Kindergarten Expectations

[rootsnwings]

Hi All! It's been a while since I've posted to the forum but I do read here fairly often & thought you guys could help me with this question!

 

So, what are your expectations for your KINDERGARTENER? We started homeschooling my almost 6th grader when he was in 2nd grade & honestly... I did not pay much attention to what he did in Kindy :001_huh: I mean, I knew he was progressing well & just never really paid attention to what was expected of him. Now my 4 year old will be 5 in August & while he is already doing schoolwork (he finished the ETC Primers & is now working through 1A, is doing Singapore 1A after being completely bored with Singapore essentials & is now becoming very interested in HWOT (mainly, the salt box, lol). I'm just not sure how much of it should be "sit down & do your work" & how much of it should be "finish it if you want to"...:confused:

 

Take today for instance... he said, "I want to write a story! How do you spell Once upon a time?" :tongue_smilie: LOL I told him (since he has no real spelling vocab yet) that maybe he could write a few of the words he'd like to see in his story, and asked him to name a few characters in his story. We worked together to sound out the word "fish"... then he wanted to do shark. We had just discussed how "sh" says SH so he knew shark started with SH... then we are working on the ar part and he got tired and decided he was done with that. I have told myself, repeatedly, that I do NOT want to push him but it bothers the CRAP out of me to see them start something & not complete it. I was not expecting him to finish his entire story but by golly, I felt like he should finish his attempt at spelling shark!!!! :lol:

 

Is this something you would expect of a Kindergartener? I mean, right now he is NOT officially a kindergartener, so I expect stuff like this, but when he is OFFICIALLY a Kindergartener (he thinks it will be OFFICIAL when we start back co-op next fall) do I need to have higher expectations for him? I just know that now, with my 5th grader, I don't let him quit on stuff like that, but of course he is older & we have BTDT so he KNOWS I'm not going to let him quit or slack on his schoolwork.

 

So. I would love it if you ladies could share your expectations for your Kindergarteners. If you have a schedule & would like to post it, that would be helpful too! I'm just not sure how much is TOO MUCH & want him to keep his little spark for learning, I don't want it to become a chore! But, I also want him to make progress fairly well rounded, meaning, I don't want him to be wanting to write stories & not be able to spell because he doesn't like working on spelling, yk? I know, at least in some subjects, he is going to need a little extra umpf from mama, I just want to make sure I'm not too hard on him! ;)

 

THANKS in advance for any advice or commiseration!!! :D

[meggie]

For kindergarten? When he asked to stop, we stopped. How good is your son at reading? For spelling out shark, do you mean you were trying to have him figure out the letters? Whenever my son asked to spell a word (and we weren't doing spelling lessons), I would have said, "s-h-a-r-k, sh makes a 'sh' sound, the ar makes an 'ar' sound, and the k makes a 'k' sound". I would not have expected him to try and figure it out on his own. Even words he could read a thousand times over like 'apple', trying to draw it out of the brain is a different skill set.

 

If he insisted on writing the "once upon a time" and he wasn't really good at letters, I would have kept asking if he wanted me to write for him. Also, I would bring the story out the next day and asked if he wanted to work on it some more. Right now my son is 6 and we're writing a letter to my sister. He only has to trace the letters, but we still do it in chunks and it's taken like two weeks. Your son is 4. It's normal if he has the attention span of a fish. There is time later for making him finish things. Give him something developmentally appropriate to finish (36 piece puzzle?). A story is not developmentally appropriate for a 4 year old in one sitting.

 

When he gets to kindergarten, I would start with 5-10 minute lessons depending on the subject and set the timer. IMO, reading lessons are the most important barring any learning disabilities. Then math. Once he was used to those, I added in handwriting. Those are the only three I worried about until he was done with OPGTR. When he finished that we moved on to WWE and FLL. Then we added in science and geography and have since dropped the WWE, FLL, and geography. Keep in mind, this was about a 10 month period.

[Kirch]

Well, I tried to plan a reasonable amount of work for my k'er (which is going to vary for every child) and then I generally expected him to finish the actual work I had planned unless I realized I had planned too much or he needed a break. Extra things he wanted to do (like your ds' story) I didn't make him finish if he lost interest (although I probably would have had him finish "shark" unless he really fought me on it--but maybe not as a 4 yo.) All that to say, I did have higher expectations once both boys officially started Kinder, but I tried to monitor as we went to make sure I wasn't expecting too much.

[rootsnwings]

For kindergarten? When he asked to stop, we stopped. How good is your son at reading? For spelling out shark, do you mean you were trying to have him figure out the letters? Whenever my son asked to spell a word (and we weren't doing spelling lessons), I would have said, "s-h-a-r-k, sh makes a 'sh' sound, the ar makes an 'ar' sound, and the k makes a 'k' sound". I would not have expected him to try and figure it out on his own. Even words he could read a thousand times over like 'apple', trying to draw it out of the brain is a different skill set.

 

Meggie, thank you so much for mentioning that tip! I have never been taught to teach (and have NEVER taught one to read) so I just thought it was better to let them figure the phonics out themselves. :confused: But I can see how they need actual instruction first. Like when I told him about "sh" making the SH sound, he was on fire about it, like he knew something noone else knew! LOL But then when I tried to have him figure out what the "ar" sound was composed of, he was clueless & got frustrated. Thanks for letting me know it is okay to just tell them! DUH :001_huh: & I love the idea of maybe having him work on his story tomorrow! I think if I bring that page out & just say, "remember we said A-R says ar, like in shark." that he will take it & go with it! ;) I will let him finish that word & ask if he wants me to write down the story for him! GREAT idea and, again, just something I've never realized I needed to do! THANKS!!

[rootsnwings]

Well, I tried to plan a reasonable amount of work for my k'er (which is going to vary for every child) and then I generally expected him to finish the actual work I had planned unless I realized I had planned too much or he needed a break. Extra things he wanted to do (like your ds' story) I didn't make him finish if he lost interest (although I probably would have had him finish "shark" unless he really fought me on it--but maybe not as a 4 yo.) All that to say, I did have higher expectations once both boys officially started Kinder, but I tried to monitor as we went to make sure I wasn't expecting too much.

 

I am laughing at myself here but you know, I think it really may be time to write out an actual PLAN for him. DUH :001_huh: again :001_huh: LOL!! I have just always "done the next lesson" in whatever subject he is interested that day & gone with it. 3 Singapore lessons? SURE! And then he doesn't want to touch singapore for another week or so. Maybe Kindy just needs to be when mama gets her ducks in a row & plans a days worth of each subject so he's not overwhelmed & knows how much to expect!!! Gosh, thank ya'll for talking to me about this because it is all becoming very obvious what the problem is now! LOL :)

[meggie]

Meggie, thank you so much for mentioning that tip! I have never been taught to teach (and have NEVER taught one to read) so I just thought it was better to let them figure the phonics out themselves. :confused: But I can see how they need actual instruction first. Like when I told him about "sh" making the SH sound, he was on fire about it, like he knew something noone else knew! LOL But then when I tried to have him figure out what the "ar" sound was composed of, he was clueless & got frustrated. Thanks for letting me know it is okay to just tell them! DUH :001_huh: & I love the idea of maybe having him work on his story tomorrow! I think if I bring that page out & just say, "remember we said A-R says ar, like in shark." that he will take it & go with it! ;) I will let him finish that word & ask if he wants me to write down the story for him! GREAT idea and, again, just something I've never realized I needed to do! THANKS!!

Well, he is the only one I've ever taught to read, so I can't really claim any expertise; reading is just his thing. But we did the same thing with numbers, "What 5x5? What's 400x7? What's 38+59?" I always just answered, until he got to ones I couldn't do in my head and had to say, "I don't know that without a calculator. I think, but am not totally sure, that they are seeking attention to go along with their learning (in a good way). So they ask, you answer, they move on. They aren't really searching for the ins and outs of the universe quite yet. ;)

 

I am laughing at myself here but you know, I think it really may be time to write out an actual PLAN for him. DUH :001_huh: again :001_huh: LOL!! I have just always "done the next lesson" in whatever subject he is interested that day & gone with it. 3 Singapore lessons? SURE! And then he doesn't want to touch singapore for another week or so. Maybe Kindy just needs to be when mama gets her ducks in a row & plans a days worth of each subject so he's not overwhelmed & knows how much to expect!!! Gosh, thank ya'll for talking to me about this because it is all becoming very obvious what the problem is now! LOL :)

 

Remember to be kind to yourself and breathe deeply. Just a few weeks ago, I was having a mini meltdown because I had added all those subjects and he started to resist. That was a first :glare:. So a lot of people recommended the timer. Such a DUH! moment for me, but such a relief. I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm talking me, me, me right now, but I just wanted to let you know that I totally understand. It's really exciting to see a little one make all these wonderful connections and absorb facts! I love this kindergarten year.

[rootsnwings]

Yes & I completely agree about the attention thing. It's almost like he WANTS me to put some rules in place or something, yk? I think if I make him out a schedule he will be THRILLED to check things off as we go! =) He is a real go getter (natural pleaser) & a list or calendar will be right up his alley. :D

[redsnapper]

From a mom of a spontaneous son, here's my advice. They do need structure, or they'll never learn to stick with something. However, they're spontaneous by nature so work with that. Be a little flexible. Decide what has to be structured, but like someone said earlier, keep lessons short, even as he gets older. When possible, allow room for sudden inspiration or creativity.

 

For examply, for my sponaneous kid, we've had him in piano for 2yrs because he's a natural at music. But the structure is killing his creativity. At the same time, learning all the skills would allow him to flourish in creativity, but getting him there is hard. Then I was advised to remember he's only 9. If he dabbles in piano, then guitar, then drums, then back to piano, etc., it'll keep his interest in music and keep him learning. When he's older, if music is really meant for him, he'll decide what he wants to stick with and then it'll be HIS decision and at that point I can rope him in. If he's a natural at music and I force him to stay in one discipline, it can kill his love of music. If I allow him to try out different instruments, all the while learning to read & music theory, behold! At the end of the time he'll have learned many skills that'll allow him to choose his own focus.

 

Wow, that was rambling, but I hope that makes sense. I'm trying to make sure I add structure to my son's life in all areas, while allowing him to be the spontaneous, muse-inspired kids he was born as.

 

Hope that helps...

-Melissa

[sewingmama]

Maybe Kindy just needs to be when mama gets her ducks in a row & plans a days worth of each subject so he's not overwhelmed & knows how much to expect!!

 

:iagree:

 

With K I plan what we will do and I expect my DD to finish it. My DD is an older K though (she just turned 6) so I have higher expectations then for a younger kindy.

 

My 4yo -I do what you do - I have a bunch of workbooks and when he asks we just do the next thing and when he wants to stop we stop.

 

If I did work when my DD wanted to we would never do anything :glare: She does not like school work. The only way to get her into it was to set a routine and stick to it. Eventually she figured out that "this was how it was going to be" and she does her work everyday.

 

So absolutely have a plan for every day - even if it is only a little at first -you can add more as he gets used to working daily and as he matures and gets older.

[kemilie]

I have a 4 year old (almost 5!) boy and a 6 1/2 year old boy too. I think 10 minutes sounds just about right for a spelling or hand writing type of lesson. If it's a subject they don't have a natural *keen interest* in, than I don't push it. As long as they can focus for a little bit and I can see progress we're making over time, I consider it good. I definitely think the almost 5 year old has a much harder time focusing, and it's not just personality. A lot of maturing happens in that year between 5 and 6. At least, that's my experience! Good luck!

[....]

So, what are your expectations for your KINDERGARTENER?

 

This is my 4th Kindergartener and we are very light in the early years - so, keep that in mind.

 

Here's what I want to cover:

 

1. Learn letter sounds and start sounding out CVC words

2. Pencil grip and some basic handwriting

3. Count to 100 and try to write to 100

4. Learn days of the week, seasons, shapes, colors

5. Learn to love books and being read to

 

I go to the library every Saturday and pick up 4-5 books that she wants to read. Everyday, we read one of the library books and I also have a Read-Aloud chapter book going at all times (right now, she's listening to Winnie the Pooh).

 

I can tell you what curriculum I use:

 

My Father's World K

Singapore Earlybird

Getty-Dubay Handwriting A

Explode the Code

 

I also think that when they ask to stop school, it's over. I don't think K is the time for power struggles, burn-out or worrying about if they are on grade level (this is just my opinion - feel free to disagree with me). I also think 1 hour a day is fine.

 

In my defense, our homeschool is VERY rigorous later (probably too rigorous) - just not at the K-2nd grade levels.

[Five More Minutes]

I have students who thrive on structure, and who want to "do school." So, based on my elder daughter's K5 year last year, this is how I expect my second daughter's K5 year to look next year:

- complete 10 - 20 minutes of math, which usually includes finishing at least half of a worksheet. (I determine ahead of time how much I expect her to complete and make sure she understands that in the instructions.) Then it's free play time.

- complete 5 - 15 minutes of reading aloud to me. Then it's free play time again.

- do 5 minutes of handwriting. (One line of letters, or few words.)

- do 5 - 10 minutes of phonics-based spelling 2 - 3 times a week.

 

These will be the daily "must-dos."

 

She'll also participate in our history, science, Latin, French, geography, and of course, art. I'll expect her to listen to the story and then, if she has the energy (which she usually does), do an age-appropriate activity following. (Like colouring in a picture, or dictating a short narration to me.)

 

Actually, she's already been doing this in her K4 year -- she's just that kind of kid. But in my mind, I haven't expected her to complete activities (except a bit of reading) daily this year as I will next year. :001_smile:

[Dinsfamily]

For me, Kindy is all about getting them reading and writing. Then, we throw in some fun stuff to keep it interesting...mostly great read alouds, art, and science experiments. They do math too, but it isn't my focus that year. Whatever gets done, gets done.

 

We use SWR so the reading and writing is pretty intense but my boys have handled it really well and the program allows me flexibility to customize it. For instance, we often do a lot of moving during enrichments like jumping up stairs while quizzing phonograms and acting out action verbs.

 

I don't really have a concrete place where I want them at the end of the year because the two I've taught were so different. Forming all of the lowercase letters and knowing all 70 phonograms are probably the most important to me.

[MrsBanjoClown]

I agree with the pp about scheduling how much you believe they should reasonably be able to get done and sticking with that (unless it seems to be unreasonable). My ds will be 6 in Dec., and he is already reading and loves math. For him, I have scheduled about 50 min. for math and reading (may not take that long, but it includes time for the math instruction from the Singapore 1A HIG, textbook and workbook activities, and a lesson from Abeka reading 1), then a 30 min. recess for outside playtime or inside play if the weather is bad. This gives him a break after his two sit-down and work subjects. After his break he will work on handwriting, which is the skill he really needs to build up this year. Once he has completed 1 handwriting page to my satisfaction, he will get to get on my laptop and go to starfall (He loves starfall, so this should be a good motivator to do his handwriting well the first time). After that, he will have the choice of listening to ds7 read his literature out loud or going to another room and having his own quiet reading time. After lunch, we will have history or science. He will listen to the reading and I will have him draw a picture while ds7 does his narration. He will participate in experiments/activities, but not be required to do any writing about it. He is wanting to learn piano, so he will have a short piano lesson, then clean-up time and he is done.

[Tidbits of Learning]

For kindergarten, I would have had the child dictate to me what his story should say and I would have written it at the bottom of one of the story starter pages as he told me what to write. Then I would have had him draw a picture at the top of the page. I would have limited it to a few sentences.

We do have "school" work that must be completed for my bridge kindergartener. They are definitely close ended activities. They have a definitive ending point. A story such as this could be worked on for days as the child shows interest. My kindergarten child is doing handwriting, Reading Eggs with the printed activity sheets, and Math. He is expected to finish his worksheets and we work through the Reading Lesson daily.

My children went to public school Kindergarten and I still have their report cards with check lists for what they were expected to learn. Most school sites have a kindergarten expectations list or a requirements to go to first grade list on their kindergarten class pages. I would look to that to know what is normal for your area. Here is what my children were expected to know in kindergarten.

Language Arts-

 

• Discriminates likenesses/differences in pictures, letters, word forms
  
• Recognizes sight words as introduced
  
• Follows one/two step oral directions
  
• Recognizes upper/lower case letters as introduced
  
• Knows consonant sounds as introduced
  

Phonemic Awareness Standards-

 

 

• Recognizes rhymes
  
• Segments sounds in words
  
• Blends letter sounds orally
  

Shared Reading Experiences-

 

• Predicts story events
  
• Contributes to discussions
  
• Recalls story details
  
• Sequences story events
  
• Written Expression (composition)
  
• Draws Pictures
  
• Uses scribbles/symbols to represent thoughts
  
• Copies letters and words
  
• Uses beginning sounds/letters to represent words
  
• Uses phonetic spelling
  

Handwriting-

 

• Prints letters as introduced
  
• Prints first and last name
  
• Writes letters/words/numbers/left-right/top-bottom
  

Mathematics-

 

• Copies, extends, and creates patterns
  
• Sorts and classifies objects/pictures
  
• Counts to 10, 20, 50, and 100 (went up each quarter)
  
• Recognizes numerals to 5, 10, 20, 31
  
• Writes numerals to 5, 10, 20, 31
  
• Counts sets to 5, 10 , 15, 20
  
• Associates numerals with sets
  
• Demonstrates one-to-one correspondence
  
• Recognizes shapes
  

Fine arts-

 

• Participates in musical activities
  
• Works with art materials appropriately
  

Physical Development-

 

• Demonstrates small muscle development (tracing, cutting, lacing, holding pencil correctly)
  
• Participates in physical education activities
  

Social Development-

 

• Listens and follows directions
  
• Is quiet at the appropriate time
  
• Takes correction well
  
• Stays on task and completes work
  
• Assumes responsibility for personal and school property
  
• Uses acceptable cafeteria/bathroom manners
  
• Works/plays well with others
  

What my actual day looks like for my kindergartener (who was 4 and turned 5 in December)...

-Wake up. Get dressed. Brush teeth.

-Morning Chores

-Breakfast

-Recess

-Free Play (lego table/trains...)

-Reading Eggs (on pc-2 lessons a day)

-Math K (k12's Sadlier Oxford Math)

-Phonics and Handwriting (Reading Eggs activity sheets for lessons done on pc that day)

-The Reading Lesson (2-3 pages read to me while snuggling on couch)

-Lunch

-Reading Eggs (on pc again 2 lessons)

-Recess

-Rest Time (not literally-more free play, audio books, pbskids...)

-If all the other kids are finished with their school work, we go swim in the pool until supper.

 

 

His day is pretty structured b/c we have 3 other kiddos in higher grades. We have been very laid back (if he doesn't want to school or gets fed up 1/2 way through the day-we stop) and he would totally fulfill all the requirements to go to 1st grade at this point.

Edited June 12, 2012 by OpenMinded

[....]

I agree with the pp about scheduling how much you believe they should reasonably be able to get done and sticking with that (unless it seems to be unreasonable). My ds will be 6 in Dec., and he is already reading and loves math. For him, I have scheduled about 50 min. for math and reading (may not take that long, but it includes time for the math instruction from the Singapore 1A HIG, textbook and workbook activities, and a lesson from Abeka reading 1), then a 30 min. recess for outside playtime or inside play if the weather is bad. This gives him a break after his two sit-down and work subjects. After his break he will work on handwriting, which is the skill he really needs to build up this year. Once he has completed 1 handwriting page to my satisfaction, he will get to get on my laptop and go to starfall (He loves starfall, so this should be a good motivator to do his handwriting well the first time). After that, he will have the choice of listening to ds7 read his literature out loud or going to another room and having his own quiet reading time. After lunch, we will have history or science. He will listen to the reading and I will have him draw a picture while ds7 does his narration. He will participate in experiments/activities, but not be required to do any writing about it. He is wanting to learn piano, so he will have a short piano lesson, then clean-up time and he is done.

 

This sounds like 1st grade to me...and then I saw the age of your student and your Kindergartener is almost a year older than my Kindergartener! :D

[MrsBanjoClown]

This sounds like 1st grade to me...and then I saw the age of your student and your Kindergartener is almost a year older than my Kindergartener! :D

 

Yes, and he is on a first grade level on reading and math, but has not really started anything on handwriting yet except writing his own name. The boys have been in ps (younger ds did ps pre-k) and this will be the first year of homeschooling for them. Our school cut-off is Sept. 1. Older ds will actually turn 8 at the end of September, so he will be an older 2nd grader as well.

[EMS83]

I highly, highly recommend Phonics Pathways or something like that. I love it. It's very straight-forward, self-contained and inexpensive. I require DD to finish whatever I have planned, but the manner in which I encourage that varies depending on if/why she's resisting or uninterested. If she cooperates, it takes 10-30 minutes. But it's also taken over 2 hours before, just because of time wasted complaining, crying, or standing in the corner. Now, though, she will just do it and it takes less than 30 minutes for the 3Rs.

 

However, If DD randomly asks to write a story without knowing the phonics rules for the words she wanted to spell, I just tell her. I may or may not explain why it's spelled that way depending on our moods at the time. When I know she knows the rule, I sound it out for her and ask her which letters make each sound, and if it's a multi-letter sound, I make sure to ask, "what letters make that sound?" I've had to glean methodology from here and various other sources, though. If I was trying to teach reading, writing, and spelling the way I learned it, I'd never be able to do it because I can't remember learning it! And it feels so automatic that it's easy to forget that they're learned skills instead of instincts or reflexes. Math is...over my head.

 

I really agree with TWTM about the 3Rs, though. Get the alphabet and counting down so it's automatic. Then start phonics and penmanship. Then work on copywork and spelling and independent reading. Math is not my strong suit, so right now we're just working on being able to add up to 20 off the top of her head, doing it in chunks and testing before moving on. Then.. I don't know. DH might have to organize the math. :001_huh:

[MomatHWTK]

I think K is less about teaching the student and more about learning to teach. This is the time when you can begin to feel out your child's strengths and weaknesses, determine how and when they learn best, discover what really excites them about the world and explore that together.

 

I try very hard not to focus at all on output at this stage. I don't examine what the child does in response to my teaching in order to judge the child's learning skills but to evaluate my teaching skills. Am I reaching him or her at his or her level?

 

[Edit to cut down on cyber-footprint]

Edited June 14, 2012 by MomatHWTK

[pitterpatter]

After taking a couple of months to understand what DD was capable of when we first started schooling, my expectations jumped to very high and has remained steady. I plan what I believe is a reasonable about of work for her age and personality (1.5 to 3 hours per day) and we finish it every day.

 

Sometimes, we'll take a five-minute break or I'll grab a handful of M&Ms for her when something is taking longer than expected, but we get through the day's planned lessons. Very, very rarely, I will push something from the day's line-up to the next day that I consider extra because things are taking too long on a particularly day or I honestly feel she is ill in some way. (I've done this maybe three-four times.) I never say, "Oh, you seem too tired, so we're not going to do history today." I just act as though it was never planned for that day. I will also scribe for DD when there is A LOT of writing involved in a non-handwriting subject. We split the lesson down the middle. I write long words, she writes short words.

 

I only require DD to complete what is planned. Anything else is extra. If she decides she wants to do something extra and then decides halfway through, she doesn't want to do it any longer, I allow her to quit. For example, she really wanted to read a Hooked on Phonics story a day early once (in addition to her planned lesson for the day). I allowed her to do so, but she ran out of steam halfway through. We quit and started it over again the next day, which was the day it was actually planned for anyway.

 

Overall, I feel it's important not to be wishy-washy with school during the early years. I don't want DD thinking when she's ten that she can just quit something because she's "too tired" or something is "too hard" or what have you.

[RootAnn]

My K'ers were expected to work on phonics everyday, do some math a couple times per week, have a fun activity three times per week (dress-up, cooking class, building w/blocks, games, what they want - just for them), and learn to tie their shoe laces. If they can sit still for 15 minutes (with me "at elbow") by the end of the year, know & write their numbers (single-digits), and have lower-case letters down (seeing & writing), I am happy!

 

I absolutely do NOT push anything past their comfort level in K. If they want to quit, they can quit. In 1st, I ramp it up & make it a certain timeframe (10 min, 15 min, 5 min, using timer if necessary). I do not require them to "finish the page" and I'm pretty laid back about being pulled off-topic. :tongue_smilie:

 

If you don't know how to teach a kid to read, try to spend a little time this summer picking up some of the manuals & taking a look at how you can do it - OPGTR, Writing Road to Reading, etc. There are a lot of ways to do it. Heck, ElizabethB's page is a great one to look at & work through. (And it is FREE!)