I'm looking over the rest of the year's stuff and what we plan to do. I want to plan a little graduation party for my kindergartner. She's having a little hard time with reading though, I don't know if she will be fully reading by the time we finish up this year's stuff. Is that okay? is reading expected after kindergarten? Also, how many of the Explode the Code workbooks are for Kindergarten? Thanks!
There are 3 books recommended for K year. Get Ready, Get Set & Go for the Code. They teach the very basics. If you're daughter is past letter recognition and can read simple words, you'll want to go with books, 1, 1.5 (kindergarten) 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 (which are considered for 1st grade) I believe the "half" books ARE needed in most cases, at least as a good kick start! My son is 5 and is now on book 2.5 and is loving it, I'm not sure if I'll be using the half books next year, depends on how he does. Books 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5 are 2nd grade and so on! I think it's ok that your daughter isn't fully reading! They aren't expected to be able to read full stories in K! Oh and if you need a good price for ETC workbooks, check out Christianbook.com they have excellent prices ($6.49 each) for Explode the Code!
I personally don't believe in "graduation" from kindergarten. Will you have one from each grade, then? To me, graduation is a BIG DEAL. While I'm all for celebrating a job well done, it's different from "graduation". But it's really up to you; that's just my opinion! ANYWAY, regardless, Cabsmom is right. So what if she's not reading? Who says you MUST be reading (and at what level, I might add!) to "graduate" kindergarten?
I had one that didn't read till late 3rd/early 4th. Did not matter one bit to him or me. Give her a party and congratulate her on all her hard work. It's your school, you make the rules! Have fun with it. I wish I had had a party for mine LOL.
I think PS is pushing kids to read earlier and earlier for a couple of reasons ... they have to be ready for standardized testing by 3rd grade, and there's SO much money riding on test scores. Not only that, but there's so much more that has to be learned today than what had to be learned a generation (or two) ago. Think how much technology has changed and what it takes to get into college now as opposed to years past. When I was in school, they didn't even begin teaching reading until 1st grade. Kinder was all about number and letter recognition. That's it! I was reading in 1st grade what kids are expected to learn in preschool these days. Don't push. When she's ready, it will all click, and she'll take off reading overnight.
I disagree that there's "so much more" to be learned! At least, not if we would concentrate on the basics. But yes, teachers are under enormous pressure!
Back in the day when kindergarten was more or less "play school" and learning to stand in line, letter and number recognition, and stuff that kids are now expected to learn before starting kindergarten, then "graduation" meant graduating from "play school" to "real school" - first grade. Graduating from babyhood to school. But nowadays, kindy is just another grade, and they're expected to pretty much do what first graders used to do. I'm fully expecting that *soon* they'll start calling PreK kindy and simply start K'ers out at first grade, with graduating Seniors completing Grade 13. And then meeting parents at the hospital to take over the newborn's "education". >sigh< You want to have a party, HAVE A PARTY! Celebrate both of you completing a "kindy year"! Have a party EVERY year, as far as that goes! Celebrate your (both of your) accomplishments! When I started school (at age 5 turning 6) there WAS NO K! The first half of the year we spent learning to color, cut, paste, letters, numbers, writing, drawing, learning our colors, shapes, how to line up, how to eat in the cafeteria, all that "basic" stuff. And in the second half of the year we learned to read, write, write our numbers to 1000, add, subtract, write a brief story, and we all accomplished it! Three preprimers, a primer, and a first reader. When I was working in public school, the school wasn't accomplishing all that with kids who were going to prek AND kindy before first grade!
Your child will be ready to move on even if she isn't reading. With time and practice, her reading will improve. Don't allow her reading level to overshadow all that she has accomplished. It is okay to move on. As a homeschooler, you can move at her pace.
Eh...? Yes and no. I know what you're saying, though. Fundamentally, I believe that it's more important to teach a child how to learn than to teach a child what they need to know, because when you think about it, a lot of today's kids will someday have jobs that haven't even been invisioned yet. ... but at the same time, kids are learning more history today than they did 100 years ago, because we have 100 more years in our history books. They're learning science on a deeper level, because we have more answers to questions than we used to have, which of course leads to even more questions. They're learning more vocabulary, because the English language is contstantly evolving and growing, and because more and more companies are seeking bilingual job applicants. Many will be required to learn far more math than previous generations if they want to succeed in business, science or technology fields. It's like the old saying, "the more you know, the more you realize you don't know." The more I learn, the more I realize I'll never be able to teach my kids all I want them to learn, so it's best if I teach them the tools they'll need to teach themselves.
Ihave had the same worries with my kindergartener.. he is barely reading but is way ahead in math... hes readyfor first grade material... despite his problemswith reading
So let him go to first grade math, and keep him in kindergarten reading! The advantage of hs'ing is that they can work on an individual level in all subjects; you ARE NOT RESTRICTED to one specific grade. If you understand it, you go on. If you don't, you stick with it longer. We don't have to assign a grade level in Ohio. When Phillip was six and I had to report him for the first time, the lady with the board of education was VERY frustrated with me for not putting down a grade level. So she arbitrarily put down 2nd grade. This caused problems, because the NEXT lady called, telling me I didn't send in last year's evaluation. I told her that was correct; he was six, and I was reporting him for the first time. And she told me, "But he's in 2nd grade." OH? He is? "Well, isn't he?" I sighed, and explained that he was doing first grade math, second grade reading, and history/science with his nine and eleven year old sisters. So should I consider him 1st, 2nd, 4th, or 6th? LOL!!!
Good idea...we're about to start PreK homeschooling, and I've been looking at different curriculums and trying to figure out which one would be good. We're working on letter recognition, but I'm not going to push her until she's ready. Thanks for the advice!!
Thanks everybody! I actually kind of like the idea of having a party or "graduation" every year. We work hard all year, why not?
