Kinder or no Kinder - it's around the corner!

[SarahBear]

So Kindergarten feels like it's just around the corner and I'm not sure what I want to do about it. Initially I felt pretty strongly about just skipping it and then in first grade, my kids could have a choice of homeschool or public school. Violet is in preschool, so she likes the idea of going someplace to learn, but kindergarten is not the same as preschool... especially when it comes to our choice of preschool. Anyway, I have flat out told her she's not going to Kindergarten. I've been looking into alternatives such as a homeschool group or just doing regular homeschool but getting involved in outside activities such as clover buds and gymnastics. Recently, however, I talked to the mom of a current kindergartener. This mom is the daughter of the lady who runs my daughter's preschool. The kid also went to my daughter's preschool. She went into public schooling with the same concerns as me. She is pleased with the kinder class and her kids are happy at the local school. I spoke with another parent and both parents had some good things to say. So... I'm wondering if I should consider public school kindergarten... I'm attempting to reach out to the kinder teacher. Next school year is so up in the air!

 

[Natsku]

Have you visited the school? Get a feel for it and see what your gut tells you. If she does want to go to public school for 1st grade then kinder would be a good transition.

 

[lau86]

What are your reservations? Here the first year of school is very play based and the second year is sit at a desk and learn. It would've been worse to skip the first year here but it all depends on what they do I guess

 

[MindUtopia]

I think visit and see how you feel. Obviously, it's a bit different here and for us, it wasn't really a choice because we couldn't afford anything else. But mine started school this year at 4.5 and it's been absolutely wonderful for her. She did go to preschool before that, but school has been so much better than we ever could have hoped. It's a small village school (state) and very play based and lots of outdoor time and forest school. It's been so positive. She does go back to her old preschool during the school holidays (we both work full-time) so that's the environment she would have stayed in if we'd kept her out to start next year and she is frankly pretty bored. It's not stimulating enough for her. For us school has been much more developmentally appropriate and she's really blossomed. We definitely got that feel from our visit as well, so I would say go and visit and see how you feel. I think if she's keen, there's no reason to hold her back just because of your own reservations.

 

[SarahBear]

Play based and outdoor school... School here has become less play based and more sit down intensive learning. I've seen smart kids get bored and frustrated and I've seen slower to develop students get overwhelmed, frustrated, and shut down. I've seen first graders where it was the previously homeschooled kids who were happy to follow directions and go along with the structure of school and be enthusiastic about learning while their classmates were uninterested in learning because of what had been previously forced on them. Kinder done wrong can really squish the love of learning out of kids and the love of learning is a natural universal human trait. It's how we all manage to do things like walk and talk and know colors, et cetera. It's in every kid, but lots of kids lose it in bad schools.

 

[Eleanor ace]

Have you been to visit the school with Violet? When we were looking around schools I was really surprised by how different they could be to what I was expecting. I thought that we would go with Steiner for our LO's but the Steiner school just didn't feel right, it didn't have the atmosphere I loved. When we visited the school my children now go to the atmosphere was great; the children were clearly confident, autonomous and felt at home at the school and there was a noticeable culture of respect and inclusiveness. Seeing the way the setting was structured and the learning styles used in the early years put me at ease that this was the right school.
Do you have the option of putting Violet in and if you feel that it isn't right for her, removing her for the rest of the year? Not ideal but perhaps a compromise. I'm very happy with my children's school but prepared to remove them to homeschool if we ever need to, even if just temporarily.

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

We homeschool. My daughters have never been in daycare or public school.

The GOOD part about either choice is that you can switch! If you start homeschooling and its not working, put them in school. If you start out in public, you can pull them out. Even within the school year!

I would URGE you to look into homeschooling and all the options around you. Are there groups? co-ops? support groups? Look into curriculum options- do you want online? book based? a mix? christian?

and PLEASE look into your states homeschool laws- HSLDA.org has a list of all the laws and they have lawyers that for $10 a month will protect your rights to homeschool should you run into any issues with the state or school!~
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On the flip side- Look into all your public school options. Montessori? Public? Private? Religious? What is the class size? What do they actually learn? How involved can a parent be? What is their discipline? Will a Kinder have full day or half? What is the transition like?

The choice is only yours.

 

[SarahBear]

I think if my husband (stay at home dad) was better at getting out to provide the social aspect for her, I would be more set on home schooling, but I feel like she'll end up too isolated. We live in a small town and my husband doesn't drive, so options around here are limited. We can car pool her to one alternative option and walk her in town to another. However, it seems that both alternative programs are up in the air and a bit of a financial strain. I taught at an online school, so I have an idea of what that would be like and it's not great and there's no way my husband would do it with her. I am not interested in religious options and I'm not concerned about curriculum as we have access to plenty of resources and I have enough background in education that I feel confident in just finding what we need. And yes we could always pull her out if it wasn't working.

 

[Zephram]

In New Zealand kids start school at 5 and year one here is very play based. I ask my 5 year old what he did at school today and he tells me they just played, but inside that context they are definitely learning. He’s learning to read and brings home books to show me that he’s read with his teacher - they are a no homework school, but the kids are encouraged to bring something home to share with their family every day and my son will often pick a book they’ve read during the day to read with me again at home. They also do maths and other subjects in the context of play. In year one the kids don’t have individual desks either at his school, so they aren’t just sitting at desks all day, they can move around the classroom as they like. In fact they only have two desks in his classroom at all. One has two computers on it and the other is a horseshoe shape that the teacher uses as a desk and the kids can come and sit in the other side to do individual work with her or small group work, etc. I think it’s fantastic how they keep it so fun and simple in year one here.

Anyway, I’m guessing this differs to what you call kindergarten in the US (our preschool for under 5s is called kindergarten in NZ). What exactly do they make the kids do in US kindergarten that is so bad you want to avoid completely? I’m not sure I really get why she wouldn’t go to the first year of school if she was going to go to the next year?

Personally I would visit the school and take your daughter for lots of class visits to see how she feels in the environment. She might love it, in which case just let her go for it. It sounds like homeschooling wouldn’t be an easy option for you guys and if that’s the case then I would give kindergarten a go. Kids are really adaptable and the things that you fear in kindergarten may not be things that phase her in the slightest. She’ll only know it as what’s normal for her. And if she truly doesn’t thrive, then you can always reevaluate at any time.

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

I think if my husband (stay at home dad) was better at getting out to provide the social aspect for her, I would be more set on home schooling, but I feel like she'll end up too isolated. We live in a small town and my husband doesn't drive, so options around here are limited. We can car pool her to one alternative option and walk her in town to another. However, it seems that both alternative programs are up in the air and a bit of a financial strain. I taught at an online school, so I have an idea of what that would be like and it's not great and there's no way my husband would do it with her. I am not interested in religious options and I'm not concerned about curriculum as we have access to plenty of resources and I have enough background in education that I feel confident in just finding what we need. And yes we could always pull her out if it wasn't working.

When we first started, we lived out in the country, 20 miles to anything other than the 1 gas station in town, so i get not having much for social activities and friends.

Getting out and doing things are extras, not requirements. It wont make or break your homeschooling.

Its a HARD choice no matter which way you cut it. I hope you find some answer that works!