others in reception that cant read or write?

[fernie3]

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

My DS started reception not being able to read or write. He really struggled with phonics too! Last year he did his year 2 SATS and achieved the highest level in all subjects. He is in the top reading group and HOOVERS UP books at home! Please believe me that your child's academic future is not set in stone when they start Reception. Many of those children who struggled academically in reception (like my DS) will be streets ahead of their seemingly more able peers in a few years time.

You are definitely not the only one. My dd (4.6 yrs) has just started reception and she can't read or write. Last Christmas I was surprised that most of her pre-school friends wrote their own names on her Christmas cards, so I felt the same way as you even though she was only 3. She still has no interest in writing her name and I have never pushed her to do it. In the last 2 weeks of reception she has learnt the sounds for the letters a, s and t and has learnt to write the letter a. She has brought 2 ORT books home so far and neither of them have words in them so I guess the school want to start with the basics and don't expect anything from them yet.

DS is 4.4. He can most certainly not read. He will recognise his name and numbers up to 20. He know some letters and their sounds. He can not write his name. His fine motor skills are a bit behind (because he is a very flexible boy, which means he has longer ligaments then most and so is what some people would call loose jointed). I don't really care. If he can wrte his name at the end of reception and learn all the letters and their sounds that's enoug for me. He does love books and I'm sure it will all fall into place in the next year or two. It is his motor skills and not his brain development which needs to catch up.

Needless to say we have not yet embarked on the footie club because his little legs are also not particularly coordinated. Poor chap.

Don't you think that writing their name is a very unfair goal ? I mean Sam Wood has a massive advantage over Christopher Haythornthwaite.

Neither of my elder dc could read or write in reception, and they were both among the eldest in their year. Ds1 could write his (very short) first name, and they could both recognise their (very long) surname. Reading 'clicked' for ds1 in the summer hols, and he returned to school reading 'proper' books. For dd reading clicked in the second half of Y1, and within a couple of months she was also capable of reading 'proper' books.

I don't think there's anything wrong with your dd, and I don't think she's holding anyone back either.

Im so glad she isnt the only one!
I was so pleased with how she was doing before and was really surprised to read about other children reading and writing etc!

I will go back to enjoying her drawings and her lovely pasta bracelets!

sophie

My dd went into reception being able to write nothing.

She is now year 1, can do joined up and has almost finished the reading scheme. So, don't worry - no reception teachers expect children to be able to read and write before the age of 4.

Don't panic.

DD started school last year, aged 6yo and is now reading and writing at age 7yo.

We are in Switzerland and they start formal schooling later here.

From what I have seen, the children who learn later seem to pick it up faster and go straight on to reading proper books.

DS is 5yo and can count to 14 (in French, not sure if he can in English) and can right his name and MAMA. Zats it.

DS1 started reception being able to do the same sorts of things as your DD. There were lots of other like him and some (not many) who could already read and write. It's absolutely not a problem and great that is happy there.

sorry - great that SHE is happy there.

she's happy! Sounds great!

and honestly, are people accusing children of holding a reception class back? surely you are kidding me.

(and my dd didn't/wouldn't write till v late - she was about 7 I think)

My DD was 5 the day before she started reception. She certainly couldn't read 6 weeks into the term. Like your DD, she was very independent with dressing and had great social skills. (It's these skills that all reception teacher really needs for you to have fostered when they start school.)

Some of her class mates could read and write before they went to school. By the end of year 2 she was on par with them and now in year 6 she has overtaken many of them and is achieving very highly.

Stop fretting!

My dd can write her name - in the diagonal and with capital letter often back to front!

She has had her baseline assessment thingies and 'passed with flying colours' so I wouldn't worry at all. School do not need them reading and writing, they are planning on teaching them. They will expect massive range and are geared up to give appropriate taks accross the board.

Maybe it's better to have her happy, able to do her basic 'cares' like buttons etc, than be able to read but mega stressed about how to handle toilet time. It's swings nad roundabout.

I used to love making pasta pictures

Teaching children how to read and write - that's school's job (with parental support).

I didn't teach my son anything academic before he started school (though he did bits at preschool without realising it).

Your daughter sounds lovely and she'll do it in her own good time.