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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

Bright child getting bored at reception

126 replies

zansi · 19/01/2010 18:31

Hi this is my first post and really need some advice from experienced mums. My 5 year old daughter recently started reception at a local small state comununity school. She has really enjoyed it so far but is now getting bored.She is already a fluent reader and is good at basic Maths too. However, even though the teacher knows this, as a class they are learning beginner phonics which she finds very boring as she knows this already. She told me she asked the teacher to give her something new to do and her teacher says no, she has to do what the class are doing. I feel my daughter is just being ignored without being stretched further in Maths and English. I have already spoken to the teacher about this but don't want to be seen as a pushy parent.I am doing stuff at home with her but don't have much time and feel the school should be addressing my concerns. any advice on what to do please

OP posts:

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Pitchounette · 19/01/2010 20:28

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amidaiwish · 19/01/2010 20:33

i had this last year - dd was reading fluently before starting school and good at maths. the first term she went along with everyone else but by january she sat out the phonics stuff with another boy and they did their news book/some other work. They may be waiting to go through the whole phonics sounds to ensure she really does know them all before taking her out.

def agree with sideways stretching - swimming, tennis, piano, french, chess, art, history, geography... anything to keep her stimulated but away from the reading/english/maths they'll be focusing on at school.

Concentrate on having friends over for tea, the social/emotional side of things. There's only so much phonics etc they do at school once they've gone through all the sounds. When they get into topics she'll be a lot less bored and they can adapt it for different levels.

sylar · 19/01/2010 20:38

The practice probably won't hurt as long as they are giving her the right reading books etc. DS1 is in reception and is also a very good reader. He still does the jolly phonics stuff with the group (and actually enjoys the singing) but then he's reading the year 2 books. I disagree about not doing stuff at home though. I would have thought its even more important to do stuff at home if she really is bored at school.

pofarced · 19/01/2010 20:45

we have been through this too this year. In fact we have taken ds out for a term as we are going overseas with my dh for work, but last term I was told ds would have to do exactly the same as everyone else, and even if he reads well he would have to do letters and phonics. He is doing more stuff with me this term and will go back next term. I do find it frustrating how they will not tailor teaching to a child's ability but I guess they have huge numbers.

merrymonsters · 20/01/2010 09:55

My DS2 is in reception at a state school and he reads very well. He is not made to sit through phonics lessons. There are 3-4 kids in the class who can already read and they do some other literacy work during the phonics lessons. He also has reading books suitable for his level.

I have heard of schools which make children go through every single ORT book of every level and I'm glad our school just gives the right level to start with.

Surely, even giving her a book to read to herself would be better than making her sit through jolly phonics if she finds it boring?

A good school should be able to teach children at the right level even with 30 kids in the class.

englishpatient · 20/01/2010 11:48

I think schools (and teachers within a school) vary greatly in how they deal with this. They ought to be differentiating the work to suit the children's abilities, but this often does not happen. Do you have any other schools locally that you could have a look at? I'm not suggesting moving her at this stage, but I think it's worth seeing what's done at other schools, as you may find this problem continues as she moves up the school (I'm speaking from experience here!)

princessparty · 20/01/2010 15:06

They will only be doing jolly phonics for a few minutes each day.So is she bored with all the playing , artwork , music etc that gioes on for the other 6 hours ?

thegrammerpolicesic · 20/01/2010 17:28

My thoughts exactly Princess. Ds didn't learn anything much when it comes to the three Rs in the first term but he was never bored as there was so much fun stuff going on. Even when they did the phonics which he knew a year or two before he started, he wasn't bored as far as I know as he enjoyed the songs.

Are you sure she really is bored or is it that she isn't challenged - the two are a little different imho.

primaryteacher1 · 20/01/2010 17:35

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overmydeadbody · 20/01/2010 17:37

Talk to the teacher.

She should be differenciating anyway, based on ability, and there should be lots of different activities and opportunities to access learning in the class in reception based on ability, so there is no reason your DD should be bored if the teacher is properly teaching reception.

overmydeadbody · 20/01/2010 17:38

and agree wiht princess, there will be very few times i the day that they do whole class work with the teacher as one class, most of the day will be more about learning through play and exploration, she really shouldn't be bored.

mrz · 20/01/2010 17:48

The "beginning" phonics probably lasts for a whole ten minutes which she will be expected to sit as part of the class. Part of starting school is learning routines and rules.

amidaiwish · 20/01/2010 19:07

in our school the phonics was definitely a good 30-45 minutes first thing each morning. they do need to check that she really does know all the sounds so she doesn't run into problems later. but as soon as they go through all the phonemes (sp?) then, if her knowledge is solid, then imo she should be allowed to do something else. that is what they did with DD1 and another boy, no pushing from me whatsoever. (and i dont think DD was bored, she likes "knowing" stuff!)

mrz · 20/01/2010 20:21

I would question that a reception class are asked to sit for 35 - 40 mins as this is definitely inappropriate

Original poster

zansi · 20/01/2010 21:05

Thanks to everyone who has replied to my post. It really helps to get other viewpoints. I think I will ask the teacher if she can give her something else to do whilst they learn phonics. My main gripe was that my daughter asked the teacher if she could do something more challenging and was told no!.Surely they should be encouraging her.She is very happy otherwise and has made great friends but as she has already been to a nursery school for the past 2 years she feels she is still doing the same things and thats why she is getting bored.
Should I ask about any other support that may be available in the school or is that going to far?.
I hear in other schools they give worksheets for the children to be getting on with. What does your school do? and how is it different to what they do in private school as a comparison.
I would be very interested to know.

OP posts:

mrz · 20/01/2010 21:21

zansi sorry if this offends you but your daughter has to learn to be part of a class as this is an important social skill and that involves working as a whole class for a very short time out of the school day. She will be presented with other more challenging activities at other times.
How many children in her class and how many adults? How many children that may need different activities because they are bored?

bruffin · 20/01/2010 21:56

Yur DD will not be the only one on that level. I used to listen to children read in reception and I had 5 or 6 fluent readers and later so was my DD and she was never bored,she was far too interested in everything else.

amidaiwish · 20/01/2010 22:10

true bruffin
for example when they are doing the sound "ch" dd came home saying the letter today was "ch" for chocolate, choose, cheese... but not "tuesday", but it sounds like ch doesn't it mummy, doesn't it? is that a trick one, really tricky isn't it?

etc etc

she shouldn't be just sitting there "bored".

thegrammerpolicesic · 20/01/2010 23:44

I agree with Mrz. I have had similar issues to you OP but I would think it's only reasonable to expect a separate ten minute session or whatever for your dd a day or something longer a couple of times a week. She does need to be part of the whole class stuff even if it isn't at 'her level' all the time.

megapixels · 21/01/2010 00:00

Did your 5 year old actually ask the teacher "Can I do something more challenging?". Please don't take this the wrong way but I think a lot of the time it's not the child that's bored but the parent feeling that their "far ahead" child (and even that is subjective, the teacher may not think so) should be doing something different to the others. Obviously I'm not saying that must be so in your case, I wouldn't know, but everytime I go to a function, meet new people and the topic turns to children and school everyone has the same old mantra "X is way ahead of her peers, I'm really worried about how bored she is". Just makes me go , surely it doesn't make sense that everybody's child is ahead of their class.

Clary · 21/01/2010 00:14

There is a girl in the FS2 class I am in atm who is an unbelievable reader. I mean I have never seen such a good reader at this age.

So I imagine she is sitting there in phonics sessions thinking "uh-huh, I can do this". But the sessions only last 10 mins anyway, and then we all go and do some writing and practise - well she can do that as well as she likes.

Actually her motor control isn't fantastic and there are other areas where she could improve as well so I am not worried that she is bored (she doesn't seem bored btw, but I was just going from OP's view of good reader getting fed up).

I agree with others, most of the day in FS2 is free choice where she can choose some harder stuff to do, or general things like social skills etc.

Is she getting the right books tho? The girl I mention here is on about stage 7 ORT.

mrz speaks sense as usual.

lol at megapixels, yes sometimes you feel as if everyone's child must be ahead seems unlikely

SecretSlattern · 21/01/2010 00:21

She is in reception! I fail to see how a child could be bored in reception if they are learning through play for the best part of the day.

pofarced · 21/01/2010 09:39

well actually there are things that ds needs extra help in at school, like motor skills and writing, but he doesn't get the extra help either. I know there is plenty of time but I think in a large class it is hard for the teacher to give any child the extra help they need, be they more able or more challenged on an issue.

OttersOnIce · 21/01/2010 09:46

As children we were always told when we were 'bored', that
"Only boring people get bored."
And I think there is a truth in this.
TO be honest I would be more concerned about her lack of imagination, if she is really bored by reception after only a few months.

paisleyleaf · 21/01/2010 09:55

""Only boring people get bored."
My mum used to say this.

I'm surprised a 5 year old is asking the teacher for more challenging work - my DD is just all pleased with herself when she can already do stuff. It's boosted her confidence.

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