Combined Class K/1 - Cary,NC

Kindergarten is not just about academics. It's about learning how to be in school. If she completes the k/1 and it's clear she should go to 2, they'll move her. But I don't understand what the rush is?

What does that mean? After attending k/1 does the child move to 2nd grade?

IMO, It is typically a good thing for a child to be advanced. My oldest was tested for the gifted program in third grade. We discovered through testing that her reading comprehension was between a 9.8 grade level and a 11.7 grade level which was 6-8 years ahead of average third graders. She had nearly a perfect score on the verbal section of the IQ test. Obviously though, we weren't going to send her to HS. There were still lots of things for her to learn along with her peers (ie organization, study skills, self discipline etc).

Another point...my daughter has an April birthday and is one of the youngest in her class. Our district has a September 1st cutoff so apparently parents held their kids back a year that had summer birthdays since they did not want their child to be the youngest. My daughter hated that she was the last to get her license and will be the last of her friends to turn 21.

My advice is... don't be in a rush to send her to 1st grade. School is a lot more than academics.

One last thought... My youngest went into kindergarten reading Junie B Jones and Judy Moody chapter books yet the kindergarten curriculum starts out teaching kids numbers and letters. She loved being the smart girl in school:).

Kids don't just show up to school and skip kindergarten on someone's word. Even if that word is the word of a private school teacher. There is no assessment to jump grades. All kids start at ground zero, and occasionally, there are some that need to move forward but that doesn't happen without the school getting to know them first.

K/1 sounds like the perfect option. She can enroll in kinder like she is supposed to, but be in a class where she is exposed to the 1st grade expectations (curricular and otherwise). The teacher can see for herself throughout the year how much she can do and if she can keep up with the 1st graders. At the end of the year you and the school will really have your answer about whether she should be a grade above her age, and they can formally skip her if that seems to be the right thing to do.

My daughter was in a K/1 split class when she was in Kindergarten. It was great. I felt she had more than a years worth of growth that year. The first graders were a great influence on her academic attitude.

Kids show up to Kindergarten within a vast spectrum of knowledge, skills, and social readiness. Some can read, some are still becoming familiar with basic phonics and letter recognition. Some can behave perfectly and be model students within the school structure on day one, others have zero training in this. It is a huge "evening out" year. Trust me, once everyone starts getting up to speed in kinder and things even out, it will be VERY obvious if your child is so advanced she needs to be one grade level up.

(I'm speaking here partly as a parent of girls around the same age, but mostly as a School counselor with 5 years of elementary experience... working middle school now but still very knowledgeable about how things go in public elementary school).

what's wrong with her going into a K/1 class? you asked for the evaluation, you got it, it seems like a great option.
why are you so dead set on her going into 1st grade? she's only 5.
khairete
S.

I would not move her up at all.
Combined, sure.

Kindergarten kids should be playing. The schools are doing no service to kids by giving such structured academics at that age.

There are different types of things that are taught in kindergarten. It's not just book learning its also life lessons on how to get along with others.Stop pushing to have her moved ahead and just let her enjoy her new school and her new friends. You can always offer things at home to add to her learning. Put her in the k/1 and call it a day.

My daughter is 4 going on 5 at the end of October. I really thought about trying to pus her through because she is tall, big, and really smart. She will turn 6 at the end of October, so she will be older than the others and she will be bigger than them for most of her grade school years. (I was just the same, and so was my mom). If I just look at academics, it makes sense to push past the state law that says she has to be 5 by Sept. 1.

But, there are other Intelligences that are just as important as brain smarts. One of those is Social. How does she do with other kids? Does she still throw fits when she doesn't get her way? Does she play WITH other kids or does she parallel play with them? Does she have a close friend?

How hard do you have to work to get her awake and to school? Does she not want to go for any reason at all? How well does she do school? Follow the rules?

I would do what Gamma G suggested and seeing if it is a Transitional room. How would she fit in there?

On another note, my nephew's girlfriend was put ahead a year in 2nd or 3rd grade and so she graduated in June at 17 and will be living in the dorms at PSU next month, and will be starting at half way through her sophomore year. (With a big scholarship). So, your daughter will be able to go into college early. Many kids enrolled at the community college here are 14 or 15....

Think about where she is developmentally, not just academically, and then decide. You may want to give her a year or two to be with her peers, and then think about moving her up in an academically better grade. This is a hard decision, I wish you clearheadedness when making it.

A., there are laws in the state that say certain things that the school CANNOT go against.

One of those rules are that kids MUST be a certain age by a certain time to enter this or that grade.

Most states have a law that says a child cannot enter into kindergarten until they are 5 by this or that date. Some states even have age limits on 1st grade. Like even if they've already had kindergarten but are not already 6 they can't go into 1st grade and have to wait.

I see your state is August 31. It doesn't matter if your child is Einstein. If they don't meet the age requirements they can't go into kindergarten.

Your child legally is a kindergartner. It doesn't matter what else you want to do. They are the age of a kindergartner.

Kids are supposed to be 5 and turn 6 during kindergarten. Then they are 17 turning 18 as a senior in high school.

If you start her in 1st grade then she is 5 turning 6, then she's likely to be 16 as a senior. What about after high school? Do you let her sit at home until she's 18 then let her start college? They won't let her sign up for classes or live in the dorms or anything until she's 18.

Plus there is a sad thing, again, my opinion, where parents aren't letting their kids start school on time. It's called red shirting. SO your child could be 5 years old in 1st grade with kids that are up to 8 years old...seriously, that's way too much of an age gap socially.

The laws are there for a reason. I'm sorry you're disappointed. Your child is a kindergartner no matter how bright she is. I'm surprised they'd consider putting her in the combo class. From what I've seen of the transitional 1st grade class it's for kids who aren't quite ready for first grade but they don't need to be held back in kindergarten.

In this case be sure, very sure that if she does the combo class then she goes into regular 1st grade the next year.

In my experience the kids that do the combo class do it like this....

Kindergarten

Transitional 1st grade

Then start regular 1st grade NOT 2nd grade

So you need to make sure what the path is after the combo class. If you think kindergarten would bore her you have options. But do think of her, she'll be making her friends she'll have the rest of her school years. It's really better for her to have them be her age and not 1-2-3 years older than her.

There are different types of K/1. One is a class that is half kinder kids and half 1st graders. The other one is more of a transitional class for kids that finished kinder but aren't quite ready for 1st. Which one would describe the K/1 at your school?

Kinder isn't what it used to be. It's not all coloring, nap time, and play. My middle son just finished kinder. I volunteered a lot in his class. About 1/2 of the kids came in reading. The ones that didn't 'read' could at least recognize many sight words (at the beginning of the year). There was only 2-3 that didn't know their letters. They also did science projects, bar graphs, addition, subtraction, and they were writing 4 sentence paragraphs by the end of the year. One day they were studying/discussing 'arachnids'...not spiders...'arachnids'. I was impressed! And, they didn't nap.

I would consider the long term, too...she'll start middle school at 10 and high school at 13. Being bring for your grade level isn't the worst thing. And, she should have an opportunity to participate in gifted/talented programs.

One more thing, around here a lot of people redshirt kindergartners. So, if the child turns 5 in the summer, they tend to hold them back. So those kids will start 1st at 7.

Good luck with your decision--I know it's tough!!!

If she's turning 6, she should probably be in first grade. I'd ask more questions about the k/1 class. It *might* be that the school recognizes that even though there is this state rule that kids must be 6 prior to 8/31 in order to attend first grade, that obviously some kids will be ready to go into first grade anyway, and this is their way around it. IF there is the possibility that she would be able to attend 2nd grade next year, then this could be the perfect solution, right? Just put her in the K/1 combo, and then next year she goes off to 2nd, where there is no age restriction to enter. However, I'd make sure that's actually a possibility before committing to this course of action.

If she knows her sight words, can add/subtract, etc, then K would probably be really boring for her. And some girls (my oldest included) are a lot more mature at an early age, which should be taken into consideration as well. If her current teacher feels she's ready for first grade, then she's ready.