Kindergarten

[aprilgail2]

I can't believe that some of your schools have a time where the kids nap- actually lay down and sleep!! Our kindergarten is scheduled just like first -fifth. They have lunch, recess, a "special" each day- library, gym 3 times a week, art and music. There is no play time in the classroom- no nap time...when they are in the classroom it is just that, class time for learning.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

As a music teacher...

just wanted to say that "real learning" does occur in the classroom. Not only do we teach music, but reinforce reading, math, social skills, listening (LOTS of that), etc. We even do science experiments! Research has shown that students learn the best through kinesthetic experiences, and when students are up and moving, they learn a lot. Actually, today I was having a discussion with a kindergarten teacher about the correlation between students who can keep a steady beat and behavior/ reading skills. It is amazing how they are related. Music builds listening, focus, and comprehension, which in turn helps students in their regular classroom.

Just my two cents.

 

[torinsmom]

Don't worry; I bet your little one will do fine on the assessments. The ones they are probably looking for for extended day are kids that don't know colors, shapes and possibly numbers 1-9. There is such a wide range of normal in that age group, that most kids do fine.

Marsha

 

[koima]

DS started half-day pre-K last week and will be in full day Kindergarten next year. He's going to be in a dual immersion language program to learn Spanish at elementary school, and this year is in a Spanish language pre-K to give him a head start in the language department for Kindergarten. Our school district is amazing, top 5% in the state, and the dual immersion kids test higher than the rest of the school and are fully bilingual, written and verbal, by 5th grade, so it seems like a great opportunity for DS. Full day kindergarten is the only option for the dual immersion program, so that's what he'll be getting.

He has not been around a lot of Spanish before, so it's really full immersion for him right now. He seems to be loving it! He came home the other night and could count to 10 in Spanish, and sang me a song as well. I asked if he could understand everything and he says, "oh, yeah, of course Mommy!" When I arrived at the end of the day, the teacher was asking everyone to put away their things and line up (of course all in Spanish) and he followed right along, and said, "Adios! Buenos dias!" as we left.

In just under two weeks, and a year younger, he's gotten a lot out of it, so I can imagine that a well run kindergarten would do fine with half days.

 

[Nicolepa]

our school offers half day kindy and fully day kindy for a fee. the curriculum is the same, whether its half day or full day. they cannot do more in full day than in half day. mine do half day. what they miss out on is recess, lunch, and some play time. not a lot of free time in half day kindergarten!

This is the standard tag line that is given, but it is so not true. I was given this line when my oldest went to kinder. Based on this I put her in 1/2 day and homeschooled her the other 1/2. (I wanted the socalization.) The full day classes were doing so much more than her class. I was informed in November that she had passed K for the year and that they would be doing no pulling her out or supplementing (and they didn't). While the full day classes were broken out into reading groups and got to read chapter books and such. She was given the task of teaching the other kids in the class how to read, write & spell oh and would "get" to read the end of day story to the class.

My next child went full day and they definitly learned A LOT more than the 1/2. My sons best friend (and next door neighbor) was in the 1/2 day class so I have heard first hand.

 

[Dad_Z]

I'm a little surprised to see how many K students are reading - and chapter books. DS6 just started 1st grade and can read only very simple of books. I was under the impression that reading is really "taught" in 1st grade. He had full day K last year. I know that my nephew also couldn't read after just K (he is now in 2nd grade). I wonder if age makes a significant difference. In CT the cutoff is year-end. So you can start K 4 years and 8 months and enroll in K. DS had a late Aug. birthday and had just turned 5 when he began K, but he was far from the youngest.

In my town some schools have full day K, and some half-day. It is being rolled out to more elementary schools as the budget permits.

DW is a school psychologist of a K-2 school and she just told me that most of their kids cannot read after just K. Her's is a 1/2 day K.

I have to say that I prefer full-day K. I think they are able to go at a more measured pace and receive solid reinforcement in education AND social development. DS really liked (and generally still does) school - especially the Specials and recess (of course!). I like that he was not being pushed to 'test well'. The only annoying thing is that the first 4 weeks or so were partial days. That made arranging care and transportation a challenge. I don't know about other kids, but DS would have been fine with a few days of partial "transition" days, versus weeks.

 

[C.Ann]

I think a lot depends on the children involved.. My kids did half-day kindergarten and there seemed to be more than enough time for them to learn what they needed to enter first grade and more..

My DGD had half-day kindergarten as well, but being an only child (and only grandchild on one side of the family) she was as smart as a whip and could have gone right into first grade.. However, her parents chose not to go that route.. They wanted her to have the social interaction with the other children rather than start off by skipping a grade..

I have a friend who has twins that have just started full day kindergarten.. In their case, it's really needed - both academically and socially..

I'm sure that your child will learn whatever is necessary with the half-day kindergarten.. Right now they just getting the kids used to being in school, away from home, and feeling comfortable.. In a month or so you will probably be quite surprised to see all of the things your child is learning and doing..

 

[torinsmom]

I'm a little surprised to see how many K students are reading - and chapter books. DS6 just started 1st grade and can read only very simple of books. I was under the impression that reading is really "taught" in 1st grade. He had full day K last year. I know that my nephew also couldn't read after just K (he is now in 2nd grade). I wonder if age makes a significant difference. In CT the cutoff is year-end. So you can start K 4 years and 8 months and enroll in K. DS had a late Aug. birthday and had just turned 5 when he began K, but he was far from the youngest.

In my town some schools have full day K, and some half-day. It is being rolled out to more elementary schools as the budget permits.

DW is a school psychologist of a K-2 school and she just told me that most of their kids cannot read after just K. Her's is a 1/2 day K.

I have to say that I prefer full-day K. I think they are able to go at a more measured pace and receive solid reinforcement in education AND social development. DS really liked (and generally still does) school - especially the Specials and recess (of course!). I like that he was not being pushed to 'test well'. The only annoying thing is that the first 4 weeks or so were partial days. That made arranging care and transportation a challenge. I don't know about other kids, but DS would have been fine with a few days of partial "transition" days, versus weeks.

Wow! Our kids would be retained if they could not read, unless there was an IEP or they were ESL. We are expected to get kids reading to a level 6. This level has sight words, as well as phonetic words. No matter how much the child comes in knowing, they need to get here or retention will be considered. Most of my students do manage to make it, and we have some that are reading that level in Pre-K(multiage classroom) and reading chapter books by the middle of kindergarten.

In my experience, kids learn letter sounds much easier at 4, than at 5-6. For my 4 year olds, it's a game, but for my K's, it is "work". It also takes them longer to learn the sounds. I have no idea why these preschools are teaching the kids letter names without the letter sounds. Those letter names DO NOT help them read; they help them spell. They need to learn to read before the spell. Same thing with numbers; kids are taught how to count to 100, but can't recognize 1-10

Marsha

 

[Buckalew11]

My DD did half day K (8-12) and would come home a sleep every afternoon from about 1:30-4 or so! It exhausted her. Plus she went to bed by 8 each night.

I would not have sent her to full day K unless I had no other choice.

By Thanksgiving, they have 3 and 4 letter word spelling B's in K. Great thing is, all the kids were getting the words--not just some kids. By the end of K, they were all reading. I'm sure some read better than others but 1/2 K was definitely a place of learning!

 

[Pooh Crew]

All four of mine did half day kinder and I never had the first complaint about what they learned compared to friends/family's kids in full day and even when compared to our neighbor's private school k. They all read early and are still excellent students. I loved having them home most of the day.

Personally, I loved our half day kindergarten, but I did see times where a full day situation might be beneficial to certain children. As C. Ann wrote, much of it depends on the kids involved. If a child struggles in the least, a full day k would probably be best to allow extra time to go over things. We definitely had children who were "left behind" because there was no extra time to keep reviewing the material. Every single minute was crammed with learning!

Good luck on the assessment.

 

[mtemm]

reading is definitely a kindy thing around here. my twins just started with the same teacher my now 2nd grader had for 2 years (looping class). all the kids in his half day kindergarten class were reading by the end of the year, and many were reading very well. my son is a smarty pants and went in knowing how to read very well, easily read (and retained) chapter books at that age. my twins know their letters/letter sounds/a few words here or there, but they aren't reading yet. I have zero doubt they will be shortly!

honestly I'm happy with half day kindergarten. all 3 of my kids were tired and ready for home/a break after their morning in school. no regrets here about not choosing full day at all. actually, I'm glad I have the choice.

 

[JVL1018]

My kids' school has 1/2 day K, and because of that many parents send their children to private full day K(mostly because of the hassle involved with arranging to get a child from school to daycare).

I am in that school a lot, volunteer a lot and the kids who know the most, or who are at the top of the class are from both the 1/2 day K and the full day K.

Just as an observer, I know in my son's class, the highest reading group last year in his 1st grade class was made up of kids who went to 1/2 day K with him.
The 2 kids in his class who were chosen for an accelerated learning program were from 1/2 day K.
In our school, the children are expected to read coming out of Kindergarten and unless there are other issues, they are reading.

My daughter started K already reading early chapter books like Junie B Jones. My son started K not reading anything, and left K reading very basic easy words and the sight words he learned throughout the year. 1st grade is where he really started to pick up steam, but he definitely learned to read in K.