Kindergarten readiness

[mlc1982]

I'm sure I've seen something posted on here before, but could be another board I look at.

Anyway, does anybody know what is typical or what schools like for the kids to know before they enter kindergarten? Are there certain requirements?

I don't have any dck that go yet but am wondering how I can better prepare them here, since so far none of them have even been registered for pre-school either.

[Spixie33]

The KIndergarten readiness package we were given when my daughter was getting ready to go to JK indicated that

working on letter recognition
cutting with scissors in a straight and zig zag line
holding a pencil correctly
using a glue stick and having the motor skills to glue cut items to paper
and
writing their name
and counting and recognizing #s

They also recommended of course that you should teach them which way a book is held, which way words go across the page (left to right) and that pages are read left to right.

and they should be able to get their own shoes and do their own zippers on coats etc

[Barbara123]

Kindergarten readiness-Kindergartens do not have specific requirements but general guidelines that follow early development: 1. self-help--handles bathroom needs, can separate from parents, basic emotions and self-control; 2. understandable communication; 3. social skills--comfortable in peer groups, can share & take turns; 4. basic motor skills, 5. pre-academic--early counting, shapes, same-diff, some letters, etc. Can your child sing a simple song and listen to a short story?
Most people consider readiness as the pre-academics but the independent social and emotional skills are a key to being able to cope with kindergarten.
(My name is Barbara Allisen and I'm a kindergarten teacher, have a book about readiness, and a website (123kindergartendotc om). My site has a longer Developmental Checklist and daily learning idea blog for parents and caregivers.)
Kindergarten programs welcome kids where they are developmentally but readiness can make the whole experience so much more positive. Thank you for your concern--the early years are so important!

[Sandbox Sally]

This is meant with no disrespect toward the original poster whatsoever, but"

Wow. I never worried about "kindergarten readiness" with my children. To me, that just seems silly. Kindergarten is supposed to be used to prepare children for school, is it not?

Then again, I can imagine that there are some (not so good) parents out there that don't read to their children, or expose them to rudimentary concepts such as letters, shapes and colours.

So is this whole idea of "kindergarten readiness" the result of increasing amounts of parental apathy, or is it just another example of the escalating trend of overparenting?

[Spixie33]

This is meant with no disrespect toward the original poster whatsoever, but"

Wow. I never worried about "kindergarten readiness" with my children. To me, that just seems silly. Kindergarten is supposed to be used to prepare children for school, is it not?

Then again, I can imagine that there are some (not so good) parents out there that don't read to their children, or expose them to rudimentary concepts such as letters, shapes and colours.

So is this whole idea of "kindergarten readiness" the result of increasing amounts of parental apathy, or is it just another example of the escalating trend of overparenting?

I know - seems crazy - right?
As a parent I never thought there was anything I had to do to get my child ready for kindergarten....then I went to the registration and it was asking me 20 questions like
Does your child know how to correctly hold a pencil, can your child close their own zippers, snaps? How far can your child count? Can your child recognize the letter of the alphabet? Does your child know how to use scissors? can you child write one or two of their names?
I was floored.
Sure I did some learning with my kids like counting, ABCs, we read together etc but seeing that questionnaire I felt like a bad parent. I had concentrated on fun and quality time and just being a kid. I didn't know I should be letting them use scissors or teaching them to actually recognize a letter. I thought my child was doing great just being able to write their name, sing the ABCs and count to 10 and knew their colours. But the questionnaire was way more in depth than that.

Then...we went to the meeting for intro to kindergarten where they instructed parents all thing things we needed to do to prepare our child for Sept. teaching them there are words on the page, which way text goes, Being able to cut and paste, write two names, recognize the letters, recognize numbers, etc We were sent home with a bag of learning materials and suggested learning tools to start teaching letter sounds etc at home.

I was overwhelmed. When I started school or my younger siblings started school we went more or less to play, sing and have fun and reading did not start until grade 1 in any fashion but now parents /providers do have more pressure on them to be already 'pre-learning' with kids to get them ready for JK. Now you have JKs coming home with homework and it is totally different than what I remember as a kid

[sunnydays]

It's the same mentality that has lead many parents to enroll their kids in every activity possible before they are even walking. My 3 year old recently started a rec centre indoor soccer program and feels like he doesn't know how to play because many of the other 3-4 year olds have obviously been playing for awhile:eek: Most kids have no free time these days...it is all structured acitvities, which are great in moderation, but they need down-time too!

[mom-in-alberta]

Alphagetti; I think it's both! We have the two extremes of parenting these days. Those whose children are a burden, and get more tv time than face time with mom and dad. These parents definitely don't take the time to introduce the ideas of counting, colors, letters, etc.
And the hyper-parents who believe that the more your child is enrolled in, the better they (and hence the parents) are. Yikes.
I actually spoke with someone the other day about this. I have debated not sending my daughter to preschool, even though both my boys went. The preschool teacher I talked to said that all they really HOPE for (not even expect) is for the child to know their own name (not even write it), how to properly hold a writing instrument, counting up to 5 (not even 10!), and so on. And of course, being able to go to the bathroom independently, and dress themselves, put shoes on, etc.

[mlc1982]

This is meant with no disrespect toward the original poster whatsoever, but"

Wow. I never worried about "kindergarten readiness" with my children. To me, that just seems silly. Kindergarten is supposed to be used to prepare children for school, is it not?

Then again, I can imagine that there are some (not so good) parents out there that don't read to their children, or expose them to rudimentary concepts such as letters, shapes and colours.

So is this whole idea of "kindergarten readiness" the result of increasing amounts of parental apathy, or is it just another example of the escalating trend of overparenting?

As the original poster, I totally get what you're saying. It's just that now-a-days, as others have mentioned, things seem to be different.

I don't have kids old enough to go to preschool or kindergarten yet but I hear of kids going to these programs knowing their letters and numbers and how to write and spell. To me it seems like a bit much but also as a day home provider who looks after these young kids, I somewhat feel like it's my job to have them 'ready' for whatever comes their way. I have a girl here now who should be starting kindergarten next September and from what I've heard, she's nowhere near ready for that. She's 4 and can barely hold a pencil properly. I don't think parents are working with their kids as much as they could be these days and if they are, it's in the wrong ways.

[sunnydays]

I think the reason that parents are not working with their kids more on school readiness is because they are at work all day and come home, make dinner and put the kids to bed...leaving no time for much more than a bedtime story if they are lucky. That's why it ends up falling on the daycare providers since we have the kids for more hours in the week than the parents. However, I don't think learning these skills should ever come at the expense of the child having time to play and be a kid and learn socially. These are formative years and I would hate to see kids being pressured and stress being put on them at the age of two or three because they don't know their letters or how to hold a pencil. At the same time, you don't want to completely neglect these things and have the kid feel inadequate when they start school because all their peers know these things. It's a difficult balance to strike!

[momplus6]

The kindergarten my son went to had no such requirments he couldn't hold a pencil properly spell his name or recoganize all the letters he could say them though. I never worried about it to be honest isn't that what school is for? I guess it really depends on the school here you have to register in Jan so you should be able to ask then and have lots of time to prepare. My friend put her child in a really academically structed program and she had to know a bunch of stuff for kindergarten they also had homework everynight in kindergarten.

[Sandbox Sally]

See, that's the thing...why should we have to "work with" our kids?? The things I mentioned before - shapes, colours, etc are more absorbed and learned from natural curitosity than a parent actually having to sit down and teach a preschooler.

My own kids aren't that old. In fact, my youngest is only in grade 2. I never got any notices home about having him or my other older two ready for kindergarten.

[Emily3]

Hi, my questions sort of relates to this thread so I'll post here! I have 3 children around 20 months old and one older sibling who will be 4 in April. My kids here learn through play mostly but I was wondering if I should do more with the oldest child? He can count objects up 20, use glue to assemble crafts without help, recognize and write his name, sometimes hold a pencil properly etc. Honestly, he just wants to run around with the little ones and has no interest in sitting still for more than 2 minutes so I have worked these things into play! His parents seem thrilled that he can do so much more than before so I'm really just wondering for future reference if anyone thinks only being around younger children would hold someone back at all?

[waterloo day mom]

The only actual "learning" time that we do where we sit and focus on something is 1) if we are doing some kind of science experiment (what happens if we mix 2 different colours, we made a composter, we tested what things float and what sink, etc) where the kids are actively discovering the concept that I am teaching or 2) during circle time I will have them find me the colour and shape that we have been working on. Once the kids are about to start kindergarten, we play some computer games for letter recognition and practice writing letters when they are painting or colouring. People of any age learn best when they are actively engaged (not just listening) and when they are enjoying what they are doing.

[Momof4]

I have different learning themes every week and cover A and #1 in the first week of Jan. and work all the way to Z and #20 in the last week of August. This is my way of preparing the children for JK and the repetitive way I teach indoors and outdoors as we craft and sing and walk and talk and play is planting all the little seeds into their minds that they can call on later in life. Yes I agree that shapes and colours and letters and numbers and fine motor movement is all important.

However, I am not responsible for making sure a child can print their name or even one letter! I just had a little boy graduate who would not even try anything regarding sitting and working on printed pages. But after just a couple of months in JK he can now print his name, recites the alphabet over and over (which he would never even try for me) and so much more. It was IN THERE! He just didn't want me to know he was paying attention.

Don't sweat it, just do your best.

[Judy Trickett]

I don't think it is our job to "teach" children. I DO think it is our job to offer a stimulating environment where in they can learn about their world by just being IN the environment.

I think it is really UNfair for society to pay us what they do and then expect us to TEACH children and have expectations for academic readiness.

Sorry, but when someone drops their child in a care situation and pays the provider a mere $3-4 an hour for that care with NO benefits, NO retirement plan, NO paid vacation, No Employment Insurance etc etc etc, it is absurd to also expect them to be a kindergarten teacher as well.

[dodge__driver11]

Here here Judy!! While we do crafts, reading, songs and take every chance to learn we are not teachers! I couln't have said it better myself....

[carla]

judys reason above is why i left the headstart program. children who barely spoke english came to the program and the first day we met them we had to sit them down and do kindergarden readiness. the children were not allowed to play unless it was to work on goals for there iep. i had enough and quite. I am all about learning through play and the children having fun doing it.

Children may not know they are learning but they sure know they are having fun.

[playfelt]

You make a really good point Carla in that sometimes when we think of kindergarten readiness we think of sit down at a desk paper based work. We can do what we have done for the last two years with the children just using different materials such as letter cards in the pocket chart instead of just pictures or matching hot wheels cars by colour and naming them so they learn metallic and gold, silver, burgundy as well as the basic crayon box colours. It is just about realizing that year before school we need to take note of just what they are grasping from their play and set up the environment so the correct materials are there so the learning takes place. It doesn't mean we have to change our programs to suddenly start drilling these concepts into the kids. If we have done our environments right all along they have naturally grasped what they needed to learn already and now we just need to check and confirm the learning. The new Ontario Kindergarten program sounds like they may have started to realize that it is possible and more beneficial to learn through play rather than just worksheets or at least that is what is coming through in the documents I have been reading.