School Evaluation Has Me Second Guessing

Put her in K. My cousins attended K. The one was WAY behind and they helped her catch up. Keeping her at home is not the way to go.

This is not an answer to your question but I thought you may find it helpful. Check out the book "How to Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". The $15 book teaches phonics. I used it with my daughter when she was 4 yo. It takes only about 15 minutes a day and in about 60 days she was reading. It is truly amazing and she is a great reader today. She is in second grade now.

www.starfall.com for the reading ((show her how and then *walk away*, use it as "self time"... the program works soooooo well because the voice is just as excited the 12 millionth time T Tiger Grrrrrrr Whoa! Look at his teeth! Whoa!... meanwhile as an adult it is *physically impossible* not to be communicating that you do *not* want to hear T Tiger one more time, even if you *can* avoid saying "Lets look at the taxi cab?" or "How about a different letter, gorgeous?"))

For the maturity... that's problematic. We went into a normal K when we shouldn't have, and it was such a disaster (kiddo learned to loathe school because he was sooooooo bored) that we ended up scrapping away-school altogether and started homeschooling (we couldn't afford the 15k per year for the gifted school).

If you decide to wait a year... I've got tons of fun stuff I can email you links to (free montessori curriculum, edu websites, killer links, etc.) I would just caution you to take a real hard look at regular K and see if it's a good fit for your child academically, having made the wrong decision myself.

I'd put her in regular Kindergarten this coming year. If she has a struggle she could be in K for 2 years but at least she gets the extra year of school experience. My son just turned 5 last week and is in a private preschool. He started last year and it was a long adjustment period with his behavior. This year the behavior is pretty good and he has been able to focus on learning letters. I was put in Kindergarten with no preschool and it was a hard adjustment for me too.

Kindergarten is meant to strengthen phonics and improve social skills, absolutely send her. She's not too young, she'll be 5 and not the youngest -- there's probably another 2-3 months before the age cutoff. And you're right, academy standards are different than K. Send her to kindergarten and relax a little, I'm sure she's right on track.

She may not be "mature" enough b/c it sounds like she has not been in a structured social setting before. She won't be able to mature in this respect until she is in one. My son will also be 5 in June, he will start kindergarten in the fall...but he has been in preschool for almost 2 years now. I think you should send your daughter. I don't really understand why parents of kids, mainly boys, w/ July birthdays hold them back a year. If you wait another year, she may fall "behind" in these areas more...like a never ending circle. I would get her in there & see how she does. Maybe sign her up for some park district summer camps (couple hours / day type thing) so she gets used to being with other kids away from Mommy. You say she is weak in phonics....is this letter sounds / recognition, or a speech issue. Maybe she needs speech therapy for articulation/enunciation issues (my son is...he is extremely smart, great talker, etc. , just needs extra help saying certain sounds). Make sure the counselor clarifies what she means by weak in phonics.

Are we seriously talking about reading in Preschool?! What happened to letting our kids play and learn at their own pace?
Don't push her, if she wants to go to kindergarten then let her, if she doesn't then don't send her yet.

I, personally, would let her begin regular kindergarten. You will know if she's ready or not. Many schools, at least in our area, have K-1st combo classes for kids who need a little extra time if they struggle in kindergarten. All the kids I know who did kinder and then the K-1 went on to a regular second grade class with no problems. I have friends that were furious that their child was recommended for the K-1 class as opposed to "regular" 1st grade. He was super smart, but that had nothing to do with. When it was time to sit, he didn't do it. When it was time to put things away, he wouldn't do it. He was a very polite child. I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but he was an only child, never went to daycare or preschool. He needed that extra time to get in the swing of things. His parents were worried he would be upset about not moving into the same class with his friends, but he flourished the next year.In my opinion, it was much better for him than yanking him out and waiting a year.
There's nothing wrong with kids this age not being "mature" because they're not. But I think there are still things for them to gain. If you really want her in an academy school, let her try kindergarten and have her evaluated again next year. If she's excited about school, let her go.
My daughter started kindergarten at 4 and there were no regrets about that decision whatsoever. She was ready.

I hope you get some great responses.

Best wishes!

She'll be ready for all kinds of things by August-good luck! Pick up a copy of "The Hurried Child" by Dr. David Elkind.

Wait. It certainly won't hurt anything and studies are starting to show that pushing them sooner isn't necessarily better. It may give them a head start at first but it all evens out by the time they're about ten to twelve anyway. I think our society is pushing academics way too soon on most kids. They just aren't ready to learn in such a structured environment (there are exceptions of course).

Have you heard of starfall.com? It's a free online site for letter recognition and beginning reading. It's a wonderful site and my kids have been going there several times a week for the last several years. It's helped my boys a lot and my oldest daughter actually taught her self to read off of the site (she's in K right now and will be 6 in 2 weeks). There are accompanying books & toys that you can buy but it's not required nor needed to use the site. They have a K curriculum too, but it's expensive. (It's really cool though, a homeschool friend I have bought it for her kids.) Also, my school uses the site. I mentioned it to my sons teacher last year, she checked it out and added it to their homework list (K class). Then the school director found out about it, really liked it, talked about it at a meeting, and two other teachers picked it up (1 & 2). My kids go to an awesome expeditionary learning charter school.

If you like, look into your states guidelines so you know what a K student is expected to know when beginning and start working towards that so when she starts she's ready not only emotionally, but developmentally and academically. (It really does help.) There are tons of great K homeschool curriculums that you can look into too, if you want something structured. currclick.com has lots of great K stuff, and most is inexpensive, and sometimes free. It's all digital downloads.

Get your daughter into the kitchen to help with cooking. That takes math and reading skills as well as hand/eye coordination. Start going to the library a lot (if you don't already). Have her help at shopping. That can include helping to read the shopping list, comparing prices and weighing produce.

Enjoy your daughter for a second year, and have fun.

Edit: The book J C. mentions is great. I haven't personally used it, but several homeschool mom's I know successfully used it with their children.

Interesting. My son went to a play based preschool and they did not teach the alphabet or beginning reading at all. Their belief is that at preschool age the kids learn more by playing and it's important to be well socialized. I did no special tutoring at home but we do always like to read books to our son. Anyway, in Kindergarten (and he goes to a very good school) maybe half the class did not know much at all - were not good yet in phonics or good at writing letters etc. Now in 1st grade there are a couple kids who are a little slower at reading but the other 18 are all doing great. Our son tests way above the curve for his age range and did last year too. That's sounds like I'm bragging...what I mean is why do those teachers expect a pre-K aged student to already be good at phonics? It seems to me like most kids going into Kindergarten don't read (or not much) much yet anyway and then the kids are all reading well by 1st grade. That's a hard call. I am not sure if you should wait a year. Does your daughter like you reading with her and sitting and doing letters and numbers? She's not even 5 yet so it's hard to tell. They change and learn SO much in just 6 months. Some kids do take Kindergarten twice...so that is an option too.

You had her tested for the "Academy," but does she have to go there or can she go to public school? What if you send her to a year of public school kindergarten and then re-applied to the Academy for the following school year. This way she will get an oppertunity to be trained in phonics and have an extra year to mature.

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If you have until fall that is plenty of time to practice phonics right? Word games, hooked on phonics, whatever you got to do. Is 5 young? I was 5 in kindergarden, 6 in 1st, 7 in 2nd, 17 senior year (2005-2006) and turned 18 graduation year (right after grad because my bday is in june, graduated in may 2006) and so did all my friends. I don't really get why people say they will be too young because if you enroll her when she's 6 won't she be 18 at the beginning of senior year and 19 at graduation? Anyways, I'm throwing myself through a loop lol... Can you register next week just in case and work with her on the phonics until the fall?

I would go ahead and put her in regular kindergarten and use the next several months as an oppurtunity to take her on regular visits to the library and let her pick out books. Some libraries even have special story time for youngsters. One of my daughters birthdays is also in June, started her in pre-k at 4 and kindergarten at 5. She is now in 7th and has done just fine. One of my other daughters is currently in kindergarten, everything is basically a repeat of what she learned in pre-k but it's a full school day instead of half a day. They are supposed to be immature, they're only 5 ;^)

.... go by your child and your gut.

Gee, having to read and do phonics, at this age. Well, that is how it is nowadays. BUT, that does not mean, that developmentally and age wise, a child is ready for that or developmentally ready.

A teacher friend of mine, said that all grade levels nowadays, are accelerated. Kids having to do more, earlier. Who knows why. A kid has to study even before Preschool and know everything. By Kindergarten, they are doing 1st grade things.

Meanwhile, age and development and maturity, are still, as they are.
It is or is not, congruous, with academic curriculum.

Also, some kids will pick up the pace and adapt and really do well. Learning and absorbing quickly. Kids being sponges.
Some kids, will not adapt to this pacing. And may get stressed behaviorally or not be ready for this level of academics.
Socially, well, that is another separate factor. The emotional maturity of a child, per their age.

There is no one singular answer.

My Daughter entered Kinder at 4, turning 5 a couple of months after. She was mature and ready academically. She did fine. Half her class were kids her age, and the other half being kids that entered Kinder at turning 6 years old. It is up to the parent. And per their child.
My Daughter had 1 year of Preschool prior. She was fine entering Kinder at that age she did.

Preschool, does prepare a child for formal Kinder readiness. Depending on the child though. Some do fine even without Preschool experience and adapt to Kinder well. Again, it depends on the child.
There is no absolute... correctness about it.
Some home school and have that choice. Some do not and do not have that choice and cannot be home with their child.

My son on the other hand is different than my Daughter was at that same age. Only recently, this month, he goes to Preschool twice a week. HE was 'ready.' He LOVES it so much. I went per HIS personality and readiness. I am hoping, in the Fall, he will enter Kindergarten. He will be almost 5 years old then. If not, I will have him start later.

KEEP in mind, that Kindergarten is not 'mandatory' in many States. IF a child enters Kinder at turning 6 years old... a parent has to request that. Otherwise, they put the child into 1st Grade.
So you have to check with the school your child will be attending.

It really depends on the child.
My Daughter and Son for example, are so different in this realm. Although both are real bright and social. But there are other factors.

There are also "Kindergarten Readiness" guidelines, online. So look at those.

all the best,
Susan

you may look at a Pre-K with a church. I work at one in Allen and it is very structured and we have curriculums, we do evaluations to share where the child is in regards for kinder readiness, etc. These programs are cheaper too and usually from 9-2.

Wait a year. She's 4.5. Most 4.5 year olds aren't "reading"!

Definitely send her in the fall. It will be a great experience and she'll pick up on things very quickly. As far as maturity, she's turning five and has every right to just be a child because that is exactly what she is. She will mature with age and experience so don't stress about it. Of course, some teachers suggest holding them back because it's probably easier to teach a room full of six year old kids but your job is to look out for your daughter and not what's easier for the teacher. Good luck-- I'm sure your little one will do great!!!

Hey -
I think Tracy A. gave a great answer. As she mentioned, I am not sure what you mean by weak in phonics either. My son's bday is at the very end of May (close to your daughter's bday being in June). He has been in structured programs and took a 4 year old pre-k class. He and another girl were the only ones reading by the Spring. So, when they started Kindergarten he and that girl were put into a first grade reading program. But NONE of the other Kindergarteners were reading. The teacher told me that they expect to teach the Kindergarteners to read. So, I think your daugther is tracking okay if she can't read right now. I highly recommend that you go ahead and start your daughter in school. I think she will really enjoy it!

-L.