I know. This is the most talked about, somewhat boring post, but I'm curious.

Tell me if you're waiting until your kids are 6 for Kindergarten.

FWIW, I've always been in the 5 year olds go to Kindergarten Camp.

But... Not anymore. LOL!

Lisa

Mine will be 6 1/2 when they START kindergarten. After a lot of soul-searching, we decided that despite the unbelievably humungous amount of academic catchup progress that my kids have made this year, they just aren't ready for kindergarten in any other way.
- They are tiny size-wise.
- Their gross & fine motor skills are behind (all are still in PT & OT, which they still really need and we would have to give up due to time-constraints if they went to K next year).
- Socially they fit in better with kids a year younger.
- We live in a very "good" school district. Which translates to 90% of kids ENTERING kindergarten as fluent readers. Parents are so afraid that their kid will be behind, and get tracked in the "wrong track" early, that they actually commonly hire tutors for the year or so before kindergarten to be sure their kids are the most prepared. Only since everyone does it, that has become the norm. I didn't think my kids we be able to even keep up with the bottom layer of kids in that environment.

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06

My youngest DS has a July 25th bday. We could send him to preschool this fall as he will turn 4 this summer, but we are waiting. He will be a 5 yr old preschooler and 6 yr old kindergartner.

He is a giant 3 year old already weighing 45 pounds and 39 inches tall, but he is not ready for the academics. He is a little behind socially and language wise.

Shiloh--Proud Mom to:
BGG born 2/04
B born 7/06

Uh-Oh. Why are you switching camps?

We've had a mixed bag of results for kindergarten.

One has made incredible progress -- more than I ever could have hoped for. And yes, he is now writing sentences! Don't know if they are original, he might still need a "model" to copy. His pictures are still extremely rudimentary. (See my post from last November and the Buffalo Hunt assignment.) He even has made progress in the attending area and she says he is now completing assignments in the timeframe with no more than 1 or 2 cues to pay attention and get back to work. Cues like a hand on the shoulder or a look across the room as opposed to needing a teacher sitting at the desk telling him to pick up his pencil . He has great math skills...yet he cannot count to 121 by one's to save his life. By 2's yes, by 5's and 10's yes. Not by one's. I suspect this is more of an "attention" problem than a "knowledge" problem.

One is "Mr. Maturity" and you would swear from his demeanor he is older than he appears. He likes the academic pursuits and is also now writing sentences ON HIS OWN...not copying others, but actual sentences. Of course, he uses creative spelling for words he does not know.

And the other is "Mr. Personality". His kindergarten experience has not been good and we had ZERO concerns going in. He still is not copying those dang sentences. Unless they let him trace the letters. He can write all of his letters individually. But he can't (or doesn't want to) write the sentences. Math skills are fine. Academically, he knows his stuff. I swear sometimes he does no work in class, yet he is learning the stuff anyway. And now the little stinker is hiding his papers because he says they aren't "good enough" and he doesn't want his teacher or me to see them. And if he gets a check as opposed to a smiley for being off-task and goofy throughout the session, he hides THAT paper too! I am really hoping a new class/new teacher/fewer kids in the classroom is going to help him next year. Hoping....hoping...hoping....

BBB born 7/26/04 at 35 weeks

I just registered my "extra" kid, who is four, in kindergarten today. He turns five in June and will start kindie in August.

He can already read, ride a bike, and probably build an atom bomb if I gave him the right materials. Having that fourth triplet really paid off. He has no clue that he is younger, and I would bet that Megan will see that with her fourth triplet too.

Michele
Sarah, Gregory, Amanda
born 1/22/04 at 35w1d

Our surprise baby Austin born 06/15/2005

www.fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com

Megan,

Every time I read anything you write about your school district, it makes me want to cry for the kids. Hiring tutors to START kindergarten? Someone.......... stop the insanity!!!!!!! You be the one to stop the insanity, Megan. Do I have to move there?

Michele
Sarah, Gregory, Amanda
born 1/22/04 at 35w1d

Our surprise baby Austin born 06/15/2005

www.fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com

I volunteered today in their class. They write in their journals every day.

Sarah wrote in hers. "I went to the fare. I had a sno cone. I way 48 inches." (She meant she is 48 inches tall, because that was a big deal because she is tall enough to go on rides by herself now, and did.)

Amanda wrote, "I have a kite. I have a kite too."

Gregory wrote, "I have a fish."

Now keep in mind that I am in one of the WORST school districts in all of America.

While mine were doing that, I worked with a girl that just learned English over the last two months and still doesn't have a grasp of all her letters. If I point them out to her, she can write them.

So my point is that kids are all over the map in kindergarten. I wonder if parents assume that their kids should be able to do everything they are introduced to in kindergarten and put too much pressure on their children? Or do the teachers actually say something about it? Nobody says anything about it at our school.

Michele
Sarah, Gregory, Amanda
born 1/22/04 at 35w1d

Our surprise baby Austin born 06/15/2005

www.fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com

>Megan,
>
>Every time I read anything you write about your school
>district, it makes me want to cry for the kids. Hiring tutors
>to START kindergarten? Someone.......... stop the
>insanity!!!!!!! You be the one to stop the insanity, Megan.
>Do I have to move there?


But that's the thing - I CAN'T be the one to stop it. No one can. Because nobody wants their kid to be the only one that can't cut it. What a horrible first school experience if you were lightyears behind your peers!

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06

Get this. Imagine on the FIRST DAY of kindergarten being handed a blank piece of paper and a pencil, and being told to "write about your summer vacation". Not that they were expecting page-long essays, but still.

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06

That's just it. I could give the thumbs up to move on to first grade, but I think they need to strengthen some basic skills.

I don't want them in the bottom tier of the class, struggling, getting frustrated and ultimately hating school.

Lisa

>So my point is that kids are all over the map in kindergarten.
> I wonder if parents assume that their kids should be able to
>do everything they are introduced to in kindergarten and put
>too much pressure on their children? Or do the teachers
>actually say something about it? Nobody says anything about it
>at our school.


I think that the teachers teach to the average kid's needs. Since the average kid is reading well, they go from there. What would be the point in teaching letters & sounds when the whole class already knows it. It's just a vicious cycle that got out of hand and just gets worse and worse because nobody wants THEIR kid to be the one who changes the cycle.

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06