Anyone knows the Early Entrance Exam to Kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

So I was really wondering, just as someone said, the admission is actually the principal's preference.

K teacher here-- In MoCo, no, it is not. Principals cannot override the testing results.

[Anonymous]

My DD has an end-September birthday. She is tall, and physically very advanced/coordinated. She is also extremely verbal (large vocabulary) and has been the youngest in her group (daycare and preschool) basically from the beginning (this just due to happenstance and because of physical readiness). She is a smart kid, but I don't think she's a child-genius. What she loves best is playing and does not gravitate to sitting down to practice writing, workbooks, etc as her sister did (unprompted) at the same age. She's extremely happy-go-lucky whether she's with older or younger kids. She is absolutely not intimidated by big kids-or anyone- and has a tremendous well of self-confidence.

Is is so terrible that I am considering early entrance to K partly (mainly?) as a matter of convenience? This will simplify our lives tremendously due to where older sister is in school; fact that otherwise she would need to change schools twice (once to repeat pre-K, again for K).

My mother has a late fall birthday, was always the youngest in her class, but graduated valedictorian and never felt out of sync with her peers. She's also a teacher herself, and thinks I have no reason to hesitate with trying early admission to K. (And, I should note, she held back my younger brother who had an August birthday and was emotionally not ready for K).

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I have never thought it was "terrible" for a parent to consider EEK--it's the desire to override the system in place that seems unwise. If you feel your child is ready, or just want to give it a shot, by all means, apply. But don't get all bent out of shape or worried if your child doesn't "make it." The schools are looking for specific things... there has to be a system or all kinds of crazy parents would be pushing kids in who are just not ready.

[Anonymous]

I was the poster that earlier asked why you would even consider it. And I knew we would hear from "that mom" right away. You know...the one whose kid is "thriving" despite being young.

I should have clarified two things. First, I spent years teaching K and 1st grade.

Second, I have a daughter who could have gone to Kindergarten early. The state we were in at the time allowed early admission by testing. She would have easily passed. She is graduating from high school this year. She has a 4.45 GPA and is a National Merit Scholar. She has always tested very high and has excelled in every AP course she has taken. Nothing we did. We have other kids who are more typical.

Would putting her in kindergarten early have hurt her academically or socially? Who knows. But in all my years of teaching K and 1st grade I have literally never...not one time....seen a kid hurt by waiting. I've seen many very bright kids burn out by being pushed into school early. But I've never seen a kid affected negatively by waiting.

There is a benefit, especially once they reach the high school/college level to being one of the older kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the poster that earlier asked why you would even consider it. And I knew we would hear from "that mom" right away. You know...the one whose kid is "thriving" despite being young.

I should have clarified two things. First, I spent years teaching K and 1st grade.

Second, I have a daughter who could have gone to Kindergarten early. The state we were in at the time allowed early admission by testing. She would have easily passed. She is graduating from high school this year. She has a 4.45 GPA and is a National Merit Scholar. She has always tested very high and has excelled in every AP course she has taken. Nothing we did. We have other kids who are more typical.

Would putting her in kindergarten early have hurt her academically or socially? Who knows. But in all my years of teaching K and 1st grade I have literally never...not one time....seen a kid hurt by waiting. I've seen many very bright kids burn out by being pushed into school early. But I've never seen a kid affected negatively by waiting.

There is a benefit, especially once they reach the high school/college level to being one of the older kids.

Another K teacher here and I completely agree. Even the kids who test in early, who are technically qualified to be there from an academic point of view, struggle in many ways. No matter how great a child's brain is functioning, almost 100% of the time, his/her social/cognitive/emotional development is right where it is supposed to be. Given the current (very academic) environment of a K classroom, this can be very stressful and overwhelming for children who are younger than their peers.

[Anonymous]

I see the points of the teachers. One the other hand, I think there is also the boredom issue. I did not send my child early and I think I can safely say that he did not learn anything (academically speaking) he did not already know, in school. Being a bit naive, I tried to push the teacher to teach him something (not doing it anymore.) I think I settled in receiving social skills from school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see the points of the teachers. One the other hand, I think there is also the boredom issue. I did not send my child early and I think I can safely say that he did not learn anything (academically speaking) he did not already know, in school. Being a bit naive, I tried to push the teacher to teach him something (not doing it anymore.) I think I settled in receiving social skills from school.

K teacher here. (Taking a sick day as my son is sick.)

I don't think kids, especially kids that age, have to be "learning" stuff all the time. At that age, if they are in a developmentally appropriate play environment, it will get them to where they need to be for K.

One of my most impressive students this year was in a Waldorf preschool and came to K with no letter recognition, no number knowledge, no traditional academic skills at all. But he is incredibly bright, quick, and articulate, and came very ready for literacy skills. Within a matter of a week or two he was up to speed on the alphabet and numbers, and in a month or two after that, was reading on his own.

Development happens when it happens.

[Anonymous]

I had a very bright preschooler...reading/writing at 3. Howeverm she has a very late August birthday and because of enrollment numbers did not get into the pre-K classroom at her daycare. Her classroom teachers were adament that their focus was strictly social skills even though they had a few kids heading to K the next year. They said she was welcome to read a book anytime she liked but they did not work on those skills. At first I was very frustrated by that..but then I realized my child was already ready for K academically. She probably got more out of the playbased class than learning letters etc in the pre-K room. Worked out just fine..she was great with pre-school though incrediably bored with K..'nother story...

[Anonymous]

Another K teacher here and I completely agree. Even the kids who test in early, who are technically qualified to be there from an academic point of view, struggle in many ways. No matter how great a child's brain is functioning, almost 100% of the time, his/her social/cognitive/emotional development is right where it is supposed to be. Given the current (very academic) environment of a K classroom, this can be very stressful and overwhelming for children who are younger than their peers.

not everyone struggles. i know many examples -- granted from my generation, not current school-aged kids -- of kids with late fall b-days who started K at 4 and excelled both academically and socially from elementary-on. this mother knows her child better than anyone on this board - and she didn't ask for our opinions.

[Anonymous]

To the K teachers who posted...

From your posts it seems that EEK is just assessing the children academically. Is this true? During assessments, aren't they also considering social skills?

[Anonymous]

"So I was really wondering, just as someone said, the admission is actually the principal's preference.


K teacher here-- In MoCo, no, it is not. Principals cannot override the testing results."


I have a friend who teaches k in MoCo who says exactly the opposite - that the principal has the final say. I don't know if it's true as I'm not in the education field.

[Anonymous]

"I was the poster that earlier asked why you would even consider it. And I knew we would hear from "that mom" right away. You know...the one whose kid is "thriving" despite being young.

I should have clarified two things. First, I spent years teaching K and 1st grade.

Second, I have a daughter who could have gone to Kindergarten early. The state we were in at the time allowed early admission by testing. She would have easily passed. She is graduating from high school this year. She has a 4.45 GPA and is a National Merit Scholar. She has always tested very high and has excelled in every AP course she has taken. Nothing we did. We have other kids who are more typical."


And, we all knew we would hear from you. The mom who made a decision not to do EEK and now passes it off as the only right decision. Geez, if parenting were that easy, someone would have written the manual and we could all buy it on Amazon so we could insure that we'd turn out perfect kids.

In MoCo, there are three ways a kid becomes eligible for kindergarten: if they are five by the cutoff date of September 1; if they turn six prior by September 1 and received a waiver the previous year; and if they turn five within six weeks after the cutoff date and pass an assessment. Based on these rules, you can have kids with birthdays between 9/2/2005 to 10/15/2007 all in the same 2012 kindergarten class. Given the wide range of options (and the wide range of abilities of kids), all that any of us can do is try to make the best decision we can for our kids and if it doesn't work out, get them the supports they need to be successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I was the poster that earlier asked why you would even consider it. And I knew we would hear from "that mom" right away. You know...the one whose kid is "thriving" despite being young.

It sounds like this teacher is rolling her eyes at the parent she's mentioned above. Why?

[Anonymous]

20:01..what would you have done with my dc who has a 8/30 b-day but entered K reading chapter books and writing sentences. Now in 3rd grade dc is successfully working 2 years ahead in math and has often had his own reading group because he is so far ahead. Whould you really have held him back?? Sorry if you consider me "that parent" but every case is unique.

[Anonymous]

8:32, you misunderstand me. I was responding the the teacher poster who clearly disapproved of an earlier poster who is going to use the EEK process for a child that is advanced and thriving.

What I'm saying is that the rules allow for a lot of latitude in deciding when to enter your child into school. You must do what is right for your child based on your child's educatonal and emotional readiness for school. The answer on when to start your child doesn't lie solely in the age of your child on a certain date. Chronological age is a factor, but not the only thing to consider.