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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

I think it matters more if she can listen and follow directions. Interest in letters and numbers is certainly helpful though. Adding and subtracting comes later.

[Anonymous]

Math facts are not expected in K. Nor is reading. They start from the beginning. Knowing letters and their sounds is a good start though.

[Anonymous]

Preschool teacher here. She definitely doesn't need to know how to add or subtract or how to read. If she knows her numbers and most of her letters, can write her name, cut and paste, willingly separates from you, can take care of her own personal hygiene, she's ready.

[Anonymous]

We are not in Fairfax, but Montgomery County - I'm sure the curriculum is similar. You can probably check the Fairfax public school website.

K students learn number recognition and counting up to 100, an extended goal is to do basic addition later in the year.

Students learn to recognize letters and their sounds, then common sight words, and are expected to be emergent readers (read simple sentences) by the end of K.

Sharing, listening to others, negotiating with their peers, helping one another, are all important skills taught as well.

Personally, I feel that if your child understands the concept of stringing letter sounds together to form a word, she will progress fine and not feel overwhelmed. You can do that over the summer, because for most children, it takes a few months to go from alphabet sounds to building words out of them.

The math curriculum is in my opinion, not strong enough. DC was in Montessori prior to public K, where he was taught to count to 1000 and add hundreds.

[Anonymous]

Then academics will come. Ready for kindergarten? Let's look at the social side. Can they hang up their coat? Can they open a milk box? Can they wait their turn? Can they zip their coat and put on their gloves? Can they sit? Can they unpack their own lunch and eat it on their own? In other words, can they manage in a class with over twenty students and only two teachers and not to be waited on? The social development side is as important, if not more so, going into kindergarten than the academic side. The teachers can teach the academics. It's easier for the parents to teach the manners and independence.

[Anonymous]

She needs to be able to go to the bathroom all by herself in a short period of time. She needs to be able to zip and unzip her own coat. She must be able to unpack her lunch and eat it by herself and in a short period of time with a lot of distraction.

Don't worry about academics. Those are easy comepared to the rest of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then academics will come. Ready for kindergarten? Let's look at the social side. Can they hang up their coat? Can they open a milk box? Can they wait their turn? Can they zip their coat and put on their gloves? Can they sit? Can they unpack their own lunch and eat it on their own? In other words, can they manage in a class with over twenty students and only two teachers and not to be waited on? The social development side is as important, if not more so, going into kindergarten than the academic side. The teachers can teach the academics. It's easier for the parents to teach the manners and independence.

In FCPS -- you mean "30" not 20.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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?

[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?

[list]Kids at our school are reading Harry Potter. Does that explain?

[Anonymous]

I have never seen a 5 yo reading Harry Potter, and understanding it. 7 YO, yes. Perhaps, these are kids that turn six in Oct that were help back on year?

[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?

I can only say a hearty BALOGNA!!! My child could not read going into kindergarten and only read very short books in kindergarten that had 4 words on a page (that's what they sent home in the spring months). We just did what the teachers told us to do. We didn't know that it was age-appropriate to expect child to read more. So we never encouraged or pushed. We have always read to DC a lot.

At the beginning of first grade, DC was a DRA 6. Very normal, very beginning reader. We followed the instructions to have DC read the leveled reading books that were sent home each week. We did just as the teacher asked, nothing more, but very consistent about doing those leveled reading books. By the end of the year, DC was a DRA 28. On the CogAT, DC scored in the 99th percentile in the verbal section.

Moral of the story... your child does NOT need to be an early or precocious reader in kindergarten or first grade to be an excellent reader in second grade, or to qualify for AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never seen a 5 yo reading Harry Potter, and understanding it. 7 YO, yes. Perhaps, these are kids that turn six in Oct that were help back on year?

[list]Totally agree!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

[list]Kids at our school are reading Harry Potter. Does that explain?

Really? aside from the issue of if Harry Potter is a good choice for a 5 year old content wise, I'm surprised that multiple kids are reading Harry Potter level before they start kindergarten. My 4 year old is in a preschool class of 20 kids who will all be in FCPS next year, and her teacher described her as the second best reader in the class. Her current reading level is "The dog had fun with the ball.", which quite frankly I think is pretty good for a kid who isn't even 4.5 yet. But I'd be amazed if that translates into reading Harry Potter level by September.