Question for kindergarten teachers…regarding preschool’s preparedness for kindergarten?
Question by ♥Monkey♥: Question for kindergarten teachers…regarding preschool’s preparedness for kindergarten?
Back story…
I have a six year old in first grade. He did great in kindergarten and is doing exceptionally well in first grade. He went to 3yo and 4yo preschool. There he learned a letter/number a week along with shapes and colors. In 3yo preschool, they traced the letters and numbers; 4yo they traced the first example then wrote the letter. During his 3yo preschool, he learned to write his name.
My 3 yo just started preschool (stupid me, a different one that was $ 20 cheaper a month). Since he started in the second week of September, he has not learned a single letter! He has learned how to express his feelings…”that makes me sad/happy” and has learned to say “oh fiddlesticks” when things don’t go his way. After class they inform us about what they did that day. If it’s a nice day, they take them out to play in the playground. One day they got to play for over half an hour (class is two hours long) and one day for “only” 15 minutes. As of today, he is no longer going. He’s a social child, plays very well with others and has learned more from me, his big brother and watching PBS then he has at that “preschool”. Next year he will be attending the same preschool his brother attended.
So my question to you teachers…In regards to the type of preschool a child attends, do *you* see a difference in kindergarten? Are they better prepared?
I think that it would be a waste of money to have kept him in there. The park district provides “on my own” programs that run for 6 weeks that cost less than one month of tuition. Also, I can/do take him to the park…I’m not paying them to take him to the park! I was afraid I’d have to spend more later on tutoring if this preschool kept him from keeping up with the other students in kindergarten.
Their class description:
http://www.fspd.org/assets/Programs-Registration/pdfs/ProgramInfo.pdf
Best answer:
Answer by yourhonour63
It’s likely a learn through play curriculum. Did you talk to the teachers? Ask what their curriculum is? I would never be teaching academics directly to 3 yr olds either. There’s no reason to do so. I’m teaching preschool right now (mixed ages 3-5). Our children are learning math, reading, writing, science, social studies, music, etc. and none of it through being directly taught. We talk about counting, numbers, and letters through many activities during the day. Children learn to write by writing their names on artwork or using writing in other ways (making menus in the dramatic play area, for example). Our children learn through their play, but we intentionally include opportunities for learning things like letters and numbers without directly teaching them. Before pulling him out, you should have asked the teachers what they are teaching the children. It’s likely more than you see on the surface. If they also have classes for older children, the curriculum there may be different.
My daughter attended the top rated school in our province. She attended a learn through play preschool. She has never traced a letter or number in her life. Her kindergarten teacher had the following expectations: self-help skills (toileting, coat, shoes), recognize own name, and able to use a pair of scissors. That’s it. I know from my teaching and from working with kindergarten teachers that the only difference they see is between children who’ve been in no programs at all and those who’ve been in preschool, day care, or other programs on a regular basis.
Children arrive in kindergarten with a wide range of abilities and skills no matter what they’ve been doing the previous year or two. Most of them, by kindergarten, are developmentally ready and interested in learning to read, write, and do math. In my dd’s class, all the children were writing words and short sentences by the end of kindergarten.
So, the answer is that children learn these skills when they are ready to, without having them forced upon them in teacher-directed programs (being required to trace letters, for example). There may be some slight differences, but they don’t really matter and most children are at a similar level by the end of kindergarten.
The description of the class your child was in sounds awesome and developmentally appropriate for 3 yr old children. The one you described for your older child does not. It sounds like many of the skills you are expecting for a 3 yr old class are covered in the 4 yr old class.
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