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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

others in reception that cant read or write?

39 replies

fernie3 · 30/09/2009 20:40

I have been browsing the posts on here this evening and now I have this awful feeling that my child is the one people keep accusing of holding the class back!.

she can recognize her name and a few individual letters but nothing else - and I have never even heard of any sort of coloured books (?!?!).

She counts to ten but gets confused after about 13.

She is very social, can dress undress etc.

She is one of the oldest as well she is already five!

she is loving reception and seems very happy but now I feel like I have done something awfully wrong that shes not reading and writing etc!

please tell me shes not the only one??

sophie

OP posts:

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LynetteScavo · 30/09/2009 20:42

You are not the only one.

Your DD sounds perfectly normal, with lots of potential!

KittyWalker · 30/09/2009 20:42

No no no, DS cannot read. Can recognise some of his letters - especially those very relevant to him like his initial, his sisters initial etc

He can count to about the same as your DD but calls letters numbers numbers letters

He can undress with prompting but like your DD is loving reception. The only difference is he is just 4! Not 5 until the summer.

beautifulgirls · 30/09/2009 20:44

Sounds just where my DD (also just turned 5 and started reception) is right now. There are plenty of children like this at this stage! Given another couple of years and those "behind" may not be at the back any longer. Help her enjoy her reception time by playing with her and making learning fun as you go.

cory · 30/09/2009 20:44

Neither of mine could read in Reception: homework mainly consisted of one or other of them staring at the ceiling or the floor or anywhere other than the book. They have learnt since.

Mamazon · 30/09/2009 20:45

DD is also 5 and has started reception this year.
She cannot even wrote her own name and has no idea about letters or anything.

every morning the children come into the class and are to write their names on little white boards. DD is the only one that is still unable to manage it.

I am starting to worry that everyone else seems to be "getting" it but her.

All she seems interested in is rushing off to play with the dollies and home corner.
I have bought those practice at home nbooks and we have sat for ages ebncouraging her to practice writtng letters out but she just doesn't. she has no interest at all.

madlentileater · 30/09/2009 20:45

none of my 3 dcs could read or write when they started reception, orcount much, they now have they have 12 a levels between them.
Lots of As too!
matters not a jot.
chillax as dds would say- let her enjoy herself.

EldonAve · 30/09/2009 20:45

no reading here
will attempt writing
can recognise letters but then his preschool did phonics with them before

ProfYaffle · 30/09/2009 20:47

dd1 was the same this time last year, she was 4.5, could recognise her own name and 'Tesco' knew quite a lot of letters from nursery though. She wasn't blending words til after Christmas and seemed to be about normal for her class/expected attainment.

KittyWalker · 30/09/2009 20:47

DS would not be able to write his name! He has to select his name from a list of names which he can do but write it - absolutely not.

Hulababy · 30/09/2009 20:48

I have children in my Y1 class who cannot read or write. There are definitely plenty of children in Reception who haven;t yet acquired these skills either. Infact, regardless of the skewed view MN gives, IME most children start reception unable to read and/or write. Some can to varying degrees, and others simply can't at all.

Don't worry. The social skills at this stage are by far the best ones they need.

MrsMonkfishToYou · 30/09/2009 20:49

My DD is in year 1 and is a summer baby. She started reception not being able to dress/undress herself. She couldn't read and could just about write her name.

You will be amazed how much your DD will learn during the year. Please don't worry.

Fruitbatlings · 30/09/2009 20:49

phew I thought my ds was the only one
All his friends seem to be able to recite the entire alphabet, spell their names, write their names, and can read certain words.

They're only four years old ffs!

roundabout1 · 30/09/2009 20:53

my dd was 4 in Aug, she can write her name & to from writing cards etc but doesn't know any of the letters apart from those in her name. She can count up to 10 & knows the bigger numbers but not in the right order. Her number recognition isn't very good after 5. I wouldn't worry, they will get there when they are ready, my dd's school hasn't really started doing "work" yet. They talk about shapes & numbers but no proper homework or reading book, just one that dd chooses from the library.

Mamazon · 30/09/2009 20:53

DSD is 5 months older than DD and is so much more advanced academically it does worry me.

They are only expected to copy their names from a printed laminated card so that the learn to form the letters and of course recognise their names. but she just cannot do it.

Her pre school had a policy of not teaching, and just allowing the children to "learn through play" DS has Sn and i was gratefull ofthis approach after he was pushed so badly at his pre school. i am now regretting not choosing somehwere a little more academically minded.

but that said, i have tried activities with her at home adn she just doesn't seem interested at all. its almost as though she simply isn't ready to learn

paddingtonbear1 · 30/09/2009 20:53

my dd couldn't read or write in reception. She could count a bit but didn't know any letters. She just had no interest at all - getting her to do the homework was a constant battle! She was only interested in playing at that stage - and largely still is at 6!

NotSoRampantRabbit · 30/09/2009 20:54

DS is 4.3 and only knows a few letters (and not reliably), can't write name, can count to 10 then gets wobbly, and calls letters numbers and vice versa.

He is having fun though and has picked up the letters 's' and 'a' this week alone so I figure he's getting going.

I don't push it at home as he has never shown interest before and is too tired after school.

Have discovered that it is possible for me to feel initimidated by 4 year olds.

dilbertina · 30/09/2009 20:57

My dd is just yr1 now, and can read and write to a perfectly adequate standard. She couldn't read or write at all at start of reception, other than her name (sort of!). Don't worry, this is what reception is for. At the school she did reception at they did a pre-start parent evening where they stressed the most important thing was the skills your dd already has - dressing, toilet unaided, positive attitude etc. Sounds like you've prepared her perfectly to me - and if she's enjoying it there really is nothing to worry about.

paddingtonbear1 · 30/09/2009 20:57

Mamazon, dd was exactly the same as yours at 5. She just wasn't interested. Her nursery was also mainly play based. Now she's 6 we still have battles, she prefers playing and her concentration at school is poor. She is getting more interested in reading although her real forte is creative things like art.
I do think they push them too hard, too young in the UK - some kids are ready yes but a lot aren't.

tobago04 · 30/09/2009 21:00

Thought reading and writing was what they went to school for
I would'nt be worried,dd can write her name,and has learnt to read the words,i,a,can,play,mum and dog this week[homework from school] I'm well impressed

planejane · 30/09/2009 21:02

My ds was one of only 3 in the class that knew most of the letter sounds when he started in reception. Not saying that in a boasty way, just to say your dc will be in the majority and also that, probably as a result of reading threads on MN, had been expecting my ds to be maybe middle-bottom of the class as he couldn't read at all, so was very (pleasantly) surprised to find he was top of the class!!

3rdnparty · 30/09/2009 21:02

ds is 4.5 - is quite good on letters but not really interested in reading - likes being read to - and nowhere near writing - as far as I can tell has not picked up a pencil/felt tip pen or even paint brush since starting reception but is really enjoying it - there seems to be a real mix of knowledge in his class - not related to age either - trying to not let myself be bothered about it

4ever21 · 30/09/2009 21:11

to be honest, reception is not all about reading and writing. A lot of kids really start off not even recognizing their own names. Reception year is a bridge btw nursery and primary school.The emphasis is really on a lot of social maturity, sharing, listening skills etc.

I wouldn't worry too much at this stage. my ds is in year one now, and lots of kids that couldn't even count to ten are now reading well.

try not to worry so much, just support her as much as you can without putting pressure on her. I made the mistake of putting too much pressure on my ds back then and he just went off it all together.

let her enjoy reception cos truly once she gets to year one, and you have lots of homework to do and lots of reading books to go through, you'll miss the 'play' in reception!

katiestar · 01/10/2009 09:33

I have a friend whose DS only knew 'a' and 's' at the start of reception and by the end was one of the best readers in a very able class reading purple books which for those that don't know i think equate to 2b the standard expected at the end of Y2.

singersgirl · 01/10/2009 10:10

Don't rely on Mumsnet for an idea of what most children are doing when they start school. Most children can't read or write in any meaningful way. Lots of children don't know any letters at all; lots more know some letters and can write their names; a few know all their letters and can read a write a bit; a very few more can read and write relatively well.

I guess people tend to post about extremes of one kind or another - either 'my child can read fluently; will they be bored?' or 'my child is really struggling with x/y/z'. As a result the responses will be skewed, with lots of parents whose children could also read (or were struggling) coming on to support or offer advice.

Reading Mumsnet too much will make you panic completely unnecessarily about your child's progress.

Your daughter sounds absolutely fine. Social and practical skills are by far the most useful at this stage, and she'll learn to read and write at school.

MsDav · 01/10/2009 11:00

My late summer born DS, now in Yr2 Couldn't read or write when he started reception. By the end he was on the top reading table. He isn't so good at maths still and his handwriting even now is fairly illegible with many reversals most of the time but I'm not stressing it, it will come... I hope!

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