Reception child - what should they be able to do now?

ScottishStar · 2022-02-23T19:27:56+00:00

My DD is in reception and really enjoying school. She is a summer born child but mature for her age. Her teacher says she is doing well and she has made lots of progress. She’s enjoying learning how to read. However, I have no idea where reception children are expected to be at this stage. If you’re a reception/primary teacher or parent, could you tell me what an average reception child should able to do at this stage? For instance, she really can’t write yet. She can write all the letters and can write words if we spell them for her. However, when she came round for a playdate, a friend of hers wrote an ‘invitation’ without any help and managed to write ‘com too my brfa parti’ (come to my birthday party). There is no way my DD can do that. I am not at all worried about her progress and I know all children progress at different rates. I just feel clueless about what reception children should be able to do and I am really curious. Thank you!

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Hangingtrousers · 23/02/2022 19:33

Hi
Your daughters friend is above age related judging by that.
I taught reception and also have a daughter in reception.

My daughter is average I would say and can write initial sounds and end sounds of words. Her letters are all a bit wobbly still.
She can sound out and blend cvc words like cat, bus, dog but struggles with longer words.

Honestly do not worry.. your dd loves school and making progress and that's what's important.

Original poster

ScottishStar · 23/02/2022 19:37

@Hangingtrousers Thank you for this. I am honestly not worried, just curious as I have no clue what average is like at this stage.

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OnceuponaRainbow18 · 23/02/2022 19:39

My son is in reception and can read simple words like rat, hat- all phonetically

Maths- he had to easy sums like 1 plus 2

He tries to write words but I have no idea what they are meant to be

KatherineofGaunt · 23/02/2022 19:46

This is hard to answer, because in Reception they vary soooo much! I've had children who can't even form or recognise many letters to those who are already writing little stories with full stops and correct capital letters and things.

I'd day your DD sounds more average. Many Reception children have a big progress jump in the summer term.

Original poster

ScottishStar · 23/02/2022 20:48

Thank you both!

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HR313 · 23/02/2022 21:05

My DD has been forced to recognise numbers 1-20. It took forever for some numbers to click because she wasn’t ready to progress but her teacher kept complaining saying she thought she was dyslexic/has memory issues etc.. this teacher is obsessed with pushing children way beyond their limits and to be honest disgusted by the way she teaches. Great if you have an academically advanced ‘autumn/winter born’ child. If you’ve a spring or summer one your buggered! She is phase 3 set 6 books whatever that means, which I think is fine for where she is at eg ‘Jet hops, skips and jumps’. She still has to sound some of the words out. They are now doing 1 more and 1 less than which is another concept she can’t grasp yet as she’s still too young and we’ve been told it’s not good enough by her teacher… just one thing after the other! Guess we are very unlucky. But going back to your little one they sound like they are fine and doing well.

Original poster

ScottishStar · 23/02/2022 21:23

@HR313
That sounds awful!

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pitterpatterrain · 23/02/2022 21:28

DD2 autumn born is on band 5 / green books atm and not quite sure tbh what they are doing in maths

One thing I would say is they all do completely different things at this age, and it’s more important at that they are enjoying it and engaging - than what it is per se they are doing

Hopefully they are enjoying having a go at writing, reading, figuring out what numbers mean etc

As it will come - and it doesn’t matter if in reception / YR1 etc

nuffinimlazyatthemoment · 23/02/2022 21:28

My son was also summer born and absolutely loathed school. I remember seeing some 'self portraits' that his class had done on the wall and all of them were easily recognisable as faces except my sons which was basically just a scribble. Getting him to do any sort of reading or writing was like pulling teeth, which continued into the first half of Y2, then he just seemed to accept that this was what he was going to have to do for the next few years and kind of leaned into it (he's now 17, btw, and hoping to go to university in the autumn).

I do think there's a huge amount of pressure now on little children to do a lot of academic learning at a very young age. As a previous poster said, that's great if your child probably is winter born and ready for it but not so much for the others. They all learn at different rates and won't all hit milestones at the same time.

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 23/02/2022 21:30

I’ve never heard of colour/band books before?

pitterpatterrain · 23/02/2022 21:33

OnceuponaRainbow18 we seem to get a mix of songbirds and Collins big cat books and they each have a band/colour on, no idea what others schools use

palsht · 23/02/2022 23:14

Mine has taken like a duck to water with reading and writing. She could write the note you described above and quite a bit more without needing to copy it etc, however a lot of her friends couldn't. I wouldn't worry they will all get there at their own pace and from what I have heard from friends all primary schools do things very differently.

Quornflakegirl · 23/02/2022 23:21

I have twin girls, they were in different classes In Reception. At this stage one could write well and had lovely recognisable letters, her letter were equal in sizing and she wrote on the line. Her sister took a while to form her letters, they were all different sizes and all over the place. You’d find it hard to believe they grew up in the same home at exactly the same time.

ladydimitrescu · 23/02/2022 23:22

They are so so different-
My DD in reception was reading and writing within a couple months.
My so.my started in September, he cannot write a letter or draw as he can't hold his pencil properly, but he's blending sounds well and is very quick at maths. I'm not concerned at all - honestly they vary so so much.

LondonGirl83 · 24/02/2022 05:39

The expectations by the end of the year for an ‘average’ child is that they are on book band 4 / light blue books, can write a sentence and can work with numbers up to 10 including 10 number bonds. By half way through it’s difficult to say as it depends on how the school is delivering the curriculum.

However, there will be a huge variation particularly for the summer born so I wouldn’t read anything in to it.

NatalieH2220 · 24/02/2022 06:05

My son is in reception and I've wondered the same. He can write his own name and similarly other words if I spell them sometimes with a reminder of what a letter is but mostly independently. He can read simple words by sounding them out.
He seems quite good at adding and subtracting in my opinion but really I'm just impressed with it all as a few months ago before he started he couldn't read at all!

morechocolateneededtoday · 24/02/2022 09:15

DC is Autumn born and reading green book band in school, picks whatever she wants at library. She is able to do maths bonds to 10 and can write sentences. She understands how a sentence is structured and punctuation. She has always had an interest in learning these things and was doing a lot before she even started school. I don't anticipate this as her being ahead throughout, I imagine many will be at same level in next year or so. I am working hard to ensure she continues to love learning new things

DC2 is unlikely to be as advanced when they get to reception (currently 3) but I am not concerned, gross and fine motor skills are excellent for age and rest will come when ready

RachelSq · 24/02/2022 10:18

My DS is in reception and is summer born. Based upon his personality, I’d guess he’s quite “bright” as he’s so inquisitive and interested in academic stuff (alongside video games etc. ).

I have no idea what book band he’d be assessed on (the school don’t use them) but at home I’d say he can read red quite comfortably and is happy to “work out” the words he doesn’t know in yellow.

For writing, he will write little letters to people himself and loves writing cards. The actual handwriting is quite poor but recognisable and the spelling is often odd (but phonetically plausible).

In maths, he can do addition/subtraction with numbers up to 10 very quickly and will work out “word problems” involving multiplication and division. He knows all shapes etc. and lots of number bonds and can count in 2s, 5s and 10s.

With motor skills he’s not the best and is still noticeably clumsy and still very scribbly with art. He tries hard though!

Original poster

ScottishStar · 24/02/2022 11:08

Thank you all, it’s very interesting!

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CaptainMyCaptain · 24/02/2022 11:20

Given that the August born and September born are a year apart in development and children develop at different rates anyway it is impossible to say. If the teacher says your child is making good progress believe her and don't try and get into a competition with other children. Also a child can make rapid progress and then 'plateau' for a while while they consolidate their learning. It's not a race.

PeterPomegranate · 24/02/2022 11:24

@nuffinimlazyatthemoment

My son was also summer born and absolutely loathed school. I remember seeing some 'self portraits' that his class had done on the wall and all of them were easily recognisable as faces except my sons which was basically just a scribble. Getting him to do any sort of reading or writing was like pulling teeth, which continued into the first half of Y2, then he just seemed to accept that this was what he was going to have to do for the next few years and kind of leaned into it (he's now 17, btw, and hoping to go to university in the autumn).

I do think there's a huge amount of pressure now on little children to do a lot of academic learning at a very young age. As a previous poster said, that's great if your child probably is winter born and ready for it but not so much for the others. They all learn at different rates and won't all hit milestones at the same time.

The self portrait story from Reception could be my son!

He’s in year 2 now. Reading is improving. Writing still a big struggle. Mental maths ok but can’t write things down very well.

He is ‘behind’ I think. Although school days he is making progress.

He’s summer born and I’d say quite ‘young’ for his age too. And the pandemic hasn’t exactly helped …

Would be great if he’s about to have a breakthrough mid-year 2.

SarahWoodruff · 24/02/2022 13:15

Summer born DD is on the purple books (where I think she will need to stay for a few weeks to build up reading stamina) but her writing is less impressive: she can write sentences and use her phonics knowledge to do so but sometimes forgets spaces between words. Maths-wise she's good at adding and subtracting up to about 20 and knows some times tables (thanks to Numberblocks). But social skills need some work: her teacher gave her the target of speaking to one child each day and playing during free-flow time rather than just reading.