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My Daughter- in-Law is concerned about her daughter's kindergarten class. She just started last week, and feels that what is being taught right now is everything my granddaughter already knows. She feels she will be bored with learning addresses, circling letters. She would prefer her to start practicing penmanship, reading, etc. This is a school in Cherokee country and has high ratings.
My advise was wait a bit and then have a talk with the teacher. Being the first couple of weeks, they may be seeing where the class stands, altho all were tested beforehand. She seems to think that they have put various levels of students in one class. Those who are at the lower level, and those on a higher one. My granddaughter tested very high.
Will it effect her and cause her to be bored and not reach her potential this first year? She has a bit of a listening problelm...........could it get worse if she is not challenged?
My Daughter- in-Law is concerned about her daughter's kindergarten class. She just started last week, and feels that what is being taught right now is everything my granddaughter already knows. She feels she will be bored with learning addresses, circling letters. She would prefer her to start practicing penmanship, reading, etc. This is a school in Cherokee country and has high ratings.
My advise was wait a bit and then have a talk with the teacher. Being the first couple of weeks, they may be seeing where the class stands, altho all were tested beforehand. She seems to think that they have put various levels of students in one class. Those who are at the lower level, and those on a higher one. My granddaughter tested very high.
Will it effect her and cause her to be bored and not reach her potential this first year? She has a bit of a listening problelm...........could it get worse if she is not challenged?
This is the same situation my niece is in. She already does first grade math and can read. She has to sit in that classroom, though.
If she's that concerned a week into kindergarten, it's going to be a long 13 years till high school graduation. She should follow your advice.
For a bright student, an important part of school is learning to sit and wait while others in the class catch up. I don't agree with it, and it's one reason why I don't send my kids to school, but it is what it is, unfortunately.
For a bright student, an important part of school is learning to sit and wait while others in the class catch up. I don't agree with it, and it's one reason why I don't send my kids to school, but it is what it is, unfortunately.
I think Beanandpumpkin is correct overall, which is why I would ask for her to be accelerated either in the subject or the grade itself.
That's really the norm for all grades...classes mixed with various levels of abilities since not all students grow at the same pace academically. So, nothing to worry about there. A good teacher expects that and handles it well.
In Kindergarten, teachers have so much more to teach the kids when school starts than the academic parts and more than other grade levels. Most kids come in having no idea about classroom rules and etiquette, so the teacher has to work with them on the basics of how the class runs. They have never been to a cafeteria/lunchroom and have to learn how that works regarding what to do when and dealing with time management and lunch money. There is a class schedule to be learned, what's appropriate at recess/PE, how to handle using the restroom, where personal belongings go and so on and so on. All that takes time and effort to get the class running smoothly.
On top of all that, the teachers are typically required to do assessments, testing and observations on each child during the first several weeks of school in order to know where they stand academically so they then know what has been mastered and what needs improvement on each individual child.
Our particular district does parent conferences after the first 6 week grading period in which the teacher discusses all that. Basically that means they expect it to take that long to get to that point.
What I'd do, and did myself for my son this last year, was to have a casual conversation with the teacher after a couple of weeks or so about my child in a general sense of his level. It was more a heads up wanting her to be aware that he wasn't the normal Kindergarten student. She listened openly to me and then began to approach him in a different manner to help her decide if I was accurate or if I was simply another parent who thought my student was something he was not. (which is more often the case)
She very quickly learned that her normal curriculum would do nothing for my son, and she did everything she could to help him continue to progress on his level while she still helped him learn all the other things kids need to learn in Kindergarten. He went to a first grade class for the reading curriculum, though that was still a bit below his level. He was given math work from 1st, then 2nd and finally 3rd grade to keep him challenged in that subject. He was given thought provoking projects to work on while other kids were doing basic projects.
She worked hard for him, just as she did for the kids who couldn't recognize letters when they began with her.
So, my advice is for mom to wait a couple of weeks or more to let all the kids learn the basics of school first and allow the teacher time to assess the students. Then have a conversation or schedule a conference with the the teacher about her individual child. All good teachers will help all students at the level they need, whether or not it's advanced.
Mom can also volunteer in the classroom between now and then to get an idea of what her daughter needs from this class, including the very important listening issue you mention. Additionally, mom can always continue to work with her daughter at home on things not typically taught in Kindergarten to keep her challenged.
That's really the norm for all grades...classes mixed with various levels of abilities since not all students grow at the same pace academically. So, nothing to worry about there. A good teacher expects that and handles it well.
In Kindergarten, teachers have so much more to teach the kids when school starts than the academic parts and more than other grade levels. Most kids come in having no idea about classroom rules and etiquette, so the teacher has to work with them on the basics of how the class runs. They have never been to a cafeteria/lunchroom and have to learn how that works regarding what to do when and dealing with time management and lunch money. There is a class schedule to be learned, what's appropriate at recess/PE, how to handle using the restroom, where personal belongings go and so on and so on. All that takes time and effort to get the class running smoothly.
On top of all that, the teachers are typically required to do assessments, testing and observations on each child during the first several weeks of school in order to know where they stand academically so they then know what has been mastered and what needs improvement on each individual child.
Our particular district does parent conferences after the first 6 week grading period in which the teacher discusses all that. Basically that means they expect it to take that long to get to that point.
What I'd do, and did myself for my son this last year, was to have a casual conversation with the teacher after a couple of weeks or so about my child in a general sense of his level. It was more a heads up wanting her to be aware that he wasn't the normal Kindergarten student. She listened openly to me and then began to approach him in a different manner to help her decide if I was accurate or if I was simply another parent who thought my student was something he was not. (which is more often the case)
She very quickly learned that her normal curriculum would do nothing for my son, and she did everything she could to help him continue to progress on his level while she still helped him learn all the other things kids need to learn in Kindergarten. He went to a first grade class for the reading curriculum, though that was still a bit below his level. He was given math work from 1st, then 2nd and finally 3rd grade to keep him challenged in that subject. He was given thought provoking projects to work on while other kids were doing basic projects.
She worked hard for him, just as she did for the kids who couldn't recognize letters when they began with her.
So, my advice is for mom to wait a couple of weeks or more to let all the kids learn the basics of school first and allow the teacher time to assess the students. Then have a conversation or schedule a conference with the the teacher about her individual child. All good teachers will help all students at the level they need, whether or not it's advanced.
Mom can also volunteer in the classroom between now and then to get an idea of what her daughter needs from this class, including the very important listening issue you mention. Additionally, mom can always continue to work with her daughter at home on things not typically taught in Kindergarten to keep her challenged.
Kindergarten starts out slow and then really picks up after about a month. Unfortunately, they have to start with the very basic and do a quick review for all the stuff students should have learned in preschool but since it's not mandatory you get kids who don't know colors, how to write their name, how to even use a bathroom on their own. So they have to go over all those skills. It's just like in other grades they spend the first couple weeks reviewing last years information since kids lose something like 30% of what they learned over the summer. Like everyone else said wait a few weeks and just tell the teacher that you wanted to let them know that your daughter is able to do such and such skill already and what can you be doing at home to progress her along and casually ask if she would put her into groupings in class to promote her skill level. Most likely once the class gets into reading she will be put into a higher level reading group or even asked to go to a 1st grade class for reading. Give it a little time and start practicing the skills you already know she’s has at home first.
The goals for most kindergarten curricula are to know names, home addresses, shapes, colors, numbers to 100, alphabet, basic phonemic awareness, rhyming, syllables, and some sight words. Beyond that it is a very important year for social development and learning the rules of school and a time when personal hygiene is introduced.
Having just interned in kindergarten, I can tell you that even the very advanced children are rarely bored. They are still at an age when just being part of the classroom social environment is stimulating. Also, good teachers find ways to differentiate the curriculum for both struggling and accelerated students. Through centers, small group work, and one-on-one attention, your grandchild will most likely get what she needs.
Though some children are ready to read very quickly and can benefit from a little extra work in and out of school, it's not developmentally appropriate for all children to push too fast. Though some pre-literacy activities may seem overly simple, sometimes they are the building blocks that prevent learning difficulties from developing later. Though about 25% of children will easily learn to read no matter how they are taught, most others really benefit from letter identification, learning the left-to-right reading pattern, learning the difference between letters and words, and other "easy" activities. In terms of math, children at this age are usually pre-logical, meaning that they still have to learn that quantities (both volume and numbers of objects) are consistent unless you take away or add an amount. Until they master that consistently, which takes more time than you might think, manipulating numbers through addition and subtraction has to wait.
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She has a bit of a listening problelm...........could it get worse if she is not challenged?
