Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Feeling stressed about son starting K

Well....

From the orientation it sounds like an academically oriented program. The math curriculum includes things like shapes, same vs. different, sorting by attributes, patterns and simple addition/subtraction. DS has reached 3rd grade on EPGY (although he is not as facile with math facts up to 20 as an actual second grader.)

The reading curriculum is phonics based with sight words to memorize. He already knows the ones they will cover. He was at this early phonics stage at age 2yrs. 9mos.

The writing will be good for DS. He doesn't like to write, though, because he is not happy with his output. He wants his letters to be neat and everything to be spelled properly.

I guess we'll see how it goes, I don't have much choice! Maybe he will enjoy feeling ahead of the game and will get a good feeling for school. So much depends on how the teacher handles things.

Cathy

About reading levels: it's very hard for me to estimate his reading level since the only other kid I have experience with is his sister. She has been reading since she begged me to teach her how at age 3. I gave her the Schonell, too. She came out at grade 6.9--she will be going into 3rd grade next week.

Cathy

Update:

DS is enjoying Kindergarten and is eager to go each morning. I'm glad for that! He reports that it is very "eeeaaasssyyy". Today they learned a song about how to spell "red" which is the color of the week. They also watched a video about the word "the". DS says his reading partner doesn't really read. DS reads the book first and then his partner copies him. (That may be what the teacher intended, I'm not sure.) DS tells me he would like to read more challenging books at school. He says the math is really easy "like 1+1". I know it's the beginning of the year, but I see the work he brings home and it's stuff like differentiating between letters and numbers and coloring things the color of the week.

I'm not sure what I want to do at this point, DS seems happy for now and he is practicing reading and writing and doing math at home. I'm not really sure what (if anything) I should ask the teacher to do. He's not really mature enough to work independently on something and I'm sure she doesn't have the time to work with him individually. Does anybody have any ideas of how to get him working at his level in class? I hate to send him to school for 3 hours and then spend 30 min. doing his real work at home. It would be better if he could do his work at school and have free time to play at home.

Cathy

Cathy, how is the afterschooling going? His attitude towards going to school AND also his attitude toward sitting down for really learning are the main points to keep focused on.
Best Wishes,
Trinity

Well, he usually resists stopping his play to do work but once he gets started he seems to be interested in learning the material. I have been having him do the work right after lunch since he hasn't become engaged in play yet and that seems to minimize his resistance. Yesterday, he told me he wanted to do his work "right away" after lunch so he could be done sooner.

So far he has been working on handwriting (frustrating for him), two pages of Singapore math 1A (easy for him) and I have him read to me for about 10 minutes. His homework has been to circle and count all the letter a's in a paragraph the teacher sends home. I have him circle and count the letters and then read the paragraph to me. Unfortunately(?), he can also read the directions and he wants to know why he has to read the paragraph when the directions don't say that...

Cathy

LOL - Cathy - I know what tommorows handwriting practice should be - a letter to the teacher asking exactly that question.

Smiles -
Robin

Also ask him to list some of the books he would prefer to be reading in school. sometimes this will irritate the teacher, but sometimes a direct - from the child plea will work very well.
Best Wishes,
Trin

In my limited experience, I think the most important things kids learn in Kindergarten are not the academic things (just like that book that was so popular a few years back says <smile>): Things like, how to leave the building for a fire drill; how to cope in a bathroom crowded with pushing 5 year olds; that different kids learn differently; how to read the teachers' moods; what makes other kids laugh.

Kindergarten is a pretty safe way to get the "hang of" school and being around a mix of kids who have different needs. So I would say that if he is happy, then I would just let him bond with the other kids, the teacher, and the school. K is a great bonding year and I think it is important as such. Not every kid likes K, but if your child is happy, I think you can count your blessings and relax a bit. If there are signs of frustration or boredom, then address them with you son and your teacher (altough learning a certain amount of patience in school, isn't a bad thing either).

Our after-schooling was very mellow and never looked like formal academics. We did enforce a second language (because the school waits until HS to teach a second language and I couldn't stand watching the language learning window close) and a musical instrument (fine motor skill, music, and learning something that was hard for him-perseverence).

The rest was done as bedtime stories (Penrose the Mathematical Cat was a favorite at that age). Bedtime stories over the last 6 years have included natural history books, philosophy, religion, geology and history of whereever we will be going on vacation, biographies (Albert Schweitzer was a great favorite), books on codes, as well as good science fiction, fantasy, and books from my childhood. Then there is a lot of discussion about these things and looking for similar patterns in our lives.

His stardardized test score go up (way up) every year even in subjects that he has never been formally taught. That's the thing with our kids--they get information by osmosis. We can help them discover ideas, we can encourage and expose, but I have not found that I needed to teach much beyond answering his questions. The most important thing we can do is to show them our own curiosity and then support them as they follow their own.

Is that afterschooling-unschooling?