Should children know their address and phone number?

[billysarmywife]

It is pretty much required by all districts to enter or leave kindergarten they have to know these things. It worries me because we move A LOT due to my husband being in the Army. My DD is 4 and I taught the address for where we live now.....but we are moving next month....and she will need to learn this stuff before she starts school.

 

[snowy76]

But to be honest, part of me doesn't want my kids to know our phone number because I hate the thought of them giving it out to friends and having upteen million phone calls a day from them!

I have a 13 year old, so I can sympathize! We didn't really have this issue until this year (DD is 11, they tend to start the phone thing a little earlier than the boys). I wouldn't sweat it for a few years -- but by then they'll probably want their OWN phones. And you thought you had problems now...

 

[disneymom3]

Holy smokes! We have a lot of work to do before next Fall. My almost 7 year old doesn't know how to tie his shoes. He has a very self-defeatest attitude so teaching him has been difficult.

Thanks for the info.

Scholastic has a really good book with a side part that has a shoe with laces cut out for this. It has a couple of different ways to do it. DS was really having trouble with this and wanted tie shoes so that is what we worked on to learn it.

As for the address, phone number issue, I am surprised at the zipcode part but I would say kids should for sure know the city they live in. DS was also struggling with the phone number thing. We worked on it from the time he was 4. Memorizing is not his strength. At any rate, I finally got through to him when I made it a puzzle. I gave him a sheet of paper that had our number on it, then I cut it up into random shapes and he had to put it back together so the number was in the right order again. Since that day on, he has known his phone number. Of course, it's a good thing we homeschool because it sounds like he would have failed Kindergarten!

 

[bookgirl]

When teaching your children your cell numbers make sure they know about 1-(area code)-xxx-xxxx. When out of state or calling area.


My nephews are learning this as they do travel and knowing their area code can help to call those cells on a trip.

 

[jnordan]

Yep -- I've taught my 4 year old, too. Just as a matter of safety. My husband travels a lot, and I've even thought of the "what if something were to happen to me"? I mean, that's why accidents are called accidents -- we don't plan for them to happen! I've been trying to teach her about 911, too.

She usually knows her address if you ask her specific questions "what street do you live on?" "what town", etc. And she knows her phone number because we made up a little jingle -- it took her about two minutes to memorize it once we put it to music! In fact, my two year old has started singing it, but doesn't know the significance yet, of course!

 

[rt2dz]

It's not that I'm against them learning it. Like I mentioned in my original post, we move a lot. So we've had many different phone numbers and addresses. I guess I just see it as asking a lot of a young child to remember and be responsible for. I don't see how knowing their address and phone number would help if we were at a mall or at a fair and they got lost? I could see if I also taught them our cell phone numbers, but my goodness! That's a lot of info for kids. Also, we lived in Australia for 3 years (just moved back in June) and my oldest went to preschool and part of kindergarten there and learning his phone number and address was never discussed.

"our district will recommend you hold off a year if it is a young 5 and they don't know that information."

That seems extremely ridiculous to me. My son will turn 5 in June and has been reading since he was 3. He reads at a 2nd grade level at this point. But because he doesn't know his phone number and address they'd suggest he not start school?

I didn't mean to offend anyone by saying that my children are never unsupervised. I only mentioned that because it was the only reason I could think of that would make learning the info important.

Anyway, I just wanted to know if it was something I needed to work on before they start school and you all have unanimously answered that for me! Thank you

As a pp said, when we register, we are given a packet with a list of things they "MUST" know and things the "SHOULD" know. A few days before school starts, all future kindergarteners are given an assessment. They aren't allowed to start if they don't know all the "MUSTs", but aren't stopped if they don't know all the "SHOULDs". A parent does have to go in for a conference if all the "SHOULDs" aren't met to discuss the future kindergarteners actual readiness (as you know when you register).

Address (including city, state, & zip) & phone number are a "SHOULD". Things like name (know what it is, how to spell it) are "MUSTs". You "SHOULD" know the five basic shapes (circle, square, oval, rectangle, triangle), but you "MUST" know at least 3.

Kindergarten isn't what it was 30 years ago when I went; it is now what first grade was. They do expect kindergarteners to be reading at the end of the school year. I'm glad my kindergartener was reading at 3 also, because it is a huge help when he started school. If he hadn't been where he was at, he might not be doing so well now.

BTW--Police can use your name, phone number, and/or address to look-up other information on you (cell phone numbers) if your child knows that info. And definetly teach your kids area codes; around here we have 10 digit dialing so it really wasn't an option--my next door neighbors have a different area code than us!

 

[Forevryoung]

While we are on this topic- please please please make sure your children know you and your spouses first and last (if different from theirs) name

I worked at a HUGE beach last summer and you don't know how many lost kids I met who told me that their mom's first name was "mommy" and that dad's first name is "daddy". I can understand that's what they call you all the time but if asked "what do mommy's friends call her?" the response should be the real first name.

 

[MommaPooh]

At age 3 (way back in 1976) I knew my phone #, address, parent's names, work #s and employers. It was a good thing I did. My mom and I were in an accident on a two-lane country road. She was thrown out of the car and unresponsive. I walked to the road, and when a motorist stopped I was able to tell them every bit of info they needed to identify us and get in contact with my dad at work and the doctor my mom worked for.
Because of this I made it a point to teach my kids all important information as soon as they could talk. Accidents and emergencies happen, and I felt a lot better knowing they knew how to identify themselves and their family if need be.

 

[jennifer293]

When my dd was in Kindergarten last year they had to:

Know all ABC's
count to 100 (no mistakes)
know first, middle, last name
know how to write first, middle, last name (you'd be surprised how many kids do not know their middle name)
know address & be able to write it (including city, state and zip)
know phone number & be able to write it
know month, day and year they were born
know how to sort objects
know common shapes and colors
cut a straight line
put a 25 piece puzzle together in 10 minutes
know sight words ( I forget how many)

in DD's class every child in the class could read before going to 1st grade.

My DD is in 1st grade and is now on a 3rd-4th grade reading level.

 

[Ilovemyprincesses]

My DD is 3 and in preschool but how do I find out what she needs to know for Kindergarten?

 

[carissanboys]

My DD is 3 and in preschool but how do I find out what she needs to know for Kindergarten?

It sounds like they give you a packet of info when you register your child for kindergarten (we register in April). Besides that, I'm not really sure. I've tried checking our county's website and couldn't find anything.

I also think a lot of the things being listed (such as the post above yours) are things that they will learning during the year, not what they have to know at the beginning.

 

[allison443]

My kids all knew address and phone number in preschool, but I don't remember actually teaching them...it was more a matter of their curiousity, when they would see the mailman or go to the post office, they would wonder how the mailman knows what letters go to which house, etc. which would turn into learning our address. It was fun to make pictures for grandma and mail them to her. I would also send for age-appropriate free samples, etc. in the kids names because they loved to get mail!

 

[rt2dz]

Every district is different. I can't find the must knows & should knows list for starting K right now. I've listed a couple I remember off hand in a previous post. One must was to cut in a straight line, a should was to cut along a curved line. They must be able to recognize numbers 1-10 and count to ten, and should for up to 20. Must recognize all capital letters. Should recognize lower case letters & at least 1/2 of the sounds made (and no -uhs at the end). They do work on all these things the first quarter in our K to get all the kids on the same page (not so much the musts, but the shoulds) so it does seem so pointless.

At the end of K, every child needs to master all the previous musts & shoulds, PLUS:
*Book awareness (front & back covers, how to hold a book, title page, author & illustrator [where listed & what they do], etc)
*Demonstrates comprehension of a story read aloud (and they mean detailed)
*Produces rhyming words
*Indentifies beginning sounds in words (sound & letter that makes that sound)
*Identifies ending sounds in words (sound & letter)
*Orally belnds letter sounds
*Recognizes sight words (50)
*Reads books on level (this is where the sounding out comes in)
*Prints first & last name using capital and lowercase letters
* Writes using knowledge of sounds (they are told a word and using the sound of the word must spell the word correctly)
*Writes across the page left to right, top to bottom
*Know all the basic shapes
*sort objects by attributes
*Describes, extends, & creates patterns
*Compares & orders objects (by length, capacity, & weight)
*Constructs & uses graphs
*Identfies numbers 0-100
*Writes numbers 0-100
Creates sets of objects to 20
shows joining & separating of sets
*Counts to 100 by rote (forward & backwards), fives, & tens
*Satisfactorly respect authority, school property, & others
*Keep hands, feet & objects to self
*Follow directions
*Listen attentively
*Complete tasks
*Stay on task

And in addition to all this stuff they learn about other things. Right now my DS is learning about the body (they're doing experiements on tooth care with eggs) and they are studing Martin Luther King Jr. They also have to pass knowledge of these types of things for their Science/Health and Social Studies grades. Everything must be passed to go to first grade, because there the expectations triple.

 

[jodifla]

Every district is different. I can't find the must knows & should knows list for starting K right now. I've listed a couple I remember off hand in a previous post. One must was to cut in a straight line, a should was to cut along a curved line. They must be able to recognize numbers 1-10 and count to ten, and should for up to 20. Must recognize all capital letters. Should recognize lower case letters & at least 1/2 of the sounds made (and no -uhs at the end). They do work on all these things the first quarter in our K to get all the kids on the same page (not so much the musts, but the shoulds) so it does seem so pointless.

At the end of K, every child needs to master all the previous musts & shoulds, PLUS:
*Book awareness (front & back covers, how to hold a book, title page, author & illustrator [where listed & what they do], etc)
*Demonstrates comprehension of a story read aloud (and they mean detailed)
*Produces rhyming words
*Indentifies beginning sounds in words (sound & letter that makes that sound)
*Identifies ending sounds in words (sound & letter)
*Orally belnds letter sounds
*Recognizes sight words (50)
*Reads books on level (this is where the sounding out comes in)
*Prints first & last name using capital and lowercase letters
* Writes using knowledge of sounds (they are told a word and using the sound of the word must spell the word correctly)
*Writes across the page left to right, top to bottom
*Know all the basic shapes
*sort objects by attributes
*Describes, extends, & creates patterns
*Compares & orders objects (by length, capacity, & weight)
*Constructs & uses graphs
*Identfies numbers 0-100
*Writes numbers 0-100
Creates sets of objects to 20
shows joining & separating of sets
*Counts to 100 by rote (forward & backwards), fives, & tens
*Satisfactorly respect authority, school property, & others
*Keep hands, feet & objects to self
*Follow directions
*Listen attentively
*Complete tasks
*Stay on task

And in addition to all this stuff they learn about other things. Right now my DS is learning about the body (they're doing experiements on tooth care with eggs) and they are studing Martin Luther King Jr. They also have to pass knowledge of these types of things for their Science/Health and Social Studies grades. Everything must be passed to go to first grade, because there the expectations triple.

I'll eat my hat if every kid can actually do this after kindergarten. There are all kind of levels of abilities out there.

What do they do if they can't? Shoot them? Leave them in kindergarten indefinitely?

Please.

 

[rt2dz]

I'll eat my hat if every kid can actually do this after kindergarten. There are all kind of levels of abilities out there.

What do they do if they can't? Shoot them? Leave them in kindergarten indefinitely?

Please.

If they can't do that stuff (to varying levels of ability--my DS can count to 1000 by rote, twos, fives, tens, twenties, hundreds while my neighbors can barely make it 100, but does), they'll never be able to do the first grade work. Most of this stuff is at least touched on in pre-k. BUT, that is why so many people leave kids with birthdays from May-cutoff behind another year. K isn't what it used to be.

 

[PaulaSue]

I would OP, you never know if a child will get lost. I also taught my cell number since I am on the go so much.

 

[flying_babyb]

I also work in preschool and we start working on phone numbers in 3-4 year old room.

I too came from a family that moved alot. We wern't a military family, but we moved just about every year (sometimes more), stayed in our one aparment for two years ( a pesonal record). I moved about 9 times by the time I was 10. I had to memorize a new address and number everytime. I also teach in a preschool, 3s twice a week, 4-5 three times a week, and our kids are working on addresses and phone numbers. I agree it is important to know. Its absoultally adorable

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

MY dd is in public school Pre-K. And they are learning their telephone numbers and addresses. As well as spelling/writting first and last name along with every letter of the alphabet. Numbers 1-100. Shapes and Colors, Patterns, Geography, Counting by 10's, cutting and pasting. They have Library class, Gym Class, Center time to learn to get along with other children. She is even Reading small words! (cat,dog, mom, dad, the, a, and, those types of 2 and three letter words.) And the ones she dosen't know, she has learned to sound out! And they are now starting to count MONEY! Also, they are birthdays. She has learned So much in preschool, that we are starting to wonder if Kindergarden will be boring to her. Esp. B/c it was part of the Public School System. They even had "class photo's " this year!!
In NY anyway, Preschool is NOT mandatory,and everyone in our city who entered the drawing was chosen to be a part of this limited seating public school preschool. So, needless to say, Kindergarden will have to accomodate those children that didn't have preschool. I wouldn't worry to much about it. Just teach your son on your own. It shouldn't take long for him to pick it up.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

It sounds like all schools require it so I guess it's a non-issue at this point.

But to be honest, part of me doesn't want my kids to know our phone number because I hate the thought of them giving it out to friends and having upteen million phone calls a day from them!

We were at a McDonald's play area one day and there was this one boy that was playing with mine. He was a very friendly kid (my oldest has always been very outgoing and friendly, but this kid was even more so) and he was giving out his phone number to everyone (his father or grandfather was there with him). I wasn't comfortable with that at all. My oldest kept asking for me to write our number down to give to this boy. I had to say, "We have his number so we can call him." I realize as my kids get older, they will start calling one another on the phone. It hasn't happened yet though.

Isn't that a bit "out there"? Not to offend you or anything. But as soon as my dd could talk, we started reciting our cell phone number with her,along with our (dh and I) names. So if she were ever to get lost she would at least know that important info.
If you don't want your children giving the number to friends (which isn't too unreasonable in Kindergarden (I guess... )
Just teach your child the number and tell he/she that its a number only to be used in emergencies.

 

[flying_babyb]

They even had "class photo's " this year!!
.

Wow, our private preschool (daycare centers preschool) covers alot of this. we dont do geography (unless your kids in the daycare too, then they learn it from me and Cowie d. cow). We dont do money or gym, or libary (unless, again your in full day care, then the kids get libary day every wensday at our public libary). Alot of the stuff mentioned is common now. We aslo do class pictures, but when we do them, we do daycare wide photos (hire a local photography studio to do this) so all kids from baby on up can get professional looking photos done. Then we do a whole daycare group photo along with photos of each seprate classroom.