Is there any point in mentioning to the teacher that my reception child is bored because she already knows this stuff?

[Aranea]

Dd1 is in reception. She is generally happy there I think, and I am very pleased that she is learning to socialise better. I regard this as one of the main goals of reception really, the other being developing an enthusiasm for school and a positive attitude to learning.

I have a meeting scheduled with the teacher to discuss a couple of things, and one thing she has mentioned is that dd1 tends to stop paying attention and zones out. She told me that she had been trying to use more visual techniques in an effort to hold her attention, but that it doesn't seem to work. She said that she thinks it's a 'choice' on dd1's part to stop paying attention.

I have spoken to dd1 about whether she enjoys listening to what the teacher has to say, and she says she finds it boring having to sit on the carpet listening, and that she tends to start paying attention to her invisible friends instead. She says that because she already knows all the letter sounds it's boring having to listen to it all.

Is there any point in relaying this to the teacher, do you think? I suppose really my main concern is that at this early stage dd1 is getting into a habit of thinking that the teacher isn't saying anything interesting. But would there be anything to be done about that? I presume that in a class of 30 there is no chance of children being taught different stuff according to their level of knowledge.

So do I just accept that dd1 is going to be bored and zoned out on the carpet? I don't want to be Pushy Mummy, and in itself I am not too worried as I don't see any need for her to be progressing faster than she is already. It's just that I think there are dangers in allowing her to think school is boring.

Sorry for waffle.

I am the Easter Bunny - you are quite right. They will not have done 'ch' for an hour. Probably 10mins!

Best not to listen to children!

Good advice/comments here.

Your DD sounds like my DS1. His summary of reception was always how "boring" carpet time was - I got very little insight from him into what happened the rest of the day, and I think he (like many of us!) had highlighted the negative part of the day and expanded it somewhat! At times I had the impression that he was sitting on that carpet all day.

If your DD's teacher is asking her more searching questions then that shows she is aware of your DD's abilities/potential.

Great that she's doing so well.

Glad post was interesting and thanks for positive comments

Agree wholeheartedly about the value of mixed ability/class lessons, particularly at this stage. I used to do phonics and have a go writing as a class - phonics follow up was differentiated and the writing tasks were differentiated by result, with more confident pupils producing more fluent work. I also gave less confident pupils a lot of support, whereas some were more independent in their writing.For reading, I did a lot of class work using real books, as reading not all revolving round scheme and mixed ability reading partners can inspire each other. However, I did use reading scheme regularly as well, and this was where most obvious groupings could be found - couldn't all always work at same pace or level as big differences in fluency and comprehension, so yes grammerpolicesic, would probably expect some sort of groupings by now.

I am sure that early on in the school year those who had good nursery experience/were quicker learners sometimes felt a bit bored by me too! Like cory's comment about it being like taking turns and allowing for different rates of learning. However, by February I would be worried if any children still felt they'd seen a lot of things before.
I think sometimes the more dynamic you are as a teacher the more kids pay attention. I used to put on a bit of a show and be larger than life, whilst still of course getting down to the serious business of helping kids break the alphabetic code! Am not saying the teacher is not dynamic - she sounds a lot more switched on than i was when i started out-but the more confident you are the more of a presence you gain and hence more attention from pupils.Your daughter will come across many personalities as she progresses through school, and the fact is taht she'll respond better to some rather than others so she is definitely not doomed to be bored throughout school! Again not criticising her teacher in any way, but shemay still be a bit lacking in confidence. Have found that kids, even when just started school, can sniff out a mile away if anyone is nervous or a bit unsure. Anyway, she sounds caring and the important thing is that your daughter is happy and making good progress!

Builde and Easter Bunny

I wish you were right. Unfortunately I witnessed some literacy hours. They did do one phonic sound for the whole hour.

DS no longer at that school.

This is all very interesting and illuminating. I am beginning to think that there is no real point in letting the teacher know. She has already observed that she is losing dd1's attention at times, which is good, and I suspect that to hear the reason given by dd1 might just be unhelpful.

She is a very nice, very caring and committed teacher I think, and she seems to me to work very hard to help the children get the most out of their time at school. But it is of course possible that her inexperience shows through at times. I know that dd1 has always tended to respond best to very dynamic people, so while her very kind and caring teacher is in some ways the perfect person to see her safely through reception, I can imagine that there might be moments when dd1 might actually pay more attention to someone a bit more fiery.

I don't know what more her poor teacher is realistically in a position to do to keep dd1 interested during carpet time. So perhaps it would be best to keep a bit quiet for now. And yes, I do absolutely realise that carpet time is a very small part of the day. Thank god! I am so glad that learning through play is in vogue, as actually playing with other children (as opposed to invisible friends) is the thing dd1 needs the most practice in.

I know that my little girl's reception class were put into groups for guided reading after a week. There were some minor changes to these towards the first half-term, but mostly they were the same. They're named after animals - I think I've worked out that tiger group is the lowest ability group.