Reception aged child - resources and tips

[purrrge]

DD goes to an international school, and overall I'm pretty happy that they are doing a reasonable job of teaching phonics, early reading, apparently 'maths' although it's very basic. She is a June baby, will soon be 5. They follow the calendar year for age cut off so being charitable you could allow them to be 6 months 'behind' where Reception aged children typically are. The kids in the class will all have turned 5 but by end December not end August. Equally the eldest are 4 months younger than eldest in English schools.

I am a bit concerned though that it really is all a bit too slow! They are sending books home now although I have to chase and push it a bit. I said the other week it was too easy and they have let us progress to level 2 (Oxford Owl), I looked this up and discovered that level 3 is the minimum level by the end of Reception, so we won't make that I don't think. Not that it really matters.

On the one hand I accept the view that England is quite unique in pushing it early, but on the other hand she is bright, and I don't see any reason why we wouldn't go a bit faster, specifically on the reading at home, which doesn't affect anyone else in the class.

I've started doing Reading Eggs as I felt at least then I could control the pace. We are on Map4 / lesson 32 if that means anything to anyone. It says reading age of 5 and a half, but that doesn't seem to tally with what I've read about band 3/Reception.

I'm loathe to buy loads of learn to read books, though I have bought some, as it seems important to go roughly in order. And it's quite hard to get hold of a list of the books online anyway.

Can anyone recommend anything else like Reading Eggs that might be fun for us to do together at home to satisfy my tiger mum instincts?! More advanced maths would seem a good idea?

Or shall I just take a whole bottle of chill pills?

Teach your Monster to Read taught my 3 year old to free-read during lockdown. Ignore reading level guides for reception - there is such a wide range (and it often depends on whether a child has an older sibling they copy, is eldest and has invested / pushy parents to be honest). Comprehension and understanding is far more important than decoding. Look at VIPERS as a "thing".

For maths, Numbots is a good app. Otherwise any kind of game which uses maths. Junior Monopoly is great and a child only needs to be able to count to five (as that's how expensive Dark Blue is 😂). They will pick up maths skills through things like baking (weights and measures plus addition etc) and just general communication with you.

Edited to say that Tiger Mums (myself included) started pushing musical instruments in reception so don't forget that!

You’ve nailed it in your last sentence. Play is more important thank being the first to recite the times table.

Why are you trying to compare where she's at to where the Government say children should be at the end of Reception, when she's not following the English Reception curriculum?

I do think you need to relax a bit and go with the flow. The teachers will know what they're doing. They are use to teaching her age group, under the curriculum they follow.

I think it's pretty normal to want to assess an unfamiliar education system against something you know, particularly if all your friends / family are following the other one. I think my post shows I am fairly relaxed about it, just looking to optimise the situation as most parents would.

Every time you read a post about education private vs state, etc, a teacher will pop up to say the number one thing that makes a difference is whether the parents are supportive of education in the home.

Every time you read a post about international schools, the conclusion seems to be that an English state school will give you a better education.

You could just not do anything, I think if they start later they just learn faster TBH.

If you want to do more and DC is up for it, you could get the Julia Donaldson songbird books as these are good phonics books (can get a bundle cheaply online from The Book People or similar)

For maths, Numberblocks (BBC) is great. I also like Dragonbox Numbers (tablet app). If you are keen you can look at Beast Academy which is for able mathematicians.

Sorry, I didn't mean my comment how you have taken it. I wasn't trying to be rude. Maybe I misinterpreted your opening post, but I read it like you were concerned she was behind where she 'should' be. My point was she doesn't need to be where you think she should be, as she's not following that curriculum. You seem frustrated at how 'slow' they seem to be moving, when actually they're moving at the right pace for them. You can't send her to an international school and yet expect her to be keeping up the same pace as her peers the same age who attend English state schools. I'd just relax and go with the flow in terms of their pace.

There's a difference between being supportive at home (reading lots for pleasure, practising everything school ask you to practise, encouraging a positive attitude to learning etc) and trying to push on ahead for the sake of it. My point is you don't need to push to try and get her to that 'expected' end of year Reception reading level etc, as she's not following that curriculum therefore she's not 'behind'. She doesn't need to be there yet.

I think you need to focus on 'rounding skills' (I can't think of a better word!). What I mean is activities which encourage her in areas where school may not have the time: visiting museums, doing physical activity eg. Swimming/ gymnastics, musical instrument, social activity eg. Brownies, playing board games, crafting (excellent for fine motor). I will give you an example. I have 3 children, all with excellent handwriting. People comment on it all the time! I only helped one child at home with actual writing (he is dyspraxic). They are very different academically in ability but this is one thing they have in common! I believe it's because we did a lot of crafting/ playdough/ beads and so their fine motor skills are excellent. This is so important when it comes to written exams because you can have wonderful content but no good if it's difficult to read.

I think the disadvantage of pushing further than school (rather than broader) is that the child can become bored in school and switch off whilst the teacher is trying to teach the other 29 children who are where the school are at. You don't want to switch a child off. I had that to some extent with one of my kids who is extremely bright and just understood everything quickly even when I did nothing curriculum based at home. He was bored, he played up in class as a form of entertainment, he hated school for years and years. (He's now doing GCSEs and aiming for a top grade in each subject in a very attainment school, which finally is enough of a challenge to get him focused).

I would definitely encourage her in other areas and not worry about maths or reading. Reading her more complex stories (eg. chapter books. My mum read me The hobbit when I was 8 and I loved it or listening to audio books), rather than trying to get her to read, will probably do her way more good at this stage.

Sorry, that should say LOW attainment school. (The average grade is 4.7. He wants 9 in everything).

My advice would be to enjoy and encourage a love of books. There is nothing more profitable for a child than a shared story cuddled up with mum or dad. One educationist described this as “climbing into a story”. This is even more important in this age of television and digital distractions. Also, agree that it is discussing everyday activities such as baking etc that will offer opportunities to support maths, science and language. It is quite possible to push a child too early with the result that what is learned is that what is presented is “too hard”. If learning is to be effective then it has to be accessible and possible.

Thank you those are really helpful thoughts! I do need to get a bit more enthusiastic about crafting etc, not really my cup of tea but I can see it would be beneficial to do a bit more of that!