How much do you prep your kid for K?

[Queen of 3 princess]

Here in Michigan they are lucky if the kids recognize letters. Most do not know phonics. None of mine did. They just knew letters, shapes, and colors, how to write their first names. And my oldest didn't know all of the lower case letters. The sounds are taught in kindergarten. My youngest is in Kindergarten now. She has been working on letter sounds for the first half of school. She is now working on words. We have her reading dick and jane books at home. She is doing very well in class and all she knew was the above things. But it sounds like other states are different. Maybe it depends on the cut off for kindergarten. Michigan's cutoff is Dec. So my daughter was only 4 went she went to school. I'm sure if you just practice the main things with her she will do fine

 

[astine75]

If you're wondering what thing syou could work with her on, google your state's department of education, then find the K standards. They tell you what she will be working on in each grade. I'd recommend reading to her lots and lots, working on puzzles and such to work on problem solving skills, and fine motor activities like arts, crafts, stringing beads, etc. My ds is starting K in the fall and we have been working on phonics, etc using Hooked on Phonics, etc. He thinks he is playing a game, not learning.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

DS is 5 in the 1st gr (differents system than in the US). He had 2 years of nursery school (5 days/3 hours). When he started gr 1 he could read at a 2+ level with comprehension and spelling, add and subtract, and write (but sloppy and uneven). He knew all his personal information. We now struggle with him every day that he has writing homework or has to take notes in class...finds it difficult and will do anything to get out of it. However, in reading, phonics, language arts, & spelling he is bored and finishes his work quickly. I would have concentrated more on handwriting and finding ways to make it fun.
Does anyone else think that too much pressure (by school systems/govn't/society) is being put on kids to constantly work/be ahead rather than learn through play???

 

[Leajess99]

My dd is in a very academic preschool so she's been writing her name since right after she turned 4 last year. I'm also afraid she'll be bored in K next year. She does simple math fairly easily, she's starting to read and knows several sight words, she writes in upper and lower case very well, knows her address and phone number, and we are actually working with her right now on time and money. I only do this because she WANTS to learn. She'd much rather do learning computer programs or workbooks than anything else. She does preschool 3x per week and will probably do all day K next year.!

I would recommend anyone thinking their child is bored in Kindergarten to talk to their teacher. Our school district offers advanced math for the kids that are ready to be there. My dd is in Kindergarten now and just turned 6 last Monday. She was immediately placed in 1st Grade Math. Now she is behind where my son and older daughter were for reading at this age but she was also severely speech delayed and started preschool through the school district at 3. She has improved her speech so much that she no longer qualifies for therapy and she is even improving on her reading. I was really worried about her reading but have trust in the teachers at her school.

Also, you may want to check with the schools on writing because there are schools that do D'nelean rather than block letters. I had this problem with my now 10 year old as she went to preschool at a different school in our district and they taught block whereas this school had been teaching D'nealan to the kids.

 

[famofsix]

DS is 5 in the 1st gr (differents system than in the US). He had 2 years of nursery school (5 days/3 hours). When he started gr 1 he could read at a 2+ level with comprehension and spelling, add and subtract, and write (but sloppy and uneven). He knew all his personal information. We now struggle with him every day that he has writing homework or has to take notes in class...finds it difficult and will do anything to get out of it. However, in reading, phonics, language arts, & spelling he is bored and finishes his work quickly. I would have concentrated more on handwriting and finding ways to make it fun.

Does anyone else think that too much pressure (by school systems/govn't/society) is being put on kids to constantly work/be ahead rather than learn through play???

given the fact that most kids even out in 3-4th grade I think there is way too much pressure in the early grades.

sadly the early childhood teachers spend more lecture time than hands-on learning time in the schools. I think this makes cooperative learning and critical thinking difficult for some higher elementary schoolchildren because of the lack of hands-on experiences.

It is a hard balance of knowing what to do for your own child especially if they are more creative than academic.

 

[Schmeck]

Parents, don't forget that most of the 'hardwiring' of the brain occurs in the first 3 years. Waiting until kindergarten to start teaching a child the basics of written language makes it much harder for that child to learn.

 

[pyrxtc]

Lots of great things already mentioned. My son is currently in K. I would work on 2 things:

1. Independence - make sure they can button/unbutton pants. Put on a jacket by themselves and zip it up. Put on/off shoes. Open their lunch box and backpack. Open their thermos, juicebox, tupperware containers, ziploc bags. They will be expected to come into school and manage themselves in the bathroom, at the lunch room, on the playground, before/after school.

2. Writing/fine motor skills - have them write with pencils, pens, crayons, chalk, use the scissors for cutting, string small beads. If you want to work academics, then write letters, shapes, numbers.

These both sound good to me. My DS is in K now and he did not know any of those other things before school. Well, okay, he knew a few but that is just from him asking. He liked flashcards and loves numbers. I just made sure he could write his name and I knew that he would learn the rest in K. He has never been a day to pre-school or daycare. State does not even require K to start 1st grade. But some kids learn faster. DS is at the top of his class and is 1 of 3 kids who never attended pre-K. Some are just ready to learn more.