My grandson, (he and his parents have lived with us since before he was born and we all raise him in harmony), started kindergarten 3 weeks ago in a charter school. We placed him in this school because the extended day kindergarten was full and no childcare available.
He's been bringing home little books he's colored that say, My little Red Book, My little Blue Book, printed off the internet. I asked him if he had a reading and math workbook and if he brought home any pages he had done in them. He said, "I don't know what you mean." I am a teacher and see the kinder curriculum at school. They work on reading readiness, on letter sounds, blending, reading directionality, learning to write numbers, patterns, etc. Those little books and learning your colors is preschool type activities. They also sent home a flier that they were doing a sensory day, feeling and smelling things. I suppose that is science and interesting...but ....My grandson has known his colors since he was 2, he knows shapes, 1-to-1 correspondence to 7 or 8 in numbers, does 1st grade math with ease, reads sight words, etc. At the orientation I didn’t see any texts to examine and the teachers were introduced as being brand new teachers. I am feeling uneasy and wondering if this program is rigorous enough.
Do you think we should visit the school and see if they are preparing him adequately for the following grades? Should we ask what curriculum they are using? And to see lesson plans? What would you do Moms?
It's a Charter school the work off of a completely different academic style then typical schools.
They are all hands on...not by the books. theyare an alternate style learning center.
Certainly go visit. In fact, call the teacher and ask to set up a meeting. Asking for lesson plans might be a bit much, but you could ask for the overall plan for the first semester - like what he's expected to know by December and what the class will be focusing on. If it seems well below his level, ask how they're handling students who already know what's being taught.
You're three weeks in and you don't think the school is being rigorous enough? You've been a teacher and you don't know that the first month or two of the school year is spent reviewing what the kids learned the previous school year?
Over the summer vacation, most children lose about 3 months worth of the knowledge they learned during the previous 9-month school year. Therefore, good teachers will spend the first several weeks doing review work with the children based on what they did (or should have done) during the year before.
You should also know that just because your grandson knows all of his numbers, shapes, and colors in kindergarten, not all kids do. Not all kids attend preschool and not all parents are prepared to teach their children what seem to be basics to you. You need to back off and let the teachers teach. It sounds like they're right on schedule. I had a kindergartener last year and I have two older daughters who aren't "that" far out from kindergarten. One is in third grade and another in 6th.
Most schools don't use worksheets with the younger grades. They do more hands on learning activities, and when they need to write, they just use blank paper. The first few weeks of school the teachers are assessing the kids to find out their abilities. My son is in the same boat - beginning reader, spells phonetically, can do simple addition and subtraction, etc. I emailed the teacher, and she gave me some ideas of things to do at home, and described more in detail what they're doing in class. I feel more confident after her response. Definitely ask what they're working on (I wouldn't ask to see lesson plans though), maybe coming at it from the angle of "We're new to this. This is what our grandson can do. How do you work with kids who enter school already knowing basic reading and math skills?" The teacher will probably be glad to know you are involved with his education and happy to explain what they're learning.
I honestly think you're being rather impatient and a little unreasonable.
The school year has just begun. Part of starting out, as you well know, is figuring out just where the students are at ability and academic-wise, and reviewing things previously learned. Kids forget things.
Give it at least two full months before you start jumping to conclusions and insinuating that the teachers aren't teaching. Charter schools tend to do things differently. If you still don't feel that he's learning anything after a couple of months, you can address the issue at parent/teacher conferences.
It never hurts to stop by, but asking for lesson plans is a bit much. I love stopping by in the middle of the day just to watch through the window very rarely do I go into the classroom.
Hi BH, I know where you're coming from. I will be sending my son to kindergarten next week. I have the same questions that concern me too. From what I've discovered in our area, zoning and demographics play a major role in what a child will learn in school. I was a school teacher in my area, and saw that the majority of the kids that attended kindergarten in the zone I lived in, came from homes whose parents were from third world countries. What I had intended for them to learn had to be put on hold until the children caught up. This was about ten years ago. My friend who was in the same zone as I was, manipulated her address on a home bill to send her child to a public school out of the zoning area by one block, but was a nearby school. Why? Because she discovered that the school her child was suppossed to attend didn't cover half the material you mentioned above. My friends child leanrt to read two letter words and by the end of the year was actually reading level 1,-boarding to level 2 reading. She also learnt to add, subtract and tell time. I don't blame you for being concerned. This is one of the reasons why parents send their kids to private institutions. But, why do that? I'm against private partially for that and for my own reasons. Definitely raise your concerns at school, but maybe you should also be patient, as it is just a week in to the school year for some. Good luck to you, and happy learning to your grandson.
I would recommend asking to volunteer in the class. That way you can observe and help at the same time, and you won't feel like a threat to the teacher. Also, make sure you attend the open house. If you have questions about curriculum at that point, then schedule a meeting with the teacher to discuss your concerns. This might just be beginning of the year work to figure out where everyone is at, and could change in a week or two. Also, the kindergartens that I am familiar with do not typically have workbooks for reading or math. They do activities that connect to the things you have mentioned, without the workbook to go with it. For example. 1-1 correspondence could be taught with objects or posters instead. Your grandson might not be relaying his day as well as you are expecting. If you do have a problem with the curriculum after discussing with the teacher, I would suggest discussing with the principal.
No. If you walked into the classroom asking to see lesson plans the teacher is going to immediately stop communicating with you altogether. It's rude and presumptuous to say the least.
Just because your grandchild is advanced does not mean that every other child in the class is. His skills (as you describe) are more typical of a first grade child, not a starting Kindergartener.
Yes, they do work on the skills you have presented but not during the first few days of school. Many children enter Kindergarten without attending preschool and the whole concept of "school" is novel. The odds are pretty good that the teacher is using those little books as a way of introducing concepts of print or as a way of enaging the children in baseline assessments of their skills. Like ANY OTHER grade level... the first month or so of a new school year is review of the previous year to reinforce concepts and make sure that all of the children are ready to move on to a new set of skills.
Texts? Workbooks? Not in Kindergarten. Actually... not until 3rd grade. Workbooks are on their way out in most places as well- with very rare exceptions. They are boring and not in alignment with 21st Century Learning.
If it's not rigorous enough for your grandson, enroll him in a private school mid-year or in the fall.
YES! Go visit the school. I am wary of charter schools because there is less oversight for them. There are definitely some great charter schools but also some terrible ones.
But, even if it was a public school or a private school - any kind of school, if you are concerned, or interested, go check it out.
You should definitely ask some questions. Everything may be fine but I recently read an article about some charter school scams where the school was set up to get the money that is funneled to charter schools but were not providing even a basic education. The students spent their days doing nothing but handouts with little real instructions. The teachers had inferior qualifications or none at all in some cases.
In one case, students had attended through elementary and middle school but when the school closed and they tried to enroll in a public high school, they couldn't get into any high schools because they were several years behind. Of course, I can't find a link to the article now.
There are many great charter schools out there and your grandson's may be just fine. But, some of the things you mentioned (handouts only, no texts, new teachers) were a major part of the schools participating in fraud. The school should take your concerns seriously and at least give you an insight into what the plan is. If they don't I would be very concerned.
Does his school have an Open House coming up? Usually at our Open House, you can sign up for a time for a parent-teacher conference. That would probably be the time and place to discuss your grandson and his abilities and weaknesses.
BUT, as another poster mentioned, there is a W-I-D-E range of abilities coming into K. They've gotta start with (if you will) the lowest common denominator, so to speak. Pretty much, by the end of K, all kids have pretty much leveled onto a similar playing field.
You have to remember that school teaches to the masses. Many children do not attend preschool or get preschool curriculum at home. The kindergarten teachers have to prepare everyone. There are students in my son's class that couldn't even recognize their name on a cubby, much less write their names. Right now teachers are assessing where everyone is currently. I had some concerns about my son's schooling too. He can write his first and last name, but was told just to write his first for "practice". He has known his colors since he was 2 and I was surprised that they were studying colors too. The teacher explained that most of the kids know their colors, but not many know how to write their colors. Here is Texas there is a curriculum that has to be followed (TEKS), I am sure most states have a standard curriculum. Teachers can choose HOW they teach things, but they have to teach everything for their particular grade level. When I double checked, sure enough, teaching colors and shapes is on the curriculum. It's the third week of school for you, it seems a bit early to question a teacher as to whether she is preparing her students for first grade. Asking a teacher to see lesson plans and curriculum is ok, but it seems to me to undermine the teacher a bit. We get a monthly calendar with the basic outline of what will be happening in the classroom. We also got an explanation of what different activities help develop. For example playing with playdoh during warm up helps fine motor skill development. Our teacher is also really good at telling us extension activities we can do to help our students at home. Maybe ask for these things? Become a volunteer in the classroom and school. Join the PTA. Give the teacher some time. It's very early in the year. If you still feel as if your grandson isn't getting what he needs, set up a conference with the teacher.
I think a discussion with the teacher and principal about the curriculum is in order. I got the book, "What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know" as a good basic guide. There are the basic Language and Literature, History and Geography, Visual Arts, Music, Mathematics and Science principals a kindergartner should be learning as a basis of a classical education, and VERY FEW kindergartens today cover them all. As of the 1970s, the schools bottomed out on curriculum unless you have a superior public or private school with excellent teachers and small classes. If he's not getting this material at school, you can be sure to supplement at home and fill in. There are other good outlines out there for basic subjects that should be covered.
It's sad to have to add more school work onto a full day at school for such young kids, but lots if idle time is spent in kindergarten playing and allowing for the large class distractions. I know playing is good, but not at the expense of learning in these valuable sponge years. There should be ample time for both. Good luck, and good job realizing it's important.
I guess it's all in how you word things. Perhaps, as a fellow teacher, you could go in with an air of curiosity instead of concern. Maybe express that as a teacher, you're interested in what the curriculum is at the charter school vs. the regular public school, what programs or texts they use etc.
Keep an open mind - my kids came home with very little "work" in Kindergarten but I have never doubted that they were learning. And also know that at this stage of the year, the teachers are acclimating all levels of children. While it's great that your grandson has strong academic skills, not all children enter K knowing their shapes, letters, and colors. It makes sense to make quick work of getting all of the kids to a decent baseline at the beginning of the year and then work on differentiated instruction later. And a child with academic readiness may need to work on social skills, etc. so there is something for everyone.
Again, I think that any decent school will be proud to share their curriculum and show off what they are teaching the kids so it's not unreasonable to expect to get this information, but your approach will be important. You want to come across as an interested parental figure and open-minded fellow teaching professional without coming across as judgmental or "that old school Grandma who thinks she knows everything and doesn't get "modern" teaching techniques." Not to say that you are that way (I would assume not based on the reasonable tone of your post) but sometimes those who are new to a profession can feel intimidated by those with more experience and defend themselves by being dismissive of other ideas or concerns.
I am seeing the same thing in my daughter's class right now. She is doing workbook pages coloring shapes and learning colors and such. As you said, she has known all of this stuff since she was 17 months old (she knew all letters, colors and numbers by this point). I am chalking it up to the fact that it is the first couple of weeks of school and that not all kids actually know this stuff by kinder (which is scary and sad to me, but not all kids are created equal). I will say that at her class open house, her teacher said they are putting them in reading groups this week and she sent home a list of sight words and they actually are starting to do some "math" worksheets (my daughter is adding and subtracting and does some simple multiplication, so these are super easy for her, but it is considered kindergarten math). They are also working on writing using the D'Nealean (sp) system, so I don't feel like it's all easy stuff. The teacher also said that they are going to be moving at a fast pace, so I think they are just starting out slowly to get the kids used to the routine and then they will kick it into gear. I think the thing that is most disconcerting for me at this point is that they haven't had recess outside yet. Granted, it seems to rain EVERY day here, but even on the couple of days that it didn't, my daughter said they watched TV. This bothers me. She can watch Super Why and Word World at home. Kids her age need some time to run around and be crazy to get the wiggles out and I don't think they are getting that chance. I had to complete a volunteer application and get a background check done before I can volunteer at the school, but just found out that was completed, so I plan to go there tomorrow for an hour or two. I think it helps to have a presence there and befriend the teacher, but not to act as if you're spying. Truly go and get involved. That way, when you make suggestions or ask questions, it doesn't seem like you're just there to tell them how to do their jobs. It's hard to have an advanced kid in a public school system because it will always seem like they aren't being pushed, but since we're just starting on this journey, I'm going to give it some time. I'm going to be in good communication with her teacher so that she recognizes what my child is capable of and ask her to do what she can to fill in the gaps (she won't learn much academically with these workbooks since she already knows all of this). I can also continue to work with her at home on her own level. My other options were private school or homeschool. We can't afford private school and I wasn't cut out to teach young children and I don't have the patience to homeschool (especially since I have a 3 year old at home too). I wish I could say that I did, because it's probably best (academically) for my daughter, but it just isn't for everyone. I wish you the best. Stay as involved as you can, but don't be a helicopter parent (or grandparent) and let the teacher and the school do their job. You do yours by being supportive and offering help when possible. By doing some of the behind the scenes stuff (like tearing the pages out of those workbooks so they can be handed out to the students....my child's teacher asked for help with this...all of those tasks take time and it's the teachers who have to do it all!), you free up the teacher's time to focus more on the students. Best of luck to you! Hope your grandson has a great year.
At my daughter's school, they publish their nine week plans, so you at least get a high level sense of the topics they are covering. I would advis eyou to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt... at least for a bit. There is a lot of assessment going on in the first few weeks of school to figure out what different children should be working on. Also, you don't have insight to how the teacher is actually using the materials in class - so while your grandson comes home with a color book and says he "smells things" that doesn't mean there isn't a lot more going on then you are hearing about.
That said, my experience with the public schools has been that they teach to the lowest common denominator and you have to push for any individualized attention or enrichment activities. I think it is perfectly reasonable for his parents to request a meeting or to have a phone call at least with the teacher to say you want to make sure he doesn't lose ground in kindergarten since he is ahead on some things. And demand enrichment activities. If he knows how to add to 10, then ask for different work to teach adding to 20, etc.
I sympathize with your concern. My daughter knew simple multiplication in kindergarten. She switched to public school, and for both first and second grade has begun with 1+1, 1+2, 1+3... It's infuriating. I commend you for being involved and proactive. But do give the teacher a little time and a little benefit of the doubt. His/her job is difficult and very constrained by beaurocratic nonsense. The US is in the dark ages when it comes to education.
If your grandson is in a charter school there is a good chance he will be getting a very different education from the local public school kids. All charters are different, and operate under their own rules and curriculum separate from a basic public school.
You (and his parents) put him in that school due to scheduling convenience, you should make that sort of choice because you are familiar with and agree with the curriculum in that particular school.
My oldest went to an alternative type charter for K-3. She was never really "taught" to read, there were a lot of hands on activities, music, projects and creative learning. She thrived there, picked up reading with just a little phonics work by first grade, learned so much about the world in a open and fun atmosphere. Both my girls are now in another charter that is highly academic and she's doing very well. She gets almost all A's and we feel has been better off for her "alternative" early education. Worksheets and "rigorous" learning in the early grades do not equal strong academic results later on.
You and your grandson's parents should educate yourselves on the mission, philosophy and curriculum of the school before you go into the classroom. Finding out exactly what and how they will be teaching him and whether or not it matches your values and expectations is more important than saving money on day care. Keep and open mind, do a little indenpendant research and you may find that this school is the best place for him. Good luck!
