NotAVampireLvr Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 (edited) DS2 has a fall birthday. He recognizes most of his letters... is learning to write (in preschool) and recognizes numbers (but cannot write them yet) Our district has a Sept. 1 cutoff, so him being in kindergarten next fall wasn't an option. Would you do a prek program or a kindy program? If we went with kindy I would get him started at home with HWOT now so that we could get his writing skills up to snuff. I haven't really pushed it because he wasn't going to be in kindy until 2013/2014 school year. My other option is to do straight preK and then he and DD would both be in kindy at the same time. DD is already recognizing letters/numbers and just a little behind her brother so I would most likely have no hesitation starting her earlier. Of course this is not taking into consideration that they might have different strengths and weaknesses. I should add that DS2 is in a 3-4 y.o. class right now, not a 4-5 y.o. class. Also, he is being evaluated for speech (not for a delay, but for pronunciation issues) and also gross motor delays. His fine motor skills are I think on the right track. He holds a pencil/crayon properly... and has from a young age. He writes better then DS1 did at the same age. Edited January 20, 2012 by NotAVampireLvr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 My son's birthday is Sept 23rd. He would have started Kindy this year. I opted to do K last year because he was already reading and writing. Many kids learn to read and write in K, if you think your son is ready, do K. If he is not ready for first grade after a year, continue with K level work. In my mind, there is not much difference in prek and K. It does not differentiate much until a child reads, writes and understands numbers. Call him what you want and work on the basics for 30 minutes a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I don't do a boxed curriculum so I would just start him where I feel he can work in different subjects. Keep moving forward without worrying about grade level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I'd say just do what you think he's ready for. Is he ready for formal school? If not, hold off a year. If he is ready for formal school, maybe just do a couple things, but not necessarily the full "K" program, if that makes sense? My 5 year old has a November birthday and a Sept. 1 cutoff as well. He's in speech therapy for articulation issues also. I started him at 4 with phonics and math on a "When he asks to" basis, and he kind of started learning to write letters because of the phonics, though I wasn't trying to teach that. He has excellent fine motor control (better than my DS1's also). We're just starting HWT K book recently, as he wasn't quite ready for pencil/paper before. DS2 will be labeled "K" next year, though by then he may be half and half doing K and 1st grade work. I don't expect any of my kids to fit neatly in a grade box anyway (DS1 is all over the place). For DS2, I started MFW K, which is a "light" K program. I felt like that was a good compromise. Though we're not actually using the phonics in the program. :tongue_smilie: He enjoys what we do. I don't do school with him everyday. Again, it's mostly when he asks to. And each year, I'll just meet him where he is in each subject, regardless of his grade level per the state - just like I do with DS1. Whatever you choose to do, I would recommend reporting him as K 2013/2014 even if you're doing 1st grade work at that point. You can always "grade skip" on paper later if he wants to graduate a year early. That way you have more time if he hits any brick walls, and you can be a bit more relaxed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cagirlintexas Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I would look at each subject and see where he is at. With HWOT for example the K program has them write smaller and have more control. It also goes a lot faster. If he is already starting to write and has a lot of control I would start with K but if he is really just starting and writing bigger letters with very little control I would start with PreK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVampireLvr Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Whatever you choose to do, I would recommend reporting him as K 2013/2014 even if you're doing 1st grade work at that point. You can always "grade skip" on paper later if he wants to graduate a year early. That way you have more time if he hits any brick walls, and you can be a bit more relaxed. Our state doesn't require to report until he's 6 so yeah that would mean 2013. I love the idea of having that cushion just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I would put in him Pre-K if you felt the need to do anything at all. Having been there, I wouldn't even bother with that. I didn't do K with my dd-now-10. I started her in 1st grade when she was first grade age. She didn't suffer for the lack of K, and in fact I think she benefited from just playing and exploring with no pressure. Having two kids close in age, I would caution you against putting two kids of different ages in the same grade. That is, imo, a set-up for disaster because it sets up the expectation that they should be working on the same level. There is no reason to expect that. Trust me, it won't matter when you point out that they are different ages and so might not be working at the same level. All they will see is that they are in the same grade and "should" be working at the same level. My ds is less than a year younger than my dd and not as academically minded. He constantly and unfavorably compares his abilities to hers (even though they are in different grades). My opinion is this: put your kids in the grades they would be in at school, and then let them work at their own levels. Don't rush to get started schooling. It's not a race. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVampireLvr Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 I would put in him Pre-K if you felt the need to do anything at all. Having been there, I wouldn't even bother with that. I didn't do K with my dd-now-10. I started her in 1st grade when she was first grade age. She didn't suffer for the lack of K, and in fact I think she benefited from just playing and exploring with no pressure. Having two kids close in age, I would caution you against putting two kids of different ages in the same grade. That is, imo, a set-up for disaster because it sets up the expectation that they should be working on the same level. There is no reason to expect that. Trust me, it won't matter when you point out that they are different ages and so might not be working at the same level. All they will see is that they are in the same grade and "should" be working at the same level. My ds is less than a year younger than my dd and not as academically minded. He constantly and unfavorably compares his abilities to hers (even though they are in different grades). My opinion is this: put your kids in the grades they would be in at school, and then let them work at their own levels. Don't rush to get started schooling. It's not a race. Tara I would love to do nothing with DS2 right now, but no way that would fly with my husband. I have a MIL who is a former teacher... need I say more? DH made us enroll DS1 in a prek program the first time around because of that very reason. We're just not on the same page regarding that. He is very supportive of us doing this, but this is one concession I need to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I would love to do nothing with DS2 right now, but no way that would fly with my husband. I have a MIL who is a former teacher... need I say more? DH made us enroll DS1 in a prek program the first time around because of that very reason. We're just not on the same page regarding that. He is very supportive of us doing this, but this is one concession I need to make. That makes sense. I would keep in him Pre-K for this year, and start him in K next year, when he would be in K according to the school cutoff. I would not put dd into K until she is K age according to the school cutoff. This does not mean you have to teach them completely separately. I do the skill subjects (math, language arts, Latin) separately but combine them for the "content" subjects (memory work, science, history). Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy_of_4 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I would just work where he is at and keep moving him forward and not worry about grade levels. I would report him to the district though as the grade he would be in in public school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVampireLvr Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 thanks everyone for the feedback. I'll definitely be doing all the content related stuff together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Always wait! It is so much better to have a thriving child who succeeds in everything and if they move ahead you can call them advanced, then forcing them ahead and having to backtrack. So my vote is Pre-K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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