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Pre-School and Daycare
conferences at Preschool
So we had conferences for our 4 year son on Friday and they are already telling us to hold him back from starting Kindergarden next fall because he does not recognize the alaphbet and the sounds the letters make. Well it's a little hard to help him at home when we didn't know he was suppose to know this. Fusterating when someone tells you this who only has your child 2.5 hours 2 days a week for 2 months.
Talked to our neighbors whose daughter is in the same class and she was told the same thing.
Starting to think the school is money hungry. If he gets to Kindergarden and is still behind wouldn't it be better to hold him back then if we were going to do it cause you would think the school system would have more resources to help him if that is the case.
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Re: conferences at Preschool
Can you find a preschool class for him that is more than 2.5 hrs 2 days a week? Just my opinion, but that doesn't seem like enough time to prepare him for kindergarten. It's not so much academics (which he'll get when he's ready for it and exposed to it), but 2.5 hrs probably includes snack and play time- not a lot of time left over for learning what they're saying he needs to know. What are they doing at his school to teach these things? Kids don't just magically know them on their own! It seems like the preschool doesn't really know what they're talking about. I would start talking about letters and letter sounds at home frequently. DD's school introduces a few at a time, and each kid works on a letter set until the know it. DD also has a leapfrog thing that has letter names and letter sounds. I don't believe in letting electronics teach for us, but as soon as my mom gave her the thing, she started saying letters and their sounds.
This is what DD has, but their fridge phonics letters might be a good choice, too. https://shop.leapfrog.com/leapfrog/jump/Letter-Discoveries/productDetail/All-Toys/lfprod19138/cat790012?selectedColor=&selectedSize=&navAction=jump&navCount=0&categoryNav=false
If you work with him and he doesn't seem ready to think about letters and sounds, it might be a different story- especially if he has a summer birthday. I would definitely call the school you plan on sending him to next year to find out what they think a child needs to know, and what they think you should be working on. You will find a wide range in beliefs. IMO kindergarten readiness is much more to do with maturity and readiness to learn. Sounds like that preschool is practicing some CYA.
First thing when does your child turn 5. Honestly I think it will be harder on you DC if you hold him back in Kindergarden then holding him back now in Preschool. Now of days Kindergarden is 1st grade. 1st grade is 2nd and so on. Children are reading short chapter books by the end of Kindergarden they are doing adding and subracting. But I am not saying that your child won't catch on, but if he doesn't and you hold him back it might be harder for him to understand why his friends moved up to the next class and he didn't. I guess look at it with your child's eyes and not yours. And if you don't like what the teacher is saying then maybe get a second opinion. Good luck to you and your son.
I would find out if your school system has a list of what is expected of children entering K. This might help you quite a bit. I know in our district knowledge of most letters and the sounds they make is expected. That said, sounds like he has time to learn this information - is the preschool teaching these things?
I don't think a child who is already a bit behind should be thrown into K with the expectation he can just repeat the grade. You want his impression of school to be a good one, not a frustrating one the first year and a boring one the second.
So many kids go to school not knowing their alphabet. If you want to do something at home, there are many ideas out there for simple games you can play. Sing songs, read lots of books, point out letters you see around town while driving, etc. Just have fun
If the school has a kindergarten screening day, you can find out then or contact them to see what they say. Good luck.
When does he turn 5? What's the cut-off date for kindergarten in your school district?
I don't know that he should be held back based on not knowing his letters alone since he could very well catch up on those by the end of the school year, but the fact that he's only in school two mornings a week does concern me. To jump to five days a week next year, especially if he may be behind academically, could make for a difficult adjustment for him that could cloud his whole experience in school.
Can you register him for both preschool and kindergarten next year and then see where he stands at the end of the year? I wouldn't want to risk losing his spot in the preschool if it came to that. Then again, if you're so cynical of the school, perhaps you might want a different school for him next year anyway.
Did his ps give you a list of skills they expect to be mastered? DD is only in K3, but we were given a list at her conference of skills she needs to master before entering K4. Her teacher said that if they are behind on a couple that is okay, it's a general knowledge they are looking for. At her age, most things deal with social and maturity levels.
6 months is a LONG time for him to catch up for a four year old, especially now that you know there is an issue. I would consider adding at least an extra day of school if possible just to ease the transition to 5 days a week kindy.
When do you need to make the decision? Is it possible to do letter "boot camp" for a couple of months to see if he is catching up before deciding?
I don't see a difference between holding him back now and seeing his friends move on or in Kindy. He is still going to know others are moving on and he isn't. I would do whatever you think is best for your LO.
As a Mom of a 5 yr old I whole heartedly disagree with this.
I think it's easier to stay back now and get on the level he needs to be than it is to go ahead, spend another year playing with this same group of kids and strengthening that bond and then being told that the reason he can't go ahead with them is because he's not academically ready.
At 5 my child has some pretty intense friendships - even more so than he did at 4. It would really effect him to have them leave him behind. 2 years of friendship is usually a stronger bond than 1 year.
And ditto the other PP's. Don't focus your energy on being upset with the school - focus it on working with him. You've got plenty of time before K starts!! Now you know you need to step up your work at home with him and I'm sure you will.
Total score: 6 pregnancies, 5 losses, 2 amazing blessings that I'm thankful for every single day.
I think it's early for the PS teacher to make this assessment; however, please do not write it off. My college roommate used to be a Kindergarten teacher and she always felt bad for the children that came into her room already behind the other students. She tried her hardest to catch them up, but she had to focus on moving the rest of the class forward in order to prepare them for standardized tests. Also, my manager sent her son to PS when he was 4 years old 2 days per week for 3 hours per day. At the end of July, his PS teacher suggested one more year for him because he didn't know the things he needed to know for kindergarten. She wholehearted disagreed and felt as if he was more than ready, especially since he had an "extensive vocabulary" and knew his ABCs and 123s. Well, he is now 3 months into the school year and his kindergarten teacher said he was behind in a few areas and needs help at home. Now she is regretting pushing him forward after being advised not to.
I said all that to say this.... you have 8 months to work with your LO at home. There are a lot of ways to help w/o making it a chore. With DD, she learned her letters and sounds while playing. At night when we read books, we always point out letters and say their sounds together. We also do the same thing with foam letters while she is in the tub. When I am cooking dinner, she loves to be in the kitchen, so I bought her some fridge phonics. Those things were great in helping her learn her letter sounds. Lastly, DD watches TV for 30 minutes to 1 hour per day. During this time, she usually watches an episode of Sesame Street and something on Nick Jr (she loves Moose De Moose). The best thing about both is that they go over letters and numbers as well. Eventually she just picked up on them.
After working with your LO for a few months, have another conference with the teacher to check on your LO's progress. If the teacher still feels as if your LO needs to stay back a year, you may have to consider it. I know that is not something you want to hear, but you want to do what is best for your child at the end of the day.
We have already starting working with him at home more that is a no brainer.
I just thought her advice was a little premature. We did set up a conference with her for February to monitor his progress.
The preschool is a private preschool not linked to the elementary school that he will be going to next year. None of the preschools in our area have a waiting list and are all easy to get into. I just find it odd that now I have talked to four different parents and all of them were told to hold them back next year.
He passed his Kindergarden screening this past summer and was right in the middle of the pact. The lady that did his screening said a lot of kids will have to come back more than once to get rescreened.
So what about those kids that don't go to preschool?
I just had my first conference for DS. He turned 4 in October. We already know he will be in preschool next year again due to the cuttoff date. He doesn't know any letters. I was told that our district requires Kindergarteners to know all 26 upper case letters. There isn't a set number of lower case.
I went out and got the LeapFrog Letter Factory dvd and DS loves it. I talk a lot more about letters now and try to do little quizzes and games once in a while. We sing songs as well.
It's always discouraging to hear this kind of thing but, like pp said, you have a lot of time to make this happen! Use it to your advantage and you might hear something different at the end of the year.
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It sounds like he doesn't know the alphabets not because he doesn't understand, but he hasn't learned them yet. Have him watch Word World and Super Why on TV. He'll learn in no time:D My son is trilingual, and we don't teach English at home, but I let him watch those shows. After a few times, he knew all the alphabets and sounds. Now he is trying to rhyme and everything:D No big deal.
If you are going to hold him back, I would hold him back now, though. I know a few parents who held their kids back because they are not interested in studying at all. Your son might not like repeating Kindergarten.
Proud mother of two breech babies:)