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??

I think learning through as much play as possible is the best thing in reception.

I know a local school sending home maths homework, spellings, reading books in reception already and I would not be happy wtih that at all.

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'.

Hear, hear! I have been arguing on another thread with people who think that it is acceptable to employ a tutor for 3yr old children!! It is lovely to find people who think that play is important.

Agreed!!! It shows a complete lack of imagination on the part of a teacher if they have teach formally at this age. I agree we have completely lost sight of the fact that we are talking about small human beings learning about the world now walking literacy/numeracy targets!

I have two different experiences of YR.
My DD had a young teacher who did lots of desk based activites and a certain amount of formal learning whereas my DS's teacher was older and they just played and fiddled and sang.
They both left YR competent readers and writers.
Conclusion - the learning through play is as effective as formal learning.

You can never have too much play at 4 years old!! My DD's school haven't even started learning phonics yet, it is all play till after half term.

Play IS a child's work.

I am sure that her teacher will recognise if there is stuff that she is ready and keen to do and respond to that.

She is also learning how to "be" and behave at school, to cooperate with others, and from them.

You are being vv U!

They are children for such a short time and it is sad how little they get to play nowadays.

No, YANBU. I had a meeting with my daughter's English teacher specifically to discuss whether it was OK for me to start teaching her to read. DD (3.11) is very keen to learn to read, but the policy of the school is that they do not learn to read in French for another two years, and not in English until the year after that . All the teachers complain that they have to stall a lot of the children who are gagging to learn...

Its not so much the playing that concerns me (my DTs come home so tired from playing outside all day they ask to go to bed at 7 every night , but the fact that everything seems to have gone back two years.

My DS (just turned 5)was learning about shapes yesterday ie what is a square, what is a circle. He learnt about this at nursery when he was 3. (and I'm not saying this in a boasting he's-a-genius kind of way.)

Disclaimer: I am getting all my info from a 5 year old, so he could have been studying quantam physics in reality!

Yes, you are wrong to expect Reception to be all about work.

Not all children go to a pre-school set up.

I would let her enjoy it as Year 1 can be a big shock and there is very little play then.

Posters are right children of this age should be playing but we shouldn't be forced to send them to school to do so. I would much rather my DD had started a year later and in year 1. My DD didn't need to go to school to play. IMO the 'play' they talk about is yes sometimes free play but often seems to be put together so that they can tick a few boxes to complete the foundation stage profile. I agree with you swedishmum that a lot of things they do in reception such as 'teaching' them to share, change for pe, sit nicely etc my DD could do no problem. Perhaps if children started later they would all be that little bit older and be able to do it.

I don't expect formal learning obviously! I think Freshprincess has put it better.

Seems I'm a pushy parent then!

He will still be learning about shapes when he is a teenager. There is a lot more to it than 'this is a square'. Unless you know exactly what he was learning about shapes you can't make the assumption that he is going backwards.

i wouldn't want my 3 year old learning about shapes though at pre-school. obviously if they asked it is ok to tell them and whilst they are playing say things like put the square in the whole which are all things you'd do at home anyway, but not having it as something they have to learn about. ds isn't interested in shapes or jigsaws whatsoever and i would be annoyed if at pre-school he was forced to play with them and learn about them.

There can't be too much play in reception as far as I am concerned - especially for the younger ones in the year. They are 4 and 5 - plenty of time for hard boring work later!

And I'm impressed your dd could share nicely at the age of 2! Or were your expectations a little disappointed at times?

Play is good. She will be fine. Is she enjoying it?

An example of learning about shapes at pre-school - lots of big shapes in different colours all over floor, teacher says "x, can you go and stand on a blue circle? y, can you see a shape with 3 sides? z, what colour is the shape with 5 sides? Can you hop to it?" Y says, I know that's a triangle, but what's the green one called?"

I'm hardly talking about flashcards while sitting on the mat! Maybe just opportunities learn through play at a more challenging level. If you can decode "teeth" and "crunch" for example, searching through a sandpit for a letter "a" may get boring after a while. And I certainly don't think work needs to be boring.

Searching through sandpits for letters has got to be one of the more useless exercises carried out in Reception classes, I agree. Fortunately, once DS2's teacher had realised he could read, he didn't have to do that any more!

He loved Reception, though, because, like most children, he liked playing. He did a bit of work, and most of it was easy, but he didn't mind because he got to spend most of his time playing. He read a lot at home.

swedishmum - i wouldn't be happy with them doing that with my ds. a) he can't count, b) he doesn't know what a side is, c) he doesn't no any shapes and d) he can't hop. so to take part in that exercise would involve a lot of him getting it wrong and the teacher going no try again, no try again etc too much pressure imo. like i said i have no problem with them saying oh that's a blue triangle or whatever in passing when they are playing with say a shape sorter or jigsaw or whatever but not setting out to actually teach them iyswim.

Reception year for my eldest 2 DCs was just before they introduced the play based scheme. They were taught to read and write and still had loads of play time. My DD (now 13) still talks fondly of the "sound Table" where they had to take different items in to show the sound of the week!

My youngest 2 were there for the play based scheme. The theory as told to me was that DCs were being forced into things too early and by starting later with the formal work they would pick it all up quicker. This has certainly not been the case in my experience.

Our local schools have noticed that children find it a lot harder to settle into year 1 than they previously did.

I think you make a good point Mrs Weasley regarding settling into year 1. It seems to be well known (amongst parents) that year 1 brings 'proper school' and can be hard for some children to settle into. The parents and the teachers must have a difficult first half term settling some of them in.

I agree with you swedishmum actually, although my post may have read differently. I think there are quite a few children that are ready for more 'learning' in reception however the foundation stage dictates that they must not do this, although some schools seem to! The system is just not catering for all children. It does amaze me that everyone is happy to send their children to school and to play. Why can't they spend longer at home and play? Why can't children learn to get dressed etc at home, it isn't the schools job!

Lastly when you look at the foundation stage profile to me it is clear that it isn't about play it is about ticking boxes. Lots of play situations put together for them to learn things and then be photographed and given a smiley face which tells you that they 'achieved their learning objective'.

We don't get the option of keeping them home longer to play though do we unless we home-ed. The law says they have to go to school at 4/5 so if that's the case I want there to be as much play as possible. 4 is quite young to be able to completely dress themselves. if they started at 6 they would already know how to do it.

Nappyaddict, it was differentiated learning - maybe they'd ask a child if they could see a blue shape, maybe only use 2 colours, maybe give a child a card and say can you see a shape the same colour as this? Maybe do something entirely different. Activities should be aimed at success and confidence building. It's only fair that activities should stimulate children at all stages of learning, including those who may be a little older/ have had more pre-school experience.

no problem with all that if it is optional. so ds could opt out and go and play with cars or whatever if he wanted. my problem is when it becomes a box that has to be ticked and all children have to do it.