Newsgroups: misc.kids

> Hmm. I can see how that would happen. I'm planning on homeschooling,
> and I don't know if Kathy will ever be in an organized preschool,
> although I've considered it. We've also considered private schools...

Home schooling would be ideal. But I wonder if it could be an option 
for most of the parents. As for myself, besides the financial constrain,  
I know I would not possibly do a better job than the six teachers
Kina is having right now. I couldn't answer some of her biology
questions without checking the references even at this kindergarten
level.   

> I'm finding myself reacting strangely to finding out going to
> kindergarten becomes a major focus of the last year of preschool. Are
> all preschools so divided?  Are 3 and 4 year olds kept totally
> separate? So, do you start your kid 'late' in preschool if you want
> them to start kindergarten late, to minimize the trama?? I think I'm
> getting a bad feeling thinking that socialization would push for the
> child to be put into kindergarten, not their development.

Montessori preschool has children ranging from 3 to 5 in the same room.
When to start preschool also depends on the child's personal development. 
Kina started her preschool at age 2.5. Her early start was recommended 
by her teachers because she had clearly out grown the toddler room 
activities. The Montessori program allowed her to learn according to her 
own interest and pace. It does not matter when a child starts preschool,
it is when he/she demonstrates that he/she needs something beyond the 
program that counts. While kindergarten was a topic of discussion among 
the older kids, it did not affect the rest of the class. I guess one way 
to tell if your child is ready is to see who she mixes with. When the 
majority of her best friends were the 5 year olds, you know which group 
she belonged. She had been in the same room for two years. As Paula said, 
she had been to all the field trips, did all the language and math jobs 
on the shelves, and became a teacher's helper supervising the younger 
kids at the end. 

I am absolutely against pushing children if they are not ready, but 
at the same time I try to raise a different voice about trusting and
challenging them if they are, because it is too easy and safe to label
them as not ready these days. Perhaps some children feel social pressure
when kindergarten is mentioned. But remember in a mixed environment,  
children's development is also reflected by who they are associated with. 
They natually pick the ones sharing common language and interest for 
their friends. It does hurt to see the buddies are leaving without them.   

> And for the mom whose daughter did so well in the private school
> kindergarten.... Unless you had an amazing public school district, you
> might not have seen the same result if she'd made it to public school.

You push the right button here. We have this nationally award
winning elementary school in our neighborhood. While the private school 
is absolutely wonderful, we still like to give the public system a try.
Paying high property tax and private tution is not easy. This September,
theoretically Kina can transfer back for first grade. However, walking
into the public school classroom made me feel uncomfortable. There was
one teacher with thirty something kids in one room and the children
looked big to me. Imagine some the kindergarteners were turning seven
when my little girl just turned five. I figured she can handle the 
others being one year older, but two years? I hesitated to put her there.
Now everyone knows why I seem to react so strongly at this topic.
 
> And, if you'd waited a year, it is not clear that her learning ability
> would have been damaged at all - you might have seen the exact same
> thing, just a year later. I'm glad it did work out so well for her, I
> am just loathe to assign cause/effect/not doing this now would have
> been a bad decision.... What kind of private school is she in, do they
> follow any particular well-known style?

I know, I guess the parents with children in similar situation know, you
will not see the exact same thing a year later. If we did not let her
start last year, she would still learn all the stuff on her own, only
in a more frustrated manner. Even now, I honestly do not have the time,
energy and sometimes knowledge to keep up with her questions. (You may
understand better, when your daughter is older, of what it is like by 
being pushed by the child.) I can't imagine what was like without the 
structured direction from her teachers. We would have to face an even 
tougher decision of whether to fight for letting her enter first grade 
or to bore her to death in kindergarten. She is not a particularly 
gifted child. Like many others, she is merely curious and loves learning. 
In kindergarten there are many children know alot more than she does, 
she learns a great deal from them and proudly shares what she knows. 
This is what makes the school fun to be in. Most importantly, she 
learns that she is not always number one. 


Vivienne Poon
poon@hpcc01.corp.hp.com