K w/o preschool first?

[mags]

I am interested in hearing experiences from those of you who had a child(ren) who attended kindergarten w/o attending preschool first. In other words, K was your child's first exposure to any type of formal schooling. How did it go? Was it difficult for your child to adjust to all day kindergarten (by next yr our kindergarten will no longer offer half days, only full days)? We have been HSing our 4 yr old, but I am at a point where I am not sure if we should continue to HS, and I should enroll him in preschool this coming autumn or maybe I should just wait to enroll him when he can start kindergarten.

[miss_sonja]

I think it depends on the child. My older DD attended a three hour a day/ once a week 'art' preschool--nothing formal, the kids did art, played games, learned to wash their hands, etc. My DD did just fine in a full day K. She did want me to stay every day the first week, for gradually fewer hours/day.

[Aries1985]

Yep, totally depends on the child.

I've had students in my class who have never been in a school setting before and they did beautifully. I've also had students who didn't go to preschool and really struggled with the "schoolness" of school (waiting in line, sitting quietly, etc.). This is of course assuming that the parents are working with the child at home for the academic side before coming to K.

[mags]

Originally Posted by Aries1985

Yep, totally depends on the child.

I've had students in my class who have never been in a school setting before and they did beautifully. I've also had students who didn't go to preschool and really struggled with the "schoolness" of school (waiting in line, sitting quietly, etc.). This is of course assuming that the parents are working with the child at home for the academic side before coming to K.

Yeah, well my son is definitely squirmy and impatient. So, that is one of my main concerns. Academically, he's fine, he's already started to read, but he he seems more immature than other kids his age.

[imani]

Originally Posted by Aries1985

This is of course assuming that the parents are working with the child at home for the academic side before coming to K.

What should a child know on the academic side before coming to K?

[Marcee]

Yep depends on the child 2nd DS had zero problems. 3rd DS called me crying the first day.

[Marcee]

Originally Posted by imani

What should a child know on the academic side before coming to K?

Our kids were tested on basic knowledge of the Alphabet (recognition of letter and the sound it makes, both lower and upper case), Listening skills, shape knowledge, ability to use pencil and scissors, Number recognition and how high they could count without mistakes, and the ability to rhyme.

There could be more but that is all I remember. This test was taken before school started, but the only kids I saw turned away were kids who were painfully shy and could not leave their parents.

[Snugglebunnymama]

Well, mine went straight into first grade in January, after having been homeschooled the past few years They have acclimated just fine. (I think it helped that our 'style' of homeschooling was definitely more 'school at home', and we had 'centers', and 'recess' and 'activity time' (which in school is called Specials: PE, art, music, library, and computers) So, aside from the fact that someone else was now their teacher, many of the things they were already accustomed to at home- it was just a matter of doing it in someone else's classroom, with a bunch of other kids. They were excited about getting their own backpacks, desks at school, etc.

[Mama Shifra]

Originally Posted by Marcee

Our kids were tested on basic knowledge of the Alphabet (recognition of letter and the sound it makes, both lower and upper case), Listening skills, shape knowledge, ability to use pencil and scissors, Number recognition and how high they could count without mistakes, and the ability to rhyme.

I had two children who went to preschool first and my middle daughter I kept home until kindergarten. The year before my middle daughter entered kindergarten, my husband insisted that I teach her the alphabet so that the school and kindergarten teachers would not consider her behind (he is an administrator at that school, too, so it would have been hard for him professionally). The above list of skills that Marcee mentioned is a great outline to follow! There also used to be a book Is your child ready for school? : a parent's guide to the readiness tests required by public and private primary schools (the original title was Baby Boards; both books are by Jacqueline Robinson). It is really helpful is your child will be tested before kindergarten.

I do want to mention that while my middle daughter was prepared academically for kindergarten, socially it took her about half the school year to get into the swing.

Shifra

[mags]

Originally Posted by Marcee

This test was taken before school started, but the only kids I saw turned away were kids who were painfully shy and could not leave their parents.

What do you mean, "turned away?" They can actually turn away kids from K??? That's news to me! I think academically, we are set. The only thing he is still not that great with is counting.

Speaking of K tests I remember when my little brother took it, they showed him a shape of a triangle. He said he couldn't remember the word, "triangle" so he said, "pyramid." The teachers thought he was a genius, lol. He is a smart kid and did well at school (although struggled socially, he had an august bday and my parents refused to hold him back), but I remember him thinking that the teachers were really weird to make such a big deal about that.