how much of a jump is yr 3?

[houseofboys]

My DS has only just settled to the more formal work in yr 2 - and his favourite days are the days they have free play (two afternoon sessions a week). He says they don't have this in yr 3. How much harder work is it as its KS2? He already equates work with boring, which is worrying... He's at a primary school, btw.

The work will carry on from where he left off - i.e. it will start at his level.

If his school is doing the job right, the work will get harder for him as an individual rather than expecting him to keep up with a defined level.
When I taught Y3, I had children who could write three sentences, and children who could write, punctuate and use similes over a page in the same time. Likewise with maths. And PE and every subject area.
In our school, KS2 is more formal, doesn't have afternoon play and the actual day is longer by around 15 mins. Homework expectations are there as well.

Marking my place...

DS1 goes into Year 3 in September. We are in Wales so the Foundation Phase goes up to the end of Year 2 so it may well be a big jump for him.

Do they still have what he calls 'choosing time' though? When they can play with lego or read or draw... I"ve heard that yr 3 can be a tricky year in that its harder and they don't make the same progress in levels etc.. is there any truth in that?

It shouldn't be - the difference in assessments used to be huge, but now Y2 is teacher assessment only then the assessment procedures should be the same across the school.

I think the work is age and level appropriate judging by what my son (now year 4) seems to do. BUt there is less free time definately, less learning through play, dressing up / creative areas in classrooms(lets not forget these kids are still only 7 when they start)

No choosing time, although we do use drama, dressing up and lego in other areas of the curriculum. It's not all static and sitting at desks writing, honestly.
Why not save the worry until you know there's something to worry about?

My main worry is the fact that DS1 has no idea who will be teaching him. The Year 3/4 teacher is leaving at the end of term and they don't appoint a new one until next week.

He has a great relationship with the current Year 3/4 teacher and is very, very sad to see him go.

It is also the third time that this has happened. His Reception teacher retired halfway through his time in her class, then last year the teacher in the Year 1/2 class left at the end of Year 1 and so he had a new teacher in Year 2.

He doesn't like change so it's not ideal (although he must be quickly learning how to deal with change TBH).

I know the previous year found it a big leap to Year 3, and the teacher openly moaned that they hadn't learnt enough in Year 2 with the old teacher to be able to cope with Year 3 work.

It's just the fear of the unknown really isn't it?

I'm worried about this too, that DS1 will be expected to manage his time for himself, or remember where to go, etc, without being given any help. He's just not that sort of self-sufficient child.

Ridiculous. There isn't any such thing as 'Y3 work', the silly woman.

There are Y3 topics, but the level of work starts with the children, whether or not, as Goblinchild says, they can write 3 sentences or War and Peace!

Ds is in YR3 now, he struggled a bit as his school dropped the afternoon playtime, apart form on Fridays, which he really needed.

They now get guided reading written homework, which horrified him, but he has got to grips with it now as a necessary evil.

He has not complained about anything else, so I think it's more of the same really.

It was a silly man actually

It seems to vary but is there anything you could do with him over the summer to help him find learning fun?

Could you work on a project in a subject that interests him or practice some writing by chalking in the garden or something?

My DS has just finished Y3. It was symbolically a big deal as he moved from pre-prep to prep (in a different building), but there was otherwise no leap. It just carried on where he left off at the end of Y2. They did expect a degree of self-sufficiency, but turned a blind eye to parental help with organisation.

I've had a dilemma about whether to do stuff with him or not this summer. Not much can be disguised as fun tbh - he sniffs out 'work' at 100 paces. Part of me just wants to let him run as wild as he can be (we're lucky to be in the country) and part of me thinks we should keep his writing up as he has struggled with that, and maybe practise times tables. What are others doing? Not sure what instinct to give in to! I know we could compromise with just 10 mins a day but I wonder if even that would spoil the freedom of those long summers..

If he doesn't know his tables, he'll struggle with a lot of the maths. It is something that 10 mins a day, without writing, would solve.
Of course you have the right to let him do nothing work-related for 7 weeks, but he'll then find it harder to get started again.
Which in turn will make you worry more in September and October.
same with his reading. 10 mins a day and he won't forget half as much.

DS2, who is in Year 1, is quite taken by the idea of writing a diary over the summer. He has his own camera so could take photos and then write a bit about what he did each day. He isn't very good at sitting down and doing work in a classroom environment so I am hoping that this will help with that.

I've said that he can show it to his grandparents at the end of the holidays so that they can see what he has been doing.