Early Years Education (i.e. Nursery)

Zziggi

Hello everyone,

I am wondering if someone could help me understand the Early years education thingy for my DD. Basically I have a DS who has just started school this year. He just went to a pre-school a couple of mornings a week. I know i didn't use all my free funding but that was because DS has some problems which meant he didn't settle well in pre-school.

My DD is an early september baby and isn't due to start school until sept 2008. She'll go to DS's school all being well. She is a totally different person to DS ; she is a confident and outgoing. I don't fancy having her in pre-school for 2 whole years. She will get bored. She is already complaining that the teachers don;t "teach her to read" but tell her to play with dollies. After 2 weeks she says she is bored of just painting and playing dollies. There is no way she can manage 2 years of this. She is already doing the same homework as my DS. When he comes home from school with flashcards and a book to read - she is reading it as competently as DS - and DS isn't thick, i just think DD is very forward and has her older sibling to copy.

If DD has been born a fortnight earlier then she'd have been an august baby and would be starting in sept 2007. This would have been better because she'd only have one year at pre-school. The sad thing is, when she was born is was actually PLEASED she was not born early in august because of having to start school earlier at only just 4 years old. However because of how DD is, I am dreading 2 more years of her at home being bored.

I suppose what i am asking is;
(1) is there anyway i can get her admitted to school a year early given the fact she is forward but more than that, she has the confidence, outgoing nature and social skills of children older than her? How would i go about this? Is it at all possible? I mean, as it is I have to pull her out of DS's classroom when we drop him off. Everyday she strides in, says hello to the teacher and preceeds to try to sit down at a table and asks to stay whilst i am struggling with DS and trying to get him to take his coat off and go in the classroom. It is an ongoing joke with the reception teacher about how willing she is to be at school.

(2) How do nursery's attached to a school work? I know nothing about these.There is no nursery attached to DS's school but there is a nursery attached to another local school. However there is no way i want DD to attend that infant school. The nursery department has an excellent reputation but the infant part of the school (and especially the juniors) would not be my first choice of school. Can i put her in nursery at one school but opt to send her to DS's school for reception year? Or is it assumed you must go from nursery to reception in the same school? How do nurserys work? Are they more formal learning compared to pre-schools? Do you have to send them full-time to nursery or is it just 5x1/2 days (i.e. for the funding issue). Do other MSE'rs think nursery might suit DD better than pre-school ( i already try to gear activities to her level but she is always wanting more e.g. want to read like her big brother)?

Any advice warmly welcomed.

P.S. sorry if i come across as a mother who thinks she has a "special" kid. This is not my intention, I am just trying to be honest in the hope of getting some honest feedback and a mum who wants the most suitable environment for my DD needs (which i recognise are different than my DS's needs at that same age). Some may say she should opt out of pre-school and stay at home with me 24/7 doing activites at her level. However this is not possible and i don;t think would suit either of us.

Zziggi

seven-day-weekend

AFAIK, you can send your child to Nursery at one school, but then send her to another Primary school; however bear in mind that schools give preference to children from their own nursery, so if the school you want to send her to has a nursery, you might not get a place.

Zziggi

seven-day-weekend wrote:

AFAIK, you can send your child to Nursery at one school, but then send her to another Primary school; however bear in mind that schools give preference to children from their own nursery, so if the school you want to send her to has a nursery, you might not get a place.

Thanks. I had already considered this, but my preferred school (which is DS's school) does not have a nursery. So i guess this issue doesn't arise?

modgit

seven-day-weekend wrote:

AFAIK, you can send your child to Nursery at one school, but then send her to another Primary school; however bear in mind that schools give preference to children from their own nursery, so if the school you want to send her to has a nursery, you might not get a place.

The schools in our borough actually state that attendance at the nursery school is no guarantee of a place as preference is not allowed. Also, I thought that the sibling rule would have applied - ie if there is a sibling at the same school then acceptance is automatic?

I think I'd go and see if you can get her a nursery place. At the schools by us it's five x 1/2 day sessions, and are structured to a "timetable" similar to school so helps children like your DD to feel more grown up.

Rachie_B

i used to run a pre school and yes while the emphasis is on play ,we did quite a lot of "work" aswell concentrating on numbers,recognising their name and the letters in their name,colours,shapes all at the age / stage of a particular child of course

i cant believe the pre school JUST plays though ?! is ther no formal learning at all ?

maybe try and look round other pre schools and see if there are more formal ones that concentrate a bit more on formal learning ?

but they are right in the "dont teach to read" as different schools use different methods but in saying that my eldest was reading by the time he was @ playgroup ! and at age 5 had the reading age of an 11 yr old ,and you dont want to "hold them back" but you dont want to appear to pushy either ? its a hard one !

i can only speak for the nursery attached to my sons school and again it did concentrate a lot on the early learning letters,numbers,shapes recognition,pattern ,pencil control,etc in preparation for reception aswell as free play,learning through play etc

i think you need to find a setting that has a nice balance of both

Zziggi

Rachie_B wrote:

i cant believe the pre school JUST plays though ?! is ther no formal learning at all ?

Well they do numbers, colours, shapes, counting etc etc. Learnign nursery rhymes, playing nicely together, sharing, taking turns. Letting the children do imaginary play, physical play, painting. They have a "quiet" corner with books but DD complains the "teachers" won't help her when she can't tell what a word in a book says. She is trying to read herself. She can already recognise her own name and recognise captial and lower case letters of the whole alphabet. She can write her first and last name (a bit scribbly tho'). Also her colouring and drawing is far more advanced than DS's although DS's isn;t bad or poor for his age. However he has never like colouring or drawing.

Actually when my DS left pre-school in july they did a little leaving presentation on a stage doing colours, shapes numebr etc etc demonstrating to parents what they had learnt. My DD (2 at the time) disappeared from teh audience for a couple of minutes only for me to find her on the stage holding DS's hand and joining in recognising all the shapes, numbers, counting, singing all the nursery songs and doing the actions to the words etc etc.

Rachie_B

sounds like any other pre school i have to say

they arent really supposed to teach to read ,but theres no reason why you shouldnt do it at home you will already know what reading scheme she will follow as your son will be doing it now ?

just sounds like she is an advanced little girl that needs stimulation ,but with x number of children in the setting i guess they cater for the majority and if no one else is at the age / stage of development that she is then she is left feeling "bored" / held back

i dont think she / you would find a school nursery all that much different TBH

ruthyjo

You should be able to check the admissions criteria for the primary schools in your LEA on their website. This should reassure you as to whether sending your daughter to another school's nursery is likely to impact on her getting a place at your chosen school. I think it is very unlikely if she is in area for a school and with an older sibling there she will be refused a place, but the rules are set by the LEA so worth checking. If you can't find it on the website a quick call to the school admissions dept of your council should set your mind at rest.

I've been involved in playgroup committees etc over recent years; my three children spanned four different playgroups in their pre-school years. Although they were okay when I sent my daughter to an LEA nursery school the difference was unbelievable - the learning experience was so much better. I felt quite guilty that my sons missed out. I also felt the LEA nursery was superior to either of the day nurseries I used for the children whilst I was working. Therefore I think well worth your while investigating a similar setting for your daughter, although if she has just gone three she may be too young to be admitted. The LEA nursery my daughter went to accepted them for three terms before they started school. so your daughter would not have been eligible until Sept 2007.

Some prep schools also accept the nursery vouchers to pay for sessions. If you can stomach your three year old in full school uniform you may find the relative formality of these settings suits her needs. They often want to get children started on reading, foreign languages and formal learning in general. It gets expensive once they hit compulsory schooling age but isn't too dear as a pre-school option.

Hope you can work out something that suits you both.

Mrs_pbradley936

My youngest son was what I called “forward” but turned out to be what they now call “gifted and talented”. Early school years were an absolute nightmare because he was totally bored and naughty as a result. At five he had a reading age of eleven but we only found out this because he was badly behaved and we went to Child Guidance and saw a child psychiatrist. Once we got it all sorted out it was fine but while he would have coped with the work of much older children, physically and emotionally he was only his chronological age. So they cannot just put a six year old in with the eleven year olds. Basically what happens is that your child does not need the repetition and reinforcement that other children of the same age do need. Show them something once or twice and they “get it” keep showing the same thing and they get frustrated.

Zziggi

pbradley936 wrote:

My youngest son was what I called “forward” but turned out to be what they now call “gifted and talented”. Early school years were an absolute nightmare because he was totally bored and naughty as a result. At five he had a reading age of eleven but we only found out this because he was badly behaved and we went to Child Guidance and saw a child psychiatrist. Once we got it all sorted out it was fine but while he would have coped with the work of much older children, physically and emotionally he was only his chronological age. So they cannot just put a six year old in with the eleven year olds. Basically what happens is that your child does not need the repetition and reinforcement that other children of the same age do need. Show them something once or twice and they “get it” keep showing the same thing and they get frustrated.

My DS has suspected aspergers (they don't want to "label" him until he is 7yrs old). When he saw the relevent medical people, he was assessed as having the intelligence of about a 7 year old (he was 4yrs 1 month). However because of his lack of social skills and understanding of social situations, he is not really functioning at his level (7 year old) in a social environment (i.e. pre-school/school). My DD is just like DS, except more so because she does not have the social skills problems that DS has. DD is very extrovert and self-confident. So in this way she appears brighter than DS. I have no idea if she is as she has not been "tested". I am just doing a comparrison from DS as he was tested.

Is there anyway you can find out if a child can start a year early without sounding like a pushy parent who thinks they have a mini-genius? (which i don't!)

I am going to do some investigating of the school's nursery today. Thanks everyone.

Spendless

Where I am you can most certainly send your children to a school nursery even if they are not going on to attend that school as you need to apply a year ahead of time for nursery and then reception. My childrens school has an attached nursery where my DD goes but there are a lack of them in our area and definately children there that will go to other schools next year. As someone else has said though you need to check admission criteria for the school with a nursery and the school your older child currently attends.

Prior to going to school nursery my DD attended a private nursery and they were teaching her to write her name, perhaps you could look around some of these, ask what they do and use the funding there.