Is EEK (early entrance to kindergarten) getting harder?
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Anonymous
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Our daughter has a September birthday, so this is on our mind. We know of several kids who have successfully tested in (including one this past year, though only after appeal, and not to our home school), but a local preschool director has just warned me that the EEK acceptance rates have plummeted over the last several years. Two years ago she was telling everyone that pretty much all of her students who took the test were passing, and now she's saying that none of them are. That preschool feeds almost entirely into our home school, which is very overcrowded. Is it possible that the school has just made a decision to stop accepting EEK kids? My understanding was that a student is scored in 7 categories, and must receive an "acceptable" score in all 7 in order to pass. So wouldn't that be an objective test that would not be subject to manipulation by the school? Or is it possible that the county has raised the "acceptable" threshold for all schools? In our case, our daughter will not even be going to the local school because her older brother is in an immersion program so she will get a sibling spot - but I'm told that it is still her local school that will evaluate her.
Does anyone have any anecdotal experience with the recent EEK acceptance rates? I suppose I should just call up our local school and ask what's going on, though I assume they won't want to admit anything to me. |
Anonymous
| Call the school and ask. Ours was not very friendly so we didn't bother and we ended up going to a small private. If you do private for K and 1st, you can supposedly transfer to 2nd in public without an issue. |
Anonymous
| Call the school and ask. Also call the central office and ask. |
Anonymous
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I don't have anything to compare to, but I think it is. Our school turned us down for stuff the teacher said my kid could totally do a few weeks later at parent-teacher conferences. Our teacher from last year was surprised it didn't work out.
My kid is still learning a lot, and does have a group of kids at a similar level, so it's ok. One of them may or may not be 7 (!) already? Who knows. We supplement at home and get lots of books from the library! |
Anonymous
| If they are overcrowded, yes they will be more strict. It sucks but I recommend that you fight for it. The curriculum is so ridiculously slow and my child (an Aug birthday) is bored out of her mind. |
Anonymous
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With respect to showing skills, please keep in mind that your 4 year-old will be asked to demonstrate to a stranger in a strange place without Mom by his/her side. Also, no friendly hints/encouragement (as preschool teachers are likely to give).
It takes a pretty social/confident 4 year old to really shine in those circumstances, and that's part of the test. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks, I'm familiar with all of the arguments for/against EEK, and am only considering it because our preschool director feels that our daughter is a great candidate. I'm specifically looking for information/thoughts about whether the test has changed, or whether the county or specific schools are imposing higher requirements recently. |
Anonymous
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From my experience, preschool teachers/directors have poor knowledge of the MCPS Kindergarten and are poor judges of whether a kid is ready or not.
My son was October birthday and we were told many times to pushi him ahead into K. We did not and it was the best decision we ever made. |
Anonymous
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From my experience, preschool teachers/directors have limited knowledge of the MCPS Kindergarten and are poor judges of whether a kid is ready or not.
My son was October birthday and we were told many times to push him ahead into K. We did not and it was the best decision we ever made. |
Anonymous
Not the OP, but thank you for that info! We had been wondering that. Our DS also has a Sept birthday and we're hoping to try for EEK, but good to know this might be an option. We'd be paying for an extra year of preschool anyway, so if we could get into a private K that'd be worth the expense. |
Anonymous
I thought folks were being remarkably civilized in response to your post. Even if the standards have changed, I don't think anyone will acknowledge it. I have often heard anecdotally that the principal of X elementary school "does not allow EEK.". But I can't imagine that the principal in question would admit to a blatant violation of MCPS policy if asked directly. |
Anonymous
I truly do not understand this. What is too slow? If the child is a precocious reader, is she not allowed to read at her level? In math, there are things like "make an addition fact family". That can be using 5+2=7 or 326+408=734. Right? |
Anonymous
| OP is this your first child? I'm asking because I know you don't want advice, but consider the social side of this. My first grader just learned about intercourse from a classmate. Do you want that stuff a year earlier? |
Anonymous
There are a few smaller more flexible schools and the ones we looked at were more affordable - $1100+ a month. I held my son back, regretted it, so we skipped K and are now in 1st grade. K. is very slow if your kid is reading and knows the basics. Worst case, you pay private K., kid needs an extra year and then hold them back but give them the opportunity to try. I think private K & 1st are worth it for the small class size. |
Anonymous
Actually, no. There is a kindergarten curriculum. Here is the curriculum guide: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedfiles/curriculum/elementary/parent-guide-traditional-kindergarten-en.pdf Nonetheless, even a child who has already mastered everything in the kindergarten curriculum should not be "bored out of her mind". There are plenty of non-academic things to learn and do in kindergarten. |