<p>although to be fair-for some kids- a little extra prep won’t hurt
my youngest changed from a tiny private school to a public school in 3rd grade & the classroom was bigger than her whole school.
She was undiagnosed dyslexic and part of the routine everymorning was to do math or other written problems for the first 15 min or so.
It took her much longer- more like 45 minutes- so along with asking the teacher to allow her to do a modified version, we also got to school early, so that she could finish up about the same time the other kids did</p>
<p>But that was 3rd grade not K
Since K isn’t even required for our state to fund, and since for some kids- it is their first contact with a structured situation, it seems more reasonable, to move a little slower, than to push some kids to keep up with those who have more experience</p>
<p>You hang in there PackMom. Both my kids went to one of the oldest alternative schools in California for K-8. They don’t send up a red flag about reading until 3rd grade, if the parents can just wait it out. Kids spend their days in sandboxes, with hoses, in puddles, in bushes. No homework at all until 5th grade. Yet a third of the 8th grade class goes into 2nd year math in high school. And one year in a class of 20 kids they eventually had one kid go to Princeton, one to Yale, one to Stanford, one to Mt. Holyoke, one to UCSB, one to Tufts, etc. It is absolutely unecessary to force little bitty punkins to read and write when their small motor coordination still has them struggling to pick up Cheerios!!!.</p>
<p>And of course if the kid had a learning/processing issue they pull them out and work with them in a more directive way.</p>
<p>I hope my grandkids will be allowed to attend a preschool very similar to the ones my kids attended–lots of games & socialization & craft projects. A different color every week, a different alphabet every day. They were encouraged to learn to write their names so they could put it on their projects (but the teacher always knew each child’s work anyway). These happy experiences enhanced my kids’ love of school & were a well of happy memories for them to draw from during challenging times.
We had computers at home, which the kids eventually became interested in, particularly Oregon Trail & Carmen San Diego & Pajama Sam & one about fish, oh & Backyard Baseball, soccer & football. They also loved the Sims & Zoo Tycoon & similar games. We let the kids guide how interested they were in computer games & kept good selection of games around for them to enjoy at their leisure.<br>
It is AWFUL when kids are shoved to achive before they show any interest or even have the attention span or skills. Sounds like the stage is ripe for LOTS of counseling & other remedial care.</p>
<p>Interesting that more and more parents are holding their kids back and start dates have also been moving back since K got so academic. I have two very different kids - one taught himself to read at three, the other didn’t get it until part way into second grade. They both read avidly and well above grade level now. Their kindergarten served both of them very well. The teacher had many activities that encouraged literacy without actually forcing anyone to learn to read. Kid who could read or write would help read things to the class or write things down (weather predictions, lists of things kids liked). The bulk of the time was spent playing, learning songs and dances, hearing stories, and playing with blocks. It was probably the only year my early reader wasn’t ever bored with school.</p>
<p>My S was also an early reader (he taught himself to read because I wouldn’t read every word of every sign to him as he wanted). He was the only reader in K, so he read to the class & was allowed to read all the books in all the classrooms he wanted. He was allowed to go to the 2nd grade classroom & borrow their books to read & taught himself magic tricks & chess.
My D was a bit concerned taht she wasn’t reading & had no interest until the middle of 1st grade. We encouraged her & told her not to worry, but kept all the books she wanted around, including books with beautiful illustrations (which she favored). She never wanted picture books, since she & S had already heard all of them when they were very little & went right to chapter books about legends & myths when she began reading in 1st grade. </p>
<p>I held both of my kids back since both were born in November. I had been advised by the preschool & pediatrician that academically, I could have sent my S to kindergarten when he was 3 but socially, kids really thrive on being given more time to grow emotionally & socially. We have never regretted allowing our kids the luxury of more time to explore their interests in a carefree setting & grow emotionally & socially. Both have always been able to find things that interested them, even if their understanding was far beyond that of their peers & both have spent a good deal of time tutoring peers informally.</p>
<p>The issue of the age range in any given classroom is interesting. When our older son started Kindergarten, we lived in British Columbia, and the cut off for starting K was January 1st. With a summer birthday, he was right in the middle of the pack.</p>
<p>Then we moved to Minnesota when he was in first grade. Now the cut off date was September 1st, which would still have been fine, but it seemed that any boy (in particular, it seemed) with a birthday after April was held back a year. That meant that my son was younger than quite a few kids in the grade below. </p>
<p>The result is that he was always a little young socially. If everyone just sent their child at approximately the right age (I’m sure there are some reasonable exceptions) this wouldn’t be such a big deal. What I found was that there were a bunch of kids in my son’s grade who should have been in a grade above, and were bored in school. Some of their parents were convinced that they were “GIFTED”, in capital letters, when in reality they were just in the wrong grade. </p>
<p>I truly believe in evaluating any child’s develpmental readiness for kindergarten. But (IMHO) it really should be for 5 year olds, and I don’t think it should include much in the way of academic content. My son was another of those kids that just seemed to start reading by magic at 3 1/2. But what he needed in kindergarten was playtime with other kids.</p>
<p>when my mother was in school, kids could either start in the fall or after xmas.
She started me early- because I was a precocious reader but socially and gross motor wise ( which is so important in grade school) I was behind.</p>
<p>D was in the 5s program- which some kids did use for a year before K.
Some, especially the bouncy boys needed a little more time, but some, I had the impression were in it, just so they could be the most advanced in class.
I had no idea at the time, whether to use it for K or not- she was reading- but as a premie she was very , very petite, and had gross motor delay.
The grade school we found, actually had 3 grades in one classroom, and I had to ask the teacher what “grade” she was in. ( she was in 1st)
This worked OK for grade school, as they were mixed grades, but when she went off to 6th grade, it was again apparent that she was young for her age.
Oh well.
But she took a year off after high school so it all came out in the end :)</p>
<p>Wow…Why can’t we just let kids be kids and experience life and all its wonders. Then everyone wonders where all the competitiveness comes from when little Johnny is applying to colleges…guess it all started in Pre-K??</p>
<p>My oldest did one year of preschool, for socialization…didn’t bother sending the youngest and to my good fortune, they are excellent students now.</p>
<p><strong>shaking head</strong>She became so exhausted and distraught over homeworkincluding a weekly essay on “my favorite animal” or "my family vacation"that she would put her head down on the dining-room table and sob. “She would tell me, ‘I can’t write a story, Mama. I just can’t do it’,” That breaks my heart **</p>
<p>Some of this, or much of it, is in response to NCLB; for example, the requirements in our state for fourth grade writing demand that teachers begin instruction in paragraph writing in 1st or 2nd grade. The pressure on both teachers and students is enormous. My daughter spent a whole year preparing for the state tests and then two full weeks taking them. She cried several days before going into school, just over the pressure and stress. And think of the loss of instructional time.</p>
<p>She’s in private school right now. I just couldn’t deal with treating little kids like they’re high school students, with two hours of homework a night. It’s unconscionable.</p>
<p>I teach kinder in a very low SES school - and it is NOT the teachers who want to make it into a bootcamp. (BYW we do NOT nap, no snacks, only 20 minutes of recess a day, and the principal has suggested that we remove our housekeeping center -). It’s that goshdarn “No child left behind” and this mania about testing that trickles down from the country and state, so that we test our poor babies (thus losing quality instructional time - since you have to test one-on-one while the other 20 kids do ?) and drill and drill to pass the tests. If I wasn’t exhausted and about to fall asleep in bed, I would rant on longer. But don’t blame the teachers for this - the unbearable pressure is coming from above. (And we are resisting as much as we can…)</p>
<p>That is very disappointing, Anxiousmom. I support meaningful performance standards before moving children from one grade to the next but I don’t think that should translate into writing essays at age 5. </p>
<p>Does NCLB specifically require rigorous academics at an earlier age or is this the result of how schools have chosen to implement NCLB? It seems to me that some school districts might accelerate certain subjects so that they have more time for remedial programs and second chances. Thus, if NCLB requires specific reading skills by the end of second grade, rather than teach those skills in first or second grade some schools might choose to start in pre-school or kindergarten - to provide extra time to identify and help kids that have problems and/or need tutoring.</p>
<p>As a special needs teacher aide I am appalled by the new trend of no child being left behind…those that are perceived to be ‘left behind’ are some that I end up supporting when they do not need to be there. all they need is a system that will accept they have other strengths and let them catch up in the classroom etc</p>
<p>We have a special needs child and over the years we’ve dealt with dozens of special education teachers. They all dislike NCLB because they say it hurts their ability to work with special needs students. Of course, many teachers feel this way but there seems to be a greater disconnect between NCLB and special education.</p>
<p>Emily, it takes a special person to work with these kids and I appreciate your efforts…</p>
<p>Nearly all the teachers I know, including many close friends & family members, HATE NCLB because it really stresses everyone & does not make allowances for language barriers for new immigrants, learning differences with special needs kids, and so many other factors. Many wonderful, dedicated teachers I am very fond of are seriously looking to quit & switch professions because of the intense stress all due to NCLB.
The 9/11/06 Newsweek I just received has a cover, “The New 1st Grade,” with a child faced by an endless stack of books. It goes into the issue & pressures created by this endless testing.</p>
<p>My D (now a college senior) was just infuriated by all the tests she had to take in junior and senior high and that was before our state-wide achievement test that is now hugely important. My D would just rant and rave about how much time the testing took away from classroom time. She was just fine with the SAT, but thought the rest of it was ridiculous.</p>
<p>At her well-respected high school, during the important state-wide test for sophomores, the juniors and seniors come in late on all test days so they won’t be on campus during the test time. Very strange.</p>
<p>Re: NCLB
I know that the goals of some local schools are that NOBODY will be performing below standard an ANY category. Hmmm. How unrealistic is that? How could any school population have every student be at least average in every area? This is just not possible! Then, unbelievably, a few schools actually turn in results that indicate every kid to be average or above average in every area. There must be coaching and/or manipulating of results going on there, which not only negates the entire concept of NCLB but also may prevent assistance to kids in need by denying the need exists. NCLB…what a dumb idea!</p>
<p>Edit: I guess in theory NCLB is not a dumb idea. But the assessment and goals are definitely unrealistic and harmful to both students and teachers.</p>
<p>NCLB may have been a good idea in theory, but has been a disaster (in my opinion) in practice. As an unfunded mandate, the school districts must provide services to all these failing students on taxpayer dime, and then the bulk of the curriculum is spent on reading and math, since they are well tested subjects, and not social studies or science, nor critical thinking, etcetcetc.</p>
<p>I could go on and on at how furious the whole NCLB law makes me, but I will save that rant for another day. I do think it is at the crux of this stress in school tho…for everyone.</p>
<p>as a progressive democrat- but one who has cast a steely eye toward education, I think there are some great ideas in NCLB
Having teachers being competent in the area they are teaching for example-
too often schools have football coaches teaching history, and teachers certified in art, teaching math.
If school doesn’t receive title 1 money- ( in our area- only elementary schools accept Title 1), there don’t seem to be any repercussions to schools who aren’t meeting AYP.
I am frustrated with the amount of time taken to administer our states test and also frustrated at the lack of programs available to insure that the test is reasonable and that students who are not on track to pass before graduation have support measures in place.
That just isn’t happening
I also am very irritated at citizens who blame the failure rate on uninterested kids/parents. My own daughter isn’t unusual in Washington at failing to pass the math WASL. ( less than half have passed). We have hired tutors for years, to fill in the gaps left by the curriculum, money that we didn’t have, and certainly money that most families couldn’t afford to spend.
I would like to see, like in the private schools, emphasis on curriculum, not on student exit exams.</p>
(And we are resisting as much as we can…)</p>