What do kids need to be able to do/know by kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

In a very highly rated FCPS school and we have no readers close to the level of Harry Potter. Honestly a child like that probably needs to go to a private school. They will most likely be bored in FCPS possibly even in the AAP program. The average child midway through is sounding out 3 and 4 letter words and learning to read small books. About 5-10% of the class can read small chapter books such as 'Little Bear'.

[Anonymous]

I wholeheartedly agree with those who suggested that the social/independance goals before K are just as important if not more so that the "reading" level. My oldest, now in 4th was reading chapter books before K. He just picked up reading, words have always been his thing. Math, I think he was above grade level too. Socially, he was probably a bit behind, in my opinion. He did score very highly on his CogAt and Naglieri and was in pool. That said, even in 2nd grade, his social readiness/attention were still below grade level. Despite VERY high test scores, and grades to match, he was not found eligible on the first round of AAP, or on appeal (we did not take him for extra testing). After talking with the teacher and guidance counselor, they both felt he needed another year to mature. So, though the maturity/social aspect is supposedly not part of the AAP process, I can tell you, it definitely can cloud the process.

Take all this with a grain of salt, since you did not ask about AAP. I think for K (as a former elementary music teacher) teaching independence, letters, (letter sounds help if you get to it) will more than suffice. My middle guy is in K too now, and just had these skills listed in the prior sentence (he was not an early reader like his brother), and is doing great.

PS-I hope the person who mentioned Harry Potter meant the 3rd graders were reading that. I am all about challenging early readers, but I cannot imagine any Kindergartener being emotionally ready for the intensity of those books!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wholeheartedly agree with those who suggested that the social/independance goals before K are just as important if not more so that the "reading" level. My oldest, now in 4th was reading chapter books before K. He just picked up reading, words have always been his thing. Math, I think he was above grade level too. Socially, he was probably a bit behind, in my opinion. He did score very highly on his CogAt and Naglieri and was in pool. That said, even in 2nd grade, his social readiness/attention were still below grade level. Despite VERY high test scores, and grades to match, he was not found eligible on the first round of AAP, or on appeal (we did not take him for extra testing). After talking with the teacher and guidance counselor, they both felt he needed another year to mature. So, though the maturity/social aspect is supposedly not part of the AAP process, I can tell you, it definitely can cloud the process.

Take all this with a grain of salt, since you did not ask about AAP. I think for K (as a former elementary music teacher) teaching independence, letters, (letter sounds help if you get to it) will more than suffice. My middle guy is in K too now, and just had these skills listed in the prior sentence (he was not an early reader like his brother), and is doing great.

PS-I hope the person who mentioned Harry Potter meant the 3rd graders were reading that. I am all about challenging early readers, but I cannot imagine any Kindergartener being emotionally ready for the intensity of those books!

[list]Nope, K and First! By the mid to end of first grade I have had several parents tell me their children have finished the entire series. I agree it is not age appropriate reading material. I also question their comprehension. However the parents have assured me they quized their children extensively and they were understanding what they were reading. The parents even said they required their children to read the books before seeing the movies. I find it really hard to believe but I have heard it at least 5 times.

[Anonymous]

PP, that is crazy. I am the pp before you, and though I think my ds could have "read" Harry Potter at that age, I would absolutely not let him, nor would I allow him to watch the movies. There are many, many fine works of literature that would be better suited to be sure, many of which are classics. I think my ds would have been having nightmares for sure. And they quizzed their children extensively? Wow, what a way to foster a love of reading in 6 year olds.

[Anonymous]

One of my dc was a very early reader and there is no way we would have let her read Harry Potter in K (although she could have technically read and understood the books). Way too scary and the content is not age-appropriate. Just because a child can read a book at a certain level doesn't mean the content is age-appropriate.

Aside: when that child was around 6 or 7, DH took her to the library and she came home with Forever by Judy Blume!! He said, "What? Its Judy Blume!"

[Anonymous]

I am dying to know what elementary school is full of all these teeny-tiny Harry Potter readers. It is really unusual for one child in a class to be so advanced, let alone a whole slew of them.

[Anonymous]

No wonder there is so much red shirting if everyone is being told that their kid is doomed to academic failure if they aren't reading Harry potter before they start kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

My son read the Harry Potter series in first grade. Yes, he understood them, but this was also after he started reading at age 3 and had read every Magic Treehouse book we could find when he was 4; all of Judy Moody and Stink, Geronimo Stilton, A-Z mysteries, a ton of Beverly Cleary, and bunches of Roald Dahl in K. However, I doubt that 4 or 5 kids in each K class or even 1st grade class could do this. Honestly, it's not easy knowing what advanced books are "age appropriate" for an advanced reader. I do the best I can. If he can read and understand it, if it doesn't scare him or contain inappropriate content, I just let him read. I can't pre-read what he wants to read because I honestly can't keep up with him. This kid devouers books.

Is he reading the Hunger Games series now? No That will have to wait until age 12 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wholeheartedly agree with those who suggested that the social/independance goals before K are just as important if not more so that the "reading" level. My oldest, now in 4th was reading chapter books before K. He just picked up reading, words have always been his thing. Math, I think he was above grade level too. Socially, he was probably a bit behind, in my opinion. He did score very highly on his CogAt and Naglieri and was in pool. That said, even in 2nd grade, his social readiness/attention were still below grade level. Despite VERY high test scores, and grades to match, he was not found eligible on the first round of AAP, or on appeal (we did not take him for extra testing). After talking with the teacher and guidance counselor, they both felt he needed another year to mature. So, though the maturity/social aspect is supposedly not part of the AAP process, I can tell you, it definitely can cloud the process.

Take all this with a grain of salt, since you did not ask about AAP. I think for K (as a former elementary music teacher) teaching independence, letters, (letter sounds help if you get to it) will more than suffice. My middle guy is in K too now, and just had these skills listed in the prior sentence (he was not an early reader like his brother), and is doing great.

PS-I hope the person who mentioned Harry Potter meant the 3rd graders were reading that. I am all about challenging early readers, but I cannot imagine any Kindergartener being emotionally ready for the intensity of those books!

[list]Nope, K and First! By the mid to end of first grade I have had several parents tell me their children have finished the entire series. I agree it is not age appropriate reading material. I also question their comprehension. However the parents have assured me they quized their children extensively and they were understanding what they were reading. The parents even said they required their children to read the books before seeing the movies. I find it really hard to believe but I have heard it at least 5 times.

Ding, ding, ding!!! THe parents[b] are telling you that . My son is in a very strong Arlington K right now. I am amazed at what he is doing now compared to what he was doing at the beginning of the year. He went to a Montesorri school and would have been full-on reading if we kept him there the final year--but instead we moved him into a play-based preschool when we moved. All of the kids were relatively around the same level upon entering K this year. I go in for mornign reading with him a few mornings a week so I see firsthand. Nobody was reading Harry Potter books. One boy was a very advanced reader--all the product of his particular preschool ( and I think his innate intelligence as well). The majority of other kids could recognize a few words, but were starting with the 3 word sentence type books. Now my son has progressed to several sentences on a page and has an explosion in both handwriting skills and reading comprehension...he is identifying sentences in chapter books we read to him. This is from no extra work on our part. I credit the schoool. We do the basics and lots of reading at home. He was always strong in math, but I think that is inherited (and ummizoomi ).

There is no correlation between age of onset of reading and future academic success/intelligence. It will even out. I would not want my kid 'tracked' like some of these pp's say FCPS does at such a young age. People need to chill the h*ll out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm just trying to figure out how well prepared DD needs to be by the time she starts kindergarten in Fairfax County. Should she be able to add and subtract? Is the expectation that she will know all her letters, or that she will actually be able to read? We just moved back to the US from overseas, and it all seems overwhelming. Thanks.

[list]Really all depends on if your aspirations are for the AAP program or not. If so you need to make sure they are reading and have early math skills, actually, overall academic skills because by the end of kindergarten these children will be pinged for potential AAP. In first grade, they receive their first abilities test. From there they are stream lined into an AAP program. So if AAP is your goal make sure your child is a very strong reader, etc..., going into kindergarten. While social is very important, the AAP program really doesn't care about that.

So every kid who is in AAP in third grade was reading when they started kindergarten? Can you describe what a "very strong reader" is when they start kindergarten?

No. My daughter didn't read until second quarter of first grade, and she got into AAP and is doing well. No offense, but that poster really needs to step back and relax. Geesh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No wonder there is so much red shirting if everyone is being told that their kid is doomed to academic failure if they aren't reading Harry potter before they start kindergarten.

This is a Fairfax County thing! Parents who brag that their six week old infant sleeps through the night is bragging about Harry Potter five years later. It just ain't true!

[Anonymous]

My DC starts kindergarten this Fall. In his preschool class, they're adding, subtracting, reading and I was told to buy 1st grade workbooks, and skip preschool/kindergarten workbooks. I'm concerned my DC will be bored in kingergarten and was told this is frequent problem with early readers. He'll be attending a Catholic school in the Fall, and I'm wondering if he wouldn't have more opportunities at our local Fairfax Co. elementary school, which has high ratings.

The reason why our DC is advanced in math is because of this: he's required to keep a log of all his IPad game purchases, and before he can download a new game, he has to figure out how much money he has left in his "account" (but my IPad). He's now doing more complex math problems, i.e., +, -, +. He's so into sitting down with his ledger to figure out how much money he has left, and this little excerise has turned into a great learing lesson. Out of 20 children in his class, he's 1 of 4 children that can add and subtract correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No wonder there is so much red shirting if everyone is being told that their kid is doomed to academic failure if they aren't reading Harry potter before they start kindergarten.

This is a Fairfax County thing! Parents who brag that their six week old infant sleeps through the night is bragging about Harry Potter five years later. It just ain't true!

[list]Yes, Fairfax county parents need to chill the H_ll out!

[Anonymous]

Forget reading and addition. The children should know partial differential equations! And they should be able to do that instinctively in there head.

By that, I mean, they should be able to track a ball that is thrown to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forget reading and addition. The children should know partial differential equations! And they should be able to do that instinctively in there head.

By that, I mean, they should be able to track a ball that is thrown to them.

[list]Ha Ha! Love it! They absoulutely should!