About to start public kindergarten

[akalori]

Yikes.  My daughter said the teacher tested her reading today.  She was told to sound out the letters, and forgot what sound "Q" makes.  Also she was told to sound out some sight words and claims that she made some mistakes.  I taught my daughter using the whole word method.  Later she must have picked phonics because she reads new words without help.  She seems to be recognizing patterns and letter sounds.  She correctly read a letter from the school district today describing a new "research project.". She said that the teacher didn't give her any sentences or books to read.  What a sterile way to test reading.  My daughter reads better when she starts to lose herself in the story.  She reads with emotion, inflection, and even makes up character voices.  She is very dramatic so maybe she is exaggerating her mistakes.  I can't imagine how she could make mistakes on kindergarten sight words.  It sounds impossible.  When I enquire about school, she loves to say "it was terrible."  The novelty of kindergarten has worn off.  My daughter says it is too long and boring. I was hoping that the teacher would give her more interesting work.  I really hope my daughter is just trying to stir up some drama by exaggerating her mistakes.   You never know with this kid.  She also likes to pretend to be a baby.  I hope she didn't intentionally play dumb.  Well I guess I'll find out soon enough.  I have to remember that I expected to do afterschooling enrichment.  Now I just have to figure out how to squeeze it into our tight day.

Lori

[Mandabplus3]

Sounds like the teacher was testing her decoding ability and alphabet knowledge. Standard kindergarten stuff. I would test her on it even if she was fluently reading to grade 2, 3 level. Why? To be sure she has the skills needed to continue to improve. If she didn't " pass" with flying colours you will need to see the teacher to ensure they don't consider that the ceiling on the testing. By now the teacher should have some idea of her reading ability and if not your daughter is hiding it. To be honest early in the year many teachers will just class you as a " pushy parent" my suggestion would be to gently ask whether or not your daughter is actively participating in class and sharing her skills with her class.  This way you will open the door to getting info about what the teacher knows, while finding out how your child is behaving. Also mention that your daughter told you about the test and was dissapointed that she didn't get the chance to read a book to the teacher. Ask her to find some time to allow your daughter to read to the class or to the teacher one on one.
If you find out your child is withholding her knowledge, snap a video of her reading at home and email it to the teacher with a note saying "just wondering if she does this in class?"

[akalori]

Now my daughter says that she wasn't asked to read any sight words at all, just to make the letter sounds.   My daughter doesn't know why she made up the stuff about the sight words.  It worries me because not everyone is a phonics reader.  Reinforcing phonics is good as long as her overall reading is nurtured too.  It is stressful to let go of her all day knowing that she would learn more at home.  However there is a lot of other developmental stuff that occurs at school that is beneficial.  I wish I could afford private school half time, so that I could home school the other half.  It would be the best of both worlds.

I need to chill out, Lori

[Mandabplus3]

Chill out yes that is good for the soul 
You are right there is a lot of other learning going on. I considered pulling my kids out and homeschooling them ( they go to a great school but still hit the ceiling often) what stops me in the end is that the things the school offers that I couldn't were my kids favourite things. They LOVE their sports lessons, cross country competitions and athletics carnivals, they LOVE their group music and art classes. They also LOVE their teachers. That's not even considering their awesome friends or learning.
Now that I have been at the school a few years, I find it much easier to deal with them. If I say my daughter is beyond that work we need something else, I can provide it if you like, they will listen and usually implement. Of course there are the occasional years I get stuck with teachers who like the control and have no luck. (but I only ever have them once!  )
Just keep an eye on it for now. If you don't see any evidence of some extention work by week 10 then put your boots on and book in an interview. Don't wait forever but do give the teacher time to get to know the levels in her class, and figure out what your child doesn't know compared with what she does.

[lzp11]

I don't have any great suggestions - we are a year behind you as my 3.5 year old will be starting reception class next year (UK equivalent of kinderkarden).  I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your experiences.  I know that we will be in the exact same position and I'm very anxious as to know how others are coping.

We currently are in the process of choosing schools.  There are 3 local state (non-private) schools near us, which are all far from perfect.  There are also many lovely private schools that we cannot afford with smaller classes and amazing facilities (but would mean no holidays, my having to work longer hours and spend less time with the children, lots of stress and pressure at home.... bottom line, it's not an option).  But it's hard because many of our neighbours do send their children to these schools and it's difficult not to compare.  Our nearest state school is large and has some issues with some older buildings (apparently the year 1 and 2 classrooms smell like a hospital - I'm yet to visit!).  But apparently the head is very good.  I will of course visit everywhere but it is a very overwhelming task.  My current thinking is that unless a further school is amazingly better, then it may be best to go for the nearest which will at least give more time for afterschooling!!

Anyway, I hope things get better for you.  It's so hard to know what to make of the stories that my DD brings home from nursery about what happens there!! 

[akalori]

I was at the school as a lunch room volunteer today.  The teacher called me aside and to tell me that she would be giving DD some enrichment work.  She evaluated her reading skills today.  It wasn't the right setting to ask questions (in the middle of the lunch room surrounded by kids).  I will give more updates about the enrichment work when we get it.  Parent Teacher Conferences happen in November.  Sarah came home excited and told me that her teacher loves to read too.  I think it helps just for my dd to feel that her skills are recognized.  It makes her feel special so she is encouraged to continue her academic growth.

Our school is one of the better school districts in our area.  It has a good reputation and people move here for the schools.  Kindergarten is full day.  The kindergarten includes reading, math, language arts, science, social studies, art, music, Spanish, physical education, and health.   However I've met a few dissatisfied parents with children in the gifted program.  They say the gifted program isn't challenging enough.  I'm not sure whether we will fall into that category.  The actual gifted program doesn't start until second grade.  Our school doesn't engage in grade advancement (grade skipping). 

feeling calmer, Lori

[LDSMom]

My son is still loving public kindergarten. His reading level hasn't been tested, but in Raz Kids, he's worked his way up to level E which I think is the second level of 1st grade books. He will start bringing books home from school so I'm curious to see what level they give him. I find it a little strange that his teacher sent home a note telling parents that when we receive the books, if the levels are too easy or too hard to tell her so they can adjust accordingly, but she wasn't willing to adjust his level on the online program. Goofy? I think so. No matter though, we are cruising through and 1st grade level is still easy for him, but the comprehension questions are getting tougher, so I like that.

[eschlem]

Lori,

Great to hear that your daughter's ability and your efforts are being recognized! That's very encouraging.  What else are they working on at the moment? Many of the surrounding towns have half day, but our town has full day kindergarten as well.   

Raz-kids looks like a great website, LDSMom, I'm definitely intrigued. I just got a subscription to Dreambox, my daughter is really enjoying it. 

[akalori]

I have an update.  My dd has been getting incentive projects with 2 other kids.  The teacher sends it home at the end of the week explaining they worked on it all week.  The first couple were simplistic CVC word building projects.  I liked the last project a lot. They read a story and did a "story map" - a worksheet where they filled in the title, the characters, the setting, and wrote a sentence about the problem (conflict), and a sentence about how the problem was fixed (the resolution).  I like writing projects, because she doesn't write much.  Sometimes she writes short disorganized notes to slip under my son's door.  Otherwise she doesn't have any interest in writing and pretends she can't do it.  I taught her to read using a joyful game approach as per Glenn Doman.  So I didn't get her writing because she didn't like it.  I wish I had turned writing into a game.  Anyway writing sentences at school seems infrequent, slow, and laborious.  However I am pleased that at least her teacher is doing it, since it isn't part of the kindergarten curriculum.  She has kids that are obviously delayed, average kids, and advanced kids, all in one classroom with just one aid.  The last incentive project was a good match for my daughter's abilities.  I just wish there was time for more of it at school.  However I realize that in most classrooms my daughter wouldn't get any advanced work.  Also I do believe this teacher is working very hard to try to meet all of the kids at their level.  I may have to inspire my daughter to do some afterschooling with me to ensure she gets enough enrichment.  At the moment my dd is not interested in doing any extra work at home.  She stills complains that school is too long and hasn't completely adjusted to her school schedule.  In addition to the the enrichment work, my daughter gets the regular curriculum which is too easy.  They have a word ring with 5 words (red, green, blue, yellow, black) that they are supposed to practice reading nightly.  Also she gets dot-to-dot worksheets to practice number recognition.  Usually a couple of homework assignments regarding color of the week.  This week the color is black.  She had to find black objects in our house, draw them, and write the word "black" neatly.  The teacher adds instructions that the kids who want an extra challenge can label their drawings, or write a sentence using the "color of week" on the back of their homework.  My daughter reluctantly does the extra challenge with lots of encouragement from me.  The curriculum doesn't thrill or inspire my daughter.

Lori

[LDSMom]

My son is bringing home daily readers, writing worksheets, sometimes a pattern sheet. Nothing very challenging, but this is actually ok with me because I'm able to fit in lots of after schooling stuff.

What had been really fun for me though,is I stick a bunch of library books in the car and the kids we carpool with love looking through them or reading to each other. I also found an addition facts music cd at a local education store and I started playing it in the car. We're working in facts of 2 right now, but its so great how into it the kids get.i pause the music before they give the answer and th kids all try to get the right answer first. It's been a fun way to after school my son while also teaching the other kids. Btw the other kids are the ones who beg to play the math cd game now!! Maybe I should start an after school learning club for the kids.

[LDSMom]

Btw, I should add that my son sits at a table with kids who are all reading very well, so he's got a good group of peers who are at the same level. One of them writes amazingly well. I can't wait to meet the parents of these kids to learn how they taught their children.

[akalori]

LDSmom,

What is the name of your math CD?  Maybe my kids would enjoy it too.

Lori

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