Aha!

[kyburg]

So yesterday, Jim takes the kid over to the prospective kindergarden for testing. 'Just to make sure he's ready.' Okay, that sounds reasonable.

Everyone over at his preschool routinely gushes about how bright, awesome and wonderful he is - they see him everyday, must be something okay going on.

Well, not so much.

He's not ready for THIS kindergarden. Their program begins with their own preschool, mind. And while I have visions of escalator schools beginning this young, I'm also not unaware that they might be doing us a favor.

You don't want to leave kids behind. And seeing what they need? Oh baby, they would leave our kid behind in the dust. We have eight months - all the basics are in place, but I don't think anyone knew they were testing an English Language Learner and I'm certain they didn't know they were testing a kid who'd only been speaking English for a year.

When I talk to them, I'll let them know. Then ask them for tutoring assistance.

He's not delayed - it's clear he's not challenged there in any way. It's just that they want him counting all the way to 100, unaided. He does exceptionally well on the way, but gets bored and drops off. Understands the structure, but doesn't do it much. I see many rounds of '99 bottles of beer' in the car.

Wants him able to print the entire alphabet, in order, both upper and lower case. Unaided. Write his name legibly. (This is much better than six months ago, but still.)

Able to read simple sentences. Able to spell simple words, unaided.

Able to do simple math equations.

That's what I was able to get from Jim when they got home last night.

Since we're really not doing much on a daily basis beyond getting dinner, some social time and then bed in on the weekdays, there's plenty of time to squeeze in an hour of schoolwork at night.

I told his teacher this morning, and her jaw dropped. We'll see.

90 days, and we'll retest. This morning, I loaded a ton of things on the iPod for kid to play with in the car, and heard him spelling three letter words by himself inside of five minutes. I don't think this is a problem.

Hey, there's that delay I was expecting. I am now completely justified in leaving him in preschool that extra year to get more lanugage onboard. Naw, didn't know a thing about it.

Comments

[vampireanneke.livejournal.com]

I still remember part of the test I took to enter Kindergarden. I had to be able to identify colors (which I found silly because it was on the crayons where I could see it and so I just read the colors vs identifying them). And I remember they taught the alphabet in Kindergarden, and how to write your name then to (yes I could read but I don't think I could write, then I have a history of hand/eye coordination issues). I remembered you worked on writing letters ALOT in kindergarden and learning them. So it's strange that they want so much more now adays.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

OMG OMG OMG

I've not only taught developmental kindergarten, I've done kindergarten screening tests, and that is asking way, way too much. I honestly wouldn't want to send my kid to a school that wanted 1-100 and that degree of reading or writing before entrance.

[sekl.livejournal.com]

Is this a private or a public Kindergarten? The standards seem unusually high for a California public school...they are exactly what most kids spend all of Kindergarten learning. Counting 1-20 and recognizing all the letters is a bit more on par with "Kindergarten readiness."

Anyway sounds like you're doing well prepping for the retest. It's just...odd.

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

Wow that seems more like end of kindergarten or early first grade based on our public School experience in NJ. Won't hurt to work with him but I would look int other options for kindergarten also.

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

My son is in the San Gabriel Unified School District, attending Wilson Elementary. It was awarded the 2010 California Distinguished School Award.

The stuff you've got listed? Is what's on the curriculum for the kids to know by the end of first grade.

[sekl.livejournal.com]

My first experience with wild expectations...Manhattan Beach Unified School District. And the teachers were not what I had hoped. Eventually we moved to the Redondo Beach school district just to get away from the cram school mentality. Teachers were much better at Redondo too.

[gretchen-marie.livejournal.com]

That? Is insane. Seriously. I parrot what others have said, that's more like first grade level stuff...

I'm just sitting here stunned. Really. This isn't reasonable.

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

This is good to know. We're in Alhambra Unified (hi, neighbor!), and I must admit that it sounds like standards have changed over the years. We have a few years to go (daughter will turn 1 soon), but it looks like these are what we need to get ready for in the next few years.

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I misread your reply. Mainly, I just wanted to say hi, since you're in the next town over.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with all the above comments - that's a ridiculous amount of knowledge for a kindergartner.

Moreover, if that's what they are supposed to know on entrance, I quake to think what the curriculum is going to be for the year! Sounds like a recipe for a nervous breakdown!

Howdy, neighbor!

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

I haven't look into what-all's going on with the Alhambra (because I have good reading comprehension, apparently) school district, and we're moving this year to South Pasadena. However, just so's you know, on most Fridays, a bunch of local women meet at Cloverleaf Bakery, around 10am, to sit and schmooze about whatever. I think I'm the only LJ user that goes - almost everyone else is from the Pasadena Tarot Meetup Group - it's an excuse to hang out and chat about anything, with good coffee and yummy snackies, without a preset topic and (for me) without kinderschnitzels in tow. If you're on facebook, I can invite you to the Cloverleaf Coffee Klatch group :)

[murphymom.livejournal.com]

It's the downward spiral effect - the more knowledge that becomes "basic" to a fully-functioning adult (read 'high school graduate'), the more the standards have to be pushed downward in grades. And the more kids who fall behind as a result, especially second-language learners who lack someone at home to provide them the kind of support Donna's giving Xander. I am routinely dealing with middle school students who are three and four years below grade-level in reading comp, and many who are further behind than that. Add to that the whole "teaching to the test" fiasco forced on us by people who are incapable of judging success except in terms of numbers, and it's a wonder anyone gets educated at all. (Bitter, moi?)

That being said - check out the California state standards (1997) and compare them to the new Common Core standards (Aug 2010) - http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if they just ran the test out because he was doing well, or if something else going on. Those standards sound absurd to me.

[turandot.livejournal.com]

From teaching public school in the past, the first two requirements (count to 100, write in upper/lower print by the end of preschool) actually sound about right in Texas. There's a big push there to move the goalposts of learning down more and more. Oh, and there's a list of 50 words that children should know by sight the end of kindergarten, so they are tested on day 1 of school to see if the kids happen to know any of them. The difference between children who have gone to preschool (who sometimes know between 10-15 of them) and those who have not (they usually don't even do well in the print requirement) is unfortunately staggering. Can you imagine being in Kindergarten and already being an academic failure? It's happening in schools all over the country, right now. Used to be you could play in kindergarten and preschool. Not anymore.

Not sure how that compares with California, but yes, the ridiculous standards on what a 5 year old should know entering kindergarten are, sadly, out there.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

*snickers* Preschool is prepping to the Manhattan Beach standards. The school in question? Private in Torrance.

All this for before and after care options. Seriously.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

I wish I had them - preschool, I can't throw a rock without hitting one. We have all the public schools we're entitled to. First through fifth, etc.? Done.

Kindergarden, a total wasteland. This is the only one I've found that has a sufficient curriculum and care options for us. Only, as in singular.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

But you know what? I'm pretty sure he's going to make it. And woe to me if I don't keep him that busy.

Will let you know in 90 days.

[ms-hecubus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the stuff I remember learning in 1st grade. In Kindergarten we learned the letters and their phonic sounds, writing and counting. Reading and math didn't start until 1st.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

It's possible to keep kids really busy without stuffing formal learning into their heads. If he's ready for it, then okay, but if he isn't then it's not a failure on your parts.

[monkeyfruit.livejournal.com]

God, I remember being able to read and write at two. My kindy test was just... being asked to add 1 and 2 and 3 mentally. At a party at the principal's house @_@ What...?

Re: Howdy, neighbor!

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the invite! We're still a little off in the sleep schedule, but I hope that sometime in the next few months I could join. I actually have a student who lives near there, so I could probably give him his lesson at home that day. (private adult voice student). And actually, I'm on FB too, although I spend far too much time on the games than anything else (something to do while nursing).