Too much play in Class R? Opinions please.

[swedishmum]

My dd is now doing stuff she did over a year ago at pre-school (Jolly Phonics). She gets stickers for sharing nicely, something I've expected since at least 3 years. I know she's youngest of 4 and not the youngest in the year, but am I so wrong to expect her to do a bit more work??

Are you serious?

As a Year 2 teacher, all I ever see them do in Yr R is play!

Er, no.

Yes.

Tbh I am shocked preschool was teaching them reading. I didn't think they did that. I am pretty sure ours is just playing/painting/singing etc.

Reception is still part of the foundation stage like pre-school. Year 1 is part of KS1 and when they should be starting more formal sitting down at the table type of work imo.

no, they learn through play, they learn how to change for pe, they learn how to zip up their coats and so much more.

I think they need to play - my dd who was 4 in August has just started reception and is doing the same stuff as your dd but the difference is that it is all new and exciting. Play school didn't touch on jolly phonics and I'm really pleased, they are still ever so little and are learning to be people not professors. The social and playing skills are as important than the academic stuff.

I think play is very valuable.How old is she?

Interestingly,as you appear to be Swedish,I have always felt their education system superior to ours!

Too much testing at too young an age here Imho!

I think they do do work but it is disguised as play. However, Yr R is part of the foundation stage like pre-school I think so not surprising they appear similar.

DS2 is in Yr R and doing phonics, he has a different ORT book every day which he reads to me and often the teacher too, he is doing nursery rhymes (rhyming helps with reading), music, he is learning to write, they do PE and the whole day is more structured than pre-school so makes a good introduction into school. They will feel the difference in Yr 1 and it would be a bit of a shock to them to go straight into that kind of strict academic environment without year R.

Also, children start school so ridiculously young in this country that the more time they can spent playing the better imo.

I wasn't happy DS2 preschool was doing jolly phonics - but hey.

They will be doing more work as the year goes on. Last year, our reception teacher wouldn't start teaching the alphabet, untill the children had learned to listen, which took a good few weeks. Most of them could read (weel you know what I mean) by the time they went into Y1.

Luckily reception has gone back to learning through play. It was realised that getting small children to sit down with pencils was a failure.
See open eye ,especially the video if you scroll down.

she's four. she should be playing

If they're putting kids in school at 4 then they should be "learning through play" in my opinion. Here (Australia) the first year of school is not at all play-based, it's full on learning, but that's because the kids are older (statutory school age is 6) and the assumption is that they will already have done 1/2 years of pre-school where they play.

How on earth can 4 & 5 year olds be doing too much play ? They are so young poor things and have the rest of their lives to be doing work. I am delighted DS thinks he spends all his time in reception playing. It's not quite true as he has been learning his letters and can now read a bit plus his writing has improved. But as far as he is concerned he is playing which is fantastic.

If you look at my video link you see schools in Finland. They save formal education until later, which is the way it should be IMO.
It is heartbreaking to see 4 yr olds feeling failures because they can't write.

I did think, last year, that for my ds it was too much play - and tbh he didn't enjoy it as much as he seems to be enjoying Yr1 with the more formal structures and learning.
But I appreciate that many children are not like this.
And some of them, like my son, aren't 4 - he was 5 for the vast majority of YR.

and more formal structures doesn't have to mean sitting down at a desk and writing.

A good reception teacher should be able to structure the play so that it involves learning about letters and numbers (although not necessarily learning to read and do maths) They also learn so much through experimental play ( an introduction to science and teh world around them) as well as learning more about themselves, and their physical and social skills. They should then be more confident individuals when they start Y1.

Young children learn through play.

We already force young children into formal learning far too early in this country. They would benefit so much more from smaller classes and more play so that they can learn social skills. (Then they wouldn't be burnt out and suffering from all kinds of social difficulties by the time they get to year 3).

IMHO that is.

IMO there can't be too much play in reception.

yes - a good reception teacher should, that doesn't mean that they do.

Learning through play is so much more important for reception-age children than formal work. I'm glad they still do quite a bit of play based learning in KS1 at our school too.

I don't see how you can have too much play when you are only 5yrs old. You have the rest of your life for work! If they are bored with play then they are not being given enough variety or creative opportunities.

I don't think there is enough play in reception classes. I deliberately chose a school for my dd with all play based learning in YR and mostly play based in Y1. When I used to teach Y1 I only ever had enough tables and chairs for half the class to sit at a time (the way it should be IMO) but when I left to go on maternity leave the teacher who took over took most of the play out and put in more tables and chairs.
I was

I was so happy with my son's Yr4 teacher who told us at the Parents Evening yesterday that 'they are children, I think we tend to forget that these days'.
(not because of anything bad he'd done, just as a general statement of principle).
Dh walked away with a big smile on his face.

I think they miss out masses of important skills if they are pushed into one-sided academic work at a young age. It is totally ignoring the variety of skills you need to get on in life. Even ivory-towered academics such as myself cannot survive on our book-reading skills alone.

Scandinavian children would probably be attending nursery between the ages of 3 and 6. There they would be doing nature trails, learning crafts and helping to prepare their own lunch. Now that is a real education!

They then pick up the phonics in a matter of weeks. Every single child in my nephew's class learnt to read fluently within a year of starting school. My ds spent 3 years of his schooling (from age 4) thinking he was stupid because his motor skills weren't up to writing and he found reading difficult. Once he was ready, the reading all came to him over the summer holidays.