Possibly need help with DD

[lovecheese]

Hi, this is long so please be warned; DD is 9, in year 4. She got all 2as and 3s in yr 2 SATs and was placed in top sets (out of 4 groups) in year 3, and did "enrichment" sctivities for history which is her favourite subject. She was happy, we were happy. However now in yr4 she has been dropped down 2 groups for maths and one group for literacy, although she is still in the top group for guided reading. She is getting a bit despondant and to be honest i am hearing alarm bells ringing. She has been pulled up for not following instructions/reading questions properly in the past. My gripe is was she placed in too high groups last year and couldnt deliver the goods or has she suddenly slipped with her ability? I intend to see her (on the ball)teacher ASAP but wondered if anyone else has had similar? DD wants to study history at Uni but cant get through to her that this is a very competitive area. Is all this just because she is 9 and the hormones are kicking in? feel really miffed because this time last year she was doing so well. Thanks for listening.

Very early days to be worrying about her university yet. More to the point, does she feel happy and fulfilled now? Is she getting the satisfaction of doing the best she can and finding out new and exciting things?

Is it possible that there are more groups in year 4? In our school, the groups are subdivided in year 4, so what was the top group in year 3 becomes 2 smaller groups (IYSWIM). Reading the question properly is a lesson that a lot of them (especially the bright ones!) take a long time to master, so I wouldn't worry about that. And it's far too early to worry about university - she'll be a different person in2 year's time, never mind 9!

Talk to the teacher - particularly about her being despondent, and find out exactly what she has to do to move up again - groups should be fluid at this age.

I have noticed that in DS2's class Year5. A lot of the kids who were in lower groups have now moved up and many who were in top groups are now in middle. I think some of the kids who took a bit longer to get started with things like reading have now caught up. I know quite a lot tutored in year 3 and kids went from the bottom to the top tables in maths. some of these have dropped back down to migddle now they have stopped. The age bias within the class is also supposed to even up age 8. So there may be many factors.

Children learn and develop at different times.Some children may have 'leap-frogged' your DD .But you may well find that your DD will 'overtake' again.