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Primary education

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What's the typical level for Reception education?

154 replies

Adriana87 · 15/09/2021 13:53

Hi all
My son just started school and is currently doing settling in days. The teacher mentioned to myself and other parents some very basic achievements such as: being able to count to 20, recognise shapes and pronounce the alphabet phonetically.

My son turned 4 in April and has a speech delay but can read an entire book (basic words of course) and do addition and subtraction. He also recognises all numbers up to 1,000.

I was taken a little back as I thought they would be teaching stuff a bit more advance. Am I wrong?

OP posts:
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WarrenBird · 16/09/2021 00:14

This thread is nuts.

What started a pretty loaded initial question anyway, has now morphed into some strange child brain comparison montage.

Unless i've missed something, reception is a place for kids to be introduced to, and become confident within, a formal school setting, it's almost in the name, "reception". Most of the kids, described on here are very lucky to have the skills they have, but this is not the norm.... yes I don't doubt kids like this are out there, there's certainly a few in here, but they are in small numbers.

The other 99% of 4 year olds in the country will be focusing on getting used to school, making friends, learning how to listen, communicate, work through their personal ,social and emotional development, and of course beginning to solidify the basics of mathematics and literacy.

The day the DfE brings in Dickens or The Witches as required reading for 4 year olds in our school is the day I simply give up on the world.

For the more book/number minded kids mentioned in this thread, the reception teacher will identify them in due course and will provide appropriate stimulation for their level.

HOWEVER, it could (and i've seen this happen often in my many years) be decided that all these advanced maths/words are to the detriment of the child's social development (as an example), which could actually be way behind the lesser academically abled kids in the class. As a result, as per the EYFS goals, effort might be aimed towards that instead.

There will also be other kids in the room with other needs which require assessing more urgently with plans put in place... so i'd give them more than 2 weeks.

cloudacious · 16/09/2021 00:55

He sounds lovely and a good teacher will know what to do with him. He may well not be alone in these abilities, it sounds like there will be plenty to keep him busy if you can sit on your hands through a slow start up! Doodle maths and Nessy have both accelerated my child's learning-they have a quicker pace and need something to hold their interest. My four year old chortled through Nessy and progressed happily so don't be put off by the age recommendation.

cloudacious · 16/09/2021 00:56

Don't be afraid to offer extension activities at home as the pace can pick up quite quickly.

Testingprof · 16/09/2021 02:28

@MondeoFan

I agree with *@KidneyBeans* I work with children and no 4 year olds can read an entire book. But they can repeat words or phrases from a familiar book that's read over and over. So if you showed him a number 984 he'd be able to look at it and say it's 9 hundred and 84?
Really you work with children and can confidently say that. I’ll dig out the video of my 4 year olds DS reading a book about castles. A book I have never read to him.

Your attitude probably explains why the same DS and I got weird comments (“oh is he making the story up”) when he would sit reading in his head just before he turned 5. I would just smile and nod at them.

Also yes I have known children of that age who knew their numbers up to a thousand, granted not those with a speech delay.

I also work with children…

PennyWus · 16/09/2021 03:30

@IHateCoronavirus, you sound brilliant, wish you were teaching my kids!

Sounds like the OP has a kid who is well ahead of the pack.

Boredom can be a big factor but usually in the later primary years. In Reception it is just fun and play. In Y1 and Y2, it seems to me that a lot of the real learning happens 1:1 at home; reading, spelling, basic maths. In a class of 32 or more most of the time is spent on crowd control not quality teaching and so it is up to parents to ensure standards are reached. I viewed my children's school hours as an extension of Daycare until Year 3, and we did do the school reading and maths and writing practise at home, but also read our own books too. Wish now I'd done more maths.

In year 3 they do try to settle the kids down to work, but it is a bit painful. Whole class teaching differentiated at three levels, essentially mirroring working below, at or above standard. The standard is not hard for able children. No kids can learn at their own pace in maths, but free readers have a slightly better time (although zero support) and creative writing is well supported and taught in the curriculum. At my child's school they don't even have free access to the library, just a selection of allegedly age-appropriate books in class most of which my child has read years ago, or are so dumb she isnt interested (you know the kind I mean, jazzy covers and titles like, "The fart machine from outer space". We use our local library to expand reading horizons. Extension work in maths exists if your child's teacher is ace, or if you moan a lot (I havent). Able kids are used regularly to support the learning of the less able, which is okay, but moves everyone to be average. Boredom and apathy sets in, there is no expectation of high attainment. The kids who want to sit 11+ have to get tutors or parental help because no state school teaches ahead on the syllabus, so if you want to cover algebra or ratios properly before year 6, you're on your own.

I do think English is taught to a much higher standard these days, and the nature of creative writing is necessarily unlimited. So if the exercise is to write a persuasive letter to your MP about environmental issues, an able child can really get their teeth into it. The wider curriculum is also very broad and satisfying; your 9 year old might already be an expert on Ancient Greece and its myths, but it is unlikely they have created a poster comparing the pros and cons Spartan and Athenian society and political systems, and then participated in a group debate to decide which they'd prefer to live in.

But maths is depressingly unambitious in schools. My DB has bright but definitely not genius kids, whose lives revolve around TikTok and football like many kids. But as DB has Oxbridge degree in maths, he taught them the principles of arithmetic - a real understanding of number - by the time they went to school. By age ten, the eldest calculated how many seconds there are in a year whilst driving to the station with me, just for fun. His little brother liked to be quizzed on multiplication and long division age 6. Now age 15, the eldest mastered differentiation in a single sitting and does maths olympiad and is starting a special pre-university foundation course offered to maths high flyers. He is now considered to be gifted, but really he was just exceptionally well taught from an early age. The moral is, if you steadily home-coach your child in something you are very able to teach and they enjoy, they are more likely to go further. Not a very surprising conclusion.

So - use school for socialisation and breadth of syllabus. Read the curriculum and list of expected standards, so you know what is done in each year. Teach patience and good behaviour so boredom at school doesnt turn into misbehaviour. Then all the stretch comes from home. You could focus on academic stretch or divert into extracurricular such as drama, cubs/brownies, coding, music, or probably some of both.

hangonamo · 16/09/2021 03:53

reading Dickens with the headmistress

😂😂 brilliant

Booknooks · 16/09/2021 04:15

The witches in reception, lmao

DefineHappy · 16/09/2021 05:21

My 4 year old kindy child (year before reception here) can read fluently, and understands context and retains the information he has read. His teacher didn’t quite believe me, and said what has been said here - that he was memorising words of familiar books.

She apologised a few days later and said that she has to put away anything he can see, as he started reading out instructions and telling the other children what they were doing wrong. She gave him several different books/magazines/folders to see what he could read - he can read it all.

He also loves reading the weather forecast, and any machinery books/manuals. He can add, subtract and count past 1000.

On the other hand, he has separation anxiety, can’t stand getting his hands/self dirty, refuses to paint or draw, and has only just started playing with rather than alongside peers. So they are the things his teacher/I am working on.

Every child is so different…..

LondonGirl83 · 16/09/2021 06:03

Okay, I’d say he’s definitely bright based on the additional information you’ve provided. Level 2 is the average reading expectation by the middle of reception so it’s ahead but not streets ahead especially given the amount of phonics you have exposed him to. Depending on the demographics of the school there’ll be others at his level and differentiation shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.

I’d say, number recognition aside, his math ability is about the same- using objects to do simple sums- especially given he watches number blocks.

You’ve done a great job preparing him for school which I’m sure will boost his confidence and allow him to focus on the other aspects of starting school!

plantastic · 16/09/2021 06:18

I could read fluently at 4. I actually started reading at 2. BUT: in the long run it's not that helpful. As an adult can I read any 'better' than the friend who went to steiner school and didn't start to read until 9? Of course not. And I read loads of stuff I had really poor comprehension of, too.

There's a lot to learn in reception, including rolling about in the playground with friends, painting, figuring out how lunch works, getting changed for PE. The teachers will be baselining and getting to know the children. Give them a few weeks to settle in. The bursts of 'work' are so short in reception anyway; let him enjoy the play and socialising.

WeDidntMeanToGoToSea · 16/09/2021 07:00

@Curioushorse

Ha ha, yes, The Witches at 4 is a classic case of a child who certainly isn't going to be understanding what they're 'reading'. Definitely even an upper primary kid would need some of the context for that book explained!

OP kids are wildly different. I have an MEd, and the main thing I looked at is literacy development. Parents underestimate the importance of inference as a skill, or information retrieval. Comprehension is different, and significantly more important, than just being able to read the phonics. A lot of that is age related, to be honest, and will require an understanding of the world a 4-year-old might not have.

Reception is also about developing a lot of other skills- VERY important ones. The hidden curriculum, if you like. Things that will underpin their education- so social skills, team work, compromise.

It's not an exam factory. As well as introducing the ideas of maths and English, they're also teaching the kids about a positive attitude towards education and do so many other things. They're probably not all ready for War and Peace and calculus.

Such a good post it bears repeating in its entirety.

I say that at someone who was (genuinely) free reading at 3. I'd prob have been capable of (say) The Witches at 4, or (another favourite boast on here) Harry Potter at 5/6, from the purely technical side of things. But a great deal of the content would have gone whizzing over my head.

WeDidntMeanToGoToSea · 16/09/2021 07:06

'some strange child brain comparison montage'

Love it, WarrenBird!
The naked competitiveness on here surprises (and quite shocks) me again and again.

I live in a country where school starting age is around 6 but parents have actively campaigned for cut-off dates to be moved forward so nobody starts before they actually turn 6 - many are 7 - and it's considered a bit odd at best, slightly abusive at worst, to do formal learning with your child before they actually start school. Much much more emphasis on social skills, confidence and independence.

They all get educated, to a pretty decent standard, in the end.

TakeMeToYourLiar · 16/09/2021 07:13

@KidneyBeans

What do you mean by recognise numbers up to 1000 and read a book? It's very unlikely by the age of 4 that he has a conceptual understanding of those things, and is simply repeating things back to you. I know many youngsters who can 'read' familiar stories - they've simply learned them by heart and aren't actually reading at all
Absolute nonsense. My child has just stated school. Hand him any book and he will read it and understand it. As an example I bought the Ugly Five last week. The only word he stumbled on was "belles" which he pronounced bellies

He would also know 984 and I'd offered a choice between £984 and £899 know which was bigger and choose that

daisypond · 16/09/2021 07:18

I was a fluent reader long before I started school. In reception, I used to be taken out of the class to read with the head teacher. I was reading the newspaper - normal, everyday newspaper. I assume the teacher selected the articles for me to read.

TakeMeToYourLiar · 16/09/2021 07:24

@Scarby9

Yes, of course some children can read whole books when they start in Reception. Of course some children recognise larger numbers and some can do simple arithmetic. It isn't common, but it does happen.

Some children are precocious learners - they just learnt earlier and the others catch them up. I remember one boy who chose to spend most of his time in Reception playing in the construction and art type areas or in the mud outside. He needed to make friends and be a child because he had been hothoused by his parents on the academic side and hadn't had much experience in other parts of being a child.

I remember another child whose mum (like you, OP) just hadn't realised other 4 year olds couldn't do what her son did naturally. He was a single child of older parents who had not been to nursery. He remained a very advanced learner through school, but did struggle early on with maths that didn't have a clear answer, and we struggled to find books for him which he could understand at an emotional level. He had a wide vocabulary but didn't understand the characters' motivations or the allusions in books he could decode easily but were aimed at 10+year olds. He just hadn't lived enough.

I can think of a third boy who was hyperlexic and could do almost any calculation in his head. He had no understanding or apparent engagement with what he read, and could not explain methods for his mental arithmetic or apply it to real life problems. He was referred, and diagnosed with autism by the end of KS1.

Anyway OP, Google EYFS, and see the curriculum. Google Early Learning Goals and see the end of Reception expectations for most children.

How do you know he was hot houses?

My son would choose to hang out in those areas too. He's a 4 year old boy. Definitely not hot housed

Stanleyville · 16/09/2021 07:27

Why are some posters so mean? Why not just take the op at face value and answer the question? OP, as some posters have said, reception is for socialising, getting used to school etc. Academic focus comes later. And that's fine because there is plenty of time at school and life requires social skills.

FWIW I believe you. My DC WAS this able with numbers, despite what others have said on this thread, and has remained at the extreme end of maths ability now he is older. There are kids that do maths A Level in KS 3 for example and they were in someone's reception class at some point.

Thesandmanishere · 16/09/2021 07:30

I remember one boy who chose to spend most of his time in Reception playing in the construction and art type areas or in the mud outside. He needed to make friends and be a child because he had been hothoused by his parents on the academic side and hadn't had much experience in other parts of being a child.

My son would have chosen to do those things too, and I assure you he has not been "hot housed".

WeRTheOnesWeHaveBeenWaitingFor · 16/09/2021 07:42

Your son sounds super bright.
I agree that there are other things, arguably more important things, to be learned in reception but part of fostering a love of learning is being Academically challenged.
Mumsnet loves to tear down anyone who claims their child is bright by telling them they are wrong/lying or that all the other children will catch up anyway so there is no need to be proud.
Make sure the teacher knows about his strengths so he can Flourish academically and foster his self esteem by allowing to demonstrate the things he is good at.

Changechangychange · 16/09/2021 07:52

@Itsnotover

Some children are precocious learners - they just learnt earlier and the others catch them up.

I don't agree that everyone levels off. Not all kids are going to get straight A**s or go to Oxbridge.

Nope, but reading ability at 4 doesn’t predict that.

I was reading books when I started school (Roger Redhat rather than Martin Chuzzlewit). DH apparently couldn’t read until he was 7 (no dyslexia, he was memorising books and apparently nobody noticed he couldn’t read anything unfamiliar).

Both got 3As at A level, RG degrees, postgrad degrees etc. I remain better at crosswords as my vocabulary is wider, but he writes for a living.

DrCoconut · 16/09/2021 07:54

My DS is in year 1. He brings home average reading books and does average maths. His paintings look like lollipop trees and toilet sign people. He is a totally typical 5 year old academically and that's fine.

Forgothowmuchlhatehomeschoolin · 16/09/2021 07:58

My dd's headteacher specifically asked us not to teach the children how to read etc because that was their job and our job was to make sure they could get dressed for pe/toilet themselves, that kind of thing.
They tell me Dd is a bright girl which is lovely of course but l try and focus on her attitude because she can be quite lazy with it .
My sister is very intelligent but zero social skills and not many friends- me on the other hand barely scraped through my exams but am much more of a people's person.
Got a friend whose son l think the world of, she always says how clever he is but my god he is a conversation hogger and has no idea when to stop talking and let others have a go.
Life skills are just as important in my opinion.

NerrSnerr · 16/09/2021 08:19

My son has just started reception. He knows most of the phonic sounds (from preschool) and is good with numbers- can count to 100 and knows number bonds to 10 (I know it's not the same as some of the genius Mumsnet children). He is very small for his age though and he struggles with some of his fine motor skills (buttons, doing clasp on his trousers etc). We're trying to focus on that but know it'll come with time.

Our older child has always been on brighter side of things (but not on the scale of Mumsnet reading Dickens etc) but we don't worry about the teaching in school, anything extra we'll do at home if she wants. We're just happy if they're happy in school.

Both my husband and I had pushy parents who measured our worth from our academic abilities. It was rubbish for both of us for different reasons so we're trying to raise more rounded children.

Goldbar · 16/09/2021 08:24

Some odd posts here. Anyone who gives the Witches/Dickens to their very young children needs their head examined Confused.

I was around 7-8 when I read the Witches. It freaked me out so much that I spent the next week sleeping in my parents' bed and insisted on sleeping with the light on for a long time. As for Dickens, most of his work makes very depressing reading and a lot of the themes would just go straight over a 4 year old's head. So zero point in them reading it even if they could.

For the rest, I'm sure there are some very gifted children who can read, count to 100 and have confident maths skills when starting reception. But that seems so out of the ordinary compared to your average reception child's skills that it's not surprising that they're not rushing to redesign the curriculum for them. With 30 in the class, all they're going to be able to manage is a few minutes of extension here and there. I think parents need to be sensible about what schools are able to do and, if you have a very advanced child, you will probably end up having to do a lot with them at home.

Thesandmanishere · 16/09/2021 08:27

Not all young kids find traditionally scary stuff actually scary. My 5 year old was completely unphased by George's Marvellous Medicine, for instance.

NerrSnerr · 16/09/2021 08:50

They read George's Marvellous Medicine to year 1s at my school. I wouldn't say that was scary at all- the children find it funny. The Witches is scary in my opinion.