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Post by mudlark on Jun 15, 2015 19:35:31 GMT
I am newish to the whole school thing, only having had children fairly recently, and having been to school myself many decades ago, pre phonics and split digraphs (!), I am still learning how it all works. But I am interested in others views. Mine are in reception and year 1. I have a newsletter every week telling me what I should be supporting my child with, reading with mum and dad I expected, a little bit of numbers, maybe some painting and art.
But last week I was sort of told off by a teacher for Peewit not knowing anything about money, and I should be at home using money in games with him. He was until last week only 4! Why on earth does he need to know about money now? She seriously asked me to spend some time with him talking about money.
Additionally I am supposed to be talking to Lapwing about world religions..( she doesn't even really understand Christianity yet)
There seems to be an incredibly high expectation for parents to be doing a lot at home with very young children. Mine come home and want a snack and to play with their toys or roll around for a bit, I just cant bring myself to sit down and discuss the value of money or the subtleties of Islam. It seems very pressured both for the children and the parents at a very early age. I just wonder why? What is the value in it?
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Post by sooz on Jun 15, 2015 20:02:57 GMT
A little and often works best here.....very little.
So, just take opportunities as they arise....peewit wants some sweets from the cupboard, get a coin jar and tell him it's one penny per sweet (healthy snacks also lol) and build it up from there.
songs of praise on TV....ooh look lapwing, those people are singing hymns in church....I wonder if they sing hymns in other types of churches.
Keep it light hearted, fun, no pressure...
Other than that just smile and nod at the teacher!
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Post by moo on Jun 16, 2015 5:40:34 GMT
Deffo with sooz re the smiling & nodding at the teacher.... ridiculous in my book.....we certainly didn't do it!! School is the place for general learning.... learning at home is fun & as interest is sparked..... down time to relax after school for our children in R, 1 & 2 imperative in my book...
Teachers often can think themselves over opinionated & 'miss the point ' of age appropriate learning.....all children have different 'ages' of development at reception & year one.... your teacher seems unable to acknowledge the difference in early ( probable) experiences!?! TBH....
Play devils advocate threaten to take them out of religious studies if she persists with the multi faith 'bible' bashing.... school hate it when children have to be excused they have to educate them separately for that session!?? Need to have a T.A. stay with them!!!..
Good luck educating your lo teacher!? 
Xx moo xx
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Post by serrakunda on Jun 16, 2015 10:18:50 GMT
I suppose it depends exactly what she means
you could do a bit of simple numbers/counting using coins so she recognises different coins. Coins are actually quite good counting in 2s, 5s, 10s, adding up and taking away because they have the object to use. There are some games Pop to the Shops I think is one, which look at shopping and money
No I wouldn't be going into in depth discussions about world religions but you could point out temples, mosques etc if you have them, or if you have local celebrations of Eid, Diwali or whatever. maybe if you see people around with different clothes you could explain on a very basic level that someone wears a turban because they are Sikh etc
but smiling and nodding are good options!
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Post by runmum on Jun 16, 2015 12:33:59 GMT
Primary Schools seem to be playing with something called flipped learning probably without really knowing what it is and clearly without thinking about it much in advance. The idea is the the kids learn the facts first at home so that class time can be more exploratory and kids can develop their understanding - it can be very enriching if down well. We and a great letter about it - "the more they do at home the more they will get from the lesson" This was for reception to year 6!! They gave us sheets with a multitude of topics for each subject and no other information and we were just supposed to prepare the kids or actually they were supposed to do it themselves. I went in to have a chat and got a defensive response - I'm afraid on this occasion I was bit gobby. They do seem to have back tracked and we now get one item to prep and usually this comes with a web link. the whole thing is daft for kids like ours with poor working memory, difficulties organising information, struggles reading for comprehension and difficulties with note taking. I just despair. I understand the theory it's just applied blindly and there are in adequate resources to support it. In Australia they use the approach quite a lot but it's all supported by fab IT back up!!! Joy!!! I have just insisted on targets that will lead to catch up and then I plot a trajectory and go in every time they miss a target to ask for more support it's never ending!
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Post by mooster on Jun 16, 2015 13:52:28 GMT
Oh it is all so ridiculous - at that age so much learning outside of school just pops out at odd opportunities. The one thing we did do was read read read. Read to and be read to as this is the basis for so much learning and also provides chances for closeness and shared memories. Far more fun than the fundamentals of religion at their age!
I agree smile and nod and the teacher and do your own thing!
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Post by sooz on Jun 16, 2015 14:52:20 GMT
Ah toko so true.....I spend loads of time with snooz pointing stuff out, telling him about the world around us, getting him to read signs.......
Mind you, I'm doing a parenting course at the mo (!!) and one session was on child led play....I had to acknowledge I need to back off and not try to turn every situation into a learning opportunity! Lol
But getting him to sit down and read, write or add up.....blows my brain, and probably his too!
I am also doing an IT course ......so I can help him with this stuff going forward.... Quite enjoying it!
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Post by serrakunda on Jun 16, 2015 21:42:05 GMT
Hmm Simba reads bus tickets, and train tickets, seat reservations.........
He loves books, reads for pleasure and loves to be read to. It's definitely had a huge impact on his progress at school. He hasn't had homework all term because it's dished out on Friday afternoon, when he goes to the special school and the teacher never remembers to give it to him on Monday
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Post by mudlark on Jun 16, 2015 22:48:18 GMT
It is the world around them that is so wonderful. I love telling Lawping the names of flowers and birds..she enjoys me telling her and likes to try and remember them. School are not teaching that particular subject at the moment... but does it matter.. she is learning and I like teaching her at our own very gentle pace.
Peewit loves being read to, he will sit in a lovely, heavy calm way, leaning into me his whole body flopped into mine...to me this is gold dust...numbers can come later.
If I was as brave as Leo or others on here I would be home schooling not just flexi schooling..but I am not quite that brave!
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Post by pingu on Jun 17, 2015 9:55:59 GMT
Smile and nod as they say, and Then just do you think right for your child.
If you can track down some plastic money, for her to play with, i remember that helping me as a child, with my general counting and fun as well having my own " money" And " playing shops" with tins etc and mummy / sis/ gran coming to buy stuff.
Reading has been the big bonding time with both my kids,, as well as developing their English being a bi- product. i was fortunate that both loved beng read to, younger one still does. We also share age appropriate jokes, poems and cartoons when we see them
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Post by leo on Jun 17, 2015 10:51:22 GMT
Not sure 'brave' is the right word... more 'foolish'!
It was the expectation of homework - and the consequences when it was not completed - that were the final straw for us.
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Post by larsti on Jun 17, 2015 21:30:44 GMT
There does seem to be so much pressure on children and parents now and I totally agree they need to relax when they get out of school. And adopters have bigger fish to fry!
Doing what interests them in their free time is more important IMHO but having said that if you feel like complying (!) maybe a small amount of pocket money? I honestly don't remember when we started giving ours pocket money (at what age I mean). In our house it doesn't have to be earned (that's a whole other subject!) Or ad hoc money like 50p for choosing sweets on a Saturday or a £2 to spend at the fete or whatever.
I once printed off from the Internet a set of dominoes with pictures of coins on. We didn't actually use them but they looked good! We've got Pop to the Shops which is very popular.quit
Kiddies magazines are quite educational for that age group.
As for religions. Seems a bit young, IMHO but there's bound to be picture books in the library aimed at young children. One of ours had a very marked interest in other cultures and religions from a very young age, but the interest came from her quite naturally.
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Post by mudlark on Jun 17, 2015 22:26:45 GMT
Today I got some sponsorship form telling me to gather sponsorship for my children too take part in some rugby event to see how many tags they could get.. my children cant catch a ball or kick a ball.. I don't know anything about rugby I threw it away...
I also have a letter asking me to make a bog baby with lapwing.. ( what?) and to give her something to bring in to ' show and tell' about bogs...
Also can I have a word with Peewit about showing his willy to people...
oh and is that while I talk to him about money or after??!
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Post by serrakunda on Jun 17, 2015 22:58:00 GMT
Couldn't resist googling bog baby. It's a children's book which seems to be widely used in literary class. You got off lightly, you could have been asked to make a bog baby habitat as well
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Post by pingu on Jun 17, 2015 23:05:31 GMT
She wants Peewit to do what,,,,,,,,,
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Post by leo on Jun 18, 2015 10:53:22 GMT
Hmm, having followed Serrakunda's example I also googled the book. I'm not sure the message 'if you love something you have to let it go' (apparently said by the mother to the children about their bog baby) is something my two would cope with - in terms of how many moves they have had and how they still feel that I might 'let them go'.
It may be worth reinforcing to Lapwing that she's going nowhere! It was also often the subtleties of stories such as this that caused huge meltdowns at home and would often take me days to unravel. So much easier now I can choose the books they read and can prepare them for tricky bits in storylines etc.
re. Peewit - maybe he's overheard my Dad talking; my boys giggle away every time Grandad says he's going to spend a penny!
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Post by sooz on Jun 18, 2015 15:24:27 GMT
Oh the joys....
I still giggle when I think of Snooz in reception, obviously someone had had a word with the boys in the class....
Mummy, we're not allowed to show each other our bums in school.....except in the boys toilets....we can show them in there.....
Also needed the private parts remaining private chat!
Snooz had a swimming party last month, I was patrolling the changing rooms after they'd all got out and there were at least two of the boys streaking!!
.....I am currently trying to work out quite how we are going to make a model of an Elizabethan flag ship!.....it may have to be lego..
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Post by kstar on Jun 18, 2015 18:41:11 GMT
I just hate homework full stop. Starlets this week was to design an imaginary rocket-fuelled vehicle. She had to label all the parts and explain how the rockets would make the vehicle more effective and what purpose her supersonic vehicle would serve! She can't draw stick people let alone vehicles (and I am rubbish). She doesn't understand what supersonic means even when I explain it. She doesn't think very creatively so to her rockets are for flying to the moon, she can't get the concept of using rockets to do something whacky.
I give up.
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Post by kstar on Jun 19, 2015 19:34:50 GMT
It does seem to beg that question Toko... Perhaps she was too busy making windmills!
I echo the suggestion of Pop to the Shops - we still love it two years later and it definitely helped. So did buying a toy till with cash. There are also very good versions of Monopoly now for kids - we have Monopoly Party and also Disney Cars Monopoly. My mum also bought Starlet Money Snap from the early learning centre, but that is more advanced.
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Post by cowgirl on Jun 20, 2015 8:34:01 GMT
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
My eldest had all these games & 100% of our time.
He just wasn't ready or receptive. All that happened was he & I fell out over homework. Big time.
Now in year 6 & I let him hand in his carp homework.
He reads constantly so that's a big plus.
Our adopted son - well we expect less and aren't as hard on him. I'm way more relaxed about homework etc.
it could be wanting to be big brother, spring born and just him but he is streets ahead of what eldest could read, write count etc. at the same age. As he achieves this with his behaviour & melts down makes me so proud.
Anyway I suppose what I'm really saying is nod & just carry on. You are the mummy & most certainly know best.
New teacher next year which may help
Oh my sis is separated & a teacher. She did spelling, reading & any maths homework but in primary never did the weekly homework. She said her time was too short with her kid.
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Post by mudlark on Jun 20, 2015 20:53:58 GMT
Pingu... Peewits needs to put his willy away..it's just too distressing......given he was only just 5 at the time I cant imagine it was that scary!
Bog Baby...new letter and new instruction is too make bog habitat..as well as bog baby...
Kstar .. we also have been asked to make a fully working rocket that will actually take off!...I just about manage a clean PE kit and daily snack ....
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Post by topcat on Jun 21, 2015 20:29:26 GMT
We have weekly spellings, weekly times tables, daily reading, a reading journal and a learning log.
I have completely given up with the last two but happily send in pictures, bits of writing, crumpled or otherwise which they do contentedly without the cursed heading of "homework".
Occasionally I think I ought to find some stress-free window in the week(ha ha) that we could call "homework time" but just don't see how to do it and am much gratified by all the comments in this thread.
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Post by bop on Jun 21, 2015 20:42:27 GMT
Homework? Ours both deny they ever have any - I've given up pushing on that one....
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Post by caledonia on Jul 13, 2015 9:21:29 GMT
In theory I understand and support the need for homework. However, in our world it is a problem!
DS does moat of his homework under a bit of duress but DD refuses point blank to do it so I don't push it. I check on 'show my homework' to see if she has any, tell her she has it and ask her to do it but if she doesn't then I don't push it. Getting her up, showered and dressed and out the door to school is as much as I can manage for school and I have told the school that. They still give her detention for not doing it but she doesn't go and they don't make her - sigh
When they were younger they used to get tasks like make a miniature garden, a model of a famous Scottish landmark etc. I queried the point of these and was told it was something the whole family could do together and enjoy spending quality time together while learning!!!!! Needless to say, we usually did not do this as I could have thought of better things to do with our weekend. In any event, parents took over and it became a competition. One child in DS's class produced a model of the forth Rail Bridge in metal complete with beautiful welding joints - obviously the 8 year old had not done it themselves! This was the only one we did and we made a model of the Calanish standing stones made out of green plastisine and stones we found in my Dad's garden that had come from a local quarry. It took us about half an hour and DS won as it was obvious he had done it (mostly) himself. The outrage from the other parents was hysterical!
cale
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