Gifted And Talented In Reception

[Guest]

Dear all,

Am looking for a range of views, experiences etc , as usually found on this site.

Has anyone experience of very gifted pupils in any of the areas of the FSP. If so how did you record their progress ? Were NC levels used? I know I can add 'other assessment' applies to e-profile. I am looking at a child who will achieve all 9 points of the profile in this first term (as soon as I find time to double check my assessments) especially in CLL and MA. I am approaching the LEA assessment team and G & T teams but wondered what other experiences there are out there?

Also what experiences do folks have of extending learning through play based activities. I want to ensure a balance in the child's attainment across the 6 areas especially in the social aspects. There is a need for group activities but these need to stretch and stimulate the child without causing isolation. I have some ideas but know that there is a wealth of experience out there.

Many thanks in anticipation of views and ideas.

[Guest tinkerbell]

hI

last year i too had a particularly gifted and talented reception child in the literacy and maths areas , he could read anything (his mother said this had been so from the age of 3 which had caused amusement and embaressment eg at the doctors surgery reading out some of the posters !)In the classroom he was very good at helping me read the stories,make signs,read the weekly newsletter to the class.I talked to his mum and he had the same reading books as the rest of the class but i also gave him year2 ones, he could have read year6 stuff but this would have been totally inappropriate and ithink this is what i was aware of , giving him experiences but appripriate ones for his age.

\this little boy who was smashing did have problems working with other children he was a real loner, so games and turn taking were real issues.

Tinkerbell

[Sue R]

Hi,

 

I also have experience of high achievers.The one that stands out most, because he was such a character, had no social issues - he was the life and soul of the party!!!!!!!!!

 

He wasn't, however very keen on writing. He could read,(age 3) spell and tell anyone else what to write, just wouldn't do it himself. We didn't try to force him, just set up scenarios where writing things down would be good - parking tickets outside , making a check register, 'because I always get it wrong!!', helping to write dinner numbers, checking numbers (well, we made that up, but he didn't know!) you get it??

 

Good luck,

 

Sue

[Guest]

thank you, these are just the issues we are addressing particularly reading material v.tricky as the content needs to be appropriate - however this particular child enjoys everything and anything - our picture / story books seem to be the best bet at the moment - I tried some of the levels of our reading scheme but these were too easy without hitting and inappropriate content level. Feel as if I need a scale of skills to plot progress again ( to show development - particularly of reading skills) - has anyone any examples that would be of use?

thanks again

[Guest]

Hi there June,

I have been in this position with a couple of children over the years and reading level and interest level can be very tricky to balance. I would suggest using National Curriculum levels for readingand particularly look out ideas for higher order reading skills. Allow child free choice of picture book, some of which can have complicated sentence structures, Mix with good quality non-fiction and teach little and often as child's own interest dictates; things like index, alphabetical order, inference. Compare characters and can the child empathise with characters? Talk about books you have read and ask about child,s favourites and why? Look at interesting words , their patterns, are they similar to any other words known, what might they mean look at dictionaries and thesaurus. Allow child to read silently and only listen to a small bits, linked to a teaching point and maybe something they want to read to you for pleasure. Last year I had a 4 year old who kept asking to read, he was already reading at a level 1-2 N.C and I taught him bits then, when his interest was at a maximum. I also taught a reception child who came in with reading age of 9 and left Reception with one of 11. He liked to talk about atoms and what they were and where they came from .

Sure others will have some experiences to draw on

Regards Lynda

[Guest]

I was in this situation last year- I had a reception girl, really good socially, had loads of friends etc but could read and write at Y5 level! She could also deal with large numbers (upto 1000 and sometimes beyond) but only with adding, she found taking away much harder.

I had the same problems of age appropriate texts for her, and found that non-fiction was the way to go. She loved reading the non-fiction books and I guess these are pretty ageless. She read books about dinosaurs (and could read the names of them!), about all sorts of things really. I would then also send her home with some Y2 reading books (longer reads) so she was getting fiction books too.

She just loved to learn and loved to teach too, so she used to help her classmates when they were struggling. I felt this was a real worthwhile job for her to do, as it gave her some confidence (quite shy at times) and also she could explain things at a child's level and was really really great with them (usually helped my Y1 children, reading instructions and things to them!)

She also enjoyed role-play, which was great as there was a great chance to interact with her there amongst her friends but extend things for her in terms of writing in role etc.

Hope this helps.

[Guest]

I sympathise with any reception staff having to deal with children whose reading ages far exceed their chronological ages! I'm speaking as a parent here. Two of my children had reading ages of 11 when they were barely 5. Finding age-appropriate fiction was a nightmare. But of course, non-fiction was easier. Often, I would find them interesting news items in the Daily Telegraph (having acted as censor!). They would read, and we would discuss. Those two girls had tremendous general knowledge!

 

With both of them, a lot of our play at home was "drama": acting out stories we had read, and making up new ones to act. We did a lot of storytelling to each other. I think that this was how we coped with their boredom with the "reading scheme" books that came home. We used to play endless imaginary games. Also, "Never Ending Stories" was a lovely board game - when we tired of it we made our own cards, and introduced adjectives and adverbs. Of course, there was never a winner, but we had great fun with it.

 

My eldest daughter also channelled her energies into writing her own (very long) stories (many of which I have kept, and even though she's now 18, she's happy about this). She also kept very detailed diaries (these are lovely). The younger of the two had no such inclinations!

 

It was a huge relief when we found the occasional suitably challenging read that was within their emotional capabilities. It was an even greater relief when I was able to give them free-rein to choose their own books at the library! I used to feel like the mean parent when I had to pre-select their reading material.

 

Their early reading development served both girls well. I'm sure that half of my eldest daughters luggage that I transported to uni a month ago was books! The now 14-year old still reads anything and everything. We talk a lot about books and other things we have read. My 11-year-old was a somewhat later starter: it is only in the last few months that she has caught the "reading bug", and said to me only last week "Mum, do you know? I really like reading. It's like being in a dream." I thought that summed it up nicely!

 

I can't help feeling that someone, somewhere, must have compiled a "fiction reading list" for children who are advanced in their reading skills at age 5-10. Children with such needs are clearly quite common. I can think of a few books that went down well with my girls in the early days (e.g. The Giant Baby, Ahlberg), and I was given quite a few suggestions by the then Y6 teacher (when my eldest was YR). My second daughter was taken into the Y6 classroom (with another YR child) to choose her reading book from a selection put to one side; this was a great success, and continued until she joined Y3. The staff at the local public library were also quite helpful at times.

 

Our house contains hundreds of books! My 11-year-old is now in book heaven!

 

Diane