Worried Reception child is behind/too much homework

[Headisbusting]

My eldest is in reception and I'm worried she is really behind her peers.
Given the level of homework set I can only assume her peers are much further ahead.

This is what my child work is like, is this what your child gets home and are they confident with it?

Each week homework is set to practice 5/6 new words blend the sounds to read the word, spell the word out and to write the word. While practicing the previous words from previous week's and all letters/sounds. Plus she also brings home 2 books which get changed twice weekly. One of these books is her me to read to her and the other for her to read to me.

It seems a lot of homework especially since she doesn't finish school until 3.30 and I have another younger child..by time we get home from school i have to press on with homework straight away, even when she doesn't want to, then I'm making dinner, tidy up, with little time spare to spend free time together before bath and bed. Some nights we see grandparents/they do pick up or might go a walk or shops etc so can't fit it all in.
I dread after school now, if we don't try do some homework straight away she unwinds and is too tired to do it. But with a younger kids it's hard to have 1 on 1 time to do it.

The books she is supposed to read to me she finds so difficult.she refuses to even look so often get changed without us opening it.

She is really good at recognising the sound of a letter but can't blend letters to make a word. Teachers are writing in her book she needs help to blend and I've been saying she struggles with it but homework wise it seems they are powering on.

I asked to go back to unit 1 on the books with mostly 2letter words with short sentences, they agreed sent it home once the went back to where the class is at. She can't blend two letter words but is expected to read books with 3 sometimes 4 letter words in sentences up to 6 words.

I should add my child is still only 4.

Sorry for long post trying to put in all the info, is this what reception homework is like for your child?

[quote OnceuponaRainbow18]@Clarkey86

What do you mean by blending?[/quote]
Pushing the sounds (phonemes) together

So “c-a-t - Cat”. Reading it smoothly to form the word.

@Clarkey86

Thank you- sorry one more qu, is it best for them to say c. a. t and then realise that’s cat or for them to just recognise it’s cat?

OP this probably isn’t much help but just wanted to say, I think the best thing is you know your daughter’s ability and engagement with her education so you are best placed to determine what works for her. If trying to do homework daily isn’t working, then don’t do it, like others have said it’s more likely to put her off than help her. And she’s 4, there is no ‘behind’. I know not everyone believes that but I feel that children will ideally be prepared to live independently in the world as adults so there’s a fair few years to get there, and different approaches to take along the way, so when they’re so young it’s too early to rank their ability IMO.

Make the most of natural opportunities, like bedtime reading of a book she enjoys and/or is more suited to her ability, sounding out words around the house (like on a bottle of soap, box of cereal etc), whatever comes naturally to you all. Fair enough to keep an eye on what the school are sending and requesting, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to discuss with the teacher (eg at parents evening) about how best to support your daughter, that the approach isn’t quite working for her etc and determine a way forward together.

My DCs had a similar experience initially and this is what we did, it was semi successful and we had some good discussions with teachers - I would say what we’re doing, whether they felt there was anything in particular that was most important to focus on. However, some schools have a tendency to still push on through the stages based on the curriculum rather than by individual ability (don’t blame them really, with a class of 30 it would be very hard to tailor to every child).

I’m not much use beyond that as we then moved to home ed!

[quote OnceuponaRainbow18]@Clarkey86

Thank you- sorry one more qu, is it best for them to say c. a. t and then realise that’s cat or for them to just recognise it’s cat?[/quote]
Whilst learning to read and use phonics, they’ll need to sound out c-a-t before saying “cat”. But you can then encourage them to recognise the word if it’s repeated “Look it said this word on this page too, do you remember it?”. They probably won’t at first though.

The end goal is to just do away with phonics and recognise the words without having to sound out and blend them but for average reception children that will be a way away.

Something else to keep in mind is that schools are now encouraged to send home books that match the phonics they are learning in the classroom - it’s based on a research paper into into early years reading teaching. That might be why it feels like the majority are moving at the same time.

That said, if a child isn’t keeping up they should also be putting quick intervention into place to help them keep up - and if they’re still not, they might need different provision.

It comes from this document if anyone has a spare few hours

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000986/Reading_framework_Teaching_the_foundations_of_literacy_-_July-2021.pdf

Page 45ish onwards.

@Clarkey86

Thank you ☺️

Thanks again everyone. I'm really reassured by all your comments. I am more worried that all the other kids in her class can blend words and notices she can't and it becoming an issue that way..I just don't want her to be in a position where everyone bar her can do it. And since the books keep changing I assume the class is moving forward.

Not sure when parents night will be so hopefully soon in the new year.

For now I don't feel so worried about stopping the books. I have a white board on the wall at the dining table with all the phonemes she has covered now, roughly 20 and bar the odd one like mixing b & d and struggling with I she knows them all confidently.

@Headisbusting That sounds fab. Just do lots of incidental writing 2-3 sound words together (cat, pig, bat, map etc) and model the blending yourself so she can hear it. She’ll soon get there.

Make sure you use “pure sounds” to help her blend.

Sounds like she's not quite ready for the word books. DS is same age and reading is pretty hard work! We just try to do 10 mins or so each day. I think it's just useful to have that one on one time which they probably don't get that much of at school.

Don't worry, just try and do what you can and don't get stressed. Maybe do some more on a weekend when you have more time?

When mine were in reception they just brought a book home a week or a bit more if they wanted at this stage. Outstanding state school. The range in their classes was massive. From total non reader/blenders etc to those forging on with sentences. The age range is age 4-5 which is a massive difference.
I am horrified that they are treating them all as if they are a homogenous group all at the same level.
Mine are older now btw and all their mates can read now as they learnt at their own pace. The ones who needed it were given extra help.
What type of school is it / how many in the class?

I think you and the school are both being a bit unreasonable.

If she can’t blend it must be very discouraging to send home books she can’t read. Our school only sent the wordless books until they could blend a certain amount of sounds. We still haven’t had spellings home yet in year 1 but suspect that will start properly in jan.

But I also think you’re being a bit naive about how much reading other children are doing. We had a book a night from early on in reception and we supplemented with other schemes at home during the weekend. Mine was in after school club until 6 most days in reception (no choice) and still had to do her reading after coming home. If you or grandparents pick up at 3.30 you should be able to find 10 mins a day to prioritise reading and you won’t be helping her by making excuses about lack of time.

Also I would really recommend trying her out on the songbirds books once she is a bit more confident with blending. We made a lot more progress with those early on than the school ones as they were better written and easier to engage with. There are some utterly dire scheme books around which do feel like a chore and still a lot of schools using books that don’t align to phonics schemes. I am still slightly scarred by a yellow scheme book about the process of sheering wool and turning it into jumpers which was of absolutely no interest to my 4yo and included some vocab that was completely beyond her around the logistics of production.

DS was shattered after school every day at that age and until he was a bit older.

He did not "get" blending at all until (I think) about Easter of reception year. He is now 13 and has been tearing through everything by Tolkien for the past year, an avid reader and writer. Don't panic. I think the school need to differentiate more for the stage different children are at right now.

I doubt very much that the whole of the rest of the class are forging on problem free. It can really feel that way, I have been there! Then got to know other parents better and realised that in fact many of the children had bigger challenges than DS. Some schools can be a wee bit cult-ish in that no one dares voice any criticism.

We used to get 10 words a week and 2 books. For dd1 this was completely unnecessary because she could read the harder "read to your child" book herself already so they switched to chapter books within a month and set her different work like writing stories. For dd2 is was very hard because she (found out at6) is dyslexic so couldn't blend, remember spellings etc so was stuck for weeks on same words

I've been shocked at what my lad has been learning. When I was at primary school, the first two years were mainly playing with plasticine and colouring in. We didn't start learning maths and English in earnest until year 3 - and I didn't get homework until secondary school. As far as I can tell it didn't harm me - I got A*s - Bs in my GCSEs and A-levels, has read The Lord of the Rings by the time I was 9, etc.

We've been told that our son is 'moving towards reaching the expected standard', which sounds horribly like he's falling behind. The main issue he has is that he's terrible at writing - he can read pretty well (if he's not tired and in the mood), and I'm amazed at some of the words he can manage. He's amazing at maths - he's been able to count to 100+ for over a year, can easily do addition and subtraction in his head (I'm currently reading him The Hobbit, he asked how many chapters there were in total, I said 19, he randomly replied, "Oh, we've done three chapters, we have 16 left" - he's better at mental arithmetic than I am already, tbh...)

But, he's really struggled with writing - he actually got worse once he moved into year 1, because he stopped using a whiteboard and marker, and moved onto a book and pencil. It's only been fairly recently that he's been able to put enough pressure down with a pencil to make things consistently visible, and they've moved onto teaching them cursive, when he's still struggling to form the letters correctly.

I swing wildly between thinking that's its fine and he'll catch up in his own time (he's summer born and the youngest in his year), and panicking that the school system now starts formal testing and streaming too early, and he's going to be at a lifelong disadvantage...

Did you go to primary in the UK @FailingMotherhood ? I'm surprised you didn't learn English or maths til year 3.

It does feel relentless and I personally think it's too much for a child. My daughter attended the nursery attached to the school from three and they had them doing phonics then.

We get lots of homework and she's only five - two books, six spellings for a Monday test, a page of maths questions, history / geography project and a writing exercise. I don't make her do them, but we do read the books and practice spellings. I don't agree with making children do lots of work outside school.

@MyOtherProfile Yep - it was the mid-80s though. We probably did learn English and Maths, but more through play than formal learning and tests. I remember being excited to get a word tin filled with words like 'cat' and 'the' in year 3! I also remember how excited I was to get a homework diary in secondary school - we were expected to do 30 minutes a night.

I'm sure you were learning English and Maths. That's the time I was doing my teacher training and it was definitely part of the curriculum!

I work in Education and honestly, it sounds to me like this school is trying to rush Reception kids so they can hit the ground running with the (frankly ridiculously overstuffed IMO) key stage one curriculum. It’s worth remembering reception is covered by the early years curriculum, where learning through play should still be a key part of things.

RE homework, regardless of what they expect or other kids may be doing, that pace of work clearly isn’t helpful for your DD. The first term of school is such a massive culture change, getting into a situation where she’s already dreading homework and reading is unhelpful for everyone (my summer born DS was like this, we’re in Scotland now where thank goodness the curriculum is more relaxed) Don’t feel pressured into rushing your DD, do homework at a level/pace that suits them - if the school get narky, hold your ground and ask them how they are supporting your DD to progress at her level. Use the word ‘differentiation’

DD hasn't had homework yet apart from reading 5 minutes a night.

There is a big range in DD's class and for phonics they split into two groups. DD is in the more able group and it's still only simple blending they're doing so I don't think they expect the whole year to manage simple blending yet. It's very early days.

As it happens, my DD is managing the academic side ok but she is REALLY struggling socially which I am much more concerned about because it's a key time for social development.

They're so young at 4; still at an age where things will suddenly just click one day. Some kids are very slow to grasp the basics but once they do can absolutely fly along. Things do tend to even out a bit in the first year or so of school.

Having said all that, if you're concerned I'd arrange to chat with the teacher in January and not leave it until parents evening (when your appointment time won't allow for in depth discussion)

Thanks again everyone.

@PerpetualStudent I'm come the opposite way I'm come from Scotland to England. We don't even have reception in Scotland. We moved and DD start reception shortly after.. all my research suggests there wouldn't be much homework mostly story reading so was shocked at how much it seems.

@Bunnycat101 I agree with what you say about school... Maybe bit harsh on me. I'm not naive about what other children can do. It just seems logical if they are powering with the books getting harder week on week that majority must be handling them well otherwise it's a wholly pointless effort putting them in each child bag.
I'm not making excuses for not doing 10mins work a day. I'm the parent after all I can make bedtime 10mins later my point is she's tired and not wanting to do it. I don't want to force her to do something she finds difficult when she's tired and therefore likely to frustrated more and get upset... then the cycle worsens.

@INeedNewShoes you right I will speak to teacher in Jan rather wait for parents night.
My dd seems since socially although shy with adults at times she's happy to get stuck in playing with anyone at all.

I’d not be so sure the other kids are handling it well if they have done no differentiation for your little girl. I just don’t believe all 30 kids in the class would be on the same level.

Could you try mornings instead it she’s fresher and do a few pages rather than the whole book? I found it hard work and a slog in the early stages. I’m not sure many people would say it is that fun when they’re at the point when they’re blending every sound in every word but the 1:1 practice at home is so critical. Mine seems to barely read to a teacher: once every fortnight seems about average and never a full book. There is no way she’d have progressed without the daily reading at home.

My DS couldn’t really read at all until year 1. He’s 16 now and doing A levels. He’s been in top sets all through secondary school. I only did homework at weekends in reception, and only as much as he could easily manage. Speak to your child’s teacher