What advice do I give to my sister re: putting kids in private school

[againstthegrain]

My sister has kiddos the same age as mine, 8 and 6. She's planning on enrolling them in a local private school NEXT fall (2017-2018). They'd be entering 2nd and 4th grade. I've worked with her kiddos and material wise they will be solid assuming this year goes in kind to the past years. If anything, they will be ahead in some subjects.

 

However, she brought up an interesting point - how does she prepare her children for the more structured environment? They have a more relaxed approach. She asked if she should switch them something like CLE this coming year to get them used to the writing work, etc. I told her I'd ask the professionals (that's you ladies).

 

The kids have never taken any tests except her older one does speed math drills, how can she prepare them for taking exams?

[Mom22ns]

I don't think she will need to prepare them for any of those things. Are they compliant children? Will they follow the teachers instructions? If so, the structure will be fine. The school will not expect them to be self-teaching. They will have a teacher. If they are academically on target, they will transition easily.

 

Does she know what curriculum provider they school uses? Most Christian schools are pretty publisher-centric. She could find out and at least take a look at the expectations for the next year and make sure there is nothing that will throw them.

 

Elementary school tests are really not a skill that needs to be taught. They'll be fine. Tell her to relax.

[Farrar]

If she's never done any standardized testing, I'd maybe take a day once a month or every other month and do some practice with it. It's a skill that's assumed. She might look at writing since most schools expect more writing at those ages than most homeschool writing programs do. But even that... meh. I'd really focus more on enjoying their last year homeschooling than on preparing for the next thing. Be in the moment. Do what's right now. Don't worry too much about it.

[Sahamamama]

My sister has kiddos the same age as mine, 8 and 6. She's planning on enrolling them in a local private school NEXT fall (2017-2018). They'd be entering 2nd and 4th grade. I've worked with her kiddos and material wise they will be solid assuming this year goes in kind to the past years. If anything, they will be ahead in some subjects.

 

However, she brought up an interesting point - how does she prepare her children for the more structured environment? They have a more relaxed approach. She asked if she should switch them something like CLE this coming year to get them used to the writing work, etc. I told her I'd ask the professionals (that's you ladies).

 

The kids have never taken any tests except her older one does speed math drills, how can she prepare them for taking exams?

 

So this upcoming year (2016-17) they will be in 1st & 3rd grades, right? I would not do anything in particular to prepare them for private school, other than things that you would want to do, anyway -- such as work on strong reading skills, strong understanding of math concepts, building general knowledge (science, literature, history), good work habits, work on listening & following directions, and self-care/self-management. She might want to work on time management & organization with the oldest, because by 4th grade, there might be some expectation on the part of some classroom teachers that students will handle some of this themselves. I'm sure that varies widely by school and teacher, though, and a good teacher will take individual differences into account, as well.

 

If she's in contact (now) with anyone at the specific school in question, she might simply ask what she could do this year to make the transition into school smoother. Those teachers may have some ideas. HTH.

 

[againstthegrain]

I don't think she will need to prepare them for any of those things. Are they compliant children? Will they follow the teachers instructions? If so, the structure will be fine. The school will not expect them to be self-teaching. They will have a teacher. If they are academically on target, they will transition easily.

 

Does she know what curriculum provider they school uses? Most Christian schools are pretty publisher-centric. She could find out and at least take a look at the expectations for the next year and make sure there is nothing that will throw them.

 

Elementary school tests are really not a skill that needs to be taught. They'll be fine. Tell her to relax.

 

They are compliant children and I don't think they would have any issues following directions (they are very well behaved in teacher-student settings in a coop as well as their local Awana and sunday school classes. She is in touch with the private school - I'll mention to talk to them about what curriculum they use. That's a wonderful idea (it is a Christian school) to pass on!

 

If she's never done any standardized testing, I'd maybe take a day once a month or every other month and do some practice with it. It's a skill that's assumed. She might look at writing since most schools expect more writing at those ages than most homeschool writing programs do. But even that... meh. I'd really focus more on enjoying their last year homeschooling than on preparing for the next thing. Be in the moment. Do what's right now. Don't worry too much about it.

 

 

I know she's worried about the 6 year old and writing. The child is reading and finishing up 1st grade math now but she said she may use pentime or something because the 6 year old dislikes writing and though she can write her name, sound out words as she writes fairly well, it is all in uppercase and takes the child a long time (which to me sounds like a normal 6 year old?). I know the older one is a couple grade levels ahead in reading and writing, though she said that she needed to work on a spelling program with the 8 year old and didn't know whether she needed to enforce cursive writing (I guess they went through it last year and the kiddo can read cursive easily and write it somewhat but they didn't stay on it so it's not quality cursive writing). If it were me, I'd make sure I kept them on pace in language and math but other than that just enjoy what they want to enjoy subject wise. I haven't said that though, I'm not sure if that's really good advice, ha!

 

So this upcoming year (2016-17) they will be in 1st & 3rd grades, right? I would not do anything in particular to prepare them for private school, other than things that you would want to do, anyway -- such as work on strong reading skills, strong understanding of math concepts, building general knowledge (science, literature, history), good work habits, work on listening & following directions, and self-care/self-management. She might want to work on time management & organization with the oldest, because by 4th grade, there might be some expectation on the part of some classroom teachers that students will handle some of this themselves. I'm sure that varies widely by school and teacher, though, and a good teacher will take individual differences into account, as well.

 

If she's in contact (now) with anyone at the specific school in question, she might simply ask what she could do this year to make the transition into school smoother. Those teachers may have some ideas. HTH.

 

 

Yes, they would be in 1st and 3rd. She stated the 6 year old was moving into mostly 2nd grade materials just continuing from where they left off last year, except in handwriting where she would be in 1st grade level. The other child sounds way ahead in pretty much everything? I know the older kiddo does their reading/math/handwriting or copywork by themselves completely.... but has no formal test taking (like the assessment tests?) experience nor heavy cursive experience.

 

 

I'll check in with her in the morning, see what she has learned from the school. Per my suggestion she said she was also emailing the 2nd and 4th grade teachers tonight to just check in to see what concepts/behaviors they expected from kids at the beginning of the school year... that seems super helpful to me...?

[Storygirl]

My kids enrolled in private Christian school last year after having always been homeschooled. They were fourth and fifth graders. I didn't do anything to prepare them ahead of time. The only thing we did differently is that I gave them a standardized test at the end of the last year that we homeschooled (testing is optional in my state), so I had those scores.

 

My kids didn't have any trouble with the structure of school. There was an adjustment to the new curricula and to the new schedule, which required homework in the evenings for the first time. That's going to be the case, no matter what. I don't think she can prepare them for that unless she wants to find out what curricula the school uses and use it herself this next year (I don't think this is necessary, but she could.)

 

Students in school are often doing more writing than homeschoolers, so if she can work on their writing stamina, that might help.

 

Otherwise, just follow their own homeschool plan, as usual.

 

And, by the way, my kids have learning disabilities and ADHD.  That caused some unique challenges for our family as we adjusted to school life, but they still did fine.

[Arcadia]

I would check if cursive is required. A preschool-8th school we looked at starts cursive in preschool.

 

Also if Spanish or any other language is taught. Quite a few k-8th private schools here offer Spanish from K as a compulsory subject.

[KrissiK]

They'll adjust. Don't worry about it. We put my oldest in private school this past year for 7th grade and he was fine. Yes, there is a learning curve, but I don't know if there's anything we could have done to make the transition easier. Just stay in touch with the teacher, make sure you know what assignments are coming up, etc.

[kiwik]

Writing all upper case would be a problem here at 6. Occasional random upper case and reversals would be expected but not all upper case.

[Dmmetler]

Here, 3rd grade standardized testing is big, and can make a major difference in student placement (for example, it is the primary screener for gifted program/enriched/advanced coursework and also for remediation). I'd suggest doing some form of end of year test this year just to have that on file, unless the school does placement testing like the ISEE.

Edited July 25, 2016 by dmmetler