Worried about my four year old....

Melissa22_Mum

DON'T WORRY!! That I want to make clear! He just started full time, let him get into the flow of things before he starts to crack down with the educational side of things. It is completely normal for him to be like this. There will always be someone saying 'little jonnys way ahead with his reading and writing'

jcr16

aw hun i know excalty where your coming from.

My son is 4 he isn't interested what so ever in writing, drawing , reading. he would much rather build a den and play with transformers or play with lego. he has only just learnt to count to ten. having said that since starting school 4 weeks ago he is now starting to show an interest in reading however he has very short attention span 5 mins at most.

it is hard not to compare, my daughter at 4 could count to 100, write her name, write loads, read. she has a real thrist for writing, learning ,drawing etc. but trust me they all do things at their own time and speed.

your son will get there, we play games like how many red cars etc while driving because his sister is older he will copy her but by doing so he learns the numbers. also when in supermarket i get him to look at prices, dot to dots are great and a dot to dot only take a few sec's.

i've learnt with my son not to push him if he doesn't want to read the book with me then i just leave it. or i'll sit there looking at it saying ' oh wow ' ' how fantastic' he soon becomes very curious and then has a look. but again it will only be for a couple of minutes.

domestic_goddess

Melissa22_Mum wrote: »

There will always be someone saying 'little jonnys way ahead with his reading and writing'

Thats a bit ironic..... He's called Jonny:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

domestic_goddess

I do feel better now... I will just let him get on with things at his own pace and encourage hime wherever I can.

Thanks everyone

(thats why I love MSE :money:)

msb5262

Hello OP,
First I'll echo all the posts saying, Don't worry - your son sounds perfectly normal for someone of four and a half. It sounds as if your daughter is much more of an exception to the rule.
I've got to say, as a primary school teacher, that in my opinion the homework tasks your child has been given are TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE!!! In reception, children are not meant to be doing this kind of formal task at school, let alone for homework. The curriculum for foundation stage children (nursery and reception) is very much based on children learning through play.
In your position, I would seriously consider approaching the school and just checking why your child has been set this kind of activity for homework. Maybe you aren't in the UK and aren't covered by the guidelines I've just mentioned?
Whatever happens, your boy sounds lovely and he will almost certainly thrive in school...but please bear in mind that in the '60s and '70s we didn't even send children that age to school, let alone expect them to be writing! Four and a half is very young yet. Give him lots of love and don't let anyone make you feel he's not quite up to the mark. My DS2 certainly wasn't interested in any of this stuff at that age, and he's just passed to go to the local grammar school...
Best wishes
MsB

tandraig

msb5262 wrote: »

Hello OP,

I've got to say, as a primary school teacher, that in my opinion the homework tasks your child has been given are TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE!!! In reception, children are not meant to be doing this kind of formal task at school, let alone for homework. The curriculum for foundation stage children (nursery and reception) is very much based on children learning through play.
In your position, I would seriously consider approaching the school and just checking why your child has been set this kind of activity for homework. Maybe you aren't in the UK and aren't covered by the guidelines I've just mentioned?

wow - vindication by a professional!!!
many thanks msb5262
I suspected as much but in wales things are sometimes done differently - also in C of E and Private schools!
your son sounds bright hun - just let him learn at his OWN pace! with encouragement from you of course. but i found my boys learned best if i made it a game rather than sitting down and taking it seriously. make it fun and he will learn without realising it!
but i would take the advice above and ask which curriculum they are working from!
best of luck hun

scrimpingbadger

My son is on Reception and is the same - and he's the oldest in the class. I'm also a primary teacher and I don't bother doing his homework with him (such a bad mummy) I don't believe he needs homework and am fully aware he'll do it in his own time, when he's ready and not before.

Learning through play is where it's at. Reception year is about getting them ready to start learning, not getting an extra year in... In Finland they don't start until 7!!

Boys are always slower off the mark than girls, who tend to sit still for longer...

vaio

domestic_goddess wrote: »

……… and not stress over it.

Always a good plan where 5 year olds are concerned

jellyhead

Was this the first time he's been given homework? You may find that you're not the only one who's worried about it and whose child isn't ready for that kind of work.

I keep reminding myself that my son's friends were walking before he was even born (out of a class of 30 he knows at least 3 who are already 5!) and he will catch up in his own time.

If my boy had been given your homework he wouldn't have been able to do it. His pictures of family members are so large and clumsy that they would need a page each, and it's only really a head with legs. He wouldn't be able to draw around his hand very well, can't write the 'numbers' yet and wouldn't be able to label the rest of his family - he finds his own name difficult enough!

Their homework from 4 weeks ago was to practise their name and move on to their surname - mine can't really do his first name yet though, and his surname contains 8 letters, only 2 of which he knows how to do (and even then he cries every time he tries to write 'e').

We are playing eye spy though. Mine did that at age 3 but his 4 year old cousin hasn't grasped it yet - she can't tell you what sound 'dog' etc. begins with, and just guesses. She is bright and mature in other ways though, and I think she seems much older and cleverer than my boy. Children are all different. Neither of them have learned their first set of 6 words either (my boy and his cousin are in the same class, thankfully, because if I didn't have another mum to talk to about this I would feel like mine was the only child who couldn't keep up!).

I spoke to the teacher last week because learning the words is causing lots of tears, and I really don't want life to be about crying and 'failure' when he was only just 4 in the summer holidays - he's a baby!

She told me he's not the only one struggling, and not to worry if he doesn't understand everything, he's not the only one. They will carry on with the same 6 words. I said he's not learning the alphabet very well either (we've got ten letters so far and they are supposed to learn the sound and also the alphabet name) and she said we could concentrate on the sound for the moment and not stress about the alphabet names.

I felt better after speaking to the teacher, I recommend it.

BitterAndTwisted

I think as long as you're not stressing and therefore inadvertently making your child stressed and unhappy there's nothing for you to do except to read often and in short bursts with your little boy and to be very incouraging and praise him often.