Early childhood educators-K readiness question

[Kcthepouchh8r]

So a friend of mine has her kiddo in private therapy for fine motor delay. They are telling her he's not ready for k because he doesn't know all his letters and numbers visually. Are kids really expected to know all? My son knows half the alphabet and all numbers 1-10 by sight. Is that appropriate or should I be concerned? My gut says he's fine because his teachers don't have concerns but based on what my friend was told I'm paranoid.

[mamaalysson]

He's fine. Kids come in to K all over the map with letter and number recognition, and I promise it is all good. The teacher will assess those skills right at the start of the year (we did it before school even started) to figure out how to tailor her teaching to get all kids mastering those skills by the end of the year.

[amynumbers]

I can only go by our school -- yes the letters are considered baselines for entry into kindy -- the first letter goal is to work on sounds. Numbers 1-30 visually is a kindy goal (albeit a very early one).

I mean, I don't think they are going to kick a kid to the curb or anything, but especially with the letters there that is the assumption for a child coming in.

[Kcthepouchh8r]

Mar 10, 2015 10:26:20 GMT -5 amynumbers said:

I can only go by our school -- yes the letters are considered baselines for entry into kindy -- the first letter goal is to work on sounds. Numbers 1-30 visually is a kindy goal (albeit a very early one).

I mean, I don't think they are going to kick a kid to the curb or anything, but especially with the letters there that is the assumption for a child coming in.

Oddly enough my kiddo knows all his phonics, can give a word example of a word that begins with each letter but can't visually identify all. The visual piece is like the bane of his existence.

[lala]

Kids were all of the place in Dd's class this year. There was some work on letter recognition for those who needed it and they are still practicing writing numbers 11-30, though they can count to 100 by 1s, 5s, 10s.

I honestly don't even remember where DD was when she started - I think she recognized all letters, w/ typical d/b confusion. But really it's already a distant memory.

I'd say 1. the start of k is still 6 months away, 2. your preschool teachers should be telling you if there is a concern, and 3. He'll have a screening for kindergarten this spring, right? My takeaway from that was that if there was an area they thought improvement was needed in they'd tell you so you could work over the summer and also so they'd be aware in planning classes for the next year

While you do want your child to be as ready as possible, there's no one size fits all. In public kindergarten, if you meet the age requirement, they can't turn you away. You could show up the day school starts and you'd be registered ASAP.

[jnksmom]

He is fine. Kids enter K at all different levels especially with number and letter/sound recognition. The teacher will asses them all to know what to work on and how to teach them.
If his preschool teacher is not concerned I wouldn't be worried. Also he has 6 months before he starts K, he could master letter recognition before then.

[nicolewi]

They do a basic, informal skills assessment before K in our district but kids have a wide range of skills at that stage. It's not like they don't let kids enter kindergarten! I would say your friends' kid is fine and certainly shouldn't be held back unless there's a further reason.

[lala]

Mar 10, 2015 13:22:47 GMT -5 @kimbus22 said:

I think in our district, you have to know all the letters by sight and be able to read a few small words too. But I'd go with whatever your preschool teacher is saying. They usually know the district most of their kids go into and what will fly and what won't.

Well, they don't HAVE to, they can't deny entrance. I don't think reading site words is average or typical before the start of kindergarten. Some kids, yes. Some kids are also reading by 4. But most kids? 

[lala]

That's even more surprising to me, then, since the evaluations are a good 3-6 months before k even starts. I'm just surprised and that has not been my experience at all. But that's just my anecdote.

[Kcthepouchh8r]

Mar 10, 2015 14:59:44 GMT -5 lala said:

That's even more surprising to me, then, since the evaluations are a good 3-6 months before k even starts. I'm just surprised and that has not been my experience at all. But that's just my anecdote.

My anecdote is I don't know a single kid who knows sight words in last year of prek (besides dd but she's a SSS). I can't imagine the majority picking that up in natural development that young and the thought of drilling preschoolers who are an old four/young five to know that upon kindie entrance makes me kind of sad.

[fancynewbeesly]

I work in a school and I actually talked to my colleagues the other day about Reese. I know she isn't four yet, but right now she is interested in spelling, reading (sight words) and writing letters. I asked about what should I focus on (especially on letter formation). She isn't in a preschool/pre-k program and since all she wants to do is write letters, I didn't want to teach her the wrong way and then be in school and have to re-teach everything to her the correct way.

The teachers pretty much said not to worry; that kids come in and they are all levels and they catch up. They said that IF they are interested in something (not parent pushing/directive) seize that opportunity, and if they are ahead that is fine too. The ONLY thing they mentioned is when they write their name teach it in capital and lowercase. That is it. Because that is something that they do consistently have to reteach. But besides that, not to worry!

So don't worry