Progress and Achievement in Year 2

[iloverainbows]

I am concerned about the progress that my DD has made in year 2, especially in maths. I would be grateful for other Mumsnetters experience of the progress made and work done by their DCs in this important year.

For example in maths have your DCs been covering times tables and what is their recall like. Have they covered division? Do you feel that they have a good understanding of the basics?

In reading - have they been encouraged to read a range of texts e.g. poetry and to look at a range of authors?

Thanks.

DD1 has learned the 2, 5 and 10 times tables, adding and subtracting using number lines, adding larger numbers using partitioning. They are just starting to work on division under the heading of "sharing". She seems to be making good progress.

Not sure that Year 2 is any more or less important than any other year though?

Thanks Bramshott, I just feel it is important as they will be moving up to juniors next year when I am expecting the work to ramp up a bit and I am worried she isn't prepared for this.

What are your specific concerns?

My concerns are that she hasn't been challenged enough at school. Whilst in maths they have convered many areas they havent yet done any division or tackled any times tables beyond 2, 5 and 10. I guess I need to qualify this by saying that my DD is quite bright especially good at maths (not just my opinion, we were told this in year 1).

WRT reading she has been free reading since year 1 however there hasn't been any effort to encourage her to read different texts, test comprehension of books etc. Before anyone says about the library/books at home etc, of course we do this however I am looking for guidance/encouragement/movitationn from the school - they are the experts.

Is she changing schools for Year 3? Surely if she is staying the same school then they will make sure she is adequately prepared.

It sounds as though she is doing very similar things to DD1's class (FWIW the don't do much extended reading either, I think they do more of that in the Juniors) and I don't have any particular concerns about DD1 - she is at a good school, and is bright, but not particularly gifted.

Is your DD bored at school, or in Maths in particular? I can see that you might be concerned if you feel that the work she's being given is not stimulating enough for her.

An 'average' Y2 child, achieving Level 2 in SATS will be expected to know 2,10,5x tables. Children working at Level 3 will be introduced to other x tables.

She is staying at the same school and yes has started saying she is bored and I don't feel the work is stimulating enough for her. We have been told that she is above average however when I look at the work they are doing there is nothing to indicate to me that she is being stretched.

The reason for my post was to try and see what if others have covered up to this point. So have your DCs already covered the 2,5 and 10 times tables - done and dusted and moving on, have they done division are they pushing ahead into year 3 type stuff?

I help in my DD's class for a morning a week, so I have a vague idea of what is going on! DD has done the 2,5,10 to death by now. They don't specifically do other times tables but they are doing other multiplications. Do number line adding and subtraction, multiple number sums (ie. 10+13+21=) etc.

I think they are just getting into division - when I was there this am they were dividing up pictures of food into quarters, thirds etc and colouring them.

As for literacy, I help with the guided reading, and I know they regularly look at poetry, tounge-twisters, riddles etc and talk around different ways of presenting text,stories,ideas etc.

I did a poetry session with Y1 this am and they loved it. I'm sure she's being exposed to it - maybe it's just not being communicated to you very well? I'd be concerned if the teacher wasn't using different types of text in the classroom, so maybe just check with her?

As regards your child being stretched, I think that's a seperate conversation really. My DD is in Y2, predicted level 3 for sats (not that I care about them or will bother to find out). I suspect she could be stretched more as she is clearly 'coasting'. However, she has lacked confidence in the past and is enjoying feeling good at stuff, so for the sake of this term I'm happy for her to enjoy that feeling to take into Y3 when as you say things get more serious.

My DS is in Y1 and a bit of a maths boffin, to the point that is bloody obvious to anyone who spends any time with him that Y1 maths would be a waste of time for him. His teacher has a plan in place for him and he gets 20 mins 1-2-1 every day on maths and is currently working at Y3 level, but they're tring the old 'sideways' streching. He needs streching, she doesn't. So I guess I'm saying if she's just slightly above the work they're doing I don't think the school has to pull out all the stops for her, but if she's really not learning a THING then they should.

Sorry so long, just my experience!

Thanks Suecy. I guess I believe, well I know, that they aren't stretching her but there isn't much I can do about it (otherthan try to introduce stuff where appropriate at home).

Have to admit I have similar concerns about my dd not being extended at her school - she is also a Yr2.

Have reconciled ourselves to extending her education at home e.g. 3,4 and 11 times table, spelling rules such as how to make words ending in y plural, use of punctuation marks like ! and ? etc. We even go as far as correcting her spelling when she does written work - I know we are going to burn in hell!

Only thing we are happy that the school has got right is dd's reading - she has guided reading with Yr3 which includes plays, poems fiction and non-fiction. She also gets to read a book of her own choosing to an adult once a week - currently this is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Although we try to extend dd at home much of this e.g. tables and spellings is done in the car on the way to and from school or on the way to visit aunty etc. so no longer than 10 minutes at a time.

Having reconciled ourselves to this we also resent the fact that we feel that we have to take up the slack from school. We had to teach dd how to form her letters during the summer hols because school had not worked enough on it with her and then the teachers tried to take the credit for it at the start of Yr2!

So I can empathise completely with OP.

Oh well, you'll all be able to set up your own school soon enough.

Not sending my dcs there!

Personal bandwagon warning: before extending to other tables do make sure she knows: mutiplication is the same as adding up lots of things, that division is the reverse of multiplication (try 3x?=6 to start with), and if she can use real life problem, I buy ten sweets at 3p each how much does it cost.
Also introduce other tables by counting in 3's etc.
My youngest DD is the same age and in top group, she has started on the 3s. But I also bought her Whizzmaths fr a year just to help her extend herself. Do keep telling your daughter she is good at maths, as she needs that record playing in her head.
with reading, just get her to read as widely as she can outside school, build up a love of reading.