*sigh* DD had a bunch of papers come home today from school this week. Most had very nice comments. She had one graph for math they were working on. Sydney definately didn't color in the lines very well and the comment was "color slowly and carefully. Kindergarten quality." Should she be coloring in the lines already? I thought you weren't supposed to force that? I've never made a comment about her coloring or staying in the lines. Should I?

By Kate on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 04:18 pm:

Well, coloring a math graph sounds boring. Was she perhaps just wanting to get it done and over with? Does she normally color in the lines in a fun coloring book? My two were coloring in the lines before Kindergarten, however neither one even LIKES to color. They prefer to draw, and then sometimes they color in their pictures. It could just be that Syd isn't into coloring. I might tell her she needs to work neatly at school, but that's all. I wouldn't change a thing about the way she colors at home.

By Tripletmom on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 04:43 pm:

Ditto Kate-My DD didn't like to colour much in kindy.I told her to do her best.You could tell on every picture it started out nicely and you can see where she would get tired and just scribble to get it finished.In grade 1 she blossomed she is a great drawer and has such nice detail.We cannot believe the difference and maturity in a couple of years.I really wouldn't worry about it.I think they push to much on them in kindy.

By Tayjar on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 04:54 pm:

They told my DS this, too. He hated his kindergarten teacher. So much so that when he found out she didn't like the colors gray and brown, that's all he would use. I finally got so tired of her harping on him about staying the lines I bought him extra gray and brown crayons. It didn't matter that he was doing the graphs correctly, it mattered more to her that he was using ugly colors and going out of the lines.

By Trina~moderator on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 05:38 pm:

What's important is if she understood the graphing concept. When I taught Kindergarten I didn't tell kids to color within the lines. Instead, I encouraged neatness, but even then I didn't make a big issue of it. I agree with the others. I wouldn't be concerned. This teacher seems is a little anal. LOL!

By Breann on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 06:50 pm:

Our kindergarten encouraged neatness as well. Lots of "do you very best coloring". I don't think it's unreasonable to encourage coloring inside of the lines.
It's also important that students learn to follow directions. Maybe the teacher directed them to color nice and slow and do their very best "kindergarten coloring" on this particular page.
My DS is in preschool right now. He's 4. The teacher says "do your very best coloring on this one, because we are hanging it on the wall". I can always tell which papers he was asked to do his best on. I can tell that he really made an effort to stay within the lines. Even though some of the marks went noticeable outside of the lines. He did his very best. This compared to some of his other papers where there was no direction....well, those are definitely just a mess, lol.

By Colette on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 08:44 pm:

Eve, this teacher sounds a bit anal. I've worked in kindergarten for years and now in preschool. If most of her papers were good and a few are off, chalk it up to a bad day. So many little things that we don't realize will set a child's mood for the day. Sydney sounds very smart and very capable, I really don't think you have a thing to worry about.

By Mommmie on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 09:04 pm:

I was told that trying to color in the lines - really making an effort - helps their fine motor skills develop.

By Reds9298 on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 10:08 pm:

I taught K for 7 years and I can't say that I ever told my kids to color in the lines or compare their coloring to others, but I did encourage it because YES it does improve fine motor. You would be amazed to see how many K's are still making huge marks across the page which is the sign that they have zero fine motor in that area. AND, when doing a graph, I would probably emphasize it more because the point of the recording is to have a written view of the graph that you made. I still wouldn't have said anything UNLESS the student has atrocious coloring all of the time. Then it IS a matter of trying to improve fine motor. Independent projects I would remind to use control but not care too much. For a written assignment like recording a graph, I would emphasize it more simply because it's the point of doing the recording.

Regarding graphs...K is A LOT of graphing! Kate (I think) mentioned that coloring a math graph sounds boring, but that is just the recording part of the graph. First we would create the graph using a manipulative (large graphs down to smaller ones). Example: Shoes - shoes with ties, shoes with velcro, slip-on shoes. We would take off our shoes, build the graph on the floor, and look at it. OR people graphs...long sleeve shirts, short sleeves, tank tops...build it in standing lines or sitting down lines. You get the idea. From there we would record the graph by coloring on a large paper graph. Having said that though, we RARELY recorded graphing until about mid- first semester. We spent a lot of time building and creating graphs, understanding what graphs were all about before recording them.

Those particular examples I gave aren't good ones for student recording. Most recording was done with a snack manipulative (gummi bears, m&m's, fruit loops), so we could line up the colors on the paper graph, count, compare, and discuss it, and then record it by coloring it in. Each child had their own individual graph and manipulatives for that, so they could really see it and record it themselves.
Ditto Breann on the following directions. It is probably the single most important skill in K! 5 year olds simply have trouble following directions in school, there's no way around it. It's part of the curriculum to practice that every day.

Sometimes we would do an academically weak worksheet JUST for following directions and listening. Nothing else. The vast differences between kids when it comes to that would amaze you.

I guess with the coloring, if the teacher asked them to do their best and color neatly, the teacher can tell whose doing that I think. You can tell whose blowing it off and being silly, whose is going to be really neat, and those that are trying but still don't have the fine motor yet to really stay in the lines. It's just like anything else - it's a skill that has to be learned but enforcing it when it's not deliberate is not my cup of tea (as a teacher).

By Dawnk777 on Friday, September 15, 2006 - 11:06 pm:

Deanna, I want you to be my teacher! LOL! Those sound like great ideas, for 5 year olds!

Emily could draw really good people, when she was in kindy, but there were some kids in the class, who were still drawing circle people. At the beginning of the year, there was a WIDE variety of abilities, in the artwork.

Wow, that teacher sounds anal, like others said. My kids had wonderful kindy teachers.

By Reds9298 on Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 07:57 am:

LOL Dawn - I don't know about that, but I LOVE teaching!

Drawing a Person (DAP) is an assessment actually! There IS a wide variety and you assess what parts are added to the "person". Some children add very little ( a head and a trunk) while others start the year adding almost all major parts. It's pretty cool to see the differences by the end of the year in those kids who didn't start out well with drawing a person.

By Debbie on Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 09:22 am:

I can see both sides. Coloring in the lines is a fine motor skill. My ds's complete lack of ability in this area, was one of the first clues for his preschool teacher, that he had a fine motor skill delay. Of course, there were other things also. And, thanks to her concerns, he was put in occupational therapy. She may be trying to work on their fine motor skills, and determine their abilities. I will say, my ds just doesn't like to color. He now has the ability to color in the lines, but he doesn't always do it. I can tell when he is trying to color well, and when he just wants to get it done. He is in 1st grade, and his teacher also encourages them to color slowly and to stay in the lines.

So, I guess what I am saying, is to not worry about it. I would encourage her to color neatly, but not make a big deal of it. I don't think there is anything wrong with her teacher trying to get them to stay in the lines. She may just be trying to see where they are in their fine motor skills.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 11:04 am:

But then, why the comment, that makes it seem like a big deal? I would have probably taken it personally, as well.

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 11:40 am:

"I guess with the coloring, if the teacher asked them to do their best and color neatly, the teacher can tell whose doing that I think. You can tell whose blowing it off and being silly, whose is going to be really neat, and those that are trying but still don't have the fine motor yet to really stay in the lines. It's just like anything else - it's a skill that has to be learned but enforcing it when it's not deliberate is not my cup of tea (as a teacher)."

Ditto Deanna. A good teacher will notice which students are having difficulty in this area and will steer them towards activities that strengthen and reinforce fine motor skills. Other than encouraging neatness I don't see the point of stressing "coloring within the lines".

My other thought is perhaps her written comments on the papers are for the parents and not directed at the child. ?? I still think she's being a bit anal, especially this early in the year.

By Reds9298 on Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 02:26 pm:

Ditto on "early in the year".

By Lauram on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 08:33 pm:

Personally, as a former K teacher, I'd rather kids make their own drawings than spend time coloring on a worksheet! Totally anal.