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So today my son was tested on some sight words. We got the words last Friday and have been practicing them all week. He knew them with us the only words he confused a bit were in and is. We found out from the teacher that he only knew 3 of the words when tested today with her.
DH and I feel frustrated. I anticipated something like this would happen but we did our best with learning and he knew them with us then flubbed with the teacher. In a completely different environment and with a different person and who knows what else was going on his 5 yr old brain. I feel a bit dismayed. He is a bright boy, has an extensive vocabulary, but he will be judged on these 10 words that he didn’t know with this teacher.
Is it too early to worry?
Why are you putting your minus 6 year old through an anxiety producing process. Don't you think he/she can't read your emotions and figure out that you are upset about his/her performance. Let him/her have his/her childhood. PLEASE!
We probably did overreact to this. He’s our first child and the transition to school has not been that easy.
We are probably on edge with this teacher for a few other reasons too. My son also had this teacher last year in k1. He’s in k2 now. Last year the teacher reported to us that he was going to the bathroom a lot (pee). Our son was 4 years old and we weren’t sure what to make of this but the teacher was basically complaining it felt like. She even said something like it can be disturbing to the class and someone has to go with him. The bathroom was literally right next to the classroom. She even let us know how often he asked to go, the times he went etc. she made a list. I think our son knew that him going to the bathroom outside the times the class was taken was frowned upon and a few times he wet his pants. We even took him to the dr, our pediatrician thought this was normal and that kids are different at this age with how often they go. We still had him tested for diabetes. All was fine there. Teacher just felt like he went too much for her liking and sometimes she said he would be holding himself. Again this is normal and I’m not even a teacher and I’ve seen little boys do this my whole life. I also have to point out that the teacher is 25 or 26 years old.
So he ended up having the same teacher again this year. We were like ok, the school year ended up being fine in the end. My son had no bathroom trouble all summer then the first week back to school he wet his pants. I went to the school with new clothes for him. When I saw the teacher she was like he had already gone a few times and he was soaked. I just said well I don’t know what to say but this hasn’t happened all summer. It was like she wanted an apology or explanation from me. This hasn’t happened again since and he and the teacher now have a sign where he crosses his fingers if he has to use the bathroom in addition to the assigned time. This is a catholic school. My DH told the teacher last year to just let our son go to the bathroom when he needs to. We are probably moving this spring and he won’t be going to this school next year.
I’m explaining all this because I feel like perhaps the teacher doesn’t like my son or us because of this. It really seemed to be an issue for her that he wasn’t more regimented with his bathroom habits. If a 4 year old has to go you let them go! End of story but she saw things differently. DH and I just hope she isn’t trying to pick at our son or at us.
Oh gosh. Is there a way to quietly move him to another class? This could be another long year.
So today my son was tested on some sight words. We got the words last Friday and have been practicing them all week. He knew them with us the only words he confused a bit were in and is. We found out from the teacher that he only knew 3 of the words when tested today with her.
DH and I feel frustrated. I anticipated something like this would happen but we did our best with learning and he knew them with us then flubbed with the teacher. In a completely different environment and with a different person and who knows what else was going on his 5 yr old brain. I feel a bit dismayed. He is a bright boy, has an extensive vocabulary, but he will be judged on these 10 words that he didn’t know with this teacher.
Is it too early to worry?
Are you thinking that in 13 years Harvard will see the results of this Kindergarten test and reject his application?
What makes you think pre-K students aren't assessed?
My pre-K students, we're just assessed on color, number, and letter recognition. They'll be assessed again around Christmas break, and then at the end of the school year. They're also officially assessed by the school sometime in the spring so they can track how much they've improved between spring pre-K and spring kindergarten.
The previous district I worked in assessed all pre-K, kindergarten, and 1st grade students 3 times a year to track their progress.
This. It sounds like the NWEA MAP growth testing oldest grandson has three times a year. He attends a private school for gifted kids (is now in first grade at age five), and had everyone fooled in Kindergarten last year because he wasn't participating out loud in class or responding well orally to questions, yet always produced the correct answers either written or on the computer. Yet, all assessments showed steady growth, and at the end of last year he tested in the 99th and 98th percentile respectively in math and reading.
It's not necessarily what the child does or doesn't know, it's the method of testing they're responding to.
Last edited by Mrs. Skeffington; 10-06-2019 at 07:25 AM..
How well a very young child tests has a lot to do with the "examiner" and environment. When we fostered our son (whom we later adopted), he was tested at the age of three at the local Children's Hospital in a very clinical environment by someone who came off as being just coldly professional and who"rushed" him through the questions, and he did not do nearly as well as we knew he could. As a result of the test, he was referred to Child Find for extra help, and at the "interview" process there, which was conducted in a very welcoming environment with a young and upbeat examiner, he scored at least average in all areas and above the 90th percentile in vocabulary. In short, we were told that he definitely did not qualify for Child Find services. (This was in 1997, btw.)
Btw, although he was above average in intelligence and scored very high on various tests, he was resistant to taking tests all through school.
My 5 year old brand new kindergartner only knew 6 of the words in his first 10 word set the day of his test when we practiced at home. We practice every night. But to the teacher he knew 9. I think he just doesnt want to do it at home. We practice but i try not to stress him out about it. Hes only just started and has lot of years to go yet.
Wow. Some really rude people on this parenting board. Other parents are by far the worst critics and judges ever. If my kid has to pee at 4 he’s going to pee.
People are not rude simply because they don't support every idea you have.
You acknowledged that someone must take the student to the bathroom, which is disruptive, but you don't consider that in your response. I'm sure a teacher, regardless of age, has more important things to focus on than which parents or students they "don't like."
Well we found out today that the teacher has been presenting the words in lower case and we have been going over them with him in upper case. He knows upper case better than Lower. The teacher could have been clearer on this. She didn’t say specifically that she’ll be doing the quizzing in lower case. We assumed upper case.
Yes hand me the wine.
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