My kids would have been summer babies had they not been born prematurely. They have always had some slight developmental delays. Though they make progress at a normal rate, they have consistently lagged behind their age group.

It is very clear that we need to start kindergarten "for real" a year late.

My question is, should I try to put them in TK next year, or put them in a private K for a year, then send them on to repeat K at public school. Where do they learn the fundamentals of reading? Would they work on reading in TK? I'd love to have the extra year be spent on really honing those reading skills.

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06

I don't know what TK is. I can tell you that my kids started K in a public school and are learning to draw a line from one side of the page to the other. The work they've done in the three weeks that they have been there is beyond remedial. In my experience, my friends' kids in private K are about 2 grade levels beyond what my kids are doing, so I doubt that would help you to go the private route.

Reading is not something even on the horizon at this point. (Mine aleady read, but they aren't even touching on that yet.)

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

Our surprise baby Austin born 06/15/2005

www.fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com

Find out what the curriculum f/public K is. Call the school in which your kids would be attending and request a meeting w/the principal. Sometimes school districts actually have their curriculum posted on-line on their website.

There seems to be vast differences in curriculum throughout the country, at least from what I have seen on TC.

For instance, reading is actually introduced near the end of pre-k in our district. They resume reading in kindergarten a few weeks after school starts.

HTH!

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears."-- Gillian Anderson

Megan:

If I were in your shoes, I would want to (a) check out the curriculum for kindergarten in your district and what the end of the year expectations are; and, (b) then seek out a situation that will provide all kinds of enrichment that will enable them to learn everything much more quickly and readily. For example, learning the alphabet and phonics may be excellent, although they are now suggesting to me that my children should now be able to say the entire alphabet -- with no mention of phonics in sight.

I've sent you a private mail. Let's talk!

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

Our school district has part-time K (2 full days and one half day per week) and full-time K (9-3 five days a week). Our kids were born mid-July and their actual due date was Sept 1 (after the cut off of Aug 31).

We debated for a long time about what to do. By this spring we could tell that the kids would not learn anything new in a third year of preschool although we also felt they were not ready for full-time K.

We have them in part-time K this year. However, a crucial part of the decision is that I had talked with the asst. principal this past spring and was assured that DH and I could decide whether to send them along to 1st grade next year or have them do full-time K -- it would not be dictated by the school. If that were not the case we may have made a different decision.

They have only had one week of school but so far I am very happy with our decision. They were ready for the greater independence of riding a bus, having a locker and eating in a lunchroom and are blossoming. I still don't know whether they will be ready for 1st next year from an academic and maturity perspective but I think going from part-time K to full-time K next year would be enough of a difference to keep it interesting. I don't know if you have a part-time/full-time option.

Marsha
mom to Nick, Hannah and Paige born July 15, 2004