I still think that reading is an important skill to have at that time. I don’t remember ever not being able to read. (In fact, my first day of Pre-K, I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep at naptime, so they gave me a book).
Basic math skills would be nice, but I don’t think that it’s necessary. My brother and sister were doing math on their fingers into the 3rd grade, so I don’t know how vital it would have been to be able to do it in kindergarten. (If your kid shows aptitude in math, though, it would be nice to keep challenging him until they encounter too much resistance, though. That’s what my mom/grandma did, and I was years ahead of the competition in early elementary.)
My understanding was that it’s not uncommon for kids to be able to read when they enter kindergarten, but it’s not a prerequisite, either. Seems that if the child is encouraged to read before entering KG, then he/she will have an easier time with the “classwork” and can focus more on building social skills. But there’s no need for a parent to freak out if the kid isn’t getting it yet.
To answer the OP, I’d repeat most of what was said before – be able to recognize letters and numbers, be able to share things with other kids, and be able to say his or her name, address, and parents’ names.
I’d put emphasis on “tie his or her own shoes,” but this may just be me projecting. I couldn’t tie mine until I was in second grade, and was “forced” to learn when my principal pointed out my shoes were untied and I had to tell him I didn’t know how to tie them. Even in second grade, I was really, really embarrassed. Scarred me for life.
Most kids learn to read between the ages of four and six. Anything beyond that is an outlier. I’m sure that most people posting here are skewed towards one end of the bell curve. It would be unfair to expect most kids to be reading before four years old and possibly not all that productive. Certainly something to be proud of, and good to see the youngins got the good genes and all, but nothing wrong with kids that don’t really get going with reading until they’re six or seven.
This could be my brother except he’s pre-microwave. I would come home from first grade and teach him what I learned about reading and he’d pick it right up (see - he owed me with the shoe tying). However, somehow he didn’t even learn to blow his nose or puke in a toilet till high school because our mother enjoyed his little reading parlor tricks so much she forgot to teach him. Those things are just tip of the iceberg, btw.
Children’s brains are generally ready. I could draw at age three, read at age four, write at age five. I tested a sixth grade reading vocabulary in first grade. This has everything to do with pre-school training and parental expectations.
This should never include the left from the right test. I learned that in the second part of kindergarten. I think small things such as this should be a part of kindergarten.
Ummm all you parents obsessed by the tying shoes thing before kindergarten. My first born (while exceptionally smart as are all doper kidlets) could not tie his shoes until well into elementary school. He is now 25 and still takes an unbelievably long time to tie his shoes (I know you’re reading this and you know it’s true).
However, in the Lake Woebegone tradition–he taught himself algebra while in kindergarten. :dubious: We, the SO and I, were swinging said kidlet between us while we took a walk. Kidlet says, “look what I learned!” and proceeds to cross the two strips of velcro on his left sneaker. Sindad and I look at each other at go–HUH?
He’s hopping up and down going LOOK! “x =”! “x =”!
Then says to bewildered parents: “You know like 3x + 1 = 7”—then x is 2. :eek:
Turns out he found an old algebra book in our basement and not only figured out algebra, he could do fractions too.
BTW, we sent him to a dedicated non-educational pre-school. No letters, no expectation of children learning to read, no teaching of writing your name, etc. It was all hands on play all day–sand table, water table, bins and bins of “manipulatives” and very caring and educated teachers, oh and getting along with your peers .
Obviously, since you tested with a 6th grade reading level in first grade, you were far above average. Many children, are not ready to read until they are 5 or 6. If the brain is not ready for the concept, all the pre-school training in the world will not make it so.
Out of curiosity how many of you learned the bulk of these skills by watching Sesame Street and Electric Company? I was born in 69 so I spent a good bit of my childhood watching those shows. My parents taught me to read by age 4 but I don’t remember them singing the alphabet song or “C is for Cookie.”
I didn’t learn to read until I was in the first grade. It wasn’t for lack of willingness or effort or parental involvement (even though I don’t remember my parents forcing books on me…we had them laying around but to me they were just play things).
Having children reading by kindegarten is an artificial pre-requisite. To me, whether your kid can read or not at such a young age is due to a LOT of things, most of which have nothing to do with how they are raised.
What’s more important than having actual skills is the willingness to learn.
Sesame Street taught me a little Spanish – that’s it. The Electric Compamny may have helped more than I can actually recall – I do remember having a couple of “aha!” moments watching that show. PBS tended reinforced stuff I already learned.
The misleading notion that so called average children at 4 years old aren’t capable of simple letter and number recognition, learning phonics rules and pre-K and kindergarten sight words is pretty ageist assumption, a disservice to the plastic nature of their developing brains, and runs contrary to early childhood education theories of the past 30-odd years.
I don’t think that anyone is against kids of 4 being exposed to reading, letters, numbers, basic math etc. Reading to small kids is important.
but not all kids are READY to learn to read at age 4. They may be excellent pre-readers, but haven’t put all the pieces of the reading puzzle together yet.
My daughter entered K reading. Very nice.
First son said he could never learn to read because that was what “big kids” did (my daughter). He began reading in first grade. He had a 6th grade reading level(comprhension) by second grade.
Second son-early reader and has just entered second grade. He is probably at a third grade level right now.
All were exposed to the same environment–I have read to all of them since birth, every day. Second son is wired differently–his passion is math–but I will make sure he has the skills with which to read–even if that is not his choice of activity.
My point is that it was only my daughter who read by age 4. First son actually surpassed her in reading comprehesion (by one grade level, but he is two years younger). They both read at college level now(daughter is 15, son is 13).
My more general point is that it is up to the parents to give their kids an environment that promotes both reading and math. The actual skills will come, and then can be fostered again by the parents.
Having spoken to many pre-school teachers over the years (and K teachers, too) they all say the same thing–reading can be taught, but we have to spend so much time on appropriate behavior and basic civility. They would rather have a well behaved, unschooled 5 year old than a flash card wielding class terror.
But I’m pretty comfortable saying most kids ARE ready to learn to read by 4 – at least in terms of how their brains are wired. Their own behavior, inclination and attitude is another issue. I suspect that is largely due to home influences though there may be a genetic component to it.
While “most” 4 yr olds “may” be able to read (and I seriously doubt the ‘most’ part of that opinion) do they need to? Does it prove to be a big advantage?
If a child begins to learn to read at five do they end up with some strong disadvantage when compared to the hothouse flower that could read at four?
calm kiwi. Hey, I never said most 4-year olds can read. I said “most are ready to learn.” The potential is there at age four and in some cases even earlier.
F’rinstance: some toddlers and most four-year olds can recognize a McDonalds arch. That’s only a step or two away from recognizing an ‘M’ in all contexts, or being able to recognize the letters M-C-D-O-N-A-L-D-S and the other letters of the alphabet. If your kid can recognize other corporate food logos like Burger King, KFC, Subway, the Arby’s or Krispy Kreme (to name a few) – or gaming systems like X-Box or SEGA, your child is already decoding abstract symbols and color combinations and relating them to concrete concepts. Folks, that’s reading. They just have not learned *phonic * rules for letters, letter combinations and sounds yet. But they are on their way to learning how to “read” map symbols and comics.
Children who don’t systematically learn these skills early are at risk of being at a severe disadvantage if the lagging persists. I’d be more worried for a child disinterested, intimidated or unwilling to learn.
The letters in their own name, upper and lower case (parents! stop teaching your child how to write your child’s name in upper case letters only!) and at least another half dozen letters in upper and lower case. It is better to know fewer letters in both cases then all in upper case
At least 5 shapes. An ability to describe the shape is useful
How to count to 50 (more is better).
Birth date, phone number and address.
If they know how to read or how to do algebra, or some other nifty ‘trick’, they have some advantage and a whole lot of disadvantage. They are ‘different’ from day one. They will not be learning alongside their classmates, rather they will be watching their classmates learn.
By all means encourage your children. Just don’t think making them readers before their classmates will make life easy nor will it give them a huge advantage. The children who start school with early skills usually end up with on par with classmates.
My little Schen will be four on 9/11. Yes, that 9/11. And yes, it was horrible. No, I didn’t know about it until I was in recovery…had been kinda busy. Well, he was born @ 3:47 am so it was before the tragedy. Okay, now that I’ve answered the obligatory questions, I can brag a bit.
Little one knows and can write all his letters (uppercase), can write words and recognize them if you tell him what letters to write, can count to at least 30, knows his first and last name (we’re working on address/phone), is totally potty independent, dresses himself (except zippers/buttons) and is a whiz with puzzles. Pre-school teacher said she has NEVER seen a child with such a gift for puzzles. Excellent spatial skills, I imagine. He also is adept at several computer games and we’ve just gotten him an electronic “math flash card” game.
I’ve no doubt that he’ll be ready for kindergarten. I must mention though that his prowess is almost entirely attributible (sp?) to his wonderful day-care providers. He goes three days a week while I work and the Asian ladies who care for him are VERY focused on academics. I can hardly believe I stumbled into such a great situation. I am very grateful, since patience is definitely not a virtue of mine and the kid drives me nuts a lot of the time.
After talking with his teacher (2 days/week) she mentioned that I should wait until he’s six (2 years!) to put him in kindergarten. I questioned that, because he is clearly going to be academically ready in another whole year. She said that the younger kids in any given class tend to have a harder time emotionally. Example being that when you’re in high school and say a Junior, there’s some kids already driving and physically bigger (since you’re a year younger). That can be tough for boys especially in sports related stuff I imagine (not the driving part). I was an “old” kid in school and even had my own apt as a Senior. I don’t recommend that, but how can parents legally stop an 18 yr old high school student from moving out? Gotta admit it was a fun time, but I don’t want my boys having that kind of fun!
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