How quickly do they expect them to learn? (starting school)

[CaptainMummy]

This is Paiges third week at school (second week of full days) and I was just wondering what is expected of the children. Each week she has had two sounds and 2/3 words to learn... Along with maths sheets and reading books.
Does the teacher really expect them to learn everything as they are given it?
I sat with her last night and did some revision (on a thursday they are supposed to go over their sounds and words) and she knew how to write all 6 sounds (I say the sound, she wrote it) I also told her words and she got them all correct with a bit of help (I would ask her to say the word, and say 'what sound comes after 'a' for example) just simple words like 'it, is, and' etc. She has never done spelling before.

So yeah, surely the teacher doesnt expect them to pick it up so fast? I felt like she did great last night, I couldnt believe that she could do her words... But maybe thats what is expected so soon.

I guess I just worry about her struggling with her work. (She is one of the youngest in her class)
The teacher would let me know if there was anything to worry about, right?

 

[george83]

I'm a teacher and in my school once the first two weeks are over the children start their learning. They are taught one sound a day and the majority of children would be expected to learn and remember how to read/write it. Our reading scheme is connected to their phonics learning and when they're ready they get reading books which also teach them their key words. Obviously some children learn at faster and slower rates and if a child was particularly struggling and possibly needed specialist support a teacher should speak to you but if a child is just 'lower ability' they wouldn't necessarily call you in specifically to discuss that - in my humble opinion of course! If you're really concerned i'd have an informal chat with the teacher. I hate the thought of my class's parents worrying about things

 

[housewifey]

My daughter just started P1 as well, she has had 3 new words to learn to read and recognise each week. Along with 4 letter sounds to practice writing and sounding, she has a jotter to complete these in. As well as practicing her name (surname mostly) She gets it on a Monday for a Friday so we normally do one letter sound a night and small bits of the other things.

They don't give new letter sounds or words if she cant show the teacher she can recognise them, so that's the only way I would know if she wasn't doing as well :s

My daughter is one of the youngest as well so I was a bit worried about her keeping up but she seems right into learning atm so is doing well so far! Just follow your daughters lead I think and see where it takes her, no pressure is the way forward

 

[jd83]

I think that pace sounds about right for what ours are doing, as well. They learn around 100 words or so the first year, so yes, that pace of learning them and being expected to remember them is about how quickly they move. I'm actually pretty shocked at how much they have already taught the kids in the first 2 weeks of school. The first week I figured would just be an adjustment to the classroom, but they learned 2 words, learned spelling of a few colors, spelling of numbers, etc. They keep them busy, that's for sure!

 

[RachA]

They don't really expect them to learn at a certain pace.
Where we are there are 100 key words which by the time they finish year1 they should know to read.
Our school works on a couple of words each week. They send the new words home even if the child hasn't learnt all of the other ones do that we know what words they are looking at each week. If your child hasn't learnt them then it's no big deal. They use the first 6 weeks in school to assess each child, how quickly they learn, how they learn etc so that they can tailed the lessons correctly.

 

[sequeena]

This baffles me. Thomas is in a special needs unit and right now He is still just playing. They expect nothing of him really but They will teach him... somehow. To be honest I have no idea how it will happen. He certainly doesn't get homework. He still doesn't understand a lot so I couldn't imagine him having sounds and words To learn.

 

[CaptainMummy]

Thanks ladies. It astounds me how quickly she is learning. She has already grasped the concept of blending sounds and knows all of her words to read and write. I guess I underestimated how fast she would pick it up. Her teacher says she is doing great so I should probably stop worrying!

We did her homework today and she was so pleased with herself being able to read and spell, that she asked me.to.give her extra words to do!

 

[Jchihuahua]

It sounds like she is doing great! I teach reception and we teach one sound per day and send home three tricky words per week. The sounds are usually taught in a certain order so the most possible words can be made from those letters. Once they start to know the letter sounds blending happens pretty quickly. It always amazes me how quickly they learn.

 

[Rags]

Ds is now on his fourth week of p1 and told me last week that he was a bit confused because he thought he was meant to be learning things at school not just playing. I was so pleased to hear this from him as it means he is having fun and the way they are teaching doesn't feel like work. On Mon, Wed & Fri he has letters/sounds homework, on Tue & Thur he gets 2 new words and a number or shapes home work. He stopped me when I was reading a book to him the other night to point out several of his words on the page and he even read most of one of the sentences with me filling in a couple of long words that he's never seen before. This is what learning should be!