toddlers more advanced with learning if at home with mum....

morlandbanks

For anyone who wants to teach their child phonics, my daughter loves https://www.starfall.com I was put off at first because it's american and I was concerned about her being confused by the accent. I gave it a go after a friend told me she uses it a lot. My daughter learned all her letter sounds within a month! Now she's using the site to help her learn to read. There are some letters that I have to explain aren't the same to us - like L, but she understands. Suddenly we can all play 'I spy' together, rather than her being rather confused when I play it with her brother!

domestic_goddess

My little girl is four and is in nursery class, she can read her own name and write it, she can also write mammy and daddy. She is always asking me what things say and she likes to write words down that she see's.
As she is not reception class they have not started to learn to write yet but as she doesn't start Reception until next Sept I think that by then she will be able to read and write quite a bit.
I love spending time with her showing her how to do things. I would not miss out on this time for anything.

dlb

It is a hard one this, reading at any age no matter how young is very important, but the way schools learn the children changes very quickly.
As said before letterland was standard practise when my eldest now 11 was in nursery, but now they use the phonics methods, eg inky mouse. My dd now 4 has picked this up alot faster than my son did letterland.
I have found it amazing the way things are now taught and have attended many parent workshops at school to try and grasp the new ways.
The one thing i dont get is the Thrass chart which is how my eldest 3 are taught to spell,I completely dont get it, but the kids do.
I just think encouragement is the best thing you can do for your children and a close relationship with the schools so you know your not telling them wrong information that may clash with the way school teach subjects.

anniebooklover

There have been some very interesting points of view put forward so far. It seems to me that every child should be taken on their own merit. I have one DS and one DD. Both were introduced to books from a very early age, were read to every night, were encouraged to learn letters, numbers, colours, etc from the earliest indication that they were beginning to speak.

My son had the reading age of a 14-year-old at age 9. My daughter had the reading age of an 8-year-old at age 5. Yet they both excel in very different areas. DS is very artistic and English is his strong subject. DD is a problem-solver and loves maths and science. They are both encouraged to develop existing skills but spend more time in those areas where they need some extra work.

Perhaps those parents who feel they want to teach their children at home could focus on those parts of the curriculum that aren't such a big part of the early years and KS1 curriculum. However, I would say that as soon as you make learning a chore, you will find your child will switch off and just not be interested any more. I could never see how hothousing children could be a good idea.

kelloggs36

I am a trainee teacher and we are taught that whilst planning lessons we need to differentiate the lessons to the levels of the children, so if there are some chidren who are advanced, then the work should be set at their level in order to challenge them.

If your child is particularly advanced then they may be classed as 'gifted and talented'. The school should have a policy about how they identify and teach these children.

Your child should be constantly assessed throughout their schooling and so the levels may change if they start to struggle.

Ask how the lessons would be adapted to suit the ablility of your child; if there is no differentiation, then it isn't a particularly good school in my book!

Nicki

I'm all for encouraging children at home, and providing a broad education, but why do parents feel they have to rush to teach children things they will learn anyway at school, and possibly teach in an inconsistent way, when there are so many things you could be teaching your child which they won't learn at school. My DS is 6, he learnt to read and write at school, but from a young baby I read to him on a range of subjects. Now we read lots of history, which isn't part of the curriculum at his age, and because he is interested in this, I teach him bits of french and german. We do other activities as well which are educational, but don't infringe on school such as cooking and baking, including how to follow a recipie and measure things out, and we talk about where ingredients come from and what different countries are like.

The only reason I can see to set out to teach a pre-school child to read and write is to hot-house them, and to make them seem to other children, teachers and parents to be head and shoulders above the other children of their age. That is feeding the parent's ego, and not of benefit to the child. It is a different matter if the child has taught themselves to read and write, but the idea of buying a pre-school child a phonics programme, whether with an english or an american accent leaves me cold I must say.

Friends of mine lived in Sweden for a number of years and returned when their child was 5. They were mortified that their child couldn't read and write, unlike my DS who had been at school for two years by then (in Sweden they start school much later). I have to say aged 6, she has now caught up, which I think shows there really is no benefit in piling the pressure on too young.

achtunglady

searcher30 wrote:

our toddler seems to be learning a lot from us rather than the nursery/school they go to. i am told if they get too advanced too young (we are not pushing she is just a fast learner who loves having fun and asking loads of questions) then whne they go to school they get bored and become drop outs. I believe this is because the future schools may not be of good enough standard. any ideas appreciated. thanks again.

What a load of tosh, kids become drop outs because parents don't have or make the time to spend encouraging children, they also become dropouts due to bullying and by falling behind in their schoolwork because they are too embarrassed to ask the teacher for some help if they don't understand something, and be ridiculed by their so called peers and being called thick.

You cannot rely solely on schools to educate your children, they are too busy with the English as a second language brigade. My son is encouraged to ask if he does not understand something, by myself and his teacher.

Why should our children be held back because some parents can't be bothered to tear themselves away from the telly or the pub to spend 15 minutes with their children discussing homework, reading or any other educational activities, whereas the parents who ARE bothered and give a damn about their kids are being made to be the bad ones???

alwaysskint96

Nicki wrote:

I'm all for encouraging children at home, and providing a broad education, but why do parents feel they have to rush to teach children things they will learn anyway at school, and possibly teach in an inconsistent way, when there are so many things you could be teaching your child which they won't learn at school. My DS is 6, he learnt to read and write at school, but from a young baby I read to him on a range of subjects. Now we read lots of history, which isn't part of the curriculum at his age, and because he is interested in this, I teach him bits of french and german. We do other activities as well which are educational, but don't infringe on school such as cooking and baking, including how to follow a recipie and measure things out, and we talk about where ingredients come from and what different countries are like.

The only reason I can see to set out to teach a pre-school child to read and write is to hot-house them, and to make them seem to other children, teachers and parents to be head and shoulders above the other children of their age. That is feeding the parent's ego, and not of benefit to the child. It is a different matter if the child has taught themselves to read and write, but the idea of buying a pre-school child a phonics programme, whether with an english or an american accent leaves me cold I must say.
.

My feelings exactly on the matter.

I really dont feel that its that important for a 4 year old being able to read etc.

All 3 of my children habe had books read to them etc from an early age and plenty of learning opportunities apart from school

I did teach my eldest to read and write before she attended school and she was miles ahead of the other kids when she went into reception. Fast forward to now, she will be doing her GCSEs in May, and she gets extra lessons to help her with this ( called support option) and is " slightly below average"

With my 2nd I didnt really have the same amount of time and she went into school unable to read at age almost 5. By the time she had reached her sixth birthday she had completed the whole reading scheme- overtaking the majority of children who had gone in already being able to read. Now she is 12 and always near the top of her classes

My son is 3 and likes looking at books and having the read to him but doesnt have much interest in the words involved


At the end of the day, when you apply for uni or a job nobody will give a damn whether or not you could read at 3 or 4 years old- it makes no difference in the long run

pipkin71

My DD2 is being held back at school. For example they are teaching the 2 and 3 x tables when my daughter is on 7 and 8s. School spellings she is sent home to learn are words such as tip, hot, bet sit whereas at home, she is given understand, sandwich, obstacle wonderful etc - DD2 is in first year juniors!

I have a meeting coming up with senior management where I will raise my concerns, although I don't hold out much hope, which is why I continue to teach my girls at home - that has nothing to do with hot-housing or feeding my ego.

It all goes back, however, to doing what is best for your own family, afterall parents know their children better than anyone and could see if their child was thirsty for more knowledge or switching off.

morlandbanks

Nicki wrote:

I'm all for encouraging children at home, and providing a broad education, but why do parents feel they have to rush to teach children things they will learn anyway at school, and possibly teach in an inconsistent way, when there are so many things you could be teaching your child which they won't learn at school. My DS is 6, he learnt to read and write at school, but from a young baby I read to him on a range of subjects. Now we read lots of history, which isn't part of the curriculum at his age, and because he is interested in this, I teach him bits of french and german. We do other activities as well which are educational, but don't infringe on school such as cooking and baking, including how to follow a recipie and measure things out, and we talk about where ingredients come from and what different countries are like.

The only reason I can see to set out to teach a pre-school child to read and write is to hot-house them, and to make them seem to other children, teachers and parents to be head and shoulders above the other children of their age. That is feeding the parent's ego, and not of benefit to the child. It is a different matter if the child has taught themselves to read and write, but the idea of buying a pre-school child a phonics programme, whether with an english or an american accent leaves me cold I must say.

Friends of mine lived in Sweden for a number of years and returned when their child was 5. They were mortified that their child couldn't read and write, unlike my DS who had been at school for two years by then (in Sweden they start school much later). I have to say aged 6, she has now caught up, which I think shows there really is no benefit in piling the pressure on too young.

I haven't BOUGHT a phonics programme, It's a free website that my child enjoys PLAYING on. It's easier for her to navigate herself than using Cbeebies or other sites, so she can click the mouse by herself while I just supervise. I don't make her do it. I'm not trying to teach her...she's just s really eager learner. I'm far from a pushy parent - I won't even put her in for ballet because I think our local class take it all too seriously!