What can your reception age child do?

[LittleMG]

In terms of writing where is your reception age child at the moment?

my son has had a poor report and I’ve been told he’s falling behind already (!) I want to know what is expected at this point and what other kids are doing.

My son knows his letters and can recognise or write nearly all the alphabet, he can phonetically write words with help if you keep saying the word broken down.

In terms of reading he can recognise his sounds but struggles to blend most words.

Thanks ☺️

Please don't worry. I teach Reception and he sounds entirely normal. The range of 'normal' at this age though is huge.

One term in, to be considered on track for achieving the early learning goals in reading and writing I'd like children in my class to be reading and writing CVC words independently (in order to progress to simple sentences containing taught digraphs by the end of the year, as per the Early Learning Goal). However, realistically I only usually have around a third of the class who are 'on track' at Christmas. This isn't to say many more won't get there, as they all 'click' at different stages of the year. Generally though, data for writing is traditionally very low in Reception at Christmas. It's the area we have the most progress in in the spring and summer terms but progress for many can be pretty slow going in the autumn term.

It's definitely still possible for someone who is where your son is now to achieve the Early Learning Goal by the end of Reception. I understand why he's currently been marked as working towards (and I understand how disheartening this must be. Personally we don't officially report mid year as so many children aren't on track at this stage in Reception and it can cause unnecessary worry). I only flag issues with parents if I genuinely feel their child is struggling and won't get there without interventions. A child simply not 'clicking' yet isn't a major concern to me at this stage.

You have to bear in mind that, although he's struggling to blend and segment CVC independently at the moment, some of his peers won't even know their letter sounds yet. Yes, some of his peers will also be reading and writing CVC captions independently, but they are all different stages of 'normal' right now. He might not be on track at this stage, but he's showing potential to be there.

Just keep practising his reading daily and play lots of segmenting games (eg I spy with my little eye a b-i-n, you can also segment simple instructions like "put on your h-a-t"). He will get there with practise.

Mine suddenly clicked with blending about 2 weeks before end of term. He's never been super interested in writing/colouring, he's more a numbers/puzzles person.

I wouldn't worry at this stage at all. I'm much more worried about emotional/social stuff, reinforcing confidence/comfort, etc. so that it all remains a positive experience.

Edit - specifically, he can write some 3/4 letter words (nothing advanced like 'ou' sounds), with not the best hand writing. I got a huge wall blackboard sticker to encourage interest. School has been great though, the progress in his weekly writing (wtf!!!) homework book has been huge.

I would be really happy with that because he's not showing any of the accelerated learning traits that you might see with ASD or developmental problems. The fact that he's trying shows he has good social comprehension and that's very good. The fact that he's having some success is great. There is plenty of time for the rest. Well done. You are doing a great job.

Blending has just clicked here. Writing sounds like yours (and less interest than trying to read things).
**If I do an activity at home that's obviously phonics/writing based he's having none of it. Much more likely to help me with a shopping list or to write a card for grandma though!

We had a 'bad' report in reception, his year 1 report was the total opposite. Try not to worry, but use it to spur you on to read more etc x

Thank you so much for such helpful responses. I thought he was doing really well until the report. I feel that the school are pushing them quite hard, maybe he is capable of more but he’s not enjoying school and my main thing is that I want him to be happy. His behaviour is good but he just sits and stares out the window iykwim. Thanks again, I’m glad I posted x