Kindergarten Curriculum
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Kindergarten Curriculum
I posted a somewhat long rant/question in the special needs section about my DD and the problems was have having in her kindergarten class.
They started the year with writing letters and their name, then they moved onto numbers. She now takes home a sheet where she has to write/count to 60 (it increases by 10 every week or so) and they are learning to count by 5s and 10s! When they returned from Christmas break, they were sent home with a list of sight words they wanted them to learn, as well as the words for colors! This week they have started working on Plane Geometry, Solid Geometry and Symmetry and they are assigning them to reading groups!!!
I think this is way to much for 5 and 6 year olds. And from Cat's response to my other post "What kindergarten is she going to... Harvard?", I feel better that I'm not the only one!
What has been or was everyone else experience with their kids and kindergarten?
That sounds about right for kindergarten, in my experience. Our public kindergarten standards include recognizing and writing all upper and lowercase letters and knowing the phonetical sounds of each letter including short and long vowel sounds. They can read the top 100 sight words and can write 20 words and their first and last names from memory. They can count to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s, recognize their numbers and put them in order up to 30. They are adding and subtracting 1 from numbers up to 10. They can identify horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines and lines of symmetry.
Is it a lot? Yes and it's certainly more than we were doing at that age but I think many kids are capable of more than we ask of them. All three of my kids were able to meet standards and most of their classmates were able to, too. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better as they get older. My 3rd grader is doing algebraic equations like x+21=40, find the value of x and has a 3 page research paper due on the giant squid at the end of the month. My 5th grader is reading books I read my freshman year of high school and routinely works for 1 1/2-2 hours on homework each day.
This doesn't sound like too much to me, and I'm a firm believer in half day only K and letting kids PLAY. But writing their name, learning sight words and color words, writing their numbers, counting by fives and tens seems totally on target to me. As for the geometry, I'd see exactly what that is before getting too upset. It may just be learning shapes and discovering the number of sides they have and such. I highly doubt it is the geometry I had to take in tenth grade which I barely passed... My DD is in first grade and they have just begun geometry. I questioned the teacher and she said it was very low key and it's just very basic and has to do with shapes and it's just getting their feet a tiny bit wet. It's not REAL geometry like we think of in high school. They examine shapes and discover how many sides they have, how many corners they have, if the sides are equal sized, etc. My DD is really enjoying it.
I'm SHOCKED your DD is four months YOUNGER than all the other kids, given her late March birthday. I'd think she was one of the oldest! Did all the other parents hold their kids back until they were six?
Dd is in 7th grade now, but she did all those things when in K also. Actually by now, they were reading some very small books using sight words they had already been taught before Christmas break. I am sure by now, K's are expected to do even more than my dd had to learn. Ditto kate on the geometry, I bet when you actually see it, it will be on target for her age. It sounds much bigger than it is I am willing to bet.
Hmmm... well, it seemed like an awful lot to me, but I'm obviously off base! I guess I remember kindergarten as a place where it was all about learning to color and paste and cut and make macaroni art! Somewhat different than symmetry! LOL
This is pretty standard for my kids' kindergarten. They learn site words the first month and are expected to be reading by Christmas.
My 4th grader just came home with algebra that I did as an 8th grader. In my kids' classes, they are the youngest. My DD is the second youngest at age 11 in the 6th grade. But she's one of the top 5 smartest so we are glad we didn't hold her back based on age. She has kids that are 13 & 14 in her class due to being held back and starting late.
My DS turned 9 in June and he has kids that are getting ready to turn 12 next summer. They started late and then were held back. Pretty common to be held back for boys in our school.
I haven't read the other posts, but I taught K for 7 years and it sounds exactly right on. Yes, Kdg. is the old 1st grade. It is expected that you are able to read by the end of the year, and if you're not, at least here you would be recommended for Reading Recovery and in extreme cases retention. (Not big on retention here) Must know all letters both upper and lowercase and their sounds. We learned approximately 30 sight words, plus color words, counted by 5's and 10's (10's earlier in the year, 5's later), and all numerals to 100. Kids should be reading at the end of the year and have basic concepts of print (tracking words right to left, turning pages, finding words on a page, page numbers, front and back of book, title and author, and understanding of doing a 'book walk' where you view the pics in the book straight through and then talk about what they suggest might happen in the story). They should be assigned a reading level based on what the difficulty of the books they are able to read. That's just to help the teacher guide the lessons and give an idea of what the child can read independently. I had SSR in my room for 10 minutes by the end of the year and it was wonderful. We also did book buddies and students took turns reading to each other for about 5 min. because they could. Basic addition and minimal subtraction was at the tail end of the year in general, but a few years I had classes that started that earlier just because they were ready. Mostly the manipulative side of addition/subtraction, understanding the concept, with only a few kids actually recording the equation correctly. (1+2=3) Also shapes and their definitions (a triangle has 3 equal sides, ex.) Difficult pattern building and completing. Lots of phonetic spelling, interactive writing, journaling from drawings on up to phonetic writing. Writing first and last name in both all upper and lower. Fantastic stuff! It's amazing what children learn from the start of the K school year until the end. Literally AMAZING! One reason I loved K so much.
The thing about ALL of that is that it should never be rote worksheets and "papers" - always hands-on, developmentally appropriate, concept-building and not just the end. The room should be CONSUMED by print, from environmental to books to magazines to class books.
This is in Indiana, all in a half-day program with 25 kids in my class and an aide only about half of those years. We did it! Kids are incredible at what they can learn. The key in my mind as a teacher and now a mother is not the amount necessarily that's being taught but HOW it's being taught. That is the be all and end all for me, which is one reason why I will be a difficult parent to deal with once dd starts school. Not all schools know what it should look like unfortunately, and when that happens all that "quantity" of stuff starts to get REAL hard to learn because it's not being taught in a developmentally appropriate way. I won't even get into all-day K because that seems like another subject.
Feel free to email me if you want to talk Kdg stuff! reds 9298 @ insightbb dot com.
I was going to do a long post but Deanna covered most of it. I know the Ks in my building started Guided Reading groups this week and will be expected to be reading at a B-C level by the end of the school year.
I've worked in several kindergartens just north of where you are and it sounds like they are doing all the normal stuff.
One little thing you can do to help your dd with the sight words is to make a game of it when you read to her. Pick one sight word and then read a page of a favorite book to her. Have her pick out the sight word, see how many times she can find it. After a few nights, once you think she's got that word down, pick another and do the same thing. You can also "popcorn" read together - Dr. Seuss books work well for this with her age group - popcorn reading is when you read one word and she reads the next, for the whole book, as she advances, you can make it she reads one sentence and you read the next, and then move on to she reads one page and you read the next. I have taught a lot of kids to read by doing it that way.
Wow...Deanna can you come teach my DD's class next year?! You sound so passionate about teaching.
My DD is in pre-K and they are doing a lot of the same stuff as mentioned above just probably at a much slower pace. It's crazy how much has changed in schools. From Kindergarten I remember: snack time, paste, singing my ABCs to the teacher and starting to read about Nan and Jan towards the end of K.
Paula - we also started Guided Reading groups around second semester.
Kellyj - I'm VERY passionate about it!!
From my own K experience, all I remember is coloring, coloring, and more coloring and having to stay in the lines. LOL
You can make a mini-word wall on your fridge of sight words. Lots of magnet letters for word building on your fridge or on cookie/pizza sheets. Bath crayons - she writes them, copies them, or finds letters in the words once you have written them on the wall - dependent on what she needs to work on. Finding letters and making their sounds on EVERYTHING literally - signs on the road, every household item you have. Natalie has a shoe box full of labels cut out of food items that I've saved over the last year. Environmental print is the best way to work on letters and sounds. Also start with words that she can easily memorize to build her confidence. For some reason, kids always knew "zoo", "mom", "dad", and often "stop" before they even knew many letters or could read other words. Build on what she knows.
How are her letters and sounds? I highly recommend www.starfall.com for "fun" practice if she needs letter/sound work. I would have used that one if I had known about it when I taught.
Okay, I guess I have issues with teaching "geometry" in kindergarten. If you're teaching kids shapes, say that! Don't try to embellish it and make it more than it is. I also firmly believe we're making our kids grow up to quickly. Yes, most are probably capable of learning to read, write and do simple (and some more complex) math at 5/6yo. BUT, what about those who really aren't ready yet? Those poor kids are labeled "slow" or "behind" when they really aren't, it's just the expectations were set too high! These poor 5/6yo's and their parents are stressed because their kid's "behind" and they're pushed too hard. I'm afraid to even venture a guess as to how many children lose their joy of learning and have bad school experiences because they were pushed too hard, too fast. I'm all for teaching the ones that get it more if they want to learn it, but help the ones that are struggling in an appropriate way! Sorry, but this is really something I'm passionate about and I feel the school systems are getting way off track on. JMHO
I totally agree with Cat! I think there is too much pressure too soon. Like Deanna said, "K is the new 1st grade!" Not like it was for me.
My DD knows all her letters and the sounds, and has always spoken perfectly. She is having problems with her sight words, but I think I was going about it the wrong way. In the last few days, we have written them on index cards and now, every night after dinner, we are putting them out on the table and I am making her find the words, which is working out much better. I can hear her doing it. When I ask her to find "When", she takes the time to say the "W" sound and knows what she's looking for. The symmetry seems to be a problem right now, but it's still early.
Again, as Cat said, I would hate for her to lose her joy over school, because right now, she really loves it, even though she struggles sometimes. And I don't want the pressure of it all to take away from her childhood!
The other point is the disparity in the kids, which I noticed so much this past weekend. We went to a b-day party for one of her classmates. It was a "Spa party" with a High School Musical theme! There were about 20 girls there, all getting their hair, nails and make-up done, running around all dressed up with boas! But there seemed to be two very seperate groups. The girls who were very into the hair, make-up thing. They knew all the words to the HSM songs, were wearing the "I love Troy" buttons and their conversations were very "adult". While the others, like my DD, didn't even know what HSM was. She doesn't care, doesn't want to watch it, has no interest. She wants to be Cinderella when she grows up and is still very much into Princesses and little girls things. While the others were doing karaoke to HSM songs, and they knew every words, my DD and another girl were singing songs from Cinderella and Shrek movies (pretty funny to hear them singing David Bowie songs! LOL) But, my point is, the b-day girl is so mature, she's ready for Jr. High next week, while my DD is still very much a 5 year old!
I guess I'm just sad that kids are growing up so, and in my opinion, too fast! 
Well, I totally agree about our kids growing up way to fast. I am finding my 2 boys are not as "worldly" as a lot of other kids in their classes. But, that is fine with me.
My oldest ds was reading at age 4, and always excelled at school. Now, my youngest was a totally different story. We were very lucky when he was in K. We were at a private school with a wonderful teacher. She did not push at all, which was great, because my youngest was not really interested in writing/reading then. She wsa very clear with parents that children learn/progress at different paces. My ds never thought he was slower/not as smart as other kids. My ds loved school, was capable, just not into it. Unfortunately, he didn't have such a wonderful teacher in 1st, but I worked with him at home, I just made it fun! He is in 2nd grade now, he has a wonderful teacher, and now loves reading and writing. He has improved so much this year, it just amazes me. He went from one of the lowest reading groups, to one of the highest.
So, I guess my point is, I would just make it fun. Work with your daughter, but at her own pace, and don't push. She will get it, maybe just later then others. As long as you keep it fun, she will like doing it.
There is a lot of pressure on the school districts to meet standardized testing requirements. The earlier they start teaching the kids the better the chances they will be able to meet the requirements by the time of testing.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the federal government expects a certain percentage of students to pass state Math and English tests each year. It increases those requirements every few years, and expects all students to be passing state tests by 2014.
Schools that don't have enough passing students face punishments that get more severe each year a school fails. Schools in their first year of sanctions are forced to allow students to leave for other schools, which means loss of funding for the school. Campuses that have failed for several years face intervention from the state, which in an extreme they could fire the principals and/or take over the school.
Schools in their fifth year of sanctions face the most serious intervention and are the most
likely to be taken over by the state.
Low scores also mean loss/lowering of Title I assistance to the school, which doesn't make a lot of sense but it is what they are doing.
Basically they are forced to focus on the test and not the actual education of these children. Many schools are limiting subjects that aren't on the test. A lot of district that have failed and had their funding lowered are now cutting after school activities or requiring parental funding, outside funding, sponsorship. Many are talking about cutting out the extras, GYM, Art, Music, Band, Library. Several of the schools around here have lowered their kitchen staff for example and are feeding the kids preprepared, frozen foods. They relying largely on parent volunteers to help the kids during lunch time. Many districts have also widdened their walking students and have stopped running all their buses to save funds.
I feel it has little to do with the ability of a children to learn younger than we were taught and the fact that education is a business.
Wow Cat! I'm sorry, but I took your post really personally. First of all, shapes ARE geometry. There's nothing wrong with learning the most basic definitions of them. (A triangle has 3 sides that are the same. A square has 4 sides that are the same., etc.) Second, while I agree that children are given too much on the whole, I personally am more in disagreement with HOW things are taught. The joy of learning is ALWAYS lost when a)teachers aren't excited about their jobs and b)curriculum isn't developmentally appropriate. When I taught fourth grade, we still weren't sitting that much during the day. We were doing! Many fourth grade teachers (for example) don't teach that way and joy of learning is lost. I don't personally know many K teachers who have their classes 'sitting' much during the day, and I've never been in a K class that wasn't fun. Some are better than others, granted, but still most are 'fun'. I guess I'm just taking your post that all this 'stuff' is killing the joy of learning when I completely disagree. Once you teach it and see how much kids accomplish, that notion goes out the window pretty quickly. As far as kids being labeled who aren't doing all those things by the end of the year, I don't want them to be labeled either. The answer is not retention or supplemental programs IMO, but MORE help during the K year. More staff. 2 adults in every K classroom, so that the smarties can keep going and those that are not quite ready can keep moving forward. I have had kids at the beginning of the year whose lack of knowledge about almost everything made me think 'no way are we ever going to get to where we should be!' I can tell you that 95% of the time I'm trying to get back those thoughts because I was proven wrong. Why? Because all these concepts are taught in the RIGHT WAY. That is the huge key here. I can't disagree that in general school systems and NCLB is waaaay off base, and K needs some tweaking with regard to additional staff and supplemental programs, but you sort-of make it sound like it's impossible and oh, those poor kids. My kids were excited about what they had learned and were taking off, and I taught very low-income kids with little to no parent involvement. The poorest school in the county.
In Indiana, all of those skills are state standards. Ditto Bobbie -I'm no huge fan of public schools even as a public school teacher, but it's not because of the early grades. 3rd grade on is what gets me but that's another story.
The growing up part - Angellew - AMEN!!! Natalie is clueless about HSM. Come on! She has 4 year olds in her gymnastics class who had the same kinds of birthday parties you mentioned. PLEASE! She has not clue what a Bratz doll is and she won't, although my friend's 4 yr old lives on them. I don't get it either. Some of my K's came to school in high-heeled shoes, belly tops that were too small, and restrictive clothing in general. Hello! Nat wears cute jeans, comfy shirts, and shoes she can RUN and play in for heaven's sake. If she can't run in them, we're not buying them unless it's for a wedding! LOL
Angellew - I think your daughter sounds like she's going to be just fine. My kids knew all the sight words at the END of the year, seriously and not before. Some never knew them all, some knew a lot more. Most kids had a pretty good grasp on them by the very end. Keep up the repetition in a way that she responds to. You're doing great.
>>"I feel it has little to do with the ability of a children to learn younger than we were taught and the fact that education is a business."<< I agree!
Reds, I had a post all typed up yesterday and couldn't get it to post, but anyway, if I offended you, I'm sorry. That wasn't my intent. I'm just going to leave it at that.
Here is my question...I am so against kinder being about reading and writing and suprised that it is not more focused on social skills. Studies show that it is not developmentally ready for the average kid to be reading until age 6, and htey aren't behind if they can't read by time they are 7. So we have pushed all these requirements up. So do we have seniors, or college students that really are that much ahead of where we were?
I don't look at the 18 year olds/20 year olds and think wow this is a system working, boy do we have it figured out. What I have seen is kids who need social skills work, they think the world revolves around them, it is always someone else fault. Not all of them. But I can't help but think if we slowed down the academic push in kinder and went back to those rules of all I really needed to know I learned in kinder, then I think society would be better for it.
I am not saying have them do nothing, but it seems these days the focus by most teacher and parents is academics. I would like that to swing the other way. Let's develop personalities and people. No matter how hard you work to teach them to read, kids will learn to read when they are ready, for some kids they are 3 or 4, some kids are 7.
In my family my dd learned to read at age 4. She loved being read to, she had magnetic letters, she walked around with say, what's this, and we would answer. She put it all together. My middle son didn't have any interest in alphabet till kinder and he could read a little starting first grade, but really only 10-20 basic words. My youngest, knew the sight word list in kinder, and each year after, but he couldn't read. He actually didn't learn to read read until 3rd grade. By straight iq numbers, which one is smartest? Which one has the lowest? hmmm...my youngest tops the family in IQ and my reader is my very average learner.
I completely agree with you, Kaye, about the reading thing. Reading is one of those skills that just seems to *click* over night. When our oldest was in kindergarten, we were told he was a bit behind in reading. At the first conference of the year for first grade, we were told he was reading at a third grade level. Dh and I looked at the teacher like she had three heads because we still thought he was *behind*! LOL. I've seen so many kids struggle to learn to read and the parents worry about it. And then, quite suddenly, the child is a competent reader. They all get there...in their own time.
While I agree that kids seem to be pushed so much more now than when I was in school, I have to think there is a reason?
So many more kids go to daycare now and preschool. MOST daycares and preschool do some teaching in colors and shapes etc and they are even taught social skills and about circle time and quiet time and all of that there. If K didn't advance from where we were as kids, they would be bored out of their minds!
When I was a child, none of my friends went to day care or to preschool, so when it came time for K, that is when we needed to learn. How to be in a classroom setting and get along with others and all of that. 80% of kids (at least) have already mastered that before going to K now from daycare or preschool!!
It's the same here as far as curriculum which is why most parents hold their kids back a year. We have a 9/1 cut off date, so kids April-August are usually held back.
In my son's private school and other private schools the have an extra grade between K and 1st called primer so it makes kids "older than typical" as well.
Ditto Vicki.
K is the new first grade and on from there, mostly because of preschool, but also the prevalence of "DIY" education kits and books (reading (Hooked on Phonics and the like), math, etc. and educational websites. If K were only about social skills, coloring, cutting and getting used to routines, my children would be bored out of their minds, causing major behavior problems.
When I taught in NYC in a low to mid socio-economic area, K was getting the kids who had no preschool up to speed and teaching the precshoolers to read, compute simple math and yes - plane geometry (which is really shapes, symmetry, etc.)
K is no longer just fun. It's all day and it's work. But I think many children are up to the challenge.
How frustrating though, to be the parent of a child who the teacher feels is "behind". As a teacher, unless there was a really significant delay, I worked with the individual child and brought him or her as far as possible, measuring that child's individual progress, rather than using the progress of others as measure. I think that's what the teacher needs to be doing in your daughter's case, because it sounds like she's making wonderful progress.
Ame
Kaye - I think social skills are still a HUGE part of the K curriculum. I can only speak for my own experience here, but social skills were a MAJOR part of our day. It almost has to be, given the age of the kids. Every 10 min. a social dilemma presents itself. Often we role-played situations as a class, life skills were a big part of our curriculum.
Also, with reading I completely agree that I think it clicks 'overnight'. It just seems to happen. The kids that it doesn't "just happen" with, are often the ones who need tutoring or remediation, and it takes quite a bit longer. Often as a result they are never great readers and never get that love of reading.
Vicki- you make such a good point. Kids are in "school" from birth! So many more working parents than when we were young. The expectations are that you live most of the day without your parents right from the get-go, because parents have to/choose to go to work. The social skills have been way beefed up IMO, just because. VERY few of my students had not been to a preschool, daycare, or Head Start. (Most of mine were in HS as early as possible)Those few were home with grandparents.
The bar has been raised,yes, and it's good and bad. Good because kids are sooooo capable, bad maybe because it's not taught correctly to the age or because of pressure on younger/slower kids. Age is a huge factor. Here in IN, they are moving the start date for K back again, so that 4 year olds can start K. I completely disagree with that. The motive is all wrong - an attempt to get kids in earlier to make them smarter which isn't the case. But again, it's only bad when we stop teaching kids the WAY they should be taught. My room was full of play, play, play. For heaven's sake, learning is fun!!!
Sarah was born August 4th. She started school, right after she turned 5. Yes, she was young for her age, but I think she would have been bored, at home, if I'd held her back. She hadn't been to preschool, but we did a lot at home. By November, I think she was up to speed, with the kids who'd had preschool. She learned how to read, between kindergarten and first grade and hasn't stopped yet!
My nephew will start Junior Kindergarten next September, and he won't be 4 until Dec. 29. Some kids are barely toilet trained by that age, which makes it a bit tough on the K teachers.
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