Anything you wish you knew at Pre-K?

[Anonymous]

I have a 5yo who will start Kindergarten in the fall in a dual-immersion classroom. She's taking Spanish lessons as part of her pre-K curriculum.

Anything you wish you knew at this stage that you now know with kids in elementary? Not necessarily related to dual immersion but just in general.

[Anonymous]

Yes, make sure your child knows their numbers to 100 and the alphabet. Start them on simple early reader books like the Bob Books where you learn 3 letter words first.

Seriously.

[Anonymous]

They will be tired...very tired. Dont plan on a lot of after school activities at least for the 1st couple of months.

[Anonymous]

Same question but not in a language immersion program (no idea those are even around nor close to 20816.
We have the option of doing K at our same Montessori. Take it or get going on making MCPS friends?

[Anonymous]

teach them lower case letters. I thought my kid would be fine knowing capital letters and a few sight words, but they started on lower case on day 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same question but not in a language immersion program (no idea those are even around nor close to 20816.
We have the option of doing K at our same Montessori. Take it or get going on making MCPS friends?

Why wouldn't you start with public? What's to be gained by waiting a year? Presumably you moved to 20816 for the schools in large part so you might as well use them.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Relax.

[Anonymous]

Go to the K orientation at your local school. Play at the playground there during the summer. Do what you can to help the building feel familiar to your kid before school starts.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestions!

We live across the street from the elementary so she’s familiar with the school.

She can count to 100. Knows the alphabet and sounding of the word (e.g., a for apple, a for ah), but she is really stubborn about learning sight words. I have work books that remain untouched.

She still naps so tiredness will be an issue.

[Anonymous]

I would wean her off the naps towards the last month before school starts. Don’t worry about the site words. Make sure she can toilet entirely by herself, including wiping #2 and washing hands WELL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same question but not in a language immersion program (no idea those are even around nor close to 20816.
We have the option of doing K at our same Montessori. Take it or get going on making MCPS friends?

I faced the same question and ended up putting my child in public kindergarten after watching a neighbor child struggle withnot having begun in K.

Not only do kids make friends in kindergarten, but kindergarten teachers are specifically looking to instill "being in school" skills during that year. Yes, it can mean that the academic work feels a little slow, but the goal of kindergarten isn't academic - it is entering first grade with an understanding of how the school day goes, how to wait in line, how to nativate "centers" and all of the other public school routines.

This is probably less of an issue where you are, but I also find that kindergarten plays a huge role in how they "sort" the kids into first grade classrooms. If your child needs an academic peer group - either accelerated or remediated - that's easier to access if the school's had a chance to figure out what your child needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:teach them lower case letters. I thought my kid would be fine knowing capital letters and a few sight words, but they started on lower case on day 1.

The start on them so why do you feel they have to know them ahead of time?

[Anonymous]

My DC had a really hard time adjusting to lunch in the all purpose room. It was really loud and hard to navigate the lunch line because DC couldn’t speak up. They don’t get a lot of time to eat, so that took getting used to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Relax.

1. Relax
2. Understand that it's elementary school, not preschool.
3. Remind yourself that all of the other kindergartners are kindergartners too.
4. When you don't like something about the teachers or administration, start with the assumption that the teachers and administration probably know what they're doing.

[Anonymous]

Number one from the previous poster is most important. Our preschool did a panel, in the spring of the last year of preschool. It included an mcps administrator, mcps kindergarten teacher, and I can't remember who else. All of the questions were for the kindergarten teacher! How did they get through the day without a nap, how did they deal with 27/28 kids and one teacher, how do they eat their lunch in such a short amount of time in such a loud cafeteria, etc etc etc.

What I most remember was the kindergarten teacher saying over and over again, don't worry, your kids can do this, they will be fine. She was right! Yes they are big hot mess the first month of school, because they're exhausted. But they get over it quickly. Promise! Mine are both in MS now, and believe me, there arw much bigger things to worry about!