Kindergarten Check-in...how are all the new kinders doing?

Discussion in 'Childhood and Beyond (4+)' started by jjzollman, Oct 29, 2013.

  1. jjzollman

    jjzollman Well-Known Member

    I thought it would be fun to hear about how KDG is going for all the kindergarteners, it's always interesting to hear the variations in classrooms and teachers, too.

    How many sight words are your kindergarteners reading now?
    What kind and how much homework do they have?
    Are they full day or half day?
    Do you like their teacher(s)?
    Did you separate them or keep them together?
    Anything else about kindergarten?
     
  2. miss_bossy18

    miss_bossy18 Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    How many sight words are your kindergarteners reading now?

    I have no idea - I'm not even sure what sight words are. I assume it means words they recognize on sight, without having to sound them out? Like their name?

    What kind and how much homework do they have?

    Pretty much none. Once a month, they're sent home a puzzle piece to fill in/decorate. The first month was about their name - they had a list of questions they had to ask us. This month their puzzle piece is all about their family. It's about a 5-10 minute project.

    Are they full day or half day?

    They're half day (3 hrs). They go Monday-Thursday and alternate Fridays.

    Do you like their teacher(s)?

    Yup!

    Did you separate them or keep them together?

    We separated them, sort of. The two morning classes are in one large classroom with a divider. Some activities the classes do separately and others they do together. So the girls are really only completely apart for about an hour and a a half a day.

    Anything else about kindergarten?

    The girls desperately need more sleep but we haven't figured out how to make that happen yet. The number of atomic meltdowns we've been having lately is starting to wear thin. I figured the transition process would be, well, a process but I didn't think we'd still be tweaking as much as we are at the end of October.
     
  3. kingeomer

    kingeomer Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Mine are doing really well.  They love school!
     
    Sight words so far: I, A, THE, MY, ME...they are supposed to be getting 37 for the school year.
    Homework: We get homework for the week on Mondays, they have a notebook where they trace their name, write it, trace the upper and lower case (and write) the letter of the week.  They get a math sheet, which right now is shapes and patterns.  We also have to work with the sight words daily and their letter cards where they have to sound out the letter sounds.
    Kindergarten is full day
    They love their teacher
    I would have preferred them to be separated but their school only has one kindergarten class.  Their teacher has had twins in her class before and she makes sure they do not sit together at school, so it works well.
     
  4. rrodman

    rrodman Well-Known Member

    I think the plan is around 50 sight words for the year. They are probably about a dozen in: a an the like to etc.

    We don't really have any homework. They sent something home at the beginning of the year saying that pencil and paper homework wasn't consistent with their goals in K. They send home lots of project ideas to help them learn and books at their level for them to read, etc.

    They are half day.

    We do like their teachers. Anna is a pretty easy kid. The only they are working on with her is pencil grip (we've been working on that for years!). But the teacher even had an OT evaluate Anna to confirm no issues and give her ideas to help. Jack is a more difficult child. He is extremely bright, but easily frustrated. He's my sensitive child and doesn't always express himself well. His teacher has been great with him--figuring out how to address him to get the best results, emailing us consistently, taking my advice on strategies and suggesting new ones. She took the initiative to suggest him for a "Kinderpals" group the guidance counselor is doing to help kids with the right way to interact with each other.

    Both of the kids' reading has exploded. Jack can read the level 2 readers with no issues at all, is sounding out bigger words and asking lots of questions about why certain letters make certain sounds. Anna is far beyond where she was at the beginning of the year (separating her from Jack was key because she would say that Jack was the one who could read, not her). They also have a fabulous art program. They are learning about Mondrian now (I think this must be some kind of national curriculum because a friend in Wisconsin was talking about artists her K is studying and it was the same--and not big name enough to be a coincidence). Anna loves loves loves art, and Jack loves learning the history and different artists.
     
  5. AimeeThomp

    AimeeThomp Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    I don't know how many sight words they know, but it's a lot. They also are sounding out words and reading beginner books. They fall on the older end of the spectrum for being in kindergarten, they missed the cutoff date by a month. They are also reading and writing in French. I know they can write the days of the week in French, the months of the year and weather basics (soleil, nuageux, etc. very basic). I went to the school last week to bring cookies and was amazed at how much my girls understand in French. Their teacher said that it's b/c she speaks to them in French all day and never uses English, so they have really picked up on it.
     
    Ours is also full day. We really like both their French teacher and their ELA teacher. They are together in class.
     
    Lily is really shining in school. Her teacher said she's always the first one done with her work and yesterday she won some math contest which is pretty cool b/c that means not only was she doing math, she was doing it in French.
     
    Amelia is having a hard time. She's stubborn and shy, and her teacher told me that sometimes she doesn't undestand the directions but instead of raising her hand and asking, she goes back to her desk and cries. We have been talking at home about being brave enough to raise your hand...or ask the other kids at your table if you need to.
     
    One day I will stop thinking it's so amazing that they are learning another language...I'm not there yet, obviously!
     
  6. mommymauro

    mommymauro Well-Known Member

    Seth can read, so he is past sight words.  They have him working on spelling them and to practice his handwriting.  Nathan was proud, he got to bring home the 1st grade list in Oct
    They were both moved up to the 1st grade math so i think hw is a bit much for 5 year old's. but i signed a form before i approved the move saying i understood they would have more HW... they also have 20min of Lexia (though Nathan will do an hour trying to catch up to Seth... bless that little guy for trying so hard)
    They are half day
    As far as i can tell they like their teachers
    They are in separate classes, but since they were moved up in math they are in the same math class but put in different groups.  They have recess together.
    I am still in shock they are in Kindergarten ... They tested all 85 kindergartners (4 half days and 2 full day classes). Seth got the second highest score 99% (though his teacher slipped the boy who scored one point higher turns seven next month) and Nathan scored 88%.  I wish i could take credit for all their awesome work... but then i would have to take responsibility for oldest lack of work... and i'm not prepared to do that :nea:
     
  7. gina_leigh

    gina_leigh Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure how many sight words they know. Jason probably knows a few more than Reagan, but his attention at that is better. I'd guess between 15-20. 
     
    They get HW sheets sent home on Monday and then it's turned in on Friday. I like the way Rea's teacher does HW better, but for the most part they are similar. It takes roughly 15 minutes for them to complete the work. (Again depending on how well they are listening and focusing.) They practice sight words daily, practice writing the letter of the week, write two words start with that letter, and practice family words- _it: bit, pit, fit, etc. They are both working towards sounding out words silently. They also have to read a few sentences. 
     
    They are in separate classes this year and are doing great with that. I like their teachers for the most part. I feel like Rea's teacher is more involved. (I've posted about issues I've had with J's teacher.) And J struggles with conduct. What frustrates me is that at his parent/teacher conference she said he is a chatterbox and it's mostly because he finishes it work quickly and gets bored. Yet she does nothing to challenge him. So he continues to struggle with the conduct. I'm not condoning his behavior, but I do feel like she should challenge him. 
     
    They go to full-day kindergarten. And they both love school. I hope that continues! They are both so proud to be writing words on their own now. They love to sit and sound out words and try to spell/write them all by themselves. And they do an awesome job! It's amazing to me how quickly they catch on to things. 
     
  8. dtomecko

    dtomecko Well-Known Member

     
  9. Fran27

    Fran27 Well-Known Member

    They bring home a flash card with new sight words every week, I think we're at 12 or something. They bring a folder home on Mondays with 3-4 pages of homework due on Friday, so one a night, although they want to do it all on Monday night. They're full days, separate (it's going really well) and like their teachers, as far as I know.
     
  10. mummy2two

    mummy2two Well-Known Member

    How many sight words are your kindergarteners reading now?
    I want to say maybe 10?  They really don't work on this consistenly yet for me to know.  I know this is a part of the curriculum after they go through the entire alphabet.
     
    What kind and how much homework do they have? 
    They have writing/spelling homework 4 times a week (Mon-Thursday) and a math sheet (addition/subtraction at this point) once a week.  The homework usually takes them 5 to 10 minutes to complete.  For us, this is a big change from last year (PK-4 when it was a 1/2 hour every night including Fridays). :gah:
     
    Are they full day or half day? 
    Full day.
     
    Do you like their teacher(s)?
    DD loves, loves, loves their teacher.  DS is not sold.  There are some behavorial problems that she is insisting he work on.  I love this teacher as well.  The teacher sends daily e-mails to all the parents with the homework instructions and weekly newsletters about the topics the class has covered the past week and will cover for the following week; she meets with parents after class on the same day there is a problem; and she responds quickly to questions and requests.  I told her about DS' speech (he had a stutter that was worsening) on the first day and she made certain that he now has the services he needs.
     
    Did you separate them or keep them together?
    I would like to have separated them but there is only one kindergarten class at the school.  I explained at the beginning that they love to argue with each other and she keeps them separated. 
     
    Anything else about kindergarten?
    I wish the teacher would give a little more homework.  After the 1/2 hour we had every night, five minutes seems too easy!  But we chose the school and her class in particular because of the balance of academics and exploration, so it is a small complaint at this point.  I'll probably end up supplementing with more work at home soon but for now, we are enjoying our free evenings.
     
  11. maryjfb

    maryjfb Member

    How many sight words are your kindergarteners reading now?
    I'm not really sure. Their lists add up to 35 words, but I would say they actually know 20 or so.
     
    What kind and how much homework do they have? 
    The teacher emails weekly homework due every Monday, 5-7 pages' worth. They call it family homework, which, ok. They're not required to do it, but we do it every week. Working on writing letters and numbers, simple math and reading.
     
    Are they full day or half day? 
    Half day.
     
    Do you like their teacher(s)?
    They love their teacher and I like her a lot, too. She's very personable and she knows her stuff. 
     
    Did you separate them or keep them together?
    We were hesitant to separate them, but separating may have been a better choice. I think they're experiencing too much togetherness right now. 
     
    Anything else about kindergarten?
    They've learned so much! I'm really excited for them. It's fun to see them soak up the knowledge like they have.
     
  12. MNTwinSquared

    MNTwinSquared Well-Known Member

     
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