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Yes, you have to pay for pre-K here, unless your kid is at risk in some way, then it is covered by either a Title I grant or another grant program, depending on specific qualifications that apply to each type of grant.
Qualifications include:
- family qualifies for the free lunch program.
- custodial parent is unmarried at the time of enrollment
- student has been referred by DCF for educational services.
- at least one parent was a teen when the child was born.
- a parent is lacking a GED or high school diploma.
- child has limited English proficiencies based on ELL assessment.
- student is developmentally or academically delayed based on validated assessment, but
above the eligibility criteria for Special Education services.
- a parent is on ACTIVE DUTY in the military.
- student qualifies for services under the Migrant Education Program
I suppose they assume that the children who don’t speak English, or are otherwise handicapped, NEED the preschool, but for the rest of you, the children will be ready for kindergarten without it.
That's precisely why they started offering it. It was found that kids who were at risk or disadvantaged needed help to get them closer to the same level of those who didn't have those same disadvantages.
Getting a 4 yr old into Kindergarten is virtually impossible since it isn't required. I believe the only law on the books regarding starting K is that you have to be 5 by September 1. After that it is up to the school districts to accept or not and perhaps the district you mention has set the standard at passing the 3rd grade staar?
If you are concerned about what they are learning academically, find out what is expected for Kindergarten and see if he is actually ready for that. If so, then you could always look into a child care center that has a private Kindergarten where he could continue to advance, or a private school as neither are bound by the Sept 1 law.
Also, speaking from experience you will find that the financial break isn't near what you think it will be. School supplies, lunch costs, fundraisers, school picture packages, book fairs, yearbooks, school t-shirts and so on add up quickly.
It is a state mandate, the 3rd grade STAAR. It is required in all of the state of Texas for your children to be able to start a grade early. I have no idea why they think a 4 or 5 year old could pass this lol
Well school supplies are only bought once for the lower grades, anyway. lunch I can see. We would still have to pay for after school care but I think it would be a break from what we are paying now. The other things are not necessary and if we did want them, generally just once a year. Not an every month hundreds of dollars cost. I just don't know how people have multiple children. I guess their spouses make enough they can stay home and don't have to scramble around finding affordable daycare and worry about before and after care or try to get them into school to get a small break.
But my original post was just curiosity. My cousin lives in a suburb of Houston and her daughter is going to preschool for free, she has no delays and only speaks English. They are not low income, either. I live in a suburb of Dallas where preschool is considered public school but it is very expensive. Just wondering how that all works out. For now, his preschool is much cheaper so he will stay there.
That's precisely why they started offering it. It was found that kids who were at risk or disadvantaged needed help to get them closer to the same level of those who didn't have those same disadvantages.
Right. Privileged people shouldn't be demanding the program. It's not for them.
He is 4. He cannot attend kindergarten until next year, when he will be almost 6 due to a late birthday. The only way for him to attend kindergarten instead of PreK AGAIN this year as he started PreK3 last fall (I feel like he just keeps learning the same things over and over) would be to pass the 3rd grade STAAR test, which seems ridiculous lol if he can pass that, I think he should go into 4th grade! lol
When I first found out I was pregnant, I was hoping to test him into kinder early, but then I found out that there is not all day kinder everywhere and that we would probably still have to pay a ridiculous amount of daycare whether he was in school or not (And, also, the weird law about passing a 3rd grade test-which I'm assuming is because they do not want children to come early due to resources or class size?). Really the only time we would catch a financial break would be 1st grade. Unless we move...to another district where it's different. It just seems strange to me that public school education is not state mandated everywhere. but I guess there are different socioeconomic backgrounds they have to take into consideration. I am not sure how it all works.
So you really just want him in kindergarten is so you don't have to pay for daycare?
Okay, I might be mistaken about this -- very possibly I am! -- but I thought there was at least one study done that showed that most five-year-olds could not easily handle more than four hours of actual "school" (as opposed to play or free time).
Also, I don't think that daycare should be the responsibility of taxpayers. If someone can't afford to pay for all their kids' needs, then I don't think people should have them (or at least not more than one).
I did not have any kind of preschool or daycare before I started kindergarten (and that was only for four hours), but I did just fine without it.
Last edited by katharsis; 08-22-2018 at 05:40 PM..
He is 4. He cannot attend kindergarten until next year, when he will be almost 6 due to a late birthday. The only way for him to attend kindergarten instead of PreK AGAIN this year as he started PreK3 last fall (I feel like he just keeps learning the same things over and over) would be to pass the 3rd grade STAAR test, which seems ridiculous lol if he can pass that, I think he should go into 4th grade! lol
When I first found out I was pregnant, I was hoping to test him into kinder early, but then I found out that there is not all day kinder everywhere and that we would probably still have to pay a ridiculous amount of daycare whether he was in school or not (And, also, the weird law about passing a 3rd grade test-which I'm assuming is because they do not want children to come early due to resources or class size?). Really the only time we would catch a financial break would be 1st grade. Unless we move...to another district where it's different. It just seems strange to me that public school education is not state mandated everywhere. but I guess there are different socioeconomic backgrounds they have to take into consideration. I am not sure how it all works.
Here is how it works: public schools exist to educate children in grades k-12, during specified hours of the day, for 180 days/year. Because schools do not have the resources to accommodate every possible deviation, anything outside of those parameters is on the parents or guardarians to figure out. As a fellow working mom, all I can suggest is to get used to it, because it really doesn’t get much easier once they age out of daycare.
Last edited by Ginge McFantaPants; 08-22-2018 at 05:42 PM..
He is 4. He cannot attend kindergarten until next year, when he will be almost 6 due to a late birthday. The only way for him to attend kindergarten instead of PreK AGAIN this year as he started PreK3 last fall (I feel like he just keeps learning the same things over and over) would be to pass the 3rd grade STAAR test, which seems ridiculous lol if he can pass that, I think he should go into 4th grade! lol
When I first found out I was pregnant, I was hoping to test him into kinder early, but then I found out that there is not all day kinder everywhere and that we would probably still have to pay a ridiculous amount of daycare whether he was in school or not (And, also, the weird law about passing a 3rd grade test-which I'm assuming is because they do not want children to come early due to resources or class size?). Really the only time we would catch a financial break would be 1st grade. Unless we move...to another district where it's different. It just seems strange to me that public school education is not state mandated everywhere. but I guess there are different socioeconomic backgrounds they have to take into consideration. I am not sure how it all works.
We have jr k here at a lot of preschools for kids who already did preschool and pre k. I paid for an extra year for both of my kids. If yours did a 3 year old class, they shouldn't get the same work in a class for 4 year olds.
Quote:
Originally Posted by etjaipleure
Maybe not then but a lot of parents are working now and need their children to go somewhere to learn, usually for a full day and earlier than 1st grade. There should be more resources for parents who work.
Aside from free public school, the fact was I even had a hard time finding a daycare that was open year round. It is not like most parents get a month off for christmas and don't work during the summers, and yet, that is all I could find for daycare in this area. It took MONTHS for us to find the preschool/daycare he is in now. With both parents working, you would think times would change to catch up and provide safe daycares, affordable daycares, more resources.
You are not the only family that needs child care during school breaks. It exists. Look around.
So you really just want him in kindergarten is so you don't have to pay for daycare?
That is apparently what some people want, this person lives in an affluent area and has two incomes (both wife and husband work) and complains that the free public pre-schools are limited to children with developmental delays. This is a privileged person complaining about public services that are free for children with disabilities.
If someone is well off enough to live in an affluent area, they should be able to pay for daycare. Good grief.
Yikes!! How could my parents have made such a life altering decision to forgo my education?!?!?!?
(By the way, I graduated from a Top-50 ranked national university in the US.)
I didn’t even go to kindergarten long ago. You had to pay and we were poor. My sister did because the year she started it became free. I did manage to graduate from university, too, although a state facility.
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