Kindergarten - what to expect?

[Hillbeans]

Ok, this may sound like a dumb question, but I was wondering what is expected out of a child going into Kindergarten these days? I'll ask the teacher when we go to Back to school night, but I was just curious what other children learned that first year.

My son knows numbers to 100, Months of the year, Days of the week, colors, shapes, letters, etc,. I read him 2 books a day, but he's not reading on his own yet. Is he expected to know how to read once this year is over? He knows how to read words but not sentences.

I guess i'm wondering what I should expect he should know once the year is over? He is 5.5, and he has a great memory, but he's always been a little behind in things and I just want to make sure we keep up!

Thanks! (Can you tell i'm nervous about tomorrow????)

 

[kejoda]

Sounds like he is in a good place to me. My son just started 1st grade and is reading but he loves to read. I know there are others that are just begining. He should be able to read sight words at the end of the school year, but also not a huge deal if the doesn't.

It helped my older 2 to label things around the house. I have friends that just worked on a couple wsords at a time.

 

[Bob Slydell]

From what I've seen so far (yeah, I know, I'm all of a sudden a pro now that my DS has been in Kindergarden 2 weeks ) he'll be fine. My son's class has been working on a letter a week, plus some basic math, science and a few other concepts. So far, not much of it has been stuff he doesn't already know. A lot of it so far has been about understanding a classroom dynamic, versus preschool/pre-K which was more about circle time and various play areas instead of desks and classrooms.

On open house day, our son's teacher made a point to talk about reading. She said they are going to work on it a lot during the year, but by the end of the year, some will be reading and others won't. But whether or not each child is reading or not is not an indication of their intelligence or how they'll do in future years, but rather that each child develops at a different pace for the first few years and all children essentially catch up to each other after a couple years.

 

[tw1nsmom]

Please don't be nervous, you'll both be just fine. Every school has different expectation as to what a child should know by the end of kindergarten. Honestly, your son already knows what was required of kindergarteners by the end of the year in our school district. The only additional academics would be beginning math/counting/grouping, printing, beginning writing skills, some science units, and some sight words. Other schools, however have different expectations, so you'll really need to talk to other parents in your district or wait until that back to school night.

 

[Beth76]

He sounds about the same level as my son who also just started K. He's doing fine so far. Everything they've done has been review for him. My school has a list of about 20 words that all K kids need to know by the end of the school year. They need to know how to read them and how to spell them correctly. They work on this slowly throughout the year. They're small words too like a, I, in, is, me, you etc.

They also have a list of skills that they should know by the end of the year. Things like spelling your first and last name, know colors, shapes, days, months, tie shoes etc. I'm not sure that this is actually required. My son already knows most of it. The big thing we'll have to work on is tying shoes.

My son started in mid-August and I was really nervous for the first few days. But by the second week he was doing great and my fears are all gone. Your son sounds like he's ready and will do great!

 

[clori]

My dd was reading before starting kindergarten but what I saw was a wide range of reading skills ending kindergarten. There was one boy who didn't read at all and ended the year reading chapter books. Most kids learned some sight words and sounding out basic 3 letter words and with that can read simple beginner readers. My dd did basic addition/subtraction learned some money such as coin ID, telling time to the hour/half an hour. They also do units on fire safety, dental health etc and had specials such as gym, music, computers, Spanish. DD wrote her numbers 1 - 150, counted to 100 by 1, 2, 5, 10. Letter identification & writing was worked on for both big/small letters and letter sounds etc working up to writing short sentences. I think colors and shapes were reviewed early on just in case some kids didn't know them but it wasn't overly taught. My dd's school did not try to push reading but rather introduce basic reading skills and if the child was ready they advanced further but it was not expected to finish kindergarten as a fluent reader. I think your son already knows a lot which will help since social etc is just as important in kindergarten. Some school systems do place a high emphasis on reading in kindergarten but I don't know how that works. What surprised me the most was library. I remember going to the school library and just picking out a book. Now the librarian spends time talking to the class about various things depending on grade level. I know dd learned aobut fiction, non fiction, fairy tales etc and very little time was actually spent picking out a book. My dd can't tie shoes yet but it has never come up in school but she wears shoes without laces. Her fine motor isn't great and when I started to work with her last year she ended up breaking her arm so that was pushed to the backburner. Some schools works on name, address, phone number etc. DD knows all that but I don't think it was ever done in class.

 

[Hillbeans]

Thanks Bob, Beth, Clori, Twinsmom and Kejoda.

At his open house, he just met the teacher and saw the classroom but there wasn't much talk about the expectations because of all the siblings and parents around.

He does know capital and lower case letters, how to write his full name, etc., however he does not know shoelace tying, and he colors outside the lines and needs some work with using scissors.

Glad to hear we're on the right track - Thanks again!

 

[golfgal]

When our kids started kindergarten they wanted them to be able to count to 10, recognize their name, recite the alphabet, know the basic colors, red, blue, yellow, green, black, white, know basic shapes, circle, square, triangle, rectangle, be able to follow a 2 step direction, put your paper in your mailbox and go sit by the blackboard, basically.

At the end of kindergarten they were expected to be able to count and recognize numbers to 100, recognize all upper and lower case letters and know all the letter sounds, write their name legibly, know their parents first/last name, know their address and phone number and a bunch of other stuff that unless the kids had a learning disability of some type they all learned.

I know there are areas that require a lot more from the kindergartners but studies show that pushing kids in K doesn't mean they will be better students later on. Minnesota has the highest graduation rates, the highest ACT scores, the highest percentage of adults with a high school diploma and over all the best schools in the nation and they don't expect their kindergartners to be reading before school, etc. The districts are smart enough to KNOW that most kids are physically ready to do that before K.

 

[kejoda]

I found spring loaded scissors at the dollar store. There really good with beginners.

 

[golfgal]

I found spring loaded scissors at the dollar store. There really good with beginners.

Sure they aren't classified as a weapon???? They sound dangerous!

 

[CEDmom]

Your DS is right on track for going into kindergarten. There may be kids ahead of him but most definitely also ones behind him. He'll continue to work on letters and their short/long sounds. He'll learn to read by putting simple words together like "cat sat on mat". He'll be exposed to simple math - mostly addition but some subtraction as well. They'll work on problem solving skills - what would you do kind of things. Science will be thrown is by talking about weather, seasons, leaves changing, how snow forms that kind of thing. By the end of the year he will likely to able to read level 1 easy reader books.

Good luck. Just remember, above everything at his age learning s/b fun. Help him not stress if he's not doing everything his friends are.