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Northern California Babies
futrkingsley
member
Kindergarten readiness questions
futrkingsley
member
DS is about to turn 3. He's been in preschool for one academic year, 3 half days a week and will continue a similar schedule over the summer. It's a Montessori school and so far there has not been a focus for him personally on learning numbers and letters.
He knows a few colors, can verbally count to 10, can recite his ABCs. He knows a bunch of songs, can write with a pen/pencil/marker, and recognizes his own initials/name. He sits well at school for group stuff (story time, music time). He can use scissors.
My question is this: he is going to need to know how to write his own name when he starts kindergarten in two years. He'll need to recognize letters and numbers, shapes.
I am not a flash card parent. He isn't a flash card receptive kid. We read books by the dozens. He uses paper and pens to write daily. But he so far has not shown any interest in writing anything other than random hockey or train related shapes. I'm trying to follow his lead with this part of learning but he's not leading in the direction of letters and numbers and I'm not sure how much longer to wait for him before I panic and start drilling so he doesn't get an "not satisfactory" on his first week of kindergarten (which did happen to someone in our life who couldn't write his name when he started kindergarten after several years of preschool).
In two years how do I get from here (can't identify ABCs, numbers or shapes) to there (writing his own name!)?
After I posted I realized I left out the part that makes me not seem like a looney toon. The years have flown by already. I feel like I'm going to wake up next week to send him off to preschool (correction: Kindergarten! He already attends preschool!). I want to do right by him and make sure he is prepared without making his toddlerhood all about flashcards.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Kindergarten readiness questions
Two years is a LOT of time. So much will change between now and then. If I remember correctly, he has a verbal delay as well, right? He likely knows more than you think but may not be able to verbalize it all yet. I was shocked to see just how much Ty knew at his evals as we don't formally do a lot of the stuff you mentioned but he's clearly picked it all up along the way. I have seen tremendous gains in his pre-kinder knowledge in the last year and he still has one more year of actual pre-k to go.
We have a lot of educational type toys that are often found in classrooms here at home. One of the boys favorites is a magnetic alphabet board. Not only did it help teach matching but later it helped with letter recognition as we could ask Ty to find the *name of letter* and put it where it belongs.
I really think the academics come naturally. My biggest concern for Ty at this point is all social skills based.
ETA: I read the first sentence wrong, he's not even three. I don't think shape or letter recognition is common in two year olds. I know Jake can say colors or shapes but rarely matches them up correctly. You've got a ton of time. There is so much growth that will happen in the upcoming years, you'll be surprised.
I strongly recommend that you visit the school he will attend prior to enrolling him and meet his teacher (so when he starts preschool). If he has any learning/speech delays they should be aware and schedule and IEP to see where he's at. Develop that relationship with his teacher and school staff before he gets there. Ask those questions about what they expect from the children, etc.
Also encourge your preschool provider to talk to his kindergarten teacher about his learning style, etc.
This is a really good handbook for parents.
I have to agree with a lot of this. I was *very* shocked at the amount of stuff I had discovered that the boys knew during their assessments. They both knew their letters, colors and shapes early on. They also know their numbers but still lose count after about 15 (even though I've known them to count up to 100+).
I think for the time being just stick to what you're doing. There is still at least 2+ years for him to learn so much more.
you've got time. a lot of that he will pick up naturally in his life - colors, counting, etc. as for writing his name - i would focus on recognition and go from there.
i just discussed this with my (1st grade teacher) sister and she says that walking into kinder, the child needs to have social skills more than anything: being able to sit for a little bit and pay attention, following directions, sharing, etc.
skills like reading and writing will be taught and your child will master them at his own pace.
don't stress. you've got time. you can meet the teachers...and your child already has a leg up: you care enough to worry about these things.
:-)
Okay - so my advice probably isn't worth the "paper" it's written on given that my 4.5 year old is just starting pre-school in the fall but I'll share anyway. When Ryan was 3, he could sing his abc's, recognize some letters and numbers, count to 10 (or 12), and recognize his name. And then we'd forget about singing the song and two months later, he wouldn't remember how to sing it. Like would forget how to end his abc's...or forget part of the middle letters, or whatever.
Fast forward to today. I haven't done much with him - he's not a "let's sit down at the table and do a workbook" kind of kid. He likes to run, jump, and play. That said, he now knows all of his abc's by sight in both upper and lower case and can count (most of the time) past 20. And that's with no schooling and nothing more than me saying (occasionally): what sound does the "d" make? What words can you think of that start with the "duh" sound? He's still not the best writer of his name but his preschool (that he's yet to start in) assured me that given where he's at, he'll be a much better writer probably within a month or so of his pre-k program.
I've had a lot of guilt about all of this - especially since Natalie came and the play time I have with just Ryan is pretty much non-existent. Sometimes we'll play games and I'll try to incorporate some kind of learning about letters (don't spill the beans means we try to count as high as we can...or think of rhyming words that go with bean, or can, or ???).
Anyway - you'll be surprised at how quickly he'll pick things up - at least that's what I've been told. There are always unique cases though - so use your own best judgment and tell me to hush!
He already attends preschool and no longer qualifies for speech or other special services as he caught up in his only area of delay. Since he won't be going to kindergarten for two years, I don't think I can request a meeting with a teacher.
What I was hoping for was tips on how to encourage this at home in a kid who isn't interested at all yet without resorting drills/flashcards. The other kids in our family who were similar to him in interests struggled to pick this stuff up without serious time at the table with parents doing drills even though they went to the same preschool as another kid in our family who can write and spell and has since she was younger than 4. I know he has time.
My sample size of other kids is decent but so extreme on either end that it's leaving me without much to go on in this area.
I guess my question is how long did it take your kid to pick up letter recognition once they showed interest?
This is exactly the type of info I was hoping for. Thank you! I'm not home with him and I don't even think to play those types of games with him when I am.
I tend to focus on teaching him other things when we are together (life skills stuff). And his area of interests are pretty narrow. It's hockey and trains, with a few dinosaurs thrown on top for fun. I think we need to count more stuff.
The funniest thing about teaching a human about the world for me is how many words our language uses to mean totally different things depending on spelling and context, neither of which means anything to a kid who doesn't spell or read. The confusion is endlessly amusing for all of us.
I don't have any advice in regards to that. The program that I work for is School Readiness and what we encourage is parent/teacher relationship the year prior to the child attending school. We also encourage preschool teacher/kindergarten teacher communication about the children coming into their classrooms.
The handbook I linked has some really good tips on preparing your child for kindergarten.
The Kindergarten Readiness test we gave to place incoming Kinders included the following.
* Identify letters upper and lower case (letters are shown out of order)
* Identify shapes, circle, square, rectangle, triangle
* Write your name
* Identify numbers 1 - 10 (numbers are shown out of order)
* Can they cut on the line and use scissors properly.
* Concepts of print child identifies: a book when shown, the cover of the book, the spine of a book, a letter by itself in print, a word in print. Where do you start reading words on a page, what direction do you go when you read left to right then down to the next line of words.
I don't think you have anything to worry about. I don't do workbooks with my boys at home, I'm just not a fan of them. There are lots of fun play based ways to work on each of these skills. We talk about the parts of the book at least once a day when we are reading for fun. Garrison has it all down and Gavin is starting to answer the questions I ask them about the books. It really just teaching them reading readiness. When you work on things make it fun so he wants to work on it. We count in the grocery store. I tell them we need 7 apples or Gavin your turn to count apples. Garrison holds the bag and Gavin counts in 7 apples, that kind of thing. For little ones I ask Gavin do you want to buy red or green apples this week? Ok show me the green apples you want to buy.... it's all fun and practice, it also makes the shopping trip easier. Let me know if you have specific skills you want to work on and I might be able to give you some ideas how to practice at home.
This. As a former kinder teacher, this is what we look for, also being able to sit still for a bit and listen, share well, etc. The rest will come. If you're really worried about it, talk to your child. Ask him about his favorite things, food, tv shows, etc. You get a lot of info across when you do that. Or point things out to him and ask about it:
"What is that?" "A strawberry." "What color is it?" "Red!" "Is it big or little?" "Little!" "How many are there?" "4!"
You might feel like you sound like an idiot when you do this, but it is amazingly helpful. It helps your child develop verbal skills and description skills, which he will need for writing.
Ditto all this. At Sara's new Kinder class they had each kid come in so they could evaluate where they are and what they know.
She had to write her first name and last if she knew how.
She had to draw a picture of herself.
Name the colors of the papers the teacher was holding up (red, yellow, blue, etc.)
Count the number of smiley faces on the page (there were 10)
Identify numbers out of order.
Say her ABCs.
Say the Upper case letter (that were mixed up on the page) when pointed to. It was all 26 letters. Did the same with the lower case letters.
Had to identify the shapes of a circle, square, triangle, and rectangle.
Had to follow several 3 step directions that the teacher gave her.
Then she asked me what her strengths were. She LOVES repetition. What things Sara struggled with. Changing activities if it is something she loves and not sticking to a routine. Also what items we were working on now. Well I think I surprised her when I said we were working on States and their capitals.
107 Read/listened to in 2011: 91 Books/16 Audiobooks
Read 2012: 33/50
I think you've got a LOT of time....at least that's what I keep telling myself.
Honestly this post is making me feel pretty inadequate. I guess I just let N be a kid, she likes to sing her abc's but a lot of the time she gets it wrong, or misses letters. She knows colors and can pick out a few letters like a N. But really I don't trip on it. I figure that she has a very limited time to be a kid, and to really enjoy being a kid. She will have almost 20 years to learn and be educated in a proper setting...but for now she learns from experiences, we learn about bugs, and words and such while we're playing...and if she gets to kinder and is behind I'll deal with it then, but like I said 2 years is a long time and I'm sure she'll be ready.
We have similar convos in the car. "Look at the truck next to us - what color is it"? "look at the light - what color is it?"
I'm actually really interested in the book stuff that Ang mentioned...we don't do any of that. I guess I should start!
I didn't mean to make any one feel indadequate. I'm sorry Kelly.
I had a realization yesterday about my kid and his progress and wondered how you get from where he is to where he's expected to be. I knew there were many people on this board who would have good insights as teachers or former teachers and as mom's of kid's who are slightly older than DS. And they did have good advice!
Thank you for all the tips. It was a good reminder about how to fill in those holes at home.
Wow, there's a lot of really great information in this post! Thanks for starting it, S!
I don't have any advice about this b/c I tend to be pretty laid-back (some may even say laissez faire) about this sort of thing. Oftentimes J really surprises me w/how much he knows and how quickly he picks things up. I've always had the feeling that you're a very involved parent, S, and I suspect you're already getting C ready for kindergarten and aren't even aware of all the things you're doing! I think sometimes as working parents it can be hard for us b/c we can't be w/our kids all day and see all the ways they're learning. But I really think they learn better from "practical application" at this age rather than flashcards or workbooks anyway. When we read to J we just do whatever comes naturally while reading. "The little engine said, 'I think I can, I think I can.' Wow, look at all those cars he has to pull up the hill! Let's count them!" Stuff like that -I think a pp already gave some examples.
Anyway, like I said before, I appreciate this post for all the great information everyone has given! Thanks for starting such a great discussion!
You are welcome.
I think the working parent thing is a big part of my personal issue. I don't see him when he's most alert and engaged for the most part. He's at school or with my mom during his best hours except on weekends. He does occassionally surprise me with something new and I'm always thrilled that someone took the time to teach it to him and that he learned it.
D - Next time I see you I'll grab a book and show you how to practice this stuff. It's not hard at all.