ECE (Early Childhood Education) Verses Kindergarten

According to Chicago Public Schools you have to be 5 before Sept. 1. As an Early Childhood Specialist for 17 years, I believe in this as well. Her attending another year will be good for her Social Emotional Development.

C.,
She sounds like she is doing very well academically, so if I was you I would let her go onto Kinder. You know your child better than anyone else! If you believe she is ready, by all means send her to Kinder. The teacher would be able to assess her and tell you if she is ready or not. When my daughter was in kinder in her class was a little boy that had been in kinder the year prior, but the teacher knew he was not ready and he was kept back. He would fall asleep during class, didn't know how to cut, didn't know his colors or shapes, I mean really; he was not ready.
Then she had a little girl in my son's kinder class that was the most timid and quiet girl in the class, she would not talk to anyone but she was one of the smartest and most artistic talented in the class.
So, don't hold her back. You know her better than anyone else does. If the teacher thinks that she is not ready, she will let you know. You have nothing to loose.
Blessings

Kindergarten teachers shoudl be trained and equiped to work with any child. She does not seem like she has many issues. Many children are shy. Kindergarted teahcers have children with many special needs. I am actually an earlychilhood major- in my BA program currently!
Maybe you could talk with the pricipal at the new school and maybe she will qualify for a one on one teacher in her classroom. Teachers should not allow her to get lost in the shuffle. I would hate to see her not move on to bigger and better things.
Try to work with her at home as well, she seems academically ready! I would give it a go!

Good luck!
M.

Working From home and loving it!

If she is already hitting the Kindergarten benchmarks then send her along. Why hold her back if academically she is ready? She will get bored and then see school as just an inconveniene and stupid. Why go and do the work if I know it already. MAybe she only needs one or two other little girls to be friends with. Kindergarteners aren't all social butterflies.

As an elementary teacher, my gut says go with their recommendation. But, you are her parent and know her the best.

The concerns I see are that schools are so overwhelmed with several students (too many) in a classroom with little to no support from the district. Also, the standards for all students keeps creeping up each year to an almost impossible goal for the students' developmental levels.

If you decide to send her to K, be prepared to retain her another year in K, IF she doesn't seem to be doing well. Retaining kids after K (or at the latest first grade) is about all you can do. The next step would be to evaluate her for a possible learning disability and see if she would qualify for additional services through Special Ed. (which it sounds like she has an IEP for speech already, so you have some idea of what to expect).

If it were 15 years ago, your daughter would be just fine in K. A LOT has changed in the past 10 years...and not for the better in public education. It is not your child that is the problem, it is the system and what we expect out of kids without the proper support or understanding of developmental levels. So, you have to play the system to best benefit your child. So sad, I know. Good luck with your decision.

Guess they should put me back into ECE as I seem to exhibit some of those traits myself. Are these young teachers? I never heard of such a thing. She is obviously mature enough to be in some program as they are urging her to stay in that one. So what difference will it make if she moves on. Does she have feelings about it? I have worked in kindergartens often and it is impossible to generalize about them. Some have hung on my leg and cried off and on all day, some wanted to write a presidential speech. Then the next day they were the ones that cried. I hate to say it, unless these people can pinpoint more specific information if you and she are ready for it, then go ahead and send her. Sometimes you have to take the bullies by the horn, meaning these teachers do not sound very nurturing...sorry, but I am taking your confusion away and telling you to send her to kindergarten unless you aren't ready (I know I wasn't when my baby turned five)!!!!!

Dear C.,

I'm not sure what school district you are in, but I have some experience w/ the early childhood program in Naperville 203. In 203 the ECE program is 5x a week for 2 1/2 hrs a day -- the same as kindergarten since we don't have full day kindergarten. I think for this reason alone, you want her to move up to kindergarten. Your daughter is going to need more stimulation, and to be with kids who are all her age. In 203 the curriculum for ECE repeats year after year. I had a daughter who turned 3 in September, so she missed the kindergarten cut off. I was happy that ECE graduated her out of the program because if she had done a 3rd year of the same program she could have been up front next to the teacher co-teaching the class. Also, when you are 3, I think there is something to learn from having 4 and 5 year olds in your classroom, but there is less to gain from having younger kids in the classroom when you are the older kid. If she is just getting speech services, her IEP should allow for that to continue in kindergarten. If she was getting something else too then I understand the recommendation more. It seems strange to me that the EC team is making this recommendation -- if anything, they should be working hard to get her ready to go off to kindergarten. There are lots of EC kids who receive multiple services who legitimately might not be ready for kindergarten, but your daughter's issues seem like those of a typically developing 5 year old. Good luck!

Trust your children's teacher. I am a former teacher and watched one of my friend's struggle with this same decision several years ago (she was also a teacher). She decided to have her daughter do the third year of preschool and she is now on the honors course. This decision was based strictly on maturity. Her daughter was reading prior to her third year in addition to all the things you mentioned.

I really feel that you need to go with your gut feeling. My son had absolutely no problems in pre-school with academics, only socializing. He preferred to play alone and was a little shy and needed time to process information before answering a question. Our school had a new program that tested pre-schoolers before they began kindergarten. They put 4 children in a kindergarten room with 2 teachers they had never met and the teachers observed the children for 1 hour. Because of that short amount of time they decided that he needed summer school for socialization issues. We gave in that year, even though he had 2 older siblings, over 20 children on our block, and 2 more children his age that I babysat 3 days a week. He learned absolutely nothing, and his self-esteem did not improve. He resented not being able to be at home with his friends. The next summer they wanted him to do the same program again for socialization issues. We declined though they really pushed the issue. This child took swimming lessons and played t-ball in addition to having a children's pool at our house and we always had kids over. Now he is a junior in high school, has a lot of friends, is a year round athlete. He still enjoys being home alone, but definitely socializes.

You need to really do what your gut says. You know your child better than they do. Is their program going to keep up with the kindergarten? Will she have to make new friends next year in first grade? Don't let them push you into a decision unless that is the decision you want to make! Make sure you have all the facts before deciding.

Good luck!

If the teachers are that concerned I'd listen to them...social skills are just as valuable in school as the academic ones and by your own admission you are not even sure why she shuts down and refuses to talk, etc...It would be tough for her if she was the only child unwilling or unable to follow directions and also play in a more structured way with the rest of the kids. No harm in not advancing her...I don't know many kids at the top of their class academically that don't feel good about their achievements. Best wishes!

listen to the teachers!!!! they know who can make it and who will struggle. give her an extra chance!!! also, counting to 30 is a memorization skill just like saying the abc's....anyone can memorize. so when they mix up the no's and say she gets confused, that's what they mean. teachers most often know their business and you would be doing a favor to your child by sending her one more year. why should she have to struggle??? it will affect her in many ways.

I would give her a try in Kindergarten.

Kindergarten teachers are used to dealing with a variety of children. It is their job not to let children get lost in the shuffel. If she knows all her letters, and numbers (not in order only) and can cut and write her name send her to school. Share your concerns with her teacher and maybe if possible voulenteer once in awhile. She will still recieve speech services through the school. Best of luck.
Peggy

I believe that as parents w e do know what your children are capable of then on the other hand these people who are supposed to be trained so you want to believe that they know what is best too. It's a hard decision to make.
Does she attend an all day Program? and is the preschool class and Kindergartin classs located within the same building. If so, maybe you can work something out where she attends preschool half day and Kindergarten the other half of the day. At least then you can get familiar with Kindergarten and gradually work into it.
I'm doing this with my son who is also 5 and enrolled in an early childhood program. He is also in early childhood program because of his maturity level and attention span.

I am not familiar with your terms but have four children. Maturity is a big thing. Some children are very bright mentally but lack emotional mturity.. If you push them now it tends to catch up in later lfe. My advice, Let your little girl have another year where she is.. If you read a lot to her and give her some responsibility at home she will develop. Obviously you will be interacting with hr as much as possible.You will be surprised what a year makes. Good luck