Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to do away with this. Move the deadline to Sept 30 for all, and make it a hard deadline. No early entrance exceptions for anyone. This is what’s done in Fairfax.

Why should they move the deadline? Before school start approximately seems the most fair.

Because it’s a waste of resources and time to test everyone with a September Birthday that wants early entrance. Just move the deadline. Make it a real deadline. If your kid is born in October, then they wait another year.

They don't test everyone with a September birthday. Only when requested. Most people seem to focus on holding back not pushing ahead. It is not a big deal and acknowledges some kids may be ready early.

This.

My child did early entrance several years ago. I believe four kids were tested her school that year and two passed. It definitely included some reading and academic stuff, as well as seeing how she separated from parents and followed directions, etc. I remember being told that they test at an end-of-kindergarten level to find the kids that have a real need to start early as opposed to kids that would be able to start but weren't in need of it. Not sure how accurate that is, and how much it varies from school to school, but it's what we were told at the time.

Anonymous wrote:My kid took the EEK eval and went early entrance.

They had him make a goldfish type thing, and identify letters/numbers/some words. It really wasn't a huge deal. I told DS to do the best he could and try to answer questions clearly.

If your DC has gone to a year or two of preschool, it will be fine.

This was not my daughter’s experience with the test. Much more academic than that. She was an early reader and string in math, but she did not pass. When we met with the principal about it, she made clear that the test is designed so kids won’t pass.

PP - I should have been more clear.

They had him make a goldfish out of some shapes, not draw a goldfish!

My kid took the EEK eval and went early entrance.

They had him make a goldfish type thing, and identify letters/numbers/some words. It really wasn't a huge deal. I told DS to do the best he could and try to answer questions clearly.

If your DC has gone to a year or two of preschool, it will be fine.

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to do away with this. Move the deadline to Sept 30 for all, and make it a hard deadline. No early entrance exceptions for anyone. This is what’s done in Fairfax.

Deadline and ability to test for early entrance are set by the state. MCPS doesn’t want kids entering early, so they make the text difficult and subjective enough that they can reject kids who are ready for K.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to do away with this. Move the deadline to Sept 30 for all, and make it a hard deadline. No early entrance exceptions for anyone. This is what’s done in Fairfax.

Why should they move the deadline? Before school start approximately seems the most fair.

Because it’s a waste of resources and time to test everyone with a September Birthday that wants early entrance. Just move the deadline. Make it a real deadline. If your kid is born in October, then they wait another year.

It's not a lot of kids. Plus then it would be reasonable to want an EEK process for kids born in October. A hard deadline doesn't make sense.

Then why does it work in Fairfax, a county similar in demographics to MC, but is much larger?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to do away with this. Move the deadline to Sept 30 for all, and make it a hard deadline. No early entrance exceptions for anyone. This is what’s done in Fairfax.

Why should they move the deadline? Before school start approximately seems the most fair.

Because it’s a waste of resources and time to test everyone with a September Birthday that wants early entrance. Just move the deadline. Make it a real deadline. If your kid is born in October, then they wait another year.

They don't test everyone with a September birthday. Only when requested. Most people seem to focus on holding back not pushing ahead. It is not a big deal and acknowledges some kids may be ready early.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to do away with this. Move the deadline to Sept 30 for all, and make it a hard deadline. No early entrance exceptions for anyone. This is what’s done in Fairfax.

Why should they move the deadline? Before school start approximately seems the most fair.

Because it’s a waste of resources and time to test everyone with a September Birthday that wants early entrance. Just move the deadline. Make it a real deadline. If your kid is born in October, then they wait another year.

With any deadline there will be someone just after it who will want any exception. No reason to move it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to do away with this. Move the deadline to Sept 30 for all, and make it a hard deadline. No early entrance exceptions for anyone. This is what’s done in Fairfax.

Why should they move the deadline? Before school start approximately seems the most fair.

Because it’s a waste of resources and time to test everyone with a September Birthday that wants early entrance. Just move the deadline. Make it a real deadline. If your kid is born in October, then they wait another year.

It's not a lot of kids. Plus then it would be reasonable to want an EEK process for kids born in October. A hard deadline doesn't make sense.

I think at our school the EEK kids (very few of them) were also asked to come to the regular kindergarten "orientation" where they take the kids in groups for a short time to try to figure out how to place them in classes. So as PP wrote they were also observing how well they interacted with peers.

I do know one child who had strong academics did not get in due to social concerns. The parents asked the teachers for feedback after the child was denied EEK. She's happy in her current grade so it all worked out.

Anonymous wrote:My friend's child recently went through this. Observation starts with how well the kids separate from their parents. Easily or with tears?
The child was taken into a room 1:1 with the reading teacher and had to complete a series of tasks including writing her name, reading some words and some of the things PPs described above. They were also looking at how well the child followed directions.

+ 1
Somewhat same experience, except there was a component of group dynamic also in our school.

My friend's child recently went through this. Observation starts with how well the kids separate from their parents. Easily or with tears?
The child was taken into a room 1:1 with the reading teacher and had to complete a series of tasks including writing her name, reading some words and some of the things PPs described above. They were also looking at how well the child followed directions.

I have heard that there’s a list of about 50 words that the child should be able to read. They won’t test on all the words, but any of those words can be on the test.
My son had a classmate with a September who tried to test in early. She did not pass the test. As a PP posted, they are testing for end-of-the-year Kindergarten level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to do away with this. Move the deadline to Sept 30 for all, and make it a hard deadline. No early entrance exceptions for anyone. This is what’s done in Fairfax.

Why should they move the deadline? Before school start approximately seems the most fair.

Because it’s a waste of resources and time to test everyone with a September Birthday that wants early entrance. Just move the deadline. Make it a real deadline. If your kid is born in October, then they wait another year.