We always thought POD would thrive when she started reception last September as she’d been ready for school for months. We’d made the decision to keep her at nursery until she was four – three seemed way too young for her to start. Hindsight is a wonderful thing however and had we known what the last six months would entail we might have done things differently. That said, there’s a big difference between nursery care (from 8am to 6pm) and pre-school (10am to 2pm) – the latter just wouldn’t have worked for us.
We didn’t anticipate POD wouldn’t get offered a place at her local school with her friends. We were informed at the time of the appeal it wouldn’t make a difference where she ended up but it did. Having been one of the oldest at nursery, with a seemingly free reign, she didn’t have the smoothest transition into school. Most of her classmates were already at pre-school together and knew each other. She knew no-one. Even for the most confident children, and thankfully POD is one of those, it must be hard to feel included in this type of situation. Understandably her behaviour worsened as the weeks went by and she refused to go to sleep until 9pm/10pm. Her listening ears didn’t always make it to school which meant she wasn’t necessarily doing good learning. You could see her teacher, wonderful as she is, getting increasingly frustrated with the child “that has a great character”!
But fast forward six months and we’ve seen the most dramatic change. Her reading has come on leaps and bounds, she’s able to sound out many of the words she reads, she knows nearly all of her tricky words and flies through her phonics book. The most noticeable change however is her writing, she’s obsessed with it. She’s taken to carrying a notebook round with her and writing. Lots of words, many without spaces and some letters are missing, but it’s amazing to watch. She has a wonderful imagination and I love seeing her draw then add actual words to her creation. Her teacher is thrilled with her progress, particularly over recent weeks.
Parents evening the other day was interesting as POD was there too (playing and dancing!) but what a difference to the ones we’ve had previously. Even the last one of which was only in January. POD’s doing brilliantly with her learning and she’s finally turned a corner. Her teacher shared her school book and she’s been busy writing sentences herself, both prompted and unprompted. Her practice has paid off too as her writing is getting neater all the time – not easy for a leftie who used to write backwards. Not only that she has her first Stagecoach performance soon, a fairy in Peter Pan, and she’s also passed her level two gymnastics. We’re obviously completely biased but we’re so proud of our baby worm.
Joining #LoudnProud which this week is hosted by Sarah at Mum of Three World.
Wow, that’s brilliant! Everyone learns at their own pace and when the time is right for them and it’s obviously all just clicked into place for POD now. No wonder you’re proud.
Good luck with the Stagecoach too. My daughter went for a trial there, but it was just too expensive! She needed to give up a couple of dance classes to cover the cost and it was too big a sacrifice for her.
Thanks for linking with Loud ‘n’ Proud.
Wow, that does sound like a great turnaround.
N also always had notebooks on the go, but he’s being a typical boy and just writes random letters. Making words is just too much effort. He’s also lazy with his phonics, he knows them but just doesn’t concentrate – not helped by not being home til 5.45 and being exhausted when I need to hear him read. He only knows a couple of his tricky words. I need to start doing some games with his words to get him to have more interest in them.
That’s brilliant – so glad that things have really turned a corner for POD and how lovely that she is already showing such a passion for writing. Well done to her too on passing her level 2 gymnastics and hope all goes well with the Stagecoach performance too 🙂
Oh well done Pod, such huge milestones all in one go. It’s so weird how things just suddenly click isn’t it? Z was struggling with phonics and sounding words out and then something just clicked one day and he could magically do it. He is a tinker sometimes, I know he hates sitting but I’m loving how he now sounds out words when we’re out and about. He still has to be coaxed to write anything though!