Baltimore parents- can we talk about pre-first?

[Anonymous]

Our child is starting K at a school that we've been told is really academically rigorous. Our child is not reading yet, and I'm a little concerned about being sent to pre-first. I've heard they make those decisions by December. At the risk of being ridiculous, I'm considering getting a reading tutor to give our child a little head start on learning to read before school starts. I know lots of kids are already reading when they start K . . . If not for the risk of having to do an extra year before first grade, I wouldn't worry about it. Good idea?

[Anonymous]

What's a bad idea is sending a child to a school with totally developmentally inappropriate expectations. Yes, some kids are reading before kindergarten; others learn to read some time during kindergarten; others don't become fluent readers until 1st grade. It's all normal and okay. And if your school doesn't understand that, it's not an appropriate school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child is starting K at a school that we've been told is really academically rigorous. Our child is not reading yet, and I'm a little concerned about being sent to pre-first. I've heard they make those decisions by December. At the risk of being ridiculous, I'm considering getting a reading tutor to give our child a little head start on learning to read before school starts. I know lots of kids are already reading when they start K . . . If not for the risk of having to do an extra year before first grade, I wouldn't worry about it. Good idea?

If your kid is born in March or later, he/she will be going to pre first. If he's he has a birthday Janauray or later, they will be going to pre first. A reading tutor will not change anything. Baltimore private like their kids old, that is why pre-first exists. If you fight it, your kid will be in a class room with kids 18 months older, all of whom are smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child is starting K at a school that we've been told is really academically rigorous. Our child is not reading yet, and I'm a little concerned about being sent to pre-first. I've heard they make those decisions by December. At the risk of being ridiculous, I'm considering getting a reading tutor to give our child a little head start on learning to read before school starts. I know lots of kids are already reading when they start K . . . If not for the risk of having to do an extra year before first grade, I wouldn't worry about it. Good idea?

If your kid is born in March or later, he/she will be going to pre first. If he's he has a birthday Janauray or later, they will be going to pre first. A reading tutor will not change anything. Baltimore private like their kids old, that is why pre-first exists. If you fight it, your kid will be in a class room with kids 18 months older, all of whom are smart.

Pp, second sentence should say, and if they are socially immature,,they will be going to pre-first.

[Anonymous]

Of course it's all normal and okay. Nobody is suggesting otherwise. It's not like the school is going to kick them out if the kid's not reading before kindergarten. This issue is avoiding spending another year's worth of private school tuition on pre first if it can be avoided. PP, are you familiar with pre first?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course it's all normal and okay. Nobody is suggesting otherwise. It's not like the school is going to kick them out if the kid's not reading before kindergarten. This issue is avoiding spending another year's worth of private school tuition on pre first if it can be avoided. PP, are you familiar with pre first?

Sorry my post was intended for the first poster after OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child is starting K at a school that we've been told is really academically rigorous. Our child is not reading yet, and I'm a little concerned about being sent to pre-first. I've heard they make those decisions by December. At the risk of being ridiculous, I'm considering getting a reading tutor to give our child a little head start on learning to read before school starts. I know lots of kids are already reading when they start K . . . If not for the risk of having to do an extra year before first grade, I wouldn't worry about it. Good idea?

If your kid is born in March or later, he/she will be going to pre first. If he's he has a birthday Janauray or later, they will be going to pre first. A reading tutor will not change anything. Baltimore private like their kids old, that is why pre-first exists. If you fight it, your kid will be in a class room with kids 18 months older, all of whom are smart.

Pp, second sentence should say, and if they are socially immature,,they will be going to pre-first.

What do you mean by "socially immature"? Like playing well with others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course it's all normal and okay. Nobody is suggesting otherwise. It's not like the school is going to kick them out if the kid's not reading before kindergarten. This issue is avoiding spending another year's worth of private school tuition on pre first if it can be avoided. PP, are you familiar with pre first?

If your kid has a spring or summer birthday, it can't be avoided without a significant detriment to your kid because the other kids will e so much older. Just th way the Baltimore privates with pre-first works.

Op, by way of example, my son has a July birthday. He did pre- first. He is no where close to the oldest in his class as a second grader solidly in the middle age wise. Also, athletics will be an issue as well for a younger kid.

Didn't the school or friends explain this to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our child is starting K at a school that we've been told is really academically rigorous. Our child is not reading yet, and I'm a little concerned about being sent to pre-first. I've heard they make those decisions by December. At the risk of being ridiculous, I'm considering getting a reading tutor to give our child a little head start on learning to read before school starts. I know lots of kids are already reading when they start K . . . If not for the risk of having to do an extra year before first grade, I wouldn't worry about it. Good idea?

If your kid is born in March or later, he/she will be going to pre first. If he's he has a birthday Janauray or later, they will be going to pre first. A reading tutor will not change anything. Baltimore private like their kids old, that is why pre-first exists. If you fight it, your kid will be in a class room with kids 18 months older, all of whom are smart.

Pp, second sentence should say, and if they are socially immature,,they will be going to pre-first.

What do you mean by "socially immatur"? Like playing well with others?

Sits still, follows directions, fits in socially, has a sufficiently long attention span. Expectations are high if you are talking about a school like Gilman, Park, Cathedral, Mcdonogh or Bryn Mawr. Calvert has pre-first literally built in.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My child has a February birthday. The school explained to us that the decision with respect to pre first will be based entirely on whether they feel our child is ready for first grade. It makes sense that younger children would be more likely to need pre first, but our school very much disavows the claim that it's all based on birthdays. I'm inclined to believe them given the care they put into individually assessing children during the admissions process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My child has a February birthday. The school explained to us that the decision with respect to pre first will be based entirely on whether they feel our child is ready for first grade. It makes sense that younger children would be more likely to need pre first, but our school very much disavows the claim that it's all based on birthdays. I'm inclined to believe them given the care they put into individually assessing children during the admissions process.

is it Gilman? Because it is very birthday driven. But a February kid has a reasonable chance of not doing pre-first. Don't do the tutoring, it won't affect the things they look at.

[Anonymous]

This must be Gilman. Been thru it multiple times. End of February- more likely to do prefirst. The prefirst at Gilman is, in my opinion, the absolute worst grade in lower school. We endured it. But rest of grades are much better. As other PPs have said, reading is small part. Mostly being able to follow multi step directions, being able to focus on your morning work without needing redirection, etc

[Anonymous]

The schools also see pre-first as a good choice. They don't see it as holding a child back, or as having long term consequences. They'll assure you that your child will be suitably challenged in upper school. Most parents I know who had children sent to pre-first followed the schools recommendations. I know a few parents who pulled their child, went to public or another school for a couple years, and then returned to the school in order to avoid pre-first. Some schools will in some cases let you decline a pre-first placement and move on to first grade.

If your K child requires tutoring to maintain the expectations of the school, and the school is one you are committed to, I'd suggest doing pre-first instead. The expectations don't slack off after K. The standards remain high and in some cases normal age for grade inappropriate. You don't want to be setting yourself up to do tutoring all the way through.

If money is your primary concern about pre-first, talk about it with the school. You can also ask to talk to students and parents who have been through pre-first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The schools also see pre-first as a good choice. They don't see it as holding a child back, or as having long term consequences. They'll assure you that your child will be suitably challenged in upper school. Most parents I know who had children sent to pre-first followed the schools recommendations. I know a few parents who pulled their child, went to public or another school for a couple years, and then returned to the school in order to avoid pre-first. Some schools will in some cases let you decline a pre-first placement and move on to first grade.

If your K child requires tutoring to maintain the expectations of the school, and the school is one you are committed to, I'd suggest doing pre-first instead. The expectations don't slack off after K. The standards remain high and in some cases normal age for grade inappropriate. You don't want to be setting yourself up to do tutoring all the way through.

If money is your primary concern about pre-first, talk about it with the school. You can also ask to talk to students and parents who have been through pre-first.

Just an fyi, they will also make transfers go back a year. I know of more than one summer birthday boy who was accepted only if he moved back a grade-- in one case, the family did it and the other they chose another school.

[Anonymous]

too late for op, but some people do k and pre-first at Redeemer or Good Shepherd and then move to Gilman in order to pay significantly less for those first two years. The pre-first at Redeemer is particularly good. Both are feeders for Gilman.