Desperately seeking Beauvoir admission

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do many really come into Prek reading fluently??

No, read the post again. It says K, not pre-K. A lot happens in a year, so there's a big difference between pre-K and K.

However, many Beauvoir kids CAN read by the time they're in K. Speaking from experience, my kinder kid entered the year reading at the E level and left reading at M, so there's clearly a lot of growth during that year, too.

In my humble observation, it seems like more girls than boys enter reading. The school certainly doesn't push reading in preK, nor would it want parents who pushed their kids to read. Beauvoir is all about developmental appropriateness and meeting kids where they're at.

Kids will read when they're ready and pushing them actually backfires into making them dislike reading. Our kids were read to at least an hour a day, sometimes two hours. There's no screen time in our house, so books are the only passive entertainment available. I think that's the biggest factor behind their reading earlier than some kids. They weren't taught, but did start making out sounds and connecting them to short words. Also, when one kid starts reading, the younger ones catch on a little faster because they want to compete with older one and because older one coaches younger ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a troll. My DC (who I was speaking of) will be going into K and I have an older DC going into 2nd grade. I'm very familiar with the school. If you want to actually believe there are no comparisons made and people don't speak of which kids are advanced then you are delusional. No the school does not promote competitiveness, but they also can't prevent parents and other from chatting about their observations. My DC can read, but I would not call it fluently or for comprehension. Nonetheless, DC is not one of the many that can already read. DC is one of the few that can.

Perhaps your incoming K "genius" child can read (many PKs can), even at the laughably inflated level that you are suggesting, but there is simply no way that your special little one is comprehending a thing if you are providing "3rd grade" material. It's developmentally impossible.

Not PP, but it's entirely possible. Come over and meet my kid. She's a freak, we didn't do anything to create it ( other than just have a bunch of books around and go the library all the time.). It's not like she had to grow a third leg to read well. That's what I would call "developmentally impossible."

We know, PP. It's Washington, where all children are astronomically "above average."

What is it with this need to pretend that all kids are average? It's like the dumbing down of America is the in thing these days. If a parent says their child is advance it's like the kiss of death. Some kids are more advanced than others. Period. The person who originally posted about their DC being advanced wasn't saying it to brag, but was using it as a point of reference that sending your child to an elite school for entrance to Beauvoir was not necessary.

But I suppose it would have been better had she said "my child is average, nothing special and was admitted." That would have been acceptable to all of the critics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a troll. My DC (who I was speaking of) will be going into K and I have an older DC going into 2nd grade. I'm very familiar with the school. If you want to actually believe there are no comparisons made and people don't speak of which kids are advanced then you are delusional. No the school does not promote competitiveness, but they also can't prevent parents and other from chatting about their observations. My DC can read, but I would not call it fluently or for comprehension. Nonetheless, DC is not one of the many that can already read. DC is one of the few that can.

Perhaps your incoming K "genius" child can read (many PKs can), even at the laughably inflated level that you are suggesting, but there is simply no way that your special little one is comprehending a thing if you are providing "3rd grade" material. It's developmentally impossible.

Not PP, but it's entirely possible. Come over and meet my kid. She's a freak, we didn't do anything to create it ( other than just have a bunch of books around and go the library all the time.). It's not like she had to grow a third leg to read well. That's what I would call "developmentally impossible."

We know, PP. It's Washington, where all children are astronomically "above average."

What is it with this need to pretend that all kids are average? It's like the dumbing down of America is the in thing these days. If a parent says their child is advance it's like the kiss of death. Some kids are more advanced than others. Period. The person who originally posted about their DC being advanced wasn't saying it to brag, but was using it as a point of reference that sending your child to an elite school for entrance to Beauvoir was not necessary.

But I suppose it would have been better had she said "my child is average, nothing special and was admitted." That would have been acceptable to all of the critics.

i just hate, hate, hate it when people throw that "developmentally impossible" or "not developmentally appropriate" verbiage around. I mean, what am I supposed to do, punish or forbid my child to read? Force her to garden every time she picks up a book to read? I think that's the trend these days right?

[Anonymous]

My son who went to Beauvoir preK through 3rd didn't read until 1st grade and left reading level X, above 3rd grade level. They will all learn to read. No child leaves Beauvoir illiterate. Relax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a troll. My DC (who I was speaking of) will be going into K and I have an older DC going into 2nd grade. I'm very familiar with the school. If you want to actually believe there are no comparisons made and people don't speak of which kids are advanced then you are delusional. No the school does not promote competitiveness, but they also can't prevent parents and other from chatting about their observations. My DC can read, but I would not call it fluently or for comprehension. Nonetheless, DC is not one of the many that can already read. DC is one of the few that can.

Perhaps your incoming K "genius" child can read (many PKs can), even at the laughably inflated level that you are suggesting, but there is simply no way that your special little one is comprehending a thing if you are providing "3rd grade" material. It's developmentally impossible.

Not PP, but it's entirely possible. Come over and meet my kid. She's a freak, we didn't do anything to create it ( other than just have a bunch of books around and go the library all the time.). It's not like she had to grow a third leg to read well. That's what I would call "developmentally impossible."

We know, PP. It's Washington, where all children are astronomically "above average."

What is it with this need to pretend that all kids are average? It's like the dumbing down of America is the in thing these days. If a parent says their child is advance it's like the kiss of death. Some kids are more advanced than others. Period. The person who originally posted about their DC being advanced wasn't saying it to brag, but was using it as a point of reference that sending your child to an elite school for entrance to Beauvoir was not necessary.

But I suppose it would have been better had she said "my child is average, nothing special and was admitted." That would have been acceptable to all of the critics.

i just hate, hate, hate it when people throw that "developmentally impossible" or "not developmentally appropriate" verbiage around. I mean, what am I supposed to do, punish or forbid my child to read? Force her to garden every time she picks up a book to read? I think that's the trend these days right?

Obviously, neither you nor the people throwing the phrase around know what you're talking about. "Developmentally appropriate" refers to where a child is at, not necessarily where the majority of his or her cohort is at. For some kids it's not developmentally inappropriate to be reading at an early age. But it's another thing when they clearly aren't ready and parents are pushing it at them. One of my DCs began reading spontaneously at 3. It was perfectly developmentally appropriate. However, my next kid didn't start reading until 5, which was also perfectly developmentally appropriate.

There are genuinely things that are developmentally inappropriate, most people would agree. For example, expecting a two-year old to have empathy or love sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a troll. My DC (who I was speaking of) will be going into K and I have an older DC going into 2nd grade. I'm very familiar with the school. If you want to actually believe there are no comparisons made and people don't speak of which kids are advanced then you are delusional. No the school does not promote competitiveness, but they also can't prevent parents and other from chatting about their observations. My DC can read, but I would not call it fluently or for comprehension. Nonetheless, DC is not one of the many that can already read. DC is one of the few that can.

Perhaps your incoming K "genius" child can read (many PKs can), even at the laughably inflated level that you are suggesting, but there is simply no way that your special little one is comprehending a thing if you are providing "3rd grade" material. It's developmentally impossible.

There are 3 yr olds who read at a 3rd or 4th grade level or higher with good comprehension. Not a lot of them - it's unusual for sure - but it's not impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son who went to Beauvoir preK through 3rd didn't read until 1st grade and left reading level X, above 3rd grade level. They will all learn to read. No child leaves Beauvoir illiterate. Relax.

I'm a Beauvoir parent, this sounds like my child. Awesome post, made my day. And, by the way, while it's great to be advanced, I didn't learn to read until second grade, ended up being an English major and a lawyer. Eventually, it all clicks.

[Anonymous]

After reading this crazy chain, I wonder if OP is still desperately seeking admission to Beauvoir---or is running away as fast as she or he can?

[Anonymous]

We really, really wanted it too OP. It didn't happen. We thought it was the end of the world at the time, but our kid ended up at Princeton anyway. Had to go a different route. Know that there are other choices. We did Montessori for several years and by-passed several years of stressful homework and early peaking. We noticed a lot of kids who went private all the way peaked too early and were burned out by college. They ended up at "meh" places they could have gotten into from the dreaded DC Publics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We really, really wanted it too OP. It didn't happen. We thought it was the end of the world at the time, but our kid ended up at Princeton anyway. Had to go a different route. Know that there are other choices. We did Montessori for several years and by-passed several years of stressful homework and early peaking. We noticed a lot of kids who went private all the way peaked too early and were burned out by college. They ended up at "meh" places they could have gotten into from the dreaded DC Publics.

Yeah. That's a big problem, isn't it? Private schools wrecking kids' chances of getting into college. Damn those private schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not a troll. My DC (who I was speaking of) will be going into K and I have an older DC going into 2nd grade. I'm very familiar with the school. If you want to actually believe there are no comparisons made and people don't speak of which kids are advanced then you are delusional. No the school does not promote competitiveness, but they also can't prevent parents and other from chatting about their observations. My DC can read, but I would not call it fluently or for comprehension. Nonetheless, DC is not one of the many that can already read. DC is one of the few that can.

Perhaps your incoming K "genius" child can read (many PKs can), even at the laughably inflated level that you are suggesting, but there is simply no way that your special little one is comprehending a thing if you are providing "3rd grade" material. It's developmentally impossible.

There are 3 yr olds who read at a 3rd or 4th grade level or higher with good comprehension. Not a lot of them - it's unusual for sure - but it's not impossible.

Mine too. We were warned away from a few schools due the effect attitudes like PPs might have on our child. The more competitive the parent body, the worse it is for a kid like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the names of the other local schools with similar philosophies?

St. Pats, NPS.

You should definitely consider St. Pats. Their nursery program is warm, welcoming and play based like Beauvoir. Remember Pre-k 4 is a heavy sibling and faculty family acceptance year. If you are wait listed, apply for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the names of the other local schools with similar philosophies?

St. Pats, NPS.

You should definitely consider St. Pats. Their nursery program is warm, welcoming and play based like Beauvoir. Remember Pre-k 4 is a heavy sibling and faculty family acceptance year. If you are wait listed, apply for K.

This year if I had to estimate I would say about half of the PreK class is siblings or faculty kids. So that means about 30-32 kids were
Regular admits. Conversely, they add an entire class in K admitting about 21 kids, and typically those kids won't be siblings or faculty kids. Looking at the numbers I would say a non-affiliated child's chances of being admitted in PreK are still higher than in K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the names of the other local schools with similar philosophies?

St. Pats, NPS.

You should definitely consider St. Pats. Their nursery program is warm, welcoming and play based like Beauvoir. Remember Pre-k 4 is a heavy sibling and faculty family acceptance year. If you are wait listed, apply for K.

This year if I had to estimate I would say about half of the PreK class is siblings or faculty kids. So that means about 30-32 kids were
Regular admits. Conversely, they add an entire class in K admitting about 21 kids, and typically those kids won't be siblings or faculty kids. Looking at the numbers I would say a non-affiliated child's chances of being admitted in PreK are still higher than in K.

30 sibling/faculty kids?? Thank God you don't have to estimate for a living (you would be broke and out of a job!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do many really come into Prek reading fluently??

No, read the post again. It says K, not pre-K. A lot happens in a year, so there's a big difference between pre-K and K.

However, many Beauvoir kids CAN read by the time they're in K. Speaking from experience, my kinder kid entered the year reading at the E level and left reading at M, so there's clearly a lot of growth during that year, too.

In my humble observation, it seems like more girls than boys enter reading. The school certainly doesn't push reading in preK, nor would it want parents who pushed their kids to read. Beauvoir is all about developmental appropriateness and meeting kids where they're at.

Kids will read when they're ready and pushing them actually backfires into making them dislike reading. Our kids were read to at least an hour a day, sometimes two hours. There's no screen time in our house, so books are the only passive entertainment available. I think that's the biggest factor behind their reading earlier than some kids. They weren't taught, but did start making out sounds and connecting them to short words. Also, when one kid starts reading, the younger ones catch on a little faster because they want to compete with older one and because older one coaches younger ones.

Agreed w the above. I have B/G twins just leaving Pre-K and DD has been reading since sometime last fall. DS has shown zero interest until the last couple of weeks. He still doesn't read but is starting the sound things out a bit. For the record, I don't think either trajectory is indicative of their intelligence. They'll get there when they get there.