awful.

This year (year 1) is like a sea change, they're really motivated and really trying with maths, reading and writing. Teacher says they're on track for this year.

I still don't think they're particularly "bright" and it does seem to take a lot of repetition to grasp concepts (compared to friends kids) but I do think schools are very concerned with their targets.

Please don't worry too much. I worried myself sick last year and actually apart from doing the homework and trying to reinforce things in a fun way there's little you can do. Just build their confidence.

Former Reception teacher here. What's she's said is ridiculous! In your average Reception class, probably 85-90% of the pupils will suddenly, around Easter, shows loads of progress of all the things you've taught until then. It takes lots of repetition and giving them the chance to try things for themselves and make mistakes.

Your son is NOT "behind" after just 8 or 9 weeks of school!!

Yes, they may well be introducing more elements after Christmas, but that doesn't mean they can just stop teaching scrutiny they introduced this term. It sounds awful, and not the way I would run my EYFS class. Yes, the teacher will probably have a data target on their professional development, which says that a certain percentage of pupils will meet the ELGs (thoughts on data targets for another day, please!) so it's good practice to identify the children who are not on-track to do this, but only so you can make sure your teaching is differentiated enough in class. She certainly shouldn't have said anything to you like this.

Please don't worry about your son's ability. This says a lot more about the teacher and school than it does him. If they're not prepared to teach in a way to help him make progress after just two months then I would be really unhappy with them!

HE'S 4. And she must be a shocking teacher to think he would never catch up if he doesn't by Christmas. I'm horrified. I would genuinely be wondering if this was the school for him tbh.

my DS is born end of July. he had v poor hearing due to glue ear and looking back reception was a totally waste of time.
I wish i have kept him down a year and repeated reception. Would your school allow this? My kids are privately educated so i could have done. he is now in year 9 and doing well. But i still think repeating reception would have been a game changer.

My daughter (July born too) was still behind on everything in the January of year 1.

I made sure when she was with me (50/50 shared care) that we read a lot and I used reading eggs snd mathseeds. In the July of year one her teacher approached me snd told me that she had caught up and was at expect levels in all areas.

Can I say that it was the reading eggs and Mathseeds - not definitely, but before that she was consistently and worryingly behind (she was on Pink books for a whole year)

She still uses reading eggs (but has moved into reading Eggspress) and Mathseeds - didn’t slip at all during 6 months lockdown

She is talking absolute shit. Do not let this one gnaw st you, she's fucking ridiculous. We see all kinds of ability at 3 and 4 and to imply that he will never achieve is, quite frankly, bollocks. If one of my team told you that I would be furious (and arranging training asap).

I'm sorry I haven't read all your thread but at the moment the only issue is that he is a late summer born boy. He is at a huge disadvantage especially if there are alot of Autumn born girls in the class. My grandson (whom I parent) is a late summer born boy now in Y1 and I am preparing for a battle with his teacher on Thursday evening. My grandson is bright, both his reading and maths are excellent (I am a primary teacher and a specialist maths teacher so I absolutley know what I am talking about) but (according to grandson so may not be entirely accurate) everyday he does writing and maths in a group with the TA...I am absolutely fuming if this is true - he was meeting end of Y1 maths targets during lockdown and I have video evidence - counting in 2s 5s and 10s to 100. The problem is that his handwriting is very immature because he is a summerborn boy and when he is filling in his (endless) worksheets, it appears that he's not very bright compared to the older more mature girls. I suggest you search facebook for the summerborn groups - they are extremely helpful.

DD just started Reception. They get up to 3 reading books a week but no other homework. They have daily challenges where some are copying a pattern e.g. draw a zigzag, some write their name and some attempt a word or sentence. My DD does the 'harder' phonics practice and can now read short words, so there can't be many (if any!) fluent readers in her class! At their parents' meeting they were talking about things like improving upper body strength in preparation for writing for those who need it. Definitely no handwriting ptactise! It sounds like your son is young in an advanced class.

I would keep practising in fun ways at home, as well as doing the homework, and he will get it in time.

Setting homework isn't down to an individual teacher, rather it is a whole school approach that needs to be potentially questioned. I would also potentially be questioning how and why the senior leadership team are setting such ridiculous targets that a teacher is even worrying about a summer born child falling behind and being behind forever at Christmas, let alone telling a parent this.

There is a lot of research that proves homework is ineffective. Just a quick look here tells you a lot:

educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit/homework-primary/

Quite often some schools who are deemed to be outstanding are those who place too much of a focus on data and proving their children are all above national outcomes. This has a detrimental affect on pupils and staff.

At this stage, I'd simply as the teacher what you can do at home to support your son and take it with a pinch of salt. Keep him interested in learning, read to him and with him every night and talk, talk, talk to your child. Communication and Language underpin all areas of learning. If he can listen and attend, he will develop understanding and will then be able to talk about his experiences.

Jeez-the education system in this country is really fucked when 4 year olds are reported as failing.

I just despair...

We were told my summer born DD was "below average"when she started school. ( We were stunned- she spoke fluently at 18 months and had an amazing vocabulary and problem solving skills was reading fluently by 5th birthday.)

Now aged 24 she has a first class BSc honours degree, a distinction in her MSc and a fabulous job with amazing prospects. Oh and at 23 was diagnosed with ADHD and dyspraxia- something her so called outstanding primary school totally missed... ( she's lazy- no concentration, unmotivated etc) She had to work 10x harder than her peers but still achieved brilliant results.

I would seriously question the skills and experience of a teacher who made such a claim.( And this from a specialist teacher with 32 years experience.)