Wednesday night I got to meet Leanna's teacher at open house at her school. It wasn't all that much different than orientation, but I was still glad I went. The principal gave a speach in the gym, mainly explaining school policies. Then I got to go see the man who's actually teaching our daughter. In the first two weeks they had two different substitutes before this man, and he's been hired for the semester. We don't know about after January, but at least there will be some stability until then. Next week they will be dividing the kids again, so there will be two more kindergarten classes. I didn't know this, but right now there are 35 kids in Leanna's class! So sometime next week they'll have it sorted out and then there will only be 22 or 23. And then they will finally start giving them milk and a small snack. They also explained that they give the kids a DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment three times a year. Based on that they put the kids in three groups-above grade level, at grade level, or below grade level. I asked the teacher if they will tell the parents which category their child falls into. I really wanted to just specifically ask about Leanna, but you're not supposed to ask individual questions at open house. And although the teachers really aren't supposed to discuss individual children with their parents, he said, well I can tell you that Leanna is in the green group(above grade level)! He also said she's having no problems. Yay!
So that was quite a relief to hear. Especially when you consider that my Dad was saying for the past year that we'd probably be getting phone calls from the teacher once Leanna started school, and that she might need to see a councilor with us. I know it's still early in the year, but it seems that so far she's adjusting to all the rules and school structure. And I'm also happy that despite a few people's concerns that she might not be so well prepared; since she was only home with me and not at a pre-school, she's doing fine academically as well. I knew she'd be fine, but sometimes people can make you doubt yourself. So it's just really great to hear that things are ok, and my intuition wasn't horribly wrong.
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3 comments:
Stop doubting yourself, when it comes to how you have brought them up. You are doing a GREAT job! My boys didn't go to preschool and they did well in school. Tom was very hyper to concentrate the first year of kindergarten, but it was a help that he repeated kindergarten again. Some kids are not quite ready for kindergarten at age 5 and need another year, so what!
I feel it is best to hold a child back in their early years of school, rather in the later years, when kids can be more cruel to them for staying back. An extra year at the same grade isn't going to hurt them, it may help in the long run.
Wilson, started an new thing this year for kindergarten kids. All kindergarten kids get tested before school starts and they know if they need extra help before school starts, so then the child goes to an all day kindergarten, which seems to help with the developement in education. This, NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND LAW, makes it hard for the schools to keep a child behind to repeat that grade.
Does Allentown Schools have that kind of program?
Wilson should have had that program when my kids started school, because Tom and Bill wouldn't have stayed back a year in school. Both of my boys needed that extra time back. No regrets on my end.
Yes, Allentown has that program also. I didn't mean that I worried she wasn't developmentally ready for kindergarten, I meant people suggested she'd be socially backwards,or not as advanced because she wasn't "learning" like she would be at a pre-school setting. I disagree with that view because I think young children are first meant to learn to socialize with their parents, siblings, and family. Groups of strangers should come when they're a little older. And I knew she was learning things as valuable or more, than kids in a school-type setting. Just different. But that doesn't always keep the doubt away. If most kids do go to preschools and daycares where they're taught things before they even enter school there is a chance that they will "know" more. It's a temporary advantage, and only an advantage if they do actually remember the things they've been taught. So that's why it's such a relief that she isn't having problems with the other kids or with not being able to keep up with what other kids already know.
Boys also have a tougher time with kindergarden/first grade because many just aren't developmentally ready to learn yet. It doesn't mean that they're slow or not as intelligent as the girls. They just learn differently and they have a harder time sitting still and being quiet than most girls do. It's hard to learn when you can't sit still or be quiet enough to listen to directions. Some girls have trouble with that also. They usually catch up later.
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