Calling all Reception teachers - what makes you hate parents?

[spiralqueen]

A friend who has not long retired from teaching at a primary school recently warned us that our DD knowing too much on arrival at Reception would make the staff hate us. Is this true - honest opinions and not the PC line?

(We have a horror of small children being dragged to "mandarin for toddlers" and the like but she does go to nursery part time. She has picked up a great deal but that has not been because we have been pushing her)

You do have to remember though that there is a difference between what some children do at home and what they show they are capable of at school. A teacher can only report on what he/she sees in school.

It may just be that they work better in their home environment or in a one-to-one with an adult situation.

For example some children in my pre-school class might write their names at home with their mums sitting with them and helping them, but lack the confidence to do it in the classroom. It will come in time, but there is no point pushing them too hard if they aren't ready!

My DS2 always behaved and performed better at home as he doesn't work well in a class of 30. With all the will in the world his teacher can't do a lot about that!

If you think he needs a 1:1 then ask for him to be referred for an assesment. If a child in my class spent every day sitting under the table spinning things and ignoring everyone I would certainly be looking into an assesment!

tribunal my ds1 (dx aspergers) would do exactly that too( took him to drs appt this am and he was lying on the floor under the bed spinning wheels on the toys within minutes) and he has some 1-1 provision in the mornings.
The 1-1 does do a lot of work on his social skills (eg how to ask a kid to play/how to play chase) as well as his (weak) academic stuff. I have wondered if he'd get more hours if he wasn't so well behaved! I assume you're fighting for the help from your nickname.? My ds1 makes progress (slowly) because of school and home, but it has varied according to the teacher.
I have learned to start every conversation with school with a positive and then make my request for whatever, but I think I'm very lucky with the school.

I don't understand the wht am I going to do for 6 weeks bit. We have the children. We chose to have the children (in most cases) so surely we should understand that part and parcel of having children is that there will be school hols?

I look on the flip side. No homework. No packed lunch. No running out the door in the morning. No looking for that pe kit or the bloody book bag which disappears overnight. No loitering in the playground, I forget the housework and all the day to day chores and actually embrace the fact that we are completely free to just enjoy ourselves.

Thank you, Imarriedafrog. Admittedly, now that all 3 of my DC are in the education system I dread the longer holidays less, but I am still aware that my DC (don't know about anyone else's) are very well behaved at school, but not necessarily when they're with me. And 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is not 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.

And a few hours work a week make me a much happier mother in general. But I won't be working through the summer holidays.

I can honestly say when I was broody i only thought of tiny tiny newborns and a yearning to be pregnant not school run traumas and six week holidays

Good to hear that my friend's view may be a bit off the mark - perhaps the Early Years curriculum develops DCs at a faster rate than used to be the case in years gone by.

I would say that it very difficult to judge your DC's ability when it is your first child and you don't have much experience of small children. My DD amazes me at times but I have only the feedback from nursery staff to go on and I always suspect they tell everyone their children are bright

spiralqueen I am not sold on the early years curriculum - just looks like common sense squished into a 'framework' which is then used as an excuse for spending a billion pounds

Isn't ability just relative to other people anyway? You are told it's unconstructive for you as a parent to compare your child to others, but isn't that what the teacher does when deciding which set to place a child in for certain things?

BigGreenBin: that is exactly how I look at the school holidays! I love them

'Since when was it schools job to teach the child to read etc? '

um since they called themselves a school ?

'In preschool, ds achieved about 4/5 of the early years foundation stage targets. I went through with my highlighter and added another 38. Shocking!

Teacher didn't believe me.'

Now you are the sort of parent I would hate if I were a teacher!

It's also essential that those taught skills are practised little and often, katiestar, and that's where parents come in.

I'm with mrz, spiralqueen - ridiculous statement.

This idea that you shouldn't teach your child to read in case it makes the lives of teachers harder really boils my bloody.

I also totally relate to the parent who went through the school report with a highligter pen, actually . DS's last report said he 'needed to work on hs numeracy skills'. I questioned this and was made to feel like Mrs PFB from Pushyville.

An Ed Psych report just put him on the 97th centile for children his age for mathematical ability and non-verbal reasoning (working at Year 5 level).

I'm not interested in boasting about my 'gifted' child. I am interested in his teachers having some idea of his capabilities, though.

Feenie how did the meeting go at your ds's school? Did you sit on your hands, or could you just not contain all your questions

It's bollocks though, reasonabledoubt. Our Reception teacher is delighted when she finds out kids can read - and as IF it would make her job harder. I've never met a teacher who says this - apart from my Reception teacher when I was 4, and since she was absolutely ancient then, she is probably dead by now. It's a philosophy that isn't in existence now, thank goodness .

We get upset at our school with parents who don't feed their children, clothe them adequately, keep them clean or, as happened to one poor mite recently, give them a birthday present or even a sodding card .

Katiestar is not a teacher.