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Early Kindergarten or not?



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 25th 04, 05:49 PM
Rosalie B.
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Default Early Kindergarten or not?

My dd has a dd who was 4 in October, but she is a very capable, bright
and I think advanced 4 yo. She is quite big for her age, and very
well coordinated.

For example, she is one of the biggest on her soccer team even though
they are 4 and 5 year olds and she's one of the youngest. She can
swim, hit a tennis ball back to you, throw and catch a ball. She can
swing across the monkey bars by herself. She is fearless and will go
on any amusement ride that anyone will let her ride without any qualms
before during or after.

She has an excellent memory and can recite a story back to you if you
have read it to her once (turning the pages at appropriate places). A
man gave a talk to her class and asked questions afterwards, and she
knew the answer to every question. She knows all the teachers in the
school and greets and converses with them on her way in to her
classroom. She amuses herself quite well - she goes to her older
brother's ball games and plays happily.

The problem is that the teacher of her 3 yo class thinks that the 4 yo
class will be a waste of time for her, and she's asked my dd whether
she shouldn't be in Kindergarten next year instead of the 4 yo class.
Her mom isn't really happy at that idea, although she thinks that her
dd could do the work.

Her mom (my dd) said that she was bored in school because she would
'get' things the first time they were presented, and she could usually
listen the 2nd time, but by the 3rd and subsequent times she just
couldn't understand why she had to sit through that stuff again.

I suspect that this child will be the same. Also I'm afraid that with
her excellent memory that she will not really learn to read, but will
instead memorize what is written based on prior reading, and that no
one will realize this and really teach her to read.

So I think she's too young to be in a full day program, and I also
think she's going to be bored in school regardless of when she starts.

What would be the best?

grandma Rosalie
  #2  
Old March 25th 04, 08:54 PM
H Schinske
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Posts: n/a
Default Early Kindergarten or not?

wrote:

I suspect that this child will be the same. Also I'm afraid that with
her excellent memory that she will not really learn to read, but will
instead memorize what is written based on prior reading, and that no
one will realize this and really teach her to read.


Why not try teaching her a little bit of reading now, then, just to see how
ready she is? If she's ready to read, and she shows all these other signs of
readiness, early kindergarten might be a fine thing. In any case, while reading
by the end of kindergarten is fairly common these days, the level expected on
average is low. (Seems to me I've known a number of *very* bright kids who were
hardly reading at all -- like just initial and final sounds -- by the end of
kindergarten.) It might be a good idea to visit the kindergarten in question
and ask to see a typical end-of-year thing that a child might be expected to
read.

It's actually quite unusual for professionals to *recommend* early
kindergarten, so I'd take that as a strong cue that it might be a true need.

My August-born son has done just fine in kindergarten, no problems at all with
social skills, fine motor, any of that. Half-day might well have been a little
better for him (but worse for me!), because he does still sometimes nap in the
afternoon. Is a half-day kindergarten not available? Your granddaughter would
be only about two months younger, and she's a girl, and sounds if anything more
advanced than he was.

By the way, some kindergartens here let you ease your child into a full-day
schedule -- they do the bulk of the academics in the morning and some kids go
home in the middle of the day for quite a while.

--Helen
  #3  
Old March 25th 04, 09:19 PM
Leigh Menconi
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Posts: n/a
Default Early Kindergarten or not?

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
My dd has a dd who was 4 in October, but she is a very capable, bright
and I think advanced 4 yo. She is quite big for her age, and very
well coordinated.

For example, she is one of the biggest on her soccer team even though
they are 4 and 5 year olds and she's one of the youngest. She can
swim, hit a tennis ball back to you, throw and catch a ball. She can
swing across the monkey bars by herself. She is fearless and will go
on any amusement ride that anyone will let her ride without any qualms
before during or after.

She has an excellent memory and can recite a story back to you if you
have read it to her once (turning the pages at appropriate places). A
man gave a talk to her class and asked questions afterwards, and she
knew the answer to every question. She knows all the teachers in the
school and greets and converses with them on her way in to her
classroom. She amuses herself quite well - she goes to her older
brother's ball games and plays happily.

The problem is that the teacher of her 3 yo class thinks that the 4 yo
class will be a waste of time for her, and she's asked my dd whether
she shouldn't be in Kindergarten next year instead of the 4 yo class.
Her mom isn't really happy at that idea, although she thinks that her
dd could do the work.

Her mom (my dd) said that she was bored in school because she would
'get' things the first time they were presented, and she could usually
listen the 2nd time, but by the 3rd and subsequent times she just
couldn't understand why she had to sit through that stuff again.

I suspect that this child will be the same. Also I'm afraid that with
her excellent memory that she will not really learn to read, but will
instead memorize what is written based on prior reading, and that no
one will realize this and really teach her to read.

So I think she's too young to be in a full day program, and I also
think she's going to be bored in school regardless of when she starts.

What would be the best?

grandma Rosalie


I have a friend who had her child evaluated by an educational psychologist
before making the decision to put her then 4yo into kindergarten. She's
tall/big for her age and has done wonderfully, she's in my son's class (now
3rd grade). She does have some maturity issues but they may be more related
to her ADHD.

Most school systems won't let you just put a child in at 4 without some
evaluation so calling the school might be the first step. They may have
someone on staff that can do the evaluation (free!) or recommend someone in
your area that has done other childrens' evaluations. Some private
preschools offer half-day kindergarten classes and that might be an option,
too, if you don't think she's ready for a full-day program.

Leigh in raLeigh


  #4  
Old March 25th 04, 09:44 PM
H Schinske
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Posts: n/a
Default Early Kindergarten or not?

Leigh ) wrote:

Most school systems won't let you just put a child in at 4 without some
evaluation so calling the school might be the first step.


It sounded as though this was a kindergarten class in the same school where she
is? Not sure. Rosalie?

Our district has already closed registration, by the way. I suppose you could
still register (people move in all the time, of course), but some of the
popular schools would be full, and I don't think you could get a child in Early
Entrance at all if you missed the deadlines, though I've never done it so am
not sure of the details. Half-day classes often don't fill though (another
benefit, they usually have smaller classes).

The rules are different everywhere, I'm just giving ours as an example.

--Helen
  #5  
Old March 26th 04, 12:10 AM
Tracey
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Posts: n/a
Default Early Kindergarten or not?


"Leigh Menconi" wrote in message
k.net...
"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
Most school systems won't let you just put a child in at 4 without some
evaluation so calling the school might be the first step.


This is highly dependant on where you live. Here in CT, children are
eligible to start Kindergarten in September as long as they turn 5 by
January 1. In other words, for this coming school year (2004-2005), any
child born on or before January 1st, 2000 is eligible to enter Kindergarten
in September.



  #7  
Old March 26th 04, 02:58 AM
LFortier
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Default Early Kindergarten or not?

Rosalie B. wrote:


I suspect that this child will be the same. Also I'm afraid that with
her excellent memory that she will not really learn to read, but will
instead memorize what is written based on prior reading, and that no
one will realize this and really teach her to read.


At our school, they evaluate what "level" the child is at in
reading by having them sight read a new book (and my
children never did one that we had checked out from the
library or seen elsewhere) and they were graded on the
number of words correct and their ability to retell the
story. I don't think a child would be likely to beat this
system.


So I think she's too young to be in a full day program, and I also
think she's going to be bored in school regardless of when she starts.


When is the cut-off where dgd is? My children both started
K at 4, since we have a fall cutoff. A full day was tough,
but both ended up doing very well. Something to consider
for the future may be how much younger she may end up being
- if she is too far past the cutoff, with redshirting and
retentions, she could be a lot younger down the road than
she is the first day of K.

Lesley


What would be the best?

grandma Rosalie



  #8  
Old March 26th 04, 11:47 PM
toto
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Default Early Kindergarten or not?

On 25 Mar 2004 16:50:27 -0800, (valerie) wrote:

(H Schinske) wrote in message ...
wrote:
snip


My August-born son has done just fine in kindergarten, no problems at all with
social skills, fine motor, any of that. Half-day might well have been a little
better for him (but worse for me!), because he does still sometimes nap in the
afternoon. Is a half-day kindergarten not available? Your granddaughter would
be only about two months younger, and she's a girl, and sounds if anything more
advanced than he was.


I always find this debate about age and when to start kindergarten a
prime example of geography dictating how you perceive things. Much of
the North East USA have cut off dates for *making* kindergarten in
December. Here it is typically those born by Dec. 1, 1999 for the
upcoming year. In NYC all children born in the calendar year of 1999
will be eligible to enter this September. So here the OP grandchild
would automatically be able to enter.


I don't see a Northeast bias in my data.

Table 1 Date by Which Child Must Turn Five Years to
Enter Kindergarten
Date Number of States
June 1 1
July 1 1
August 1 1
August 15 1
August 31/September 1 22
September 10-15 4
September 30/October 1 6
December 1-2 4
December 31/January 1 5
LEA Option 5

The three states where the December 1 cutoff remains are
New York, California, Michigan and Montana. The 5 states
where the December 31st date is used are Connecticut,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, some districts in Lousiana, some
districts in Massachusetts.

Also note that Kindergarten is not mandatory in several states
States where Kindergarten is not mandatory currently
(as of 2002)

Alabama
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida (sort of)
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
New York
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits
  #9  
Old March 27th 04, 05:23 PM
Clisby
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Early Kindergarten or not?



toto wrote:
On 25 Mar 2004 16:50:27 -0800, (valerie) wrote:


(H Schinske) wrote in message ...

wrote:
snip


My August-born son has done just fine in kindergarten, no problems at all with
social skills, fine motor, any of that. Half-day might well have been a little
better for him (but worse for me!), because he does still sometimes nap in the
afternoon. Is a half-day kindergarten not available? Your granddaughter would
be only about two months younger, and she's a girl, and sounds if anything more
advanced than he was.


I always find this debate about age and when to start kindergarten a
prime example of geography dictating how you perceive things. Much of
the North East USA have cut off dates for *making* kindergarten in
December. Here it is typically those born by Dec. 1, 1999 for the
upcoming year. In NYC all children born in the calendar year of 1999
will be eligible to enter this September. So here the OP grandchild
would automatically be able to enter.



I don't see a Northeast bias in my data.

Table 1 Date by Which Child Must Turn Five Years to
Enter Kindergarten
Date Number of States
June 1 1
July 1 1
August 1 1
August 15 1
August 31/September 1 22
September 10-15 4
September 30/October 1 6
December 1-2 4
December 31/January 1 5
LEA Option 5

The three states where the December 1 cutoff remains are
New York, California, Michigan and Montana. The 5 states
where the December 31st date is used are Connecticut,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, some districts in Lousiana, some
districts in Massachusetts.

Also note that Kindergarten is not mandatory in several states
States where Kindergarten is not mandatory currently
(as of 2002)

Alabama
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida (sort of)
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
New York
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Wyoming


Kindergarten also is not mandatory in Georgia, although it's available
in every school district.

Clisby

  #10  
Old March 27th 04, 10:02 PM
Rosalie B.
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Posts: n/a
Default Early Kindergarten or not?

x-no-archive:yes

I should have mentioned that my granddaughter is not in public school
- this will be a parental decision supported by her current teacher,
and not a school system decision. Also the half day kindergarten is
not available at this school. If it was, I'd go with kindergarten
next year in a heartbeat.

My reasons for not putting her into kindergarten are that I don't
think she is ready to sit still for a full day yet. Also it will
completely screw up her mom's after-care arrangements which she has
got nicely worked out now.

"Leigh Menconi" wrote:

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
My dd has a dd who was 4 in October, but she is a very capable, bright
and I think advanced 4 yo. She is quite big for her age, and very
well coordinated.

snip
So I think she's too young to be in a full day program, and I also
think she's going to be bored in school regardless of when she starts.

What would be the best?

grandma Rosalie


I have a friend who had her child evaluated by an educational psychologist
before making the decision to put her then 4yo into kindergarten. She's
tall/big for her age and has done wonderfully, she's in my son's class (now
3rd grade). She does have some maturity issues but they may be more related
to her ADHD.

Most school systems won't let you just put a child in at 4 without some
evaluation so calling the school might be the first step. They may have
someone on staff that can do the evaluation (free!) or recommend someone in
your area that has done other childrens' evaluations. Some private
preschools offer half-day kindergarten classes and that might be an option,
too, if you don't think she's ready for a full-day program.

Leigh in raLeigh


grandma Rosalie
 




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