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My ds just started Kindergarten and things are going well but I am just wondering if others on this board could share what their dc have done so far and what the teachers have said they will learn this year. I'd also like to know what type of school dc is attending or if dc has been accommodated in any way.
Thanks.

DS5 is in a public half day Kindergarten. His class does each letter for 2-3 days. They learn the sound, how to write it and words that begin with that letter. They also have weekly themes such as fire safety, manners etc. DS has no accommodations, the day is only 2 1/2 hours so I am not sure how they can accomplish much in that time honestly. We after school at home.

He had his first Dibels assessment and passed the Kindergarten spring goal already. Since he is having a positive experience, I will wait until things change or until 1st grade to seek acceleration.

Jen

DS5 is also in a public half day kindergarten. So far his class has done reading activities including letter recognition, similar to what Mommy2myEm wrote and including picking the right letter out of a set, writing the letter, etc. Their reading program seems to be well-organized, and a lot of it seems to be based on increasing confidence: they get the kids reading a few words early (first month was "I", "am", "a", and "little"). They have reading time, which for the class is sitting and being read to, mostly. They have done some rudimentary math learning, mostly counting so far. I believe goals for the year are more of the same for the reading portion, and to get them doing a little addition and subtraction for math.

So far, we are in the early stages of possible accommodations. His teacher currently lets him read a book of his choice while the class is doing reading during class, but he continues to do the simple homework assignments, which are all reading/writing-based (a week's worth takes him several minutes, so it's no big deal). A TAT team has had a couple of meetings on him, including one with us, after initial rough assessments, and he will be undergoing more thorough assessments in the coming weeks. Next week he will be given the DAS-II test, and I believe a reading and spelling test.

Public full day. They do a letter a week, mostly for handwriting practise, but also to make sure everyone knows the basics. Lots of rhyming and first sound exercises. Coloring to build hand strength. They're up to half a dozen or so sight words, but not sending home readers yet.

Math is still at sets and shapes. Maybe counting to ten?

We're in the early stages of getting accomodation.

Public full day...DD is doing pretty much what everyone else is saying. Her teacher uses the Starfall program with a smartboard daily...They also do a lot of "journaling" daily...The kids draw pictures and try to write words/sentences describing the picture. Every week, she brings home an early reader that she has colored. To date, the reader has an average of about six words in a sentence. Every day they have about five "stations" that they have to go to and do the certain "job" that is required (art project, matching, worksheets, etc...)So much of what they are doing she mastered by age 2, but so far she is loving kindergarten with absolutely no complaints

We are in public full day kindergarten. We have similar stuff craft centers to strengthen fine motor skills, letter sounds, rhyming songs, simple books, math activities that focus on counting to ten.

Based on beginning of the year assessments, the teacher has acknowledged that DS has already mastered most of the work -- pretty much everything except writing. I have let DS be my guide on asking the teacher for more.

He complained about the "math" and having to count to ten. I talked to the teacher. She did not like the extensions in the standard curriculum, i.e. count to 15 instead of 10. She did some research and tried to come up with more appropriate extensions that require him to group and manipulate. Still not terribly challenging but he's happy not to be doing "baby stuff." I'm confident went this is no longer enough this teacher will hear me and keep moving on.

Similarly, when he started to complain that books were too easy, I had a conversation with the teacher. The level of books changed to something more appropriate. Also, the teacher signed him up for a pilot computer program that allows him to progress through online books at his own pace (it sounds similar to Starfall).

In writing, teacher told me that she thinks DS can do more than he lets on and has noticed some perfectionism issues. If she tells DS that she wants initial sounds at a minimum, he will only write initial sounds or complete words that he knows how to spell correctly. She acknowledges that she needs to phrase things differently to get him to take risks and write more. Honestly, I couldn't ask for more in a public school teacher/setting.