Kindergarden preparedness

I went to a very long meeting hosted by our elementary school on K preparedness last night. I left with a ton of info and wanted to share it with you guys so you would be prepared. Yes... three is the new five. The things our kids are expected to do when they walk through the doors of K are alarming. I remember K being a time to play, sit and past macaroni to paper etc... I know from having older kids that this has changed and it's evolved even more in the four years since my middle child went to K.

I sat in on the 4 to 5 year old session per our preschool teachers directions. This is the information I was given for 4 to 5 year olds. I can give you the 3 to 4 year old expectations as well if anyone wants them. On the upside, I came home with some additional learning toys for the kids, to incorporate into what we have already been doing. In some ways, I'm disappointed that our kids don't get to stay little as long as they should. We are expecting them to do at 4 and 5 what many of us didn't do until after K or 1st grade. One of the things they really talked about is that in the K class room there are kids with the mentality and abilities of a 3 year old and kids with the ability and mentality of an 8 year old. Those that start out behind, often stay behind and may not equalize with their peers until the 7th grade. It seems that if you plan to have children now, that you should get a degree in Early childhood education first.

By the time your child enters K they are expected to

Identify 12 to 15 lowercase letters, including those in their first name
Correctly identify letters in the proper shape category, a c e o s, b d g p q, h m n r u, etc...
Recognize the labels on 10 objects in the home
Sing the ABC's and number songs while pointing to the correct letters or numbers.
Know 6 to 10 nursery rhymes
Say the correct sounds for 12 letters
Identify the beginning sounds of words. Tell rhyming words. Clap syllables independantly
Make up an alternative plot or ending to a story. Re-tell the story.
Understand that reading is from R to L, top to bottom, punctuation ends a sentence
Have a vocab of 5000 words. Be able to repeat a word correctly.
Print my name correctly
Count in order to 20
Match number shapes from 1 to 12
Copy trace or draw numbers and shapes
Match the 10 common shapes and begin to understand 3 dimensional shapes such as cube, sphere and cylander
know 12 colors including grey and light blue
understand basic math concepts of addition and subtraction using object.
create and repeat 2 to 3 step color patterns
know 30 prepositions and be able to do more complex puzzles
Settle into new groups easily, make transitions between activities and play with two or more kids
Focus on a task for at least 5 minutes with distractions
follow a three step sequence of directions and obey rules
Recognize my emotions and be empathetic to others.

 

WOW!!! I thought they learned how to write their names in Kindergarden. I remember the lettle people and learning letters, not already knowing them when I showed up!!! UGH!! I have some work to do!!! LOL!!

Can you post the 3 and 4 year old expectations? We are almost 3, so I need to get working on this!!!

 

Does this unnerve anyone else?

I know my girls aren't even two yet and there's still a lot of growing/learning to do, but..... :blink: *sigh*

 

They gave us a list like this, too, but it has not actually proved to be true. I had my girls ready for it (mostly), and they're sailing along because of course this is a high standard for this age and many of the kids aren't that ready and they aren't being left behind. They are learning their letters, how to color, how to write their names, etc.

 

Out of the 23 things you listed I think my son CANT do like 3 of them.

I dont know about the labels in the home...does that mean what kind of product it is?
Identifying letters of the same shape category..? thats a wierd expectation
Im not sure if he knows about reading going from L to R or not

Everything else he pretty much knows..not quite the 3 dimensional shapes yet... and he knows all of his colors, but I dont know if he would say 'light' blue, but he would know its blue.. He does know grey though.

He is going to be 5 in January and his preschool is AWESOME! I guess it helps having a late birthday. I used to want him to have been able to go to Kindergarten this year, but Im glad he didnt. I think he could use the extra maturity time, and also make sure he knows everything he is supposed to know.

Ive also heard they expect them to know a lot of sight words and possibly be reading. I thought they went to school to learn how to read!! They do expect WAY more than they did when we were in school.

I'd also like to see the 3-4 yr old list please.

 

I am unnerved too. That is quite some list. My problem is sending kids to preschool at 3, I think it is too young and I know it is not mandatory but if the kids are not up to speed then they get left behind. I would like to see the requirments for 3-4 yo. if it is not too much trouble.

 

My girls can do alot of the stuff on the list, except the letters and numbers. That's an emerging skill for them and they aren't 4 yet. I still have a year to work on the basic letter and writing skills. They count and recognize their names. They began developemental preschool two weeks ago and that's part of the curriculum.

About the household items, the idea is that we should have some things in the house labeled. The sink could have a sign with a picture of a sink and the word sink on it. The same for a table and a chair. etc...

I also am not a big supporter of preschool at 3. I think our kids have too much pressure in school too soon. I think that's why this was a shock to me. This is what they want your kids to be able to do so they can start reading in K. I also disagreed with the concept of not starting early leads to them being WAY behind. My older two didn't go to Preschool. They didn't read until the end of 1st grade. That summer they blossomed. My oldest is testing on a college reading level and my middle dd is reading a full five years ahead of her grade.

 

What the heck is a letter-shape category?
That is quite the list! Mine can do some of it, but I don't know if they will be able to do all of that by 5.

 

I would LOVE to see the list for 3-4 year olds aswell.

Were not doing preschool this year b/c of the late birthday but I plan on starting a preschool like session at home after the baby is born.

thanks for the great info!

 

Letter-shape catagory has to do with knowing round letters, from stick letters, and accending and decending letters.

The reality is, don't let that list scare you. Most children can do some of the things on the list, but very few can do them all. Here the kids work on writing their names for the first 6 weeks of K, as well as reviewing their letters and numbers. Their textbook doesn't even touch on addition and subtraction until something like Chapter 9 or 10.

 

I was definitely thinking that every area is different. .I have looked online for Preschool and Kindergarten preparedness lists before and there were things that were not on this list, and this list has things that those ones did not... so it does vary.
I would love to find out if the local schools here offer the type of meeting Momma Nic went to to see what they say. I will have to check into that.
Although my oldest DS is able to do most of the stuff on that list, I will say, I dont think my DD will be able to master all of that in the next year and a half or so, before she starts school. She is not on the same level as my oldest DS.
The twins still have several years to go...

 

:blink: Education is one of our highest priorities, but man, that creeps me out. When my kids go to preschool, I want them to learn how to get along with other kids (and teachers), and have lots of fun play experiences that I wouldn't be able to dream up on my own. That's about it.

 

Thanks for the info. My girls are born on the actual cut-off date so I was thinking about sending them later rather than earlier. This is one more reason to lean toward later, IMO!

 

My kids are only 2 1/2 so I have a way to go yet. :FIFblush:

But I think I was able to do most of that stuff when I started kindergarten back in 1975.
I went to private school, and we had absolutely NO play time, or snack time or naptime, etc. in our kindergarten. It was only a half day (about 4 hours).
By the end of the year we could all read and write quite a bit. Did some simple addition, etc.
It was strict but good, IMO.

I guess every school and district is different.

 

I went to a kindergarten readiness session at the private school that we're targeting for Nadia a few weeks ago, and a lot of their list was the same -- possibly even more advanced, because it was a private school.

What's interesting is the trend seems to be waiting an extra year to send kids to kindergarten, for this very reason. In fact, the son of the admissions director at this school just turned 5 this past June, but they will start him in kindergarten *next* fall.

It just seems weird to me -- if kids are not ready for what they teach in kindergarten, then why make it so hard??

Nadia has a January birthday, and is exceptionally bright, so there's no question of her being ready for K next year. But we're almost positive that we'll wait an extra year with Kevan & Karina, as they have a summer birthdays....and it appears that Kevan may have some challenges already, so he may simply not be ready....

 

I really just need to stay out of threads like this!! Why did I even think it would apply to me? :blink:

Okay, I'm going to go back to reading the how to drop the 2nd nap and bottle threads now - and avoid this kind of thing for at least another year! :lol:

 

My girls public school had only one major requirement for kindergarten and that was to be potty trained. They said they will teach them everything else. They said they would like them to know their letters but it was mandatory. My girls have learned to read a lot of sight words and write some words by sounding them out. They did know how to do somethings on that list but not everything. When they started school the teachers basically went back to basics and went over things like writing letters and everything.

For those that are panicing I would check with your school to see what their requirements would be. I know for my niece to go to kindergarten she had to know more than we did and had a list of things (we had no list). I just thought I would mention our experience since not all schools are the same.

 

My daughter is in Kindergarten this year. She went in knowing her numbers and letters, but no words. Now she has mastered almost 50 sight words and can read sentences comprised of such. We just saw her teacher and she is right on track. They are only giving them one letter at at time, one word at a time, etc. According to the teacher, the students will all be reading simple books by the end of the year.
Please don't let that list scare you. It may cause you to put too much pressure on yourself and then on your kiddos. They probably give you a lengthy list only expecting that parents touch on all areas... not for the kids to have mastered them. And in my case, there is no way yet to even know if my daughter is ahead because when they "test" them before the report cards are sent home, they only ask of them what is required to get a checkmark in that category... so a child may actually be more advanced than what the report card shows, but what's important is that he/she is where she needs to be...
IMO it's also just as important that they have adjusted socially and are having fun being kids... there will be tons of time for studying and stressing later on down the road to a good education...

 

It varies so much by district and by school. Heck, in the kindergarten I taught most of our kids were Spanish speakers, had no preschool and some had never held a book.

Don't let the schools put pressure on you to do more than your child is ready for. Even my students, who had so much to struggle with, were reading, adding and subtracting by the end of kindergarten. Just expose your children to as much as possible; museums, libraries, zoos and playgrounds. Make sure they are loved and secure, read to the every day.

All the rest is gravy!!!

It varies so much by district and by school. Heck, in the kindergarten I taught most of our kids were Spanish speakers, had no preschool and some had never held a book.

Don't let the schools put pressure on you to do more than your child is ready for. Even my students, who had so much to struggle with, were reading, adding and subtracting by the end of kindergarten. Just expose your children to as much as possible; museums, libraries, zoos and playgrounds. Make sure they are loved and secure, read to them every day and add more skills when they show interest.

All the rest is gravy!!!

 

It does vary! That list describes what my boys learned in Kindergarten. Not what they needed to know in order to enter. They knew a lot of it, which was great since it allowed them to enjoy it and not be stressed, but I was glad they didn't know it all so that they weren't bored and tempted to misbehave.

 

My oldest DD started KG this year and I know that most of the kids in her class can't do all those. She attends a public school, but we are in an excellent district. I think that kids are expected to know so much far too young. Our preschool does a little preschool report card in the Spring that goes over what they need to know in KG and if the kids know it (kinda like a pretest) and it's mostly ABC's, # 1-20, etc. My DD is doing great in KG. Now, I gotta figure out if I'm going to put the twins in KG in 2 years or hold them back until the next year. They have Sept. birthdays and I don't think they have as many of the skills as my oldest had at 3, but we've got 2 years to decide and "work on it".

 

I teach Kinder and I have to say that half of that list is stuff we teach in K. Sure, it helps to know some numbers, letters and sounds beforehand. But really, so many of the things on that list we teach and they are expected to know by the END of kinder.

 

I wouldn't freak out about the list. These days the bar is set high because they "hope" your kid will make that bar! That list is for an above average child, not the normal, average, developing at the right rate 5 year old. :hug: We expect soooooo much from our kids at my school, for a 2nd grader to be an A student they need to be reading at a 3rd grade level at the beginning of the year which is about 7% of our kids! Really, it is meant to be more of a place to get to if you can. Don't kill yourself over it. Your kids will do great in K!

 

To be more specific, these are the areas we specifically teach in kinder from that list:

Identify the beginning sounds of words. Tell rhyming words. Clap syllables independently
Make up an alternative plot or ending to a story. Re-tell the story.
Understand that reading is from R to L, top to bottom, punctuation ends a sentence
Print my name correctly [we do last name too]
Count in order to 20 [we do up to 100]
Match number shapes from 1 to 12 [we do up to 30]
understand basic math concepts of addition and subtraction using object.
create and repeat 2 to 3 step color patterns
know 30 prepositions and be able to do more complex puzzles
Settle into new groups easily, make transitions between activities and play with two or more kids
Focus on a task for at least 5 minutes with distractions
follow a three step sequence of directions and obey rules

 

QUOTE(twoin2005 @ Nov 20 2008, 10:15 PM) [snapback]1080073[/snapback]
To be more specific, these are the areas we specifically teach in kinder from that list:

Identify the beginning sounds of words. Tell rhyming words. Clap syllables independently
Make up an alternative plot or ending to a story. Re-tell the story.
Understand that reading is from R to L, top to bottom, punctuation ends a sentence
Print my name correctly [we do last name too]
Count in order to 20 [we do up to 100]
Match number shapes from 1 to 12 [we do up to 30]
understand basic math concepts of addition and subtraction using object.
create and repeat 2 to 3 step color patterns
know 30 prepositions and be able to do more complex puzzles
Settle into new groups easily, make transitions between activities and play with two or more kids
Focus on a task for at least 5 minutes with distractions
follow a three step sequence of directions and obey rules


Thanks for sharing that Kate!

 

QUOTE(Sarah© @ Nov 20 2008, 11:15 PM) [snapback]1080072[/snapback]
I wouldn't freak out about the list. These days the bar is set high because they "hope" your kid will make that bar! That list is for an above average child, not the normal, average, developing at the right rate 5 year old. :hug: We expect soooooo much from our kids at my school, for a 2nd grader to be an A student they need to be reading at a 3rd grade level at the beginning of the year which is about 7% of our kids! Really, it is meant to be more of a place to get to if you can. Don't kill yourself over it. Your kids will do great in K!


Sarah, I'm confused! :huh: Does that mean that a 2nd grader cannot get an A unless they're that far ahead? I mean, I know that A's are for above average but really?

Sorry, semi-OT! I just know that I was through out school an A/B student and really don't think I was ever a grade level above where I needed to be, kwim?

And to add on to my original post, I said I was unnerved (still am! ) but not so much on an individual level with the girls. They're going to do what they do, when they do it and I'll do my best to make sure I help them get there. There does just seem to be an awful lot of emphasis on 'book skills' (and that's not quite the right description, but it's late and my brain is shutting down) at such an early age. Not necessarily in this example, but other information sources too. I do hope that the teachers my kiddos get help them learn from an early age the joy in learning and that it's not just something to get through.

Sorry for the ramble!

 

Mine could do most of that by age 5 and it wasn't because we worked with them on it. We also didn't send them to preschool. They just learned it naturally. I wouldn't be too worried. They tend to learn a lot and pick up things pretty quickly once they reach about 3.5 years old.

Also, remember those are recommendations to give you an idea of some of the things they expect of the kids. They don't really need to know 6 nursery rhymes verbatim, they just need to be exposed to reading and they'll learn some stories on their own. The only thing on that list that I'd make sure they knew is how to write their names correctly (ie with a capital letter at the beginning and lowercase letters for the rest) but that can be done at age 4 or 5 and isn't something that needs to be drilled.

FWIW, our girls go to a private school and they actually worked on a lot of the items on that list during the first couple of months of kindergarten. There is going to be a wide variety of ability levels in the class at first and the teachers will work to bring everyone up to speed before zooming off to new material.