Struggling in Year 3

[Loughrigg77]

My daughter is in year 3, youngest in her class if that makes a difference. In KS1 she always got positive feedback from her teachers: high reading age, full marks in spelling tests, met all her targets etc. However in KS2, the difficulty has obviously been cranked up a bit. She is now saying she doesn't like school because it's too hard, and the teacher has said she is below the expected levels for spelling and maths. Has anyone else experienced this and were you able to help them get back on track? I'm not trying to be a pushy parent, I just don't like my daughter to be upset because she doesn't like school any more. Thanks for reading

Hopefully teachers on her will offer advice but I'd be getting her eyes & ears checked.

My DD is the same in Year 3. I’m thinking of getting her a tutor for Maths, her real weak spot, but I don’t know what to do about the fact that she doesn’t enjoy it any more. It’s really sad.

How did she do on ks1 sats?
Maybe try some cgp books at home.
I would say maths ramps up further into y4 and they need all times tables etc.

My dd2 has been struggling more with spellings this year (y3).
Does yours write them out several times?

Thanks for your replies. I hadn't considered her sight and hearing, I don't think that's the issue but I'll get it checked.

I don't think we were ever told how she did in the SATS, just that she was at the expected level. The teacher was always very positive about her abilities and she could always do the spellings. We've bought a couple of books similar to the CPG ones. She does write the spellings many times; sometimes she gets them all right in the tests but sometimes not.

@Rainallnight sorry your daughter is struggling as well, it's sad to see them unhappy :-(

Hey op, I was a year 3 teacher for just over a decade. Heard this a lot from parents. Curriculum expectations do ramp up as you get into year three along with less focus on hands on/ learning through play..plus there seems to be a few hormonal changes that can make it more challenging!
I would just advise speaking to the teacher to see which areas she is struggling with and finding some fun ways to work on these at home with her- a real emphasis on positive feedback, fun activities (go to Pinterest for these) and engaging with your daughter. A tutor or endless work books may further compound the problem.
I'm not a huger fan of screens but worse case some maths related apps etc can really help out too, for a short time each days (e.g. with times tables)

Huge empathy to you, school can feel so merciless when you see your child lose confidence.
Everything the last post said but also find something she loves doing, sone out if school club ( or home based ) if you can, music, karate, art, dancing, something that gives her joy. I found with my dc that hobbies helped through tough times to give a sense of mastery and pleasure.
Your belief in her can outweigh transitional wobbles, not that you say she's perfect but that she sees your unconditional belief in her in your eyes.

Thanks @mandowwnnn that's interesting and reassuring. We had parents' evening last week and I got some ideas from the teacher, but good point about making it fun, thanks.

@Allshallbewell2021 agree they are merciless! Parents' evening all revolves around literacy and numeracy and the results of one test she took a few weeks ago. She does have a few hobbies and hoping to start music lessons before too long. Thanks

@Loughrigg77 do you drive to school? If yes, get an A4 clear pocket, turn it sideways and attach string/ribbon/elastic to the holes to tie it around the headrest of whichever seat she sits behind, ie driver or passenger. Then insert whatever she is learning that week, spellings or times tables. That way she is looking at this daily and can spell things out on the drive to and from school. It helps remind them of the correct spellings.

If there are any words she keeps misspelling then address those now and make a fun game of it, rather than constantly writing on paper, write in sand or shaving foam on a tray. Jump to the letters, you can make A5 sized letters and she can arrange them by hand into the correct order to spell the word or walk/jump to the correct next letter.

Try to make learning fun. One of the things you can do to boost her confidence is to show her that the basic maths skills she has ie adding 13 and 24 together can be made into a massive 6 digit plus 6 digit number, just keep the numbers added together below 9 so there are no carry overs, it is just adding a single digit to a single digit repeatedly. Show her what she is capable of doing.

Work on her mindset too, our brains are negative so lots of positive words, I can do this rather than saying school is too hard. Tell her how capable she is, show her work from reception to remind her how far she has come too. Pinterest is great for fun games.

Loughrigg77
If she likes music then start her asap, even something informal like a choir, outside school is good. Music has been a huge joy and confidence booster for my dc. Children need to feel good at something, that they shine at something and then that can build.
Anything that has enough pleasure in it to convey the pay offs of discipline and commitment, showing up, falls and successes, ups and down, this all helps get them through the huge judgments of our school system. Talk about resilience - you're the coach that show shining faith in your eyes - they don't need to win they just need to learn to work hard at mastering what they need. Reward the effort. But a passionate faithful parent can arm out a child through all the heart breaking rejection schools can sometime dole out to the child in the middle, who isn't best at anything.

Thank you @HandlerOfHares and @Allshallbewell2021 , some really good ideas there that we will be able to use 😀

How is your DD getting on? Mine started to struggle right at the end of Y2 when maths ramped up a bit and wasn't meeting expectations in maths by the end of summer. She really internalised this and is saying that she finds it too hard now.
First day of Y3 today and I'm anxious for her. I really want her to enjoy learning this year.
Hope your DD ended the year feeling more positive. Do you have any tips?

@LostittoBostik We had a big push on maths in the Easter holidays, bribing her with a treat at the end if she worked hard! She did better in the weekly maths tests after that and got more confidence. We had a push on spellings too and she's improving but still needs work. By the end of the year she was supposedly at the right standard. We did the summer reading challenge and she finished 2 long (200 page) chapter books which was another confidence boost.

I'd say for us it was just pushing the homework little and often, and she did the work because she knew she would enjoy school more if the work was easier. My husband is a stay at home dad at the moment though which made it easier; there's obviously less time if both parents work. Best of luck starting year 3 🤞

Thank you @Loughrigg77 - it's difficult as we both work, but it will definitely fall to me as my DH works shifts so if often not around in the evenings.
We did some maths over the summer and it made me realise how it's just not coming easily for her. She's much better with reading. Spelling I think will be ok with more practice.
She's also the youngest in her class and I really don't want to be a pushy parent but I hate that she finished last year not at the expected standard because we didn't notice what was going on

Hi my little girl has just started year 3 last week and she is also saying she doesnt want to go to school (not like her) she cried every morning going in i can see her thinking about school this weekend and worrying. It breaks my heart and makes me anxious allday after leaving her crying in the queue. She is also the youngest in the year and feels like the work is harder and its stricter :( did your little girl get used to it more as the year went on wev had long chats about it i think the main thing is that she is missing me alot aswell as we spent alot of time together in hols as i had time off work iv told her its early days and its all about her learning her new teacher and him learning her too praying nxt week she get used to it more and less tears xx

@Gemskixxx mine has only just started Y3 too... I'm concerned she's going to slip behind this year. It's definitely got more serious and strict straight away. Lots of homework expectations etc.
She seems happy enough when I pick her up but she's also saying she's rather stay at home in the mornings which isn't like her.
I'm really hoping this year doesn't put her off learning. She's such an enthusiastic little soul.
I really hope your little one adjusts soon.

Aw sorry i thought this was last years post. Yeah my daughter has said the same first day they were straight into work and independently aswell after doing nothing for 6 weeks abit unfair i think personally. She had an issue about maths last year but told me and got extra support and she was fine but shes never cried going into school especially every morning. I have let the teacher know and he has said she will get the support she needs im hoping this starts next week as Im already dreading tomorrow morning 😩 she seems ok coming out but then in the bath shel start talking about it and all negative things so iv told her to split the day up and to think after dinner only afew hours left until i pick her up and think more positively - my son start nursery school tmoz aswell so my anxiety is through roof at the moment

Oh actually this isn't my original post lolll... I posted something similar last week.
My DD also had an issue with maths at the end of the year and I do think it's going to continue to be a problem this year if we don't work on it a lot at home - but I also want her to feel that home is a respite if school is very tough for her.
It's such an anxious time. I had no idea how emotionally hard it would be having children.

Its so hard having children but so rewarding at the same time and i am so like you i want home to be time away from school and for her not to have to think about school although she has asked to do her spellings and numbots this wkend so iv logged on for her but im not forcing it on her would be interesting to see how they are in a few weeks when there more settled il keep intouch xx hope nxt week is a better week for us all xx