Hypothetical: if you were going to enroll a child in ps K, would you bother HS pre-K?

[Tap]

DD5 is most likely going to public school in the fall to Kindergarten. She has an IEP and I do not plan to homeschool her after Kindergarten at this time. She will most likely end up in private school, but with current income, that will be a while. I feel she wil be in grade level classes, as her issues are not academic, but are behavioral.

 

I taught both of my older kids to read at 4yo+ and to do basic math. Due to this, DS was a bit bored in public school, that is why we ended up homeschooling. I didn't realize we were homeschooling, I just figured they were ready. DD13 was home schooled until 6th grade and now is in a great private school.

 

I cannot afford the private for dd and honestly, it is not a good choice for her right now. She goes to a daycare, so she is used to being in care part of the day already. At times, I want to work on homeschooling reading and a few other skills, as I think she is definitely ready. But then, I worry that she will be bored in kindergarten if I do. She does NOT do well if she is bored. She gets fidgety, which leads to blatant disregard for authority, which leads to aggression/violence.

 

 

What do you think about this topic? What is important?

 

Feeding a child's academic needs when they are ready?

Helping your child be successful in future situations by homeschooling them, thus providing them with a great education base?

Allowing a child who will be in public/private to progress, to get an education at a typical pace for other kids in the same grade (purposefully skipping topics that you know will be covered in school)?

Taking emotional needs of the child into consideration as well as academic?

[MomatHWTK]

I would probably hold off on the stuff I knew the ps would teach and allow her to explore other avenues of interest. But if the ps dropped the ball once she started K (i.e. didn't have a good program for reading), I'd be ready to pick it up at home.

 

The ps probably isn't going to have time to delve deeply into art or music appreciation, cooking, all types of "elective" classes that you could.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My 3yo is currently in Head Start. The second I get permission to pull him, I will. If I don't get permission, I will pull him the second the adoption is finalized. We currently "afterschool." I will keep him home next year. I do, at this time, though, intend to send him to Kindergarten. At that time, I will afterschool him. My plan, at this time, is to pull him back out for first.

 

I *really* like our kindy (where V goes now). My intention now is that both boys will attend Kindy though I plan to homeschool throughout. I could see backing out before C gets there. Additionally, if my hubby is working 2nd shift next fall (a possibility unfortunately), I will not send A.J. as he would never see Daddy. But my initial thinking is that each will go to Kindy and we will pull each back out for first.

 

As for the academics....could you speak to the Kindy teachers? Maybe a Kindergarten Round-up or classroom visit? Our teachers are VERY capable of handling a wide range of abilities. At this point, there are still two children not reading and writing well. There are 5 on a 2nd or higher grade level though. And of course there are kids inbetween. I have observed these teachers and they are downright amazing integrating the curriculum. They have more history, science, arts, and other exposure than I ever would have imagined and they do it so artfully! They also change activities often enough that no child is sitting their bored. AND there are other activities they can do when they do have a few minutes. My daughter and a couple others (but mostly one who is about her same level) do a lot of AR tests or run to the library for another book. There are also games, readers, etc. But again, there isn't a LOT of time as they really do keep them busy.

 

However, in a nearby district, the 2nd grade teachers told me that they test the students along the way, but only up to the end-of-2nd-grade level. I asked what happens if a kid comes into school higher than that. They say they are just happy and focus on the lower level students. I'm SO thankful our school doesn't do that!!!

 

So it may just depend.

Edited February 27, 2012 by 2J5M9K

[NanceXToo]

I wouldn't "homeschool" Pre-K as in get some formal preschool curriculum and sit down for X amount of time each day to formally do it and focus on it. I would just play and interact with my preschooler a lot. I would teach my preschooler some stuff but for me that's part of playing and interacting with my preschooler. We'd play conversational, board and computer games for instance that teach letters and numbers because at 3 and 4 they become developmentally ready and interested in those type of games and begin to absorb that type of stuff. We'd begin to count things, I'd point things out, we'd be playing conversational rhyming games and opposite games and beginning to spell his/her name, and watching educational preschooler shows together that also teach letters and numbers and so on.

 

This was basically how my son's "preschool" years here at home went- it wasn't a formal effort to "homeschool" him for preschool, it was just continuing to parent him and interact with him. And yet he learned tons informally because, really, how could he not? They're like sponges during those years, they just absorb tons.

 

And we'd talk about things all the time, and we'd go outside a lot and there would be nature and sciency stuff and field trips and arts and crafts and playing catch and riding his little bike and playing at the park and helping me sort socks and make cupcakes and do chores and so on and so forth.

 

I read to him a lot, we'd play sorting games, we'd play math games while waiting for our food at a restaurant (If you have two crayons and I give you three more crayons, how many crayons do you have?), he'd ask me how much candy cost at the check out line and I'd tell him, I'd give him my spare change all the time and tell him how much it was. And he learned all the time.

 

But I did not try to introduce very formal academics such as teaching him to read in preschool or whatever.

 

If he were going to public school K, I'd have gone about his preschool years the exact same way.

Edited February 27, 2012 by NanceXToo

[Mommyfaithe]

Absolutely not. I made the mistake of teaching my oldest to read...and she GASP knew her numbers and colors and shapes going into K. Leave it to say, we ended up homeschooling all the kids by the time this one was in 4 th grade.

 

She was labeled a "troublemaker". Because she was bored silly. Oh, my troublemaker graduated summa cum Laude...#7 in her entire graduate class (this is from college....she home schooled through high school). She was not a troublemaker....just bored and over educated.....sigh....

Faithe

[Cinder]

For dd 7yo, I did much like Nance mentions above--read, play, color. Dd is bright and creative, just not interested in school. But she loves being read to (mostly nonfiction about animals), she draws a lot--really a lot. So that's what we did up through K. I didn't do anything formal for K, either. She's now in 1st and doing fine.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Absolutely not. I made the mistake of teaching my oldest to read...and she GASP knew her numbers and colors and shapes going into K.

 

It probably would help to know what the school wants kids to know going into kinder. Kids go in to our kinder anywhere from a 2yo level to a 2nd grade level. However, the school does give us (at Kindergarten Round-up) a list of things they'd like kids to know (or at least be exposed to). And the local preK/Head Start actually steps up what they consider Kindergarten ready higher than that.

 

Here they need to know:

 

address/phone number (well, we failed on that but we *are* foster parents so that changes that a little)

all letters upper case, lower case, and sounds; can write their name and a few other letters.

to count to 30 (rote), count one-to-one correspondence to 10, recognize numbers 0-10 (20 if you were in preK)

know some sight words (PreK teachers give a list in Spring so we can practice for exposure)

all colors, key shapes (square, circle, triangle, star, heart, etc...there are 8 on the preK test)

various body parts

 

In the first week of school, they start writing and are expected to "sound it out."

They do copy work. They start in "little readers" at about week 4. They do patterns and numbers.

 

On the K-8 board I was looking at the grammar books (McGraw-Hill) that were posted and was very surprised. Our Kindy most certainly could have started with the 1st grade book within the first month. They certainly were beyond the Kindy book.

 

Anyway, so not all schools are created equal.

 

BTW, I don't consider the above to necessarily be a good thing. It pretty much puts most of the class "behind" in the first week of school! I don't think that is a good idea. At the same time, most students ARE able to "catch up." It worries me more for the kids who aren't though. If they just aren't ready or need a whole year to learn Kindy materials, they are basically being told they are "behind" (not by word, but by comparison and active teaching) from the get-go. I don't think that is healthy for the average five year old. It *is* nice as the parent of kids going in "ahead" of what they want especially since the teachers DO differentiate. My daughter isn't bored in the least despite reading at a 3rd grade level, writing paragraphs, etc.

Edited February 27, 2012 by 2J5M9K

[cougarmom4]

If a child is ready, I would certainly teach him how to read before going to kindergarten. I would not hold back on this to make sure they are not 'bored' in kindergarten. In my experience with my kids, it has been SO helpful to have the foundation in place before entering ps. This is the one thing that I make sure of...a solid foundation in reading can lay the groundwork for success in school.

 

With class sizes ever increasing in ps, you never know how much individual attention your child will get on such an individual skill...I wouldn't leave it to up to them! (my kids go to ps, I'm a homeschooler-at-heart and a public school teacher myself...)

[Tammyla]

I would not want her to be bored academically in kindergarten.

[Night Elf]

I would not want her to be bored academically in kindergarten.

 

I agree. My youngest dd's Kindergarten teacher couldn't handle my dd who went into school knowing how to read. She was given a free pass to the media center because she was beyond all the academic work they were doing. The teacher had nothing to give to her so let her spend hours reading in the library. My dd missed lunch a few times because they forgot she was in the media center reading.

 

My son was reading when he went into Kindergarten as well, but his teacher was more attentive. She had been teaching 30 years and I think his abilities did not faze her. She was great, but he was still bored.

 

At the very least, I would find out what a beginning K student would need to have known from pre-K and just do that.

[Acorn]

I also questioned how much I should do at home before public K. My son could have been taught to read at age 3, but I didn't want to teach him that early. By age 4, he was spontaneously reading anyways. I worried if he would be bored in K. Once I started volunteering in his classroom, I was shocked to see how advance the class was. Over half of the class was fluently reading at the start of school. Nearly all of the kids can write 3-4 sentence stories as of mid-year. For math, they have worked up to 3 digit addition with carrying and 3 digit subtraction with no borrowing.

 

I have now decided to push my youngest a bit. She is more sensitive and she would want to be as prepared for K as her peers. We are using a reading curriculum and some formal math lessons. It is only 10 minutes of planned activites a couple times a day, so it doesn't take away from nature play, cooking, music play etc.

[Mommy22alyns]

Nope, if my kid was definitely going to ps K, I wouldn't hs anything pre-K.

[KungFuPanda]

It would depend on the K. If it's a normal, developmentally appropriate K, I would spend the remaining time at home just enjoying my child and having fun. If it's an over-the-top K in an uber-competitive school district, I'd prepare my child. Some K's operate more like traditional 1st/early 2nd grade classes.

[Tap]

Thanks everyone, I will try to talk to a kindergarten teacher in a few different districts. We don't know what district we will be enrolling her in. Right now she has an IEP. The type of classroom they will have her in (traditional, special needs, or a mix) will depend on how well she preforms in the special needs classroom this year.

 

It is hard for me to not teach, when she shows that she is ready. Especially with major benchmarks like reading and math skills.