Could your reception age child do this homework ??

[IllegallyBrunette]

Ds has got a sheet with 4 pictures at the top of a Fire engine, firemans boots, firemans uniform and firemans helmet. Each item has a colur next to it to indicate what colour they should be.

The underneath there is a pic of 3 firemen fighting a fire.

Ds has to colour the pic in correctly, using the colours suggested above.

That is fine, he can do that.

Then underneath that there is 6 lines where Ds has to write 2 sentences using the words listed at the bottom of the page.

The words are - engine, hose, ladder, water, put out, fire, danger, wearing, jacket, trousers, suit, helmet, boots.

Now I am assuming that he has to add words such as I, and, The to these words, else a sentence cannot be made.

Last time he had a sheet like this he ended up in tears. His pencil control is still very poor and so his formation of his letters is still very wobbly, and he gets them back to front upside down etc. His writing is also very big in his attempt to control it, and so he can take up a whole line with two words.

If he has a word up in front of him, say on a board, then he can copy it given time, but if he has to keep looking for a word to copy then he loses all sense of what he is doing.
I did write the sentence out for him to copy, and held it up in front of him, but he was too upset by that point.

Last time I let him stop after one sentence as he was so upset. I told his teacher why he'd only done one sentence and although she said it was ok, she looked a bit confused that i'd let him only do the one sentance because of it.

I am surprised that they have given him another similar sheet so soon after that one.

I know he has to learn and practice, but if it upsets him again I am not going to make him do it.

I think that helps them as they see 'how' you write it (where to start etc), rather than it just 'being' on a piece of paper.

He is wearing a jacket (and boots)
He has a hose to put out the fire

are you SURE he has to do the written bit? if this was something in my dds class a group of them would be expected to write the sentences and the others do the colouring only.

but she doesnt get homework and they never use worksheets (thank goodness) so this is all conjecture on my part

Ignore teacher. DS is Y1 and leading the way on literacy - he would do that and enjoy it, but would have really struggled this time last year.

ok I would say

'ltes talk about firemen, what dot hey do?'

'they put out fires'

'yes, brilliant, well we can write that look...'

etc

Yes iswym TS. I normally write them in the air with my finger when we are doing any letters or words, as he likes to copy me doing it.

Yes, dd could do this. But she is one of the eldest in her class (december baby), and is one of those children whose nose is permanently in a book and who asks for lists of words to spell for fun.

However, I don't agree with homework in reception, and luckily our school does not give homework to reception children other than two reading books a week. The homework given to your ds does sound like something they give in Y1 in our school.
(and our school is ofsted outstanding and one of the best in the area, so I hope they know what they are doing )

Don't make him do the writing part, concentrate on colouring the pictures and talking about them (what does a fire engine do etc)

A fab teacher once told me that the end result of the homework (ie a completed sheet) is NOT as important as the fact the topic/subject/exercise was talked about by child and parent.

He definatly has to do the sentences, as the teacher has handwritten 'remember, finger spaces in your sentences' on the page.

Ds doesn't 'get' finger spaces either LOL.

I will sit and discuss firemen etc with him. There was actually a fire engine outside our house for a while last week, so I will ask him about that, and see where we end up.

My ds did exactly this task but did it in school so I've only seen the finished result - not what the process involved. He drew a picture of a house on fire and a fire engine and then wrote:
Look the house is on fire. Look I can see a fire engine. The firemen can help. The firemen hav poot the fire out.
The teacher's comment said 'Excellent independent writing using a word bank.'
So it sounds pretty similar to what your ds is being asked to do - so I guess it's a fairly standard reception task.
He has just started to get spelling lists too. But if your ds is getting v distressed over homework then I would see the teacher and discuss your concerns with her.

He got Maths homework for half term which was several sheets, and he enjoyed that alot more, despite struggling with the formation of some of the numbers.

I think he feels alot less under pressure with numbers than letters.

Go for really simple short sentences so that he can feel encouraged, and not daunted.

Something like 'fire is hot'. 'The fire engine is red.'

Or something like that.

Writing the letters - I think it helps them if you do it on paper, so that they can refer back if they get stuck!

Dd is excellent at writing, but still gets a bit stuck on how to write d,b,p,q - so that's what I do for her.

Make the sentences very short - don't over complicate things.

Write them in dots on the sheet and get him to join the dots to make the words - write them big so that he finds it easier.

I would do two of the following.

The boots are shiny.

I like the fire engine.

Put out the fire.

The trousers are black.

I like water.

He doesn't need to read. You can do it all verbally - Oh look there's a fire engine, what does a fire engine do? Then write down what he says and ask him to copy the sentence or fill in one word.

You could also ask him if he can find the word fire amongst the words on the page. And help by saying fire begins with 'f' so we're looking for a word beginning with 'f' etc. (saying the letters phonetically)

I think it's OK to adapt the homework to his level, as long as he is learning and not just copying, it all helps.

DS1 did something like this in school, not for homework though. He had to draw his own picture and then write a sentence - in fact he wrote 2. I am sure there are children in the class who would do both better and worse at this task.

He knows his letters, can't spell for toffee but doesn't know (!) and the teacher says his next step is to try to put spaces between the words. I think they are good at our school at catering for the wide range of ability in reception class and assessing each child against his or her own rate of progress - that seems to be what is missing from your school.

It is difficult to over-come a mental block though, isn't it? DS1 likes numbers, like your boy, but really won't practice reading at all.

in dds reception class they are expected to draw a picture and then write their own sentences describing what they did at the weekend. they do this every Monday.

Blimey really Enid ? Ds just couldn't do that.

He'd struggle with the drawing, nevermind the sentences.

One of my dcs would find it a breeze and the other (now yr 1) may find it tricky and get moody about it, he's now doing really well.
I would cheat a little and do it with him, perhaps rint out the sentences on the pc and cut out the words and see if he can put themn in the right place. Then he can just copy it. Therefore he's just thinking about one task at a time. Only do a couple sentences at a time so it's short bursts.
Then talk to the teacher.

they do it from day one

you'd be amazed

even the chilkdren (boys usually it must be said) who really struggle with writing are now producing really good bits of work with recognisable letters and sentences

Message withdrawn

What Cod?

Dd does really nice writing in reception, and is an August birthday - she has just clicked with it quickly. She has 'got' finger spaces etc, which ds1 still occasionally forgets.

Ds1 is in Y2, and his 'writing about what he did over half term' omitted all of the good educational stuff, and talked instead of 'playing throw the sword, and trying to hit the lights with the sword, and watching Monty Python.'

enid, my ds has to do that as well. It was lovely seeing his workbook at parents' evening with pics he'd drawn of him swimming and so on with his little sentences underneath.

Not sure all this 'my dc can do...' is very helpful for the OP.

no way could mine

take NO notice of these achievements at this age

i have it on very good authority that it means nada at this age

i would be tempted not to bother- better that than to helicopter and end up doing it yourself!

no bearing on future academic achievements

I am a reception teacher and would never give my children that type of work it has no value IMO.

Why is it valueless, mrz?

And posieparker, the OP asked 'Could your reception age child do this homework?' Sorry, were we meant to assume that we're only allowed to post if the answer is 'No'?