dd has just started yr 1, she is already struggling - anyone else?

[paddingtonbear1]

dd struggled in reception as well, although improved in the final term. She just didn't seem mature enough for school (is summer bday), and wasn't interested for ages.
Now she has started yr 1, and already has had her english book sent home with extra writing work - she needs to work quicker in class the teacher has written. Her writing isn't great - she can write the letters but can't really form proper words much (apart from her name), and is only on stage 2 of the ORT.
She isn't impressed when she has to do extra at home, 'I want to play' is the response.
I dread her getting lines as punishment (they do this in yr 1, someone has already been threatened with it) - dd would take weeks to do hers!!

[LostGirl]

DD has just started year 1, is also on stage2 ORT and can write very shaky letters (varying in height from 2 - 4 inches and on a wonderful slanted angle across the page!), so please don't think that your child is unusual. What I do think is strange is the amount of work that she is bringing home, especially so early on in the year. Most schools use the first term to make a gradual change from the mainly play scenario in reception to a more work based lesson format. DD will start having spelling words and homework once a week, but not until after half term. IMO if your dd does not like writing then she should not be forced to do it at this stage, certainly not extra work. Surely if she spends time drawing or painting or something like that which she enjoys then this will in turn improve her handwriting as it is stengthening the same muscles in the hands, and still practising pen or brush control and grip. I would talk to her teacher about your concerns. at the idea of lines in year 1.

[jenkel]

I was horrified to read your post.

My dd is a late August birthday, she has now just started in year 3.

You could tell that she was the youngest in the class all through Reception, her reading and writing were very poor but I wouldnt say she struggled because not too much emphasis was put on her abilities, or they were in a way that she wasnt aware of them.

Year 2 was a bit more of a struggle as they move away from play based learning. But again it wasnt too bad, she only had homework once a week and the reading book was changed once a week. But by year 2 I was getting concerned.

And then at christmas I'm not sure what happened, but something just clicked and she has been doing fantastically since then. Something happened literally overnight.

I was horrified at the pressure your dd appears to be under, I think you need to go and talk to the teacher sharpish.

[hippipotami]

I would be very unhappy with dd being given extra work and I would refuse to do it.

Talk to teh school. Tell them she is struggeling and this extra work is putting her off. Ask if they differentiate the work for those who struggle / the younger ones.

Ds (end of August birthday) really struggled in Y1. He could barely form his letters. At his school they differentiated the work for the ones who were struggeling. So if the class ahd to write 3 sentences, ds's target was 1 sentence, and there was lots of praise when he achieved this.

[hippipotami]

Paddington - don't justify the fact that the school is high-achieving as the reason they give lines and extra work to those not yet as able.
Ds and dd's state school is Ofsted Outstanding and known as one of teh best in the area, It produces well-above average SATS year on year. But they do NOT push the children, and would never punish children for not being able to write at the tender age of just five. In fact, dd has just gone into Y1 and at a meeting last term we were told that 'formal learnign' would not take place until after the half term, they just wanted teh children to learn through play for the next six weeks, just like reception. A nice gentle start for them

Honestly, this is not right, talk to the teacher.

[seeker]

My dd has just started year 3 - and he's never had homework (apart from his reading book) - they start giving once a week homework this term.

There is no evidence that homework makes any difference to children's achievement at this age. Schools set it because it makes them look good to a certain type of parent.

Refuse to do it. And start looking round at other schools. High achievement isn't everything.

[ChazsBarmyArmy]

DS also Aug 03 is in yr1 of prep school that gets very high sats results etc. and he is on ORT2 and the only home work he has had is some spellings and a reading book. However he has brought home some pictures to finish colouring it if he wants!
His handwriting is still ropey and the direction of the letters somewhat random.
In reception it was only reading and practicing phonics flashcards and a note was sent round saying no more than 10 mins per night on this.
I would be horrified if they gave him lines at his age.
I might accept work being sent home for him to finish if he had been mucking around instead of doing it but not because he was struggling with it.

[seeker]

Oh, and my ds got 3 3s at KS1, so the school must have been doing something right despite the lack of homework!

[TotalChaos]

I'm aghast at the bit on the report you quote as being "below their standard". Doesn't sounds like a pleasant environment at all for young children.

[Marina]

This is very sad to read, Paddington. Dd is an August 2003 baby and holding her own in Yr1, but even if she wasn't, neither her teacher nor we would want her pressured in this way.
I hope you manage to get something sorted paddington. I hate to say this, but maybe this school may not turn out to be the best place for your dd, despite its stellar reputation.
Tbh it doesn't sound "child-centred" so much as "SATs-centred".
Pudding, you do sound a great Yr1 teacher! Dd's is fab - ds had her too and our whole family love her.

[Sam100]

DD2 is an august 03 baby too and we are in same boat. She is just not interested in reading and writing and until she is I do not see much point in pushing her! She occasionally shows sparks of interest and when she does I get out all the bits we had for dd1 so she can practice writing etc but her attention span is only 5 to 10 mins! Reading is soooooo tortuous that I am afraid I resort to getting her to read bits off the cereal packets at breakfast time!!! I did make some flash cards of the reception words and she seems to know them individually but if you try and stick them in a sentence she says she cannot understand them!!! Also have the mirror writing thing. But she will sit for ages doing pictures and colouring in.

[mehgalegs]

My DS3 also summer baby. hates Y1 - had tears this morning. Apprently all he does is sit on the carpet and then do lots of work. (His version)

It's a hard transition, foundation stage to KS 1.

The Y1 class teacher at our school is nie but quiet and not as bubbly as Rec. She is pg so leaves at half term.. Hoping maternity over is fun, DS3 needs enthusiatic teachers.

[paddingtonbear1]

thanks everyone for all your replies, they are really helpful. After insisting dd copied these extra words into her English book for today, the teacher then never looked at them! We don't have any more though, just the normal maths homework which fortunately looks OK.
I met another parent in the park today, whos ds went to the other school nearby - we also considered that one for dd. He said they were in the process of merging the infant and juniors and the whole place was chaos, with teachers leaving and off with stress. In reception they hardly learnt anything. Would probably have suited dd though!! He and his dw chose the school instead of dd's school as their ds is a bit of a dreamer, and they didn't think a high achieving school would suit him.
That would have been the alternative school for dd - the others are considerably further away.
So a bit difficult really - dd isn't miserable, and has had no problems socially - she has lots of friends at school.

[mumto2andnomore]

Im a teacher and a mother of a Y1 boy (June 03 born ) and your post made me very sad. The school seems to be putting your daughter off learning, do they do any fun activities ? They should still be learning through play at this age, not copying words! And certainly not doing lines bless them.

[meggiesmummie]

Feel so much better after reading this. DD1 is very similar to those described above and has stated this evening that 'all we do is sit and do writing in year 1'! I knew it would be a bit of a step change for her from reception and i don't think for one minute that all they do is writing but it may be how it feels for her.

She seems to really struggle with reading and spends most of her time guessing. Sounding the words out is almost an impossibility. Writing not much better, v. big an never starts the letters in the right place. Was starting to get quite worried and have looked into other reading programmes to help her, like Easyread (if anyone knows anything about it I'd love to hear opinions. trouble is I find reading with her so frustrating, which is mostly my fault as I am not the most patient person and the high achieving side of me wants to push her to do well .

Am now thinking I need to give it more time. I have a catch up with the teachers in a couple of weeks anyway, so will see what they think.

[imaginaryfriend]

I think this is way too much too soon. Dd has just started Y1 and even though she did pretty well in R, hasn't been given anything like the challenges your dd has been given. She's brought a reading book home and will get a spelling book to do over the weekend and that's it, I don't think there'll be more than that for the whole year. Dd's school is also Ofsted outstanding and is a busy inner city state school in a so/so area of London.

[paddingtonbear1]

meggiesmummy your dd's reading sounds like my dd. dd would much rather tell the story from the pictures, and tries to guess what the words say! She can sound some words out but getting her to do it is like pulling teeth.
Have to try her with her spellings this weekend, not looking forward to it....

[JazT]

Agree re lines etc - that's just nuts

But would just say that at my DCs school they are taught cursive letters from Reception and all join up naturally by Y1 (even though their writing is often still very big). So I wouldn't worry too much about that aspect of things

[seeker]

pddingtonbear1 - DON"T DO THEM!

There is really no need - it's too much too soon and if she's upset by trying to do her spellings she'll be put off the whole idea of school. Really, really, don't do them.

[rebelmum1]

This is terrible. I read an article about how we are creating a culture of failure by setting targets at this early age. I agree. Children develop at different levels, in many european cultures they don't even teach writing until 6 or 7. I would be hot-footing it down to the school and checking out alternative schools and approaches if I were you. Have just put my dd in a pre-school that follows Montessori methods and works with the childs pace and abilities. They learn through play and practical application, using drama, role play and activities. Their approach is to develop what the child is doing well.

[hellywobs]

I wouldn't worry about "only" being on stage 2 - that is normal for the end of YR if the school doesn't rush them through the scheme. My son is on stage 3 but he is a November birthday and there is just one girl who's on stage 4 (also November birthday - my son's school takes reading in YR slowly - I agree that the kids should be having fun and learning through play).

Lines? Totally useless punishment and inappropriate at any age.

[Takver]

I really sympathise paddingtonbear - your dd sounds much like mine last year. She's just gone into yr 2, she can now manage the mechanics of writing ok-ish, but she really struggles with spelling and writing down whole words & sentences.
Her teacher did at one point try to get her to finish work by keeping her in for part of break, but (fortunately) came to the conclusion quite fast that it was a waste of time.
To confuse matters, she is a fluent reader (Famous 5 etc), and I think for a long time her teacher thought she was refusing rather than unable to do the work. Also she is obsessive about getting things right, so often does refuse to do things she might get wrong IYSWIM.
I live in hope that the writing will 'click' at some point - and in fact we are going to ask for a meeting with her teacher to see if there is anything we can do to help her, as she is getting unhappy about being able to keep up with her friends.