Early entrance to kindergarten May 12, 2008
Today we had a visitor. It’s a common occurrence in my classroom, only today, our visitor was four years old. We’ll call him Charley. Charley’s dad brought him to school so that I could watch him play in my room for an hour, and evaluate whether or not he will be okay to enter kindergarten in the fall, even though he won’t be five by the cutoff date.
It’s a new system, instituted last year, that works better than the old system. The old system was that parents begged the principal, and the principal said yes or no depending on their gut, or their mood. It was very inconsistent and unfair, so the early childhood department came up with a procedure that all schools are supposed to follow.
So now, in the spring, I have small visitors who come and work in my room with my students, and I observe them and fill out an observation form. If they get enough points, they pass, and they can come to K in the fall.
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I’m glad that the early childhood dept. got involved, and that they came up with a consistent procedure. On the other hand, I think it is still a bit too lenient. I think many of the parents who want their child to get early admittance to K are really thinking about the full-day aspect, and not having to pay for daycare in the afternoon (if their kids are instead sent to a pre-K classroom like mine).
Also, it’s a grade skip. Starting kindergarten a full year before you’re supposed to is a grade skip, and I think it should only be for the kids who are clearly advanced academically, socially, and emotionally. Besides, don’t a lot of experts say that boys tend to mature more slowly at that age, and shouldn’t be pushed ahead?
Hoagie’s Gifted page has a bunch of articles on the topic, as does this article from the ERIC Clearinghouse.
Charley did fine. He was quite reserved, but he separated from his dad readily, and did respond when spoken to. He followed directions, paid attention to what was going on around him, and followed our routines. He had fun playing in sand, and even got along with our Miss L. — that is, until she hit him and had to leave the sand table. I talked to his dad, who said that they just moved here from another state, where the cutoff is different, and where, had he stayed, he’d be going to kindergarten in the fall automatically. Also, he knows his letters and sounds and is starting to learn how to read.
I’d be interested in hearing what other people think.
Here are my thoughts starting with personal experiences:
~I was 4 when I started kindergarten (turned 5 in October). I was “smart” enough to handle it, size wise I fit in, but physically (fine and gross motor) I lagged behind consistently from my peers and I also lagged socially. I was always in the top reading groups and put in advanced classes throughout my school career. I celebrate that now, but when you’re growing it’s emotionally difficult to deal with the physical differences and social difficulties.
~My daughter turned 5 only 6 weeks before kindergarten and she knew only 4 letters (the ones in her name, LOL) and maybe 5 numbers. (Doesn’t sound great, since I’m a teacher, but the stinker didn’t want to learn from ME.) However socially, emotionally and physically she was ready. We sent her. She has done beautifully and is quite successful academically, socially and physically.
~My mother-in-law kept both my husband and his brother (both October birthdays) out of school until they were 5 turning 6. She swears it was the best thing for both of them.
~I wish my son had been a summer birthday, so we could have kept him out of school for another year. Academically he’s fine. Socially and physically it is difficult for him. (He’s a late spring birthday.)
These are all things that I relate to parents of preschoolers when they have a summer birthday child (cut off date where I am in the midwest is 5 by Sept. 1st for K entrance). Then I take the teacher stand point.
~Can the child sit for group time?
~Can the child have sustained attention at an activity? Especially a sit-down activity, since our district requires a lot of seat work in K.
~How is the child’s social/emotional behavior?
~Are the gross and fine motor skills developed?
~Can the child follow rules and routine?
Then we look at the academic abilities. In our district they like to see at least 10 alphabet letters known, numbers 1-10, the child can write their name (uppercase 1st letter, lower case rest), can identify shapes and colors, understands print concepts, identifies some sounds that letters make, one to one correspondance counting to at least 5, and how their cutting and writing skills are developed.
However, talking to Kindergarten teachers that I know, they have told me the most important thing isn’t the academic knowledge, but it is the classroom behavior that makes a difference in how a child learns.
Those are my thoughts… Aren’t you glad you asked? LOL Sorry for the Loooooong comment.
Oh, one more thing…
I have a hard time with it when parents want their child to go to kindergarten to save on day care or because they snagged a spot in that exclusive school that they want their child to attend.
It is a personal decision for the parents, and I sincerely hope they take it seriously.
It’s sad that children are forced to grow up so quickly.
Okay, seriously. I’m done talking now.
Mrs. V
Why are we trying to get our babies out of the house so fast? I just don’t understand it. I wanted to be home with my children. I wasn’t a teacher at the time but I taught my children to listen, say their ABC’s and to count. Why do we think children have to be educated so young? Why aren’t we letting them be babies? No wonder children are having so many problems.
Thanks for your thoughtful replies. Mrs. V., it was interesting to hear the experiences of you and your family. My older son had a fall birthday, and would have been ready to start a bit early, but we decided to follow common wisdom and not “push” him ahead. By the following year when he got to go to K, he was reading Magic Treehouse books at the rate of one a day. He turned 6 soon after, and was the oldest child in class all year. He was also bored out of his mind. The following year he skipped a grade, and since then he has been at the right grade level. The whole thing is so hard to figure out, as each child is different.
Mystery Teacher, are you saying that kids shouldn’t go to preschool? You’re wonderful to have stayed home with your children and taught them what they need to know, and that is why they did well in school — they were well-prepared in their early years. Some parents want to be home with their children, but can’t afford it. Others have their children at home with them, but don’t prepare them for school, perhaps because they just don’t know how.
It isn’t that children should all go to preschool. It’s that all children have the right to enter kindergarten ready to be successful. Whether that comes from parents who do what you did, private preschools, daycare, or public school programs like mine, it is important that we give all kids a chance. Your children had a chance because you made the choices you did. Children in poverty deserve a chance, too. When my students come to me, they learn to share, take turns, listen to stories, solve problems, and follow directions. They also learn their ABC’s and counting.
When they start kindergarten in the fall, it is my sincere hope that they will be on equal footing with children like yours.
[...] Kindergarten Teacher (sorry, I couldn’t come up with anything else) Kiri at Elbows, Knees, Dreams shares her thoughts (and asks for others’ opinions) about early entrance to Kindergarten. [...]
Like you said, it’s different for each child. My instinct is, if you have to ask then it’s probably better to wait. I usually tell parents to wait if asked because almost all of the ones that ask want their kid to be ready but know they probably aren’t. What’s the rush?
That’s a hard one. Our experience was this–my daughter was a week over the K cutoff date. She was small and very, very reserved but had gone to two years of preschool with absolutely no issues. She was not particularly thrilled with preschool however and really just tolerated it. She was reading little books on her own and that is what she spent most of her time doing. When I asked to have her placed in K so she would not be bored by yet another year in preschool, I was told the deadline was absolute and no exceptions were made. So we dutifully sent her back to her part time preschool for some social interaction and spent the year reading and visiting parks and museums.
A year later when it was time to enter Kindergarten, she tested reading at the seventh grade level and now consumed chapter books a day as well as a variety of encyclopedias and non fiction books. The school had no accomodation for a child who now did not fit so well into kindergarten. The gifted program was the only option and that was 30 minutes pull out a week starting in third grade. I ended up homeschooling to avoid having a child burn out of school in Kindergarten, which is what I was afraid would happen. We may revisit the school issue again in a few years. I don’t know honestly what the answer for K entrance is, other than it needs to be on an individual basis, in my opinion.——
The district should have a policy for a ‘cut-off’ date for the Early Entrance visitors. Our district only tests children that will turn 5 by November 1st. Furthermore, kindergartners or pre-kindergartners can often look ready for school, but what we are talking about is making a decision that is very long-term. We are putting children in an environment where they will be the youngest learner and the youngest peer of their cohort for the rest of their educational years. Our decision rides highly on the shoulders of our school psychologist who does some assessing and looks at the children’s verbal, non-verbal, etc. skills. We can’t predict how a child will do just by a kindergarten visit. We can make a more accurate prediction by looking at their cognitive abilities and then determining what is the best route for these children. My montra is: It is better to ‘thrive’ than to survive. Keep these young children with their same age group. I am a veteran teacher and have seen this as the best result 99% of the time. Thanks for sharing!