One thing to know about kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friends 7 year old son just started his 3rd year of kindergarten. He can read, count and is at a 1-2 grade level but he has social and rage issues. He keeps getting held back because he can't get along with others. Kindergarten is not just academic.

Wow that's really screwed up. So he will rage at kids 2 years younger than him!?

It's mostly directed at the teachers. He also just shuts down. Won't do his work, won't speak or walk, goes limp like a toddler when he is upset. If he doesn't want to do it, he won't. His school uses carpal punishment so he gets sent to the principals office and he gets hit almost daily. I personally think he is autistic, but no one else does. I wonder if he will be a 15 year old kindergartener one day.

Ever wonder what is wrong with the school and parents for handling the child that wAy and not giving him the supports he needs. This thread is not about a child with behavioral problems or special needs. That's a very different topic.

Something is definitely off with your friend and the school. The school isn't a good fit at all and should have been obvious long ago. I can't imagine a kid who has mastered the content and has a behavioral issue to improve socially in the same classroom a year (or two) later.

[Anonymous]

Just chiming in to say I'm so glad that either my kid is so supremely average that I feel confident she will learn plenty in K or I'm so deluded as to her abilities that I don't know I need to worry about this. I'm still chuckling at the mom who thinks her kid dumbs down his capabilities so the K teachers don't know how smart and bored he is, LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friends 7 year old son just started his 3rd year of kindergarten. He can read, count and is at a 1-2 grade level but he has social and rage issues. He keeps getting held back because he can't get along with others. Kindergarten is not just academic.

Wow that's really screwed up. So he will rage at kids 2 years younger than him!?

He's probably enraged that he keeps getting head back when he can read and count. The social issues should not affect academic advancement. He needs special services to deal with his social issues and an appropriate education to meet his academic needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just chiming in to say I'm so glad that either my kid is so supremely average that I feel confident she will learn plenty in K or I'm so deluded as to her abilities that I don't know I need to worry about this. I'm still chuckling at the mom who thinks her kid dumbs down his capabilities so the K teachers don't know how smart and bored he is, LOL.

Yes, she's definitely the winner of this thread. Note that she's also outraged about the academic inadequacies of K before her child has even started kindergarten, and that she spent the summer doing grade 1 workbooks with her child.

Honestly I'd think that PP was punking us all, but I think that attitude is sadly way too common. Last year I volunteered during the first week of kindergarten at my child's school, and was in a classroom to help with dismissal while the teacher finished a get-to-know-you exercise with the kids where she passed a ball to each child and s/he had to say what their favorite part of summer was. One boy got the ball and announced that his favorite part of summer was doing workbooks. Oh, and he was wearing a tie (to MCPS, in typical 90 degree pre-Labor Day weather.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You underestimate one thing, and that is the diversity of the children in terms of abilities.

Some can barely hold a crayon or draw a circle, let alone identify which letter is A, while others are writing sentences and reading chapter books.

The gaps are huge and the challenge to the teachers, is huge.

Which is why there should be flexible ability tracking.

There is but it takes time to asses what abilities each child has.

[Anonymous]

Not at every school or every class. Even teachers who do it do it on a very limited basis.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You underestimate one thing, and that is the diversity of the children in terms of abilities.

Some can barely hold a crayon or draw a circle, let alone identify which letter is A, while others are writing sentences and reading chapter books.

The gaps are huge and the challenge to the teachers, is huge.

Which is why there should be flexible ability tracking.

There is but it takes time to asses what abilities each child has.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You underestimate one thing, and that is the diversity of the children in terms of abilities.

Some can barely hold a crayon or draw a circle, let alone identify which letter is A, while others are writing sentences and reading chapter books.

The gaps are huge and the challenge to the teachers, is huge.

Which is why there should be flexible ability tracking.

There is but it takes time to asses what abilities each child has.

Our K teacher reading tested every child in weeks 1 and 2. She assessed their number knowledge and ability to write / hold a pen. She had everyone down in the first month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...which is why the USA currently ranks less lower than 20 other nations in terms of math and general academic ability in schools.

which is why common core was set up in the first place.

The US currently ranks low on standardized tests in math, etc., because they believe that the purpose of public schools is to produce educated citizens, instead of most narrowly to teach math, etc.? I wonder what the higher-ranked countries would think about the idea that the purpose of their public schools is not to produce educated citizens.

You talk such nonsense its hard to work out if you actually know what you're saying.

Being an educated citizen, in any country includes understanding Math. Does that help you out?

[Anonymous]

Wow. In our K class last year, there were many, many opportunities for kids to work to their abilities. For example, they spent part of every day "journaling" where they would draw a picture on a certain subject and write about it. Like family, or a trip I took. So kids could do more or less elaborate drawings and write more words and sentences if they were able. They had several different reading groups for different levels. Even math concepts like "ways to make 10" were done in many different ways (coloring in the correct number of cats on a worksheet, counting out the correct number of marbles, and cutting and pasting the correct numbers of pieces of string) so that kids were constantly using different fine motor skills.

This was a DC public charter school, BTW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. In our K class last year, there were many, many opportunities for kids to work to their abilities. For example, they spent part of every day "journaling" where they would draw a picture on a certain subject and write about it. Like family, or a trip I took. So kids could do more or less elaborate drawings and write more words and sentences if they were able. They had several different reading groups for different levels. Even math concepts like "ways to make 10" were done in many different ways (coloring in the correct number of cats on a worksheet, counting out the correct number of marbles, and cutting and pasting the correct numbers of pieces of string) so that kids were constantly using different fine motor skills.

This was a DC public charter school, BTW.

I'm so glad the "wow" poster is back. I think what you said above could have been said without the opening "wow" and be so much more effective. Wow just sounds like "aw shucks" stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every year parents post about how kindergarten is too easy, their darling showflake is too advanced, it's a waste of time blah blah blah whinecakes.

Just remember in every Kindergarten class you have children with preschool experience and children with no preschool experience. You have a range of children, some who know their letters, some who don't. Some who are starting to read, some who are not.. Some who can count to 10, some who can count to 20, some who can do basic math.

It takes time for a Kindergarten teacher to sort out the different levels of knowledge so he or she can teach that child appropriately. In the mean time they are also getting everyone up to speed on how to "do" school like how to sit on a carpet, line up, raise your hand etc. It's a lot for a kid to learn.

Just because your kid is l reviewing things they already know does not mean that it's a waste of time.

Also, a 5 year old or 6 year old is rarely the most reliable narrators. It might be easiest for them to answer with things they're familiar with ("today we learned how to count!") and not cover all the new things they've learned too.

Thank you. It is all very true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there pull outs for the more advanced kids? I assume it takes a little while for the teachers to determine who needs to be pulled out, but once they do, are the pull-outs helpful for kids who can already read, do simple math, etc.?

it depends on the school as to whether there is enough staff to pull out kids for enrichment. Teachers should be differentiating the lesson. Problem is that a lot of teachers don't know how or simply aren't given the necessary planning time to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I think many of us know that, and we know that there are social benefits to K. That being said, yes it is frustrating to think that my kid who not only knew the alphabet by age 2, reads at a first grade level, and has been in childcare his whole life and therefore knows the basics of circle time, etc... has to essentially put up and shut up for large portions of his day for at least the first quarter of the school year. Yes I know it, but doesn't mean I have to like the fact that large parts of his time will be review rather than gaining knowledge.

According to our school the K teachers send home a weekly or bi-weekly update newsletter so I won't have to rely on him to tell me.

I guarantee that even your kindergartener, who knew the alphabet by age 2, reads at a first-grade level, and knows the basics of circle time etc., will learn plenty in kindergarten.

Like what, specifically? My DD said she loved K because she never had to do any real "work" it was all just fun and games. And yes, she was reading and writing before she got there. Her numbers weren't up to 100 yet, and she did learn some math, I concede that, but otherwise, no a lot happened for her in academic terms. In social terms she had already had 3 years of preschool so socially she was already in full swing.

When she went into a private school for 1st grade they realized very quickly that she was too advanced for the class and they put her into 2nd grade where she finally hit her stride academically.

Unfortunately you can't just trot out that everyone learns something unless you have a full account of everyone's experience. And not everyone learns much in K, indeed for many its a total fucking waste of time.

LOL! Because it was supposed to be fun and games. A good teacher knows that the best way to get a five year old on board is to use learning games, songs, and hands on activities to engage the students. Once you learn about pedagogy and child development then you can come back and have an actual discussion about what should and should not be happening in a K classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. In our K class last year, there were many, many opportunities for kids to work to their abilities. For example, they spent part of every day "journaling" where they would draw a picture on a certain subject and write about it. Like family, or a trip I took. So kids could do more or less elaborate drawings and write more words and sentences if they were able. They had several different reading groups for different levels. Even math concepts like "ways to make 10" were done in many different ways (coloring in the correct number of cats on a worksheet, counting out the correct number of marbles, and cutting and pasting the correct numbers of pieces of string) so that kids were constantly using different fine motor skills.

This was a DC public charter school, BTW.

I'm so glad the "wow" poster is back. I think what you said above could have been said without the opening "wow" and be so much more effective. Wow just sounds like "aw shucks" stupid.

Wow! Really poster? Really? So now you are telling people how to post?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I think many of us know that, and we know that there are social benefits to K. That being said, yes it is frustrating to think that my kid who not only knew the alphabet by age 2, reads at a first grade level, and has been in childcare his whole life and therefore knows the basics of circle time, etc... has to essentially put up and shut up for large portions of his day for at least the first quarter of the school year. Yes I know it, but doesn't mean I have to like the fact that large parts of his time will be review rather than gaining knowledge.

For your child's sake I hope you are trolling here. What precisely is the detriment to your child having to "review" letters, numbers, basic math and reading, at the ripe old age of 5yo? Is this holding back his application to Harvard?

I'm not trolling, TBH. And I expect fully to get slammed as you and the next poster already have. Thing is, I don't think it's unreasonable to want my child to learn. Whether he ends up at Harvard or the local community college, my point is that one of the huge challenges of public school is that the teacher does need to bring all kids to the same baseline which means unfortunately that some kids have to simply tread water while they wait for classmates to catch up. In other words, some kids are learning while some are simply waiting.

Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and he'll be challenged, but other threads over the years have indicated that I shouldn't expect that. I'm not sure why it's unreasonable to hope that your child will be learning.

I feel the same way. My child will be 6 two weeks after starting K. He had a year of an academic preschool with most of what is being learned in K except they did a very stretched out pre-reading and writing program. My kid was reading and much more. We do supplement at home as the speed of the classes are dull. The homework was a joke and took 20 minutes where other kids struggled for an hour or two, if not more. I sent in workbooks more his level which went unused. We are doing 1st grade workbooks comfortably at home this summer. Yes, part of K. is social, but I send my kid to learn, not to play. He can play at home. My kid will be in a holding pattern for another year while his peers catch up. His teachers don't even fully realize how much he knows as he dumbs down as people get uncomfortable with it. He'll tell them I don't know when he clearly knows and they do not pick up on his cues.

You do realize that experts agree that there should not homework in K and only 10 minutes of homework in first grade, right?