Getting Ready for Kindergarten

[Heidi]

If you get a chance, read this...

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html

we need to be french parents and have Finnish schools....::::

[daycare]

This is absurd (not you daycare, that your district is saying it's "required")

There are absolutely no "requirements" for kindy entry other than age. They can start with out ANY basic skills.

Sorry I should watch my words more carefully it's not required, it's what they want your child to know prior to starting.

The words say your child know and be able to recognize the following:

Thank you for pointing that out.

We have a lot of ESL students and are currently going to a dual immersion program.
By 2014 all of our schools will be.

[Crystal]

And here, you can find the California Preschool Learning Foundations, which are ridiculously academic based:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/psfoundations.asp

[nannyde]

Oh, I know I CAN, I just don't WANT to. Not unless I am paid for my services and receive the same recognition, respect and benefits as the teachers in my school district receive.

Yup

I think millions of providers and centers would be willing to do it if they were paid to do it.

The center a couple of blocks from my house just lowered their rates to 157 a week for infants and 125 for age two and up. I sat down and figured out their absolute best possible profit with their capacity and numbers of children in each age group.

If they had EVERYTHING perfect ... meaning completely full on kids and they all attended every day.. after they paid the staff they are required by law to have.. the MOST amount of money they could be profiting per hour of operation is 30 dollars an hour. That's ONLY with staff salaries and figuring all salaries at minimum wage........ not counting hard costs of operation like non caretaker staff, utilities, supplies, mortgage, etc. JUST staff salaries deducted. They have to use their 360 bucks a day profit (7200 per month) for everything else.

Now you tell me how they could possibly have a dime for education?

I had one of their kids who was there for a full school year between his 38th month and his 47th month of life. He didn't know a single color, number, and he only knew two letters .. the letter q and t because we have a quickie mart here called QT. He spent two semesters in their free state funded preschool and he left there not knowing a single solitary prekindy "skill". Not a thing wrong with him........... he's a smartie.... but he didn't learn anything on the "lists" after two full sememsters of "school". His "school" was funded by the Tom Harkin grant and was free for his parents.

They took the money and did care not school. At 125 a week there was not enough money to educate him and the care money was so low that he got a 1-15 ratio. He had many "teachers" in his two semesters there. They were all minimum wage employees and not a single one that started the school year was there when the school year ended.

Until we GET that they are not one and the same and that if you really want the educational program you HAVE to add money to fairly compensate the workers.. it's never going to work.

[AmyLeigh]

This is absurd (not you daycare, that your district is saying it's "required")

There are absolutely no "requirements" for kindy entry other than age. They can start with out ANY basic skills.

There is a push (especially in CA) for Universal Preschool. If parents think that their children are required to have a certain skill set for Kindy, then they will put their children into (preferably state-run) preschools. Especially if that means they don't have to pay for childcare for another year or two.
A local program went as far as suggesting that those who don't go to preschool are more likely to end up incarcerated. It was ridiculous how they were manipulating the public opinion on that.

[Country Kids]

So I tried to copy and past what children learn here in kindergarten but it won't let me. From what I can see we don't have anything that they HAVE to know to enter. Let me say this though, with what I saw on the curriculum that the teachers have to teach it would make it much, much easier for them to go in with some academics. There are 8 sections to the curriculum. Our kindergartens are only 2 1/2 hours and that includes recess, library, music and pe. They have one of those each day of the week. So that cuts down class time to about 1 hour 45 min. Also, for children that have to go out for speech therapy or other special classes are not getting that in the actual classroom time.

I had a friend who's son had to do all day kindergarten for 2 years. There are some learning disablities but he is all over the place for school. Some times in a mainstream classroom, sometimes in special ed, speech therapy, etc. If he was just in special ed all the time I think he would be way ahead but he doesn't qualify for it. He doesn't even qualify for summer school but yet had to do 2 years of all day kindergarten.

If I can take a child and get them more ready for kindergarten that in my eyes is only helping a teacher. With children that might need extra help, it would give the teacher more time to help that child. Also, our classes have been up to 25 kindergarteners in a classroom. There is only 1 aid in the classroom also-

[daycare]

There is a push (especially in CA) for Universal Preschool. If parents think that their children are required to have a certain skill set for Kindy, then they will put their children into (preferably state-run) preschools. Especially if that means they don't have to pay for childcare for another year or two.
A local program went as far as suggesting that those who don't go to preschool are more likely to end up incarcerated. It was ridiculous how they were manipulating the public opinion on that.

yes they had a T-K transitional kindergarten program here in my city. It is a two year program, but now there is no money in the budget for it and looks like it won't even be around this fall. I was planning sending my son there, but now not too sure what I am going to do.

[nannyde]

So I tried to copy and past what children learn here in kindergarten but it won't let me. From what I can see we don't have anything that they HAVE to know to enter. Let me say this though, with what I saw on the curriculum that the teachers have to teach it would make it much, much easier for them to go in with some academics. There are 8 sections to the curriculum. Our kindergartens are only 2 1/2 hours and that includes recess, library, music and pe. They have one of those each day of the week. So that cuts down class time to about 1 hour 45 min. Also, for children that have to go out for speech therapy or other special classes are not getting that in the actual classroom time.

I had a friend who's son had to do all day kindergarten for 2 years. There are some learning disablities but he is all over the place for school. Some times in a mainstream classroom, sometimes in special ed, speech therapy, etc. If he was just in special ed all the time I think he would be way ahead but he doesn't qualify for it. He doesn't even qualify for summer school but yet had to do 2 years of all day kindergarten.

If I can take a child and get them more ready for kindergarten that in my eyes is only helping a teacher. With children that might need extra help, it would give the teacher more time to help that child. Also, our classes have been up to 25 kindergarteners in a classroom. There is only 1 aid in the classroom also-

If your clients are compensating you for it or if you want to do it as a community service.... then who is to say that's the wrong thing to do.

My dog in this fight is only when there is an expectation that educating children as a part of child care without appropriate compensation.

[Crystal]

There is a push (especially in CA) for Universal Preschool. If parents think that their children are required to have a certain skill set for Kindy, then they will put their children into (preferably state-run) preschools. Especially if that means they don't have to pay for childcare for another year or two.
A local program went as far as suggesting that those who don't go to preschool are more likely to end up incarcerated. It was ridiculous how they were manipulating the public opinion on that.

There was a push for universal pre-k.....now with budget cuts, its' not going to happen. Honestly, I think it is a great idea, with the exception being that I think they should start the pre-k at what is now kindergarten entry age (5) and raise the kindy entry age to 6. I think we are pushing children too early to learn their abc's and 123's.

That being said, if you go and check out the RAND studies on the effects of preschool, you will see that it is statistically true that children who do not attend preschool are more likely to be incarcerated....they are also more likely to drop out school, have lower paying jobs, rely on welfare, etc. I don't think it is manipulating public opinion....it's stating facts in an effort to get support for universal pre-k. The RAND studies are based on low income children's outcomes. I need to look it up, but there was a recent study on children who are not low-income with the same outcomes. Let me see if I can find it....it is very recent.

[AmyLeigh]

There was a push for universal pre-k.....now with budget cuts, its' not going to happen. Honestly, I think it is a great idea, with the exception being that I think they should start the pre-k at what is now kindergarten entry age (5) and raise the kindy entry age to 6. I think we are pushing children too early to learn their abc's and 123's.

What would be the difference if they put pre K at 5 and K at 6 or if they leave it alone? It would be the same, wouldn't it? You mean you would prefer the standard to be lowered, right?

That being said, if you go and check out the RAND studies on the effects of preschool, you will see that it is statistically true that children who do not attend preschool are more likely to be incarcerated....they are also more likely to drop out school, have lower paying jobs, rely on welfare, etc. I don't think it is manipulating public opinion....it's stating facts in an effort to get support for universal pre-k. The RAND studies are based on low income children's outcomes. I need to look it up, but there was a recent study on children who are not low-income with the same outcomes. Let me see if I can find it....it is very recent.

You don't want to get me started on this, . If you can find the link, please post it, I would like to see it. I would like to see if the studies also looked at the students' home of origin. You can't tell me that if a child grows up in a home with 2 loving, involved parents who are interested in their child's education and morality, have a large support system whether it be familial or community, regardless of socioeconomic status, will more likely end up incarcerated because he didn't go sing "Wheels on the Bus" at preschool. If so, then clear out a couple of cells for my little criminals! (Dh and I included) :: There has to be much more to what goes on in a person's upbringing than one year of preschool to have such an impact on their lives as adults. If not, than the following 9 years of elementary school has failed them considerably. And if this is the case, then telling the public if little Johnny doesn't go to preschool he will end up in jail regardless of everything else in his life, the public is being manipulated.

My answers are in bold above. Love this discussion!!!

[Blackcat31]

Here is a really good article about universal preschool. http://www.plan4preschool.org/docume...ol-for-all.pdf It talks about how not only low income children benefit from preschool but that middle income kids do too but it DOES not give any evidence of how they know that. The article just says it.

I do think there has to be something said for WHAT preschool teaches. I think all kids would do well in school and normal academic progress would be greater if they were taught the foundational self help skills in preschool versus the academic skills.

Too many kids are entering Kindergarten with only a few months under their belt wearing underwear. Too many kids are heading off to school not having any idea how to behave socially or to listen to direction or knowing how to be patient and wait or take turns. Too many kids are heading off to Kindy while still using cups with lids! etc, etc, etc...

I think universal preschool is a great idea.....but not for academic reasons.

I also agree with Amyleigh....the fact that middle income kids could now benefit from preschool is because more and more parents are no longer vested in their children and expect their child's learning to come from everywhere but them.

[AmyLeigh]

http://www.pacificresearch.org/docLib/20061220_Magic_Bullet.pdf

10 myths about the benefits of government-run universal preschool

The RAND study is mentioned quite a bit in this bit of research. I found this to be very interesting. It gives us a differing POV on the matter.

[Blackcat31]

Wow! Myth #5 actually says there is a downside to being exposed to preschool!!

"The study measured three areas of social development: “children’s externalizing behavior (such as aggression, bullying, acting up), interpersonal skills (such as sharing and cooperation), and self control in engaging in classroom tasks.”
According to the study’s authors, “we find that attendance in preschool centers, even for short periods of time each week, hinders the rate at which young children develop social skills and display the motivation to engage in classroom tasks, as reported by kindergarten teachers.”

Interesting POV for sure.

[Country Kids]

I did find on our state website a letter from our state superindendent. Then there is a calendar, starting in Aug. the year before kindergarten with ideas on what to work on with your child.

The categories are: Literacy, Mathematics, Language Development, Learning Development, Problem Solving, Personal Information, Small Muscle Development, and Large Muscle Development.

By reading this it does sound somewhat like they really would like you working on certain things with your child before they enter kindergarten. I thought it was kinda neat but at the same time if a parent doesn't find this they would have no way of knowing what to do. I just happened to stumble upon it.

[nannyde]

http://www.pacificresearch.org/docLi...gic_Bullet.pdf

10 myths about the benefits of government-run universal preschool

The RAND study is mentioned quite a bit in this bit of research. I found this to be very interesting. It gives us a differing POV on the matter.

This is an amazing article. For the last two years I have been writing on this site every significant point in this article. I wish I had the time and inclination to pull these bullet points and cross reference them to my posts on this site.

Nice job finding this.

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Nan likey Amy