First Experience with A School Ager

[Baby Beluga]

I have a child this week who is 4 and was an early admittance into Kindergarten. School is on break this week so parents contacted me for back up care. I figured she is still 4, I have 3 and 4 year olds now - so no big deal, right?

Holy cow, no.

This child:

*has mouthed every single toy here.
*wipes her nose on everything.
*picks her nose and immediately puts her finger in her mouth.
*Will not/can not (?) cover her mouth when she coughs.
*Will NOT keep her hands to herself. She is pushing, and grabbing the other children. All I heard yesterday was "Child, stop touching me!" from my regulars. It got to the point where I had to separate her on her own rug with chunky puzzles so she would a) stop touching others and b) could no longer put anything in her mouth.

[NeedaVaca]

Yikes! All I keep thinking is that poor teacher that deals with it everyday! How on earth did she get early admittance? Bet they are kicking themselves, sound like this child could have used an extra year to prepare...Good luck getting through the week!!

[kitkat]

Yikes! All I keep thinking is that poor teacher that deals with it everyday! How on earth did she get early admittance? Bet they are kicking themselves, sound like this child could have used an extra year to prepare...Good luck getting through the week!!

That's what I was thinking also! DD did early entrance and she had to test at a 7 year old level to get in!

Best of luck to you! I hope she'll take a nap for you this week!

[Baby Beluga]

Yikes! All I keep thinking is that poor teacher that deals with it everyday! How on earth did she get early admittance? Bet they are kicking themselves, sound like this child could have used an extra year to prepare...Good luck getting through the week!!

Yes! I had the very same thought. If her behavior is "interesting" in a group of 4, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for the teacher who has 20.

[Blackcat31]

I have a child this week who is 4 and was an early admittance into Kindergarten. School is on break this week so parents contacted me for back up care. I figured she is still 4, I have 3 and 4 year olds now - so no big deal, right?

Holy cow, no.

This child:

*has mouthed every single toy here.
*wipes her nose on everything.
*picks her nose and immediately puts her finger in her mouth.
*Will not/can not (?) cover her mouth when she coughs.
*Will NOT keep her hands to herself. She is pushing, and grabbing the other children. All I heard yesterday was "Child, stop touching me!" from my regulars. It got to the point where I had to separate her on her own rug with chunky puzzles so she would a) stop touching others and b) could no longer put anything in her mouth.

Let me guess....she knows all her letters (both upper and lower case), can count to the nearest prime number, knows Spanish and possible ASL too and is technically "gifted" right?!?! ::

The lack of self-help skills coupled with the early admittance to school was a dead give away.

[Baby Beluga]

Let me guess....she knows all her letters (both upper and lower case), can count to the nearest prime number, knows Spanish and possible ASL too and is technically "gifted" right?!?! ::

The lack of self-help skills coupled with the early admittance to school was a dead give away.

I'm not sure how she enrolled early because academically speaking she seems right on track with an average 4 year old. Socially and self help wise, it's not there. Does anyone know why schools don't test for social and self help skill as well as academic placement during early enrollment testing? Or do they and it is simply district specific? It would be time consuming (you'd likely have to observe the child in a social setting a few times) but if there was a cost associated with this that the parents were responsible for I feel like it would cut down on the early enrollments who truly are just not ready.

[Blackcat31]

I'm not sure how she enrolled early because academically speaking she seems right on track with an average 4 year old. Socially and self help wise, it's not there. Does anyone know why schools don't test for social and self help skill as well as academic placement during early enrollment testing? Or do they and it is simply district specific? It would be time consuming (you'd likely have to observe the child in a social setting a few times) but if there was a cost associated with this that the parents were responsible for I feel like it would cut down on the early enrollments who truly are just not ready.

I don't know but I assume schools simply expect that parents will teach their child basic manners etc. before sending them off to school.

Like potty training, if a child is truly ready the social aspect just naturally falls into place.

I personally think most social "issues" we see in pre-k kids are a direct result of parent expectations or lack of.

[kitkat]

I'm not sure how she enrolled early because academically speaking she seems right on track with an average 4 year old. Socially and self help wise, it's not there. Does anyone know why schools don't test for social and self help skill as well as academic placement during early enrollment testing? Or do they and it is simply district specific? It would be time consuming (you'd likely have to observe the child in a social setting a few times) but if there was a cost associated with this that the parents were responsible for I feel like it would cut down on the early enrollments who truly are just not ready.

Our district does test for all of that. Our testing involves one-on-one testing with the child-away from the parent, a detailed parent interview and development paperwork, and information is gathered from any teachers (preschool or 4K). Children eligible for early entry must also have birthdays between Sept. 1 and Dec. Everyone involved in the testing has to agree that the child is ready or the child will not be enrolled early. Our testing is super thorough and they really do require a child to test in all areas at the level of a 7 year old so that the child is not just at grade level, but above.

It's unfortunate that it sounds like this little girl isn't ready. What a tough way to start your academic life.

May you have all the patience in the world to get through this week!

[Controlled Chaos]

Sounds similar to the DCB that is leaving my program for early Kindergarten Super smart and advanced academically, but not astonishingly so. It's not like he's bored. Parents are the normal don't ask children to put on own shoes, jackets etc. Well DCM recently asked me how she should teach him to wipe. I responded "He has been wiping independently here for over a year" :confused::: Well, he's refusing to wipe himself in Kindy, so he is using the toilet, throwing a tantrum, realizes no one else will wipe him, refuses to do it himself, pulls up pants, returns to class, then is scooting around the carpet, all over the room, like a dog on his bum because his bum itches since he didn't wipe He's super advanced ::

[Play Care]

I almost womder if she got early admission not so much because she was ready, but because of services and such that she will recieve as a K student that she might not be eligible for otherwise? Isn't there a gap from EI to K?

[Baby Beluga]

Our district does test for all of that. Our testing involves one-on-one testing with the child-away from the parent, a detailed parent interview and development paperwork, and information is gathered from any teachers (preschool or 4K). Children eligible for early entry must also have birthdays between Sept. 1 and Dec. Everyone involved in the testing has to agree that the child is ready or the child will not be enrolled early. Our testing is super thorough and they really do require a child to test in all areas at the level of a 7 year old so that the child is not just at grade level, but above.

It's unfortunate that it sounds like this little girl isn't ready. What a tough way to start your academic life.

May you have all the patience in the world to get through this week!

It really is. From what I know about our district there is a simple 1.5 hour test that the children must pass and they prefer for the children to test 13 months months older then their numerical age. As far as the social/emotional aspect: this is what they look for (taken directly from the district website):

*Communicate clearly and answer questions in complete sentences
*Separate easily from parents/caregivers without getting upset
*Interact appropriately with adults
*Follow simple instructions with 2 to 3 step directions
*Know personal information (name, age, gender)
*Pay attention to a single task for an extended period of time

I wish they would incorporate peer interaction in their requirements.

[Baby Beluga]

I almost womder if she got early admission not so much because she was ready, but because of services and such that she will recieve as a K student that she might not be eligible for otherwise? Isn't there a gap from EI to K?

This could be, but mom didn't mention the child receiving any services. Then again, as a back up provider maybe she didn't think it was necessary.

[daycare]

This could be, but mom didn't mention the child receiving any services. Then again, as a back up provider maybe she didn't think it was necessary.

wow what state are you in? we can't start kindy here until age 5.

if you miss the cut off and are born in sept/oct/nov., you qualify for TK. BUt you must be 5 to enter into kinder here.

I love that they made this rule. I really do think that there is a huge difference between 4.5 and 6 in many ways. My son did not attend TK, so he was 5 turned 6 two weeks after kinder started. He was so much more mature and socially ready than most of the other kids in his class. He still does very well in his classes and is in 3rd grade now.

[Baby Beluga]

wow what state are you in? we can't start kindy here until age 5.

if you miss the cut off and are born in sept/oct/nov., you qualify for TK. BUt you must be 5 to enter into kinder here.

I love that they made this rule. I really do think that there is a huge difference between 4.5 and 6 in many ways. My son did not attend TK, so he was 5 turned 6 two weeks after kinder started. He was so much more mature and socially ready than most of the other kids in his class. He still does very well in his classes and is in 3rd grade now.

I so wish we had this rule! Here if you are 5 by August 31, then you are automatically granted enrollment into K. If you turn 5 between September 1 and December 31 then you can take the test to be enrolled early.

There is a HUGE difference between 4.5 and 6. Socially, developmentally, everything. I have not read or heard of one instance in my community where a parent was happy enrolling their child into K early. All have come back to say they wished they would have waited. I realize this is not the case for every family, but the ones I have spoken to it is.

Something that many parents brought up that they weren't thinking about at that the time is what happens when their child is in high school? It seemed to cause a lot of problems for their child who started their academic career early.

[daycarediva]

EXACTLY why I only take them before and after school. NO days off. NO 1/2 days. A couple of hours is enough for me. If I had a SA program? SURE, but I don't!

All I had to do was write a letter in connection to a dcg passing a oral 'test' to get early entry into K here. You are supposed to be 5 no later than 11/30. Dcg was born 12/1. I really thought she could use an additional year, she was very socially immature, but dcp's were convinced she was ready. I wrote an observational-only letter and she got in. Parents weren't happy by the third week and pulled her out and put her in UPK. UPK is saying- NO, go back to K.

Problem is she IS bored academically but cannot handle anything without a 1:1. Parents never solved the NEED for constant attention/adult intervention-support so she was going to struggle either way. They emailed me to take her back. HAHA, nope.