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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

just been to open day at dd's school...

15 replies

paddingtonbear1 · 06/02/2008 15:13

dd showed me her school books. I'd not seen them before (apart from homework books) and can never get much out of her, so I didn't really know what she'd been doing! She is 4 (summer baby) and in reception. She did really struggle with her writing but that and her reading really seems to have improved. But she can't do maths at all! Just gets lots of unhappy faces in her maths book, and 'really struggled' comments. Should I bother about it yet? She does her homework and reading books at home but other than that we just let her play. I am inclined not to bother about it just yet, just wanted reassurance (dd is our only child).

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angelstar · 06/02/2008 16:27

She is only 4 so still quite young. I'm not sure I would be very impressed if I saw lots of unhappy faces and really struggled comments in my child's book. Its not really encouraging for her. I would prefer something like, "well tried, but did struggle a bit" and no face is better than an unhappy face imo

I wouldn't worry as you can learn alot of maths through play. I would have thought that at 4 most of her maths at school should be learned through play anyway.

Smurfs · 06/02/2008 16:33

Pb1 - keep encouraging her and building up her confidence. I have a DS who is a summer baby and so is also 4 they should be playing and learning to enjoy the environment of school not worrying about maths and spellings IMO. Ask the teacher not to put negative comments in but to focus on what she is good at. It will all fall into place in time

scattyspice · 06/02/2008 16:45

Blimey. DS is in reception and doesn't have any school books except reading record. Agree with smuff.

Original poster

paddingtonbear1 · 06/02/2008 16:59

Thanks all. dd has school books for English, RE, Geography, Music and Maths! And her reading record. She seems OK apart from maths, I can just see her half term report saying the same as last time which was 'below expectation in maths'! I was always bad at it as well. Think I will ignore it for now though and just play a few games with her at home.

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flack · 06/02/2008 17:04

Well, if it were me, I would go ahead and try to do more maths-based stuff with her at home. What harm could it do?, as long as you find ways to make it fun, and start at whatever level she's at. So you could do baking together (reading numbers off the scale), board games (involves rolling dice and counting), reading house numbers as you walk along and seeing if she can predict the next one (since they generally increment by 1 or 2) etc.

dippydeedoo · 06/02/2008 17:10

shes only 4 shes a baby .....the unsmilry faces arent very nice tho are they i agree i think you should tell the teacher you find it disheartening let alone your daughter-she cant be good at everything and her maths will improve but playing more maths focused stuff with her help

Original poster

paddingtonbear1 · 06/02/2008 23:28

dd has snakes and ladders somewhere, I will dig that out

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cat64 · 06/02/2008 23:59

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Miggsie · 07/02/2008 11:36

Don't worry!!!! New Scientist did a big study a while back and found children under 7 (unless they are total genii) cannot understand pure maths concepts as the brian is not developed enough (something to do with neural pathways)...so no surprise if young children are baffled by maths particularly if it is taught in an abstract way (i.e inappropriate for the age group). Some young children can be forced to "rote learn" sums and tables and chant them out but they have not got a clue what it is about and is actually negative in the long run. (End of science bit).

My DD is 4 and considered bright, and she certainly is not doing sums and I would not want her to. However, we do play board games with dice and counting, they love snakes and ladders and ludo at that age. Orchard games do some good stuff that is age appropriate.

I'd also ask:
A) How is this school teaching maths and why, at this age!?
B) For the unsmiling faces to be removed..what is the point, they are entirely negative and discouraging. If they can't think of a better approach than that...they don't have much imagination!

jura · 07/02/2008 11:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hotcrossbunny · 07/02/2008 12:04

I was about to say Orchard Toys games. Dd has Jack and the Beanstalk, Whats the time Mr Wolf and Incey Wincey Spider, and she learned all her shapes and numbers to 10 just by playing these. We recently got a 100 number square to hang on her wall and she goes to bed counting along...

It will come, she is teeny tiny. Do not worry yet. If she still isn't coping in Year 2 then you could think about extra help, but at the moment she is still settling into the routine of school.

HappyMummyOfOne · 07/02/2008 19:12

Orchard games are fab, lots encourage counting in a fun way - they have their own website where you can see what games link in with subjects.

saadia · 07/02/2008 19:18

I'm shocked that she's getting "unhappy faces" for maths, AT THE AGE OF 4. I can't believe there are any expectations at that age beyond getting used to numbers.

Ds' maths book at that age looked like gibberish to me but had a lot of "well tried"s etc. The teacher did say to me at Parents' Evening though that it would help to practice at home but she would never have told ds that he wasn't doing well enough.

hippipotami · 07/02/2008 20:28

I too would be more upset about the sad faces, than the fact dd struggles with maths. I have just come back from dd's open evening (also reception), and in her book it showed dd trying to work out a 'taking away' sum. She got the answer right, and underneath the teacher had written 'good work but needed support'. Ie - not able to do on her own. That to me is far more positive than sad faces.
Don't worry about the maths - she is only 4!!

Original poster

paddingtonbear1 · 07/02/2008 22:27

Thanks all I've just been looking at the Orchard Toys website, it looks really good! I'd not really heard of them before. I will definitely order a couple of the games, I think dd will like them.
dd came home today with a certificate, for her effort in phonics and writing. Our parent teacher evenings are after half term, so I'll see what her teacher says then too - I didn't get to speak to her at open day. They seem to do a lot of worksheets, I assume that is the national curriculum.. my mum was a teacher but she retired before they brought it all in!

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