what should ds know when starting reception half way through

[yehudiwho]

My ds is an summer born and due to start reception in Feb (after half term). What has your child learnt so far in reception? Mine can count to 30 (but sometimes misses 13?!) and can write his name. He can write and recognise a few letters and numbers but doesnt really hold his pen 'correctly'. His vocabulary is pretty wide. He goes to nursery twice a week and they have started the ORT books- we are on the ones with no words and a sheet for parents to read and ask questions
Do you think I should do some phonics at home? If so what books

Let him enjoy the last few weeks at home and just play.

If I were you I would work on the pencil control.Practice other fine motor movements as well.

Also can he take his jumper off by himself and put back on,and his coat .He will be able to get help there but I would work on those at home.

Going to the loo and washing his hands well,managing his lunch box and drink.

As for phonics,if the school do jolly phonics I would do some of the letter sounds and actions at home .

I am extremely confused .. surely he is starting next term because he is a summer born child so why should he 'know' things already?

Sept and Jan classes in our school .. separate classes until year 1

He is starting school .. can he put his own coat and shoes on? .. can he sit down in a group and listen to directions .. can he toilet himself? .. anything else is schooling and you should go at your child's pace

I'm not saying he should know all his letters but if he''s keen to learn them it would do no harm and help him in school.

dd2 started reception in sept and now recognises lots of letters. if you really want to do some "learning" with him (though obviously he'll be learning through play anyway) then talk about sounds in games, perhaps read books like letterland which gently introduce the idea of sounds/shapes of letters. i really wouldn't worry though. dd1 started reception "halfway" through her year and caught up pretty quickly (she's a summer baby too, and the "best" readers in her class - now year 3 - are all summer babies). oh and triangular pencils are good for improving grip if you want to help with fine motor skills.

Hi there, if you ds is starting half way through, they wont have any expectations of him so dont worry.
My d started in sept and was 5 months early, so far she has gone on from the ort no words books into books with long sentences(level 2, but most of class on L1 which is normal), my dd is only going onto more structured writing after Christmas and at minute they do rainbow wrting (teacher prints out big chunky 'Bubble style'letters and the children trace inside the letter using lots of diff coloured pencils, you could try this?
Also reading to him and helping him recognise certain words(action words, those you cant 'sound' out) like 'The' 'Who' etc, dd has lists of action words, some of which can be spelt, but are words that have a picture with them like 'You'-girl pointing her finger, 'this', pulling at your clothes...tbh, just basic recognition of words will be fine, the school will do all this.

Even at this stage its still about learning through play and without getting flamed here, dd's old nursery teacher told me its quite normal for Boys not to do things as quick as girls at the minute as theyre more intersted in running round and playing, so holding a pencil is something they will teach him when he's more ready.
He'll learn so much without realising
good luck

Oh and something ive found fab, are the 'Gold Star' books from toysrus or woolies, reading,writing, numbers etc, lots of activities to do in them and each page completed gets a gold star..dd and all my mindees love them

What Twig said. Just personal stuff.

From an "academic" POV, being able to write/recognise his name is always useful if you feel like teaching him.

dd1's class wasn't kept separate, the sept and the jan starters were pretty much expected to go at the same pace after a while

He sounds like he is doing fine. My ds is expected to be able to count to 20, not just by rote, but by physically counting iyswim and hold his pen correctly. He has learnt all his letter sounds (not all the children in his class are near to this though), and has read the first sentences set of ORT. They are practising a letter a week too, with writing, and exploring things that begin with that letter. He has also done colour recognition and shape recognition,

Hope that's of some help, but like NAB3 has said, let him enjoy being at home too. My ds is a very end of May baby, and has been full time from the middle of September. He is sooooooooo tired.

thanks for all the advice-
in response to twiglett- the reason I asked is as the mother of a summer born boy- with all the reports recently you do worry about whether he'll always be behind- I was just concerned about how much the kids who started in sept have already done
I'll get some triangular pencils tho.

I would have preferred that he started half days in sept with the rest of peers but that just doesnt fit with work

he does do coats, shoes and toileting (well he does at nursery at home he waits for me!)
we are playing still- honest- just been off to make a batch of mincepies and general pastry making mess!

DS started in january, and they all sort of merged in.

I wouldn't worry about a thing - especially as he is clearly doing something at nursery.

Confidence over toilets and clothes goes a long way to make sure they settle happily.