Grade Placement for K

[AMDG]

I have a newly turned five year old who I will officially start HS for preschool this fall. For numerous reasons we have decided that while he may be more advanced than preschool at this time, since he has a summer birthday, he'll be a 6 year old K'er.

 

The issue I am having is trying to select curriculum. DS already knows his numbers, letters, and can read anything phonetically. He can read the first 3 sets of BOB books, plus the two sets of sight word BOB books. While he can read these just fine, when he puts pen to paper his spelling is still phonetical, i.e. (Fank you, frum), etc.

 

I want to start at the "beginning" with him so we don't miss out on learning key spelling or phonics rules, but we're way beyond learning letter sounds, too. On the flip side, if I move to a first grade program, I have no idea how he'd cope with the writing aspect, as he is a wiggle worm, and about six written letters of his will take up a whole sheet of paper.

 

Right now I am heavily considering either going the Phonics Road approach, or doing the Seton Home Study phonics program, but I just have no idea where to start him or what to expect if his reading is soaring but his motor skills don't allow him to write.

 

Any seasoned insight?

Thank you!!

[Jen in PA]

ETC is very easy to do with minimal writing. It is also very inexpensive, which is great if you end up flying through the first few books because your child already knows much of the material.

[boscopup]

I would suggest a phonics program that doesn't require writing, such as OPGTR. Yu can do it at the white board to make it more interesting. My 4 year old loves working at the white board, and his writing has really come along because of it. He can now do the ETC books, writing and all.

 

You can work on pre-writing skills, writing in sand/salt/shaving cream.

 

Scribe for him in subjects that do require writing. As you get closer to 6, you'll be able to get him doing more of the writing himself.

 

It's very common for kids like this to have asynchronous development. My oldest could read at grader level 2.5 upon entering K, but he couldn't write all his letters yet. Now at 7, his writing is getting closer to catching up with his brain. I wasn't homeschooling him at K age, so I didn't have to deal with the issue until first grade. It's amazing the difference in ability between early 6 and late 6.

[AMDG]

I should have mentioned it, but we actually have gone through the first three books of ETC, and DS likes it very much. Maybe I'm wrong, but to me it seems that ETC isn't thorough enough for an actual phonics program. I seems like it skims over the rules a bit?? I was looking for something that incorporated the phonics rules with reading, (i.e. learning the -lly, -tch sounds and then applying it to reading material, copywork, handwriting, etc.).

[EKS]

There are lots of ways to cope with the writing requirements of programs (not just phonics programs) designed for older children. One way is to simply skip that part. Another is to have him do some of it. If it helps, use a small whiteboard instead of paper. Also, for many tasks, it's ok if you write for him if he tells you exactly what to write.

[boscopup]

I should have mentioned it, but we actually have gone through the first three books of ETC, and DS likes it very much. Maybe I'm wrong, but to me it seems that ETC isn't thorough enough for an actual phonics program. I seems like it skims over the rules a bit?? I was looking for something that incorporated the phonics rules with reading, (i.e. learning the -lly, -tch sounds and then applying it to reading material, copywork, handwriting, etc.).

 

I notice you're using Phonics Pathways. That teaches the phonics for reading pretty well, doesn't it? You could just finish that up. I use ETC with OPGTR, but some people use ETC by itself. I know ETC4 gets into syllabication, which is VERY helpful for those 4th grade and up words.

 

You can apply your phonics to whatever you're reading. Just get lots of books from the library. There are tons and tons of early readers of various levels.

 

I wouldn't do copywork until he's able to write his letters comfortably. Just gently work on the handwriting. When he's ready for copywork, you just pull it from anything you wish and have him copy it. By age 6, he'll probably be ready for it. You don't have to do copywork while working on phonics/reading. Separate the skills at this point.

[Maus]

DS8 had/has very similar asynchronous development to the OP's son. As he approached age 5, he was already halfway through the Earlybird Math books (Singapore, old version), all done orally; he'd already made a good start in our phonics readers; etc., but he struggled/struggles with small motor skills. He also has some speech issues.

 

We split up the skills, doing everything orally, while we worked on writing slowly. (We used/use Donna Young's free handwriting sheets.) (Also, he started piano lessons when he was six, and that has had surprising handwriting benefits. I suppose it's strengthened his fingers, and helped with coordination.)

 

Now, three years down the road:

 

He's a great reader, often checking out train-related material from the library meant for adults. Huge vocabulary.

 

His handwriting isn't great, but it is legible. For the first time, his handwriting is pulling ahead of his little sister, two years younger. (We are still working on it. We hope to transition to cursive by fall.) His spelling is pretty good, EXCEPT he tends to spell new words the way he says them until he's seen them in print. (He struggles with "th," so we get things like "somesing.")

 

We've only been doing copywork for six months or so. It's still a slow, tedious process for him, so we're moving at his pace there.

[Crimson Wife]

All About Spelling is very easy to adapt to minimize the writing. It covers phonics and spelling rules.

 

I've got a fall birthday boy and he's doing 2 years of kindergarten. This past year was more of a pre-k/K mix and this upcoming one will be more K/1.

[wapiti]

I would use "first grade" materials (or whatever comes next academically) and work around the motor issues. I'd do a lot of oral work and scribing for him when possible. Use the white board - kids with motor issues tend to like the white board, because there is less resistance on the surface. (here's a little handwriting warm-up exercise on the white board

). Consider teaching cursive, which may be easier than printing because there's far less lifting the pencil off of the paper - cursive is often recommended by OTs for kids with fine motor/handwriting issues. Letter and number stamps are another option; my ds did this. With a little creativity, there is no reason to let a motor weakness get in the way of developing strengths :) Edited June 28, 2011 by wapiti

[QueenieReighn]

I've used a clip to help with motor skills. It doesn't seem like something that would help, but it actually builds hand muscles, which is very helpful with the kids I've used it for. I just took a clip like you'd stick on a bag of chips and told them to open and close it as many times as they could for a minute each day. Make sure the clip is challenging, and if need be, they can hold it with two hands to open and close it. Kids think this is fun and like to chart their progress of how many times a minute they open and close it. They can set goals to pass and sometimes I have to remind them to open and close it all the way instead of half-way. As they get better at it, writing starts to be a bit easier it seems. You still have to work at them knowing how to write the letters, but the muscles are more cooperative.

[2smartones]

I also like Explode the code. I think you'll find that it DOES end up teaching all the phonics, even if it seems to skip a few things at first. (A method to madness, I suppose?)

 

I like Handwriting w/o Tears and lots of play-doh kneading for developing those writing motor skills.

[Runningmom80]

I'm starting k with my 4.5 yo DS this fall, we are using all about spelling.