Preschool & kindergarten question?

Question

My daughter is 4 years old but is not able to start school until next year because her birthday is in October and we do not have a 3 year old program near our city. My question is when she goes to school will they have her do a test or anything to see if she is too advanced for preschool? She and I do "school" at home for about an hour Mon-Fri. I bought her a bunch of preschool workbooks and she would not do them very long because she got bored and they didn't have enough of a challenge for her so I bought her some kindergarten workbooks and about half of the work from those bores her but there is a lot of it she likes. She knows all of her colors and shapes and letters and numbers, she can do simple math, letter sounds, opposites, rhyme words, differences, ect...I'm not trying to sound like oh my child is a genius or anything but I think she is too advanced for preschool and worry she will get bored and maybe even be a distraction to the other kids. I want her to start out liking school in fears that she will see it as just boring because of her first impression. Not to mention I want her to be able to go to her best potential. Has anyone went through the child birthday and starting school late? Dis they place your child accordingly or did they have to start preschool regardless?

Answer 1

Keep it up. You are doing a great job. I think there is no need to go preschool if your daughter is so brilliant.

Answer 2

I am not questioning whether she is smart-but I will say that she is bored because workbooks are boring. Children that age learn by doing-real experiences. They need hands on experiences, their brains are not developed to learn by a workbook yet. This is fact. She may seem like she is learning through the workbooks, but they only tests what you already know. If you want her to truly be ready for kindergarten, give her real hands on experiences.

Example-

Cook with her -talk to her about measuring the ingredients-read her the recipes. Talk about what will happen to the food when cooked -watch it happen.that is math, science and language,reading-right there.

Work in the garden- Plan what to plant with her-read what grows when and why-count out seeds, make plant stakes.

Make play dough and play with it-this builds her fine motor skills so she can write.

Give her scissors to cut with.

Most important-plan play dates for her. The most important thing to learn in preschool is social skills. If your daughter can't make a friend, join into a group already playing, share, sit at a circle time, tell another child or adult what she needs, then she will have a tough time in kindergarten.

In kindergarten there will be no one in the playground teaching her how to handle social situations.That is what preschool is all about.

Answer 3

Preschool is not required, so I would suggest that you just skip that and continue to work with her at home. It sounds like you are doing a great job, so she will not be in need of the preschool experience. Be sure you are providing opportunities for building social skills. Go play at the park, go to story hour at the library, and have play dates with other children her age. We really don't do work books of any kind with children her age as they are just not developmentally appropriate. Just make sure she has blank paper and writing tools available so she can continue to develop her fine motor and writing skills. If you want her to have some structured experience outside the home, you may want to try swimming lessons, or tumbling, or Sunday school. It is possible to try to challenge the kindergarten start date, but I would recommend against it because if she starts early she will always be the smallest, the youngest, and the most socially immature in her class. Just make sure the school understands her capabilities so the teacher can individualize for her as needed. Do ask to have her tested so they understand what her potential is and they should be able to work appropriately with her. They may have a pull-out program with more advanced material that she may be able to participate in without have to place her in a group of older children where she may feel intimidated or learn bad behaviors and habits.



I raised 3 gifted boys. Two of them I started late, they started kindergarten at 6 instead of 5. None of them went to preschool, all of them finished high school quite successfully, all went to college, and all have gone on to be quite successful in their fields! I do NOT think that the preschool experience is necessary or even beneficial for ALL children, although I do think that it's super important for some.

Answer 4

Preschool is not really needed. Mine are all Sept/Oct/Nov kids. The oldest could have gone to Kinder, as that district had a Sept 31 cut off. But, we were planning to move to a new district that had a "5 in July" policy. We were glad we waited. We have a few districts out here that the cut-off is 5 by July 31st. The studies show that the majority of Aug and later birthday kids just lag behind in school all through their school years. Today's school is more academic, and these younger kids can't handle the new demands. We were happy all ours started older. The middle one, he would never never been able to handle Kinder if he started at age 5. He is in preK this year, part day part time. He is just a bit behind, he is just now starting to writes letters. By now in Kinder, they would be working on writing words. I too worked with them at home. One way we teach writing, is to write their name. This teaches a few letters, in a meaningful way. Other than helping her develop writing (this can be scribble, to a messy letter in about 6-9 months.) Just have fun writing! write stop/go on signs, have her sign her name on her papers Simple fun stuff. (and don't worry if its not al the time). As for preschool, not needed. You can help her 'social skills' by going to play dates, MOPS programs, or programs at zoos/museums, and library story time. Sounds like she will be fine starting Kinder. You are doing great!

Answer 5

Once child reaches Kindergarten and the class has settle down and over separation anxiety the teacher will start assessments and meet with you and have goals she wants to achieve with the child. You already know what your child knows she will ask her what do you do when you get up in the morning? Positional words, under side, etc. may show her pictures of things like a flower, horse, etc. We mainly focus of self-help skills and independence and to let the child use critical thinking, we also focus on interactions how does she get along with others? Does she work well with others? In my experience when children exceed so highly in one area one area is lacking, so it may be coordination skills etc. whatever the teacher finds during observations and assessments she will tell you at the conference. A teacher who has a child who knows most of the materials will individual with this child for instance everyone else is learning their numbers she already knows them she will be working on matching numbers with the number of articles etc. This is what a teacher does if you see your child knowing th materials daily ask her to individualize with her and give you some home to school activities for your child. If you find you child going bored talk to the teacher and tell her my daughter knows this material can you possibly give her something to challenge her. At this age is the perfect time for her to learn a foreign language her mind is open and they can learn anything. You can continue to work on things at home shapes, colors, numbers writing names, cutting on lines, seriation or sizes, numbers etc so the child will be prepared make sure the child dresses themself, put on shoes, brushes teeth, cleans rooms etc independent skills, pours milk sets table walks on line. Let child have interaction at library readings, mall park, join a play team, dancing class or art class etc.

Answer 6

Good job mom! Keep up the good work and she will have a great time being the star of her class. Great confidence building and reinforcement for inspiring a drive to succeed. In the 3rd grade they are given the choice to test for advanced/accelerated classes. We call it the "ALPS" program in our state. If you don't have this, seriously learn about and consider homeschooling. (My son, refused to take the test. Now, in the 6th grade he's begging to because he's seriously bored. Now, it's a lot harder to get him where he should be. Ugh. ) Just try not to lose your drive (sometimes things happen -like a hostile divorce, double ugh), and she'll have a lot to feel proud of herself for.



I worked with my sons like you, still do. My sons were born in July and August (oldest). I started my oldest at 4. My youngest I held back so he started late. Both are excelling excellently. My oldest was doing simple algebra at 3. He is brilliant and he is quite a handfull as a result. My youngest was mildly special ed, but because I held him back it gave him confidence to far exceed all expectations; he never gets discouraged and never stops striving to be better. Both love school.



Extra advice: If your brilliant daughter's grades ever start to falter, nipp it immediately and not a week later. Make an appointment with her teacher and stay on top, everyday. One of my sons teachers said I was "one of those" parents that had too high expectations that was causing my son undue burdens and that I should be more realistic about his capabilities. (He was bored stiff). It was a little late to have him removed from her class, but she got the message and started helping to bring his grades back up to his capabilities, which is -all "A"s. You know your daughter, don't let anyone else mess with you or her future.



Have fun mom, enjoy your blessing.



Addition:

@lolo: I'd love to know what state, city, and school district you work for. I'd could consider moving. We don't have that in Michigan. Wish we did, it sounds excellent.