Since I couldn’t sleep last night, I started to replay a status I read from Purdue University regarding removing cursive writing from the curriculum. There were various opinions regarding this. Teaching cursive is not my area of expertise, and will gladly let my teacher peeps/teacher aides peeps teach this. Now printing, on the other hand, I can teach. When I first started my job, I had to relearn how to print. It sounds funny, but it is true. In order to teach the correct way to print, you yourself have to print correctly. Now I am a master printer with the help of Lisa Kelly, the Kindergarten teacher, and Itchy’s Alphabet. When I started, Lisa also provided me with my own handwriting book.
The doing away with cursive writing isn’t what really caught my eye. What caught my eye was a person complaining about what kids need to know before entering Kindergarten. The person had said that she couldn’t believe kids needed to know numbers, colors, address and phone number, etc. This person also said that this was the teacher’s job. Okay, let’s stop right there. This was where I got on my soapbox.
Teaching begins AT HOME FOLKS! I remember when my son was getting ready for Kindergarten, I was worried he didn’t know enough! I read to my son. He colored and guess what? He KNEW his colors when entering kindergarten. He also knew how to count. It is also very important to know address and phone number. Trust me, it is not because we want to call parents up and come over for dinner, but how about if your child is lost? Better yet, if your child needs to call home from school. I have tutored kids in 4th grade and when you ask them what their phone number is they answer, “I don’t know.” What??
For those of you who do not know what the first day of Kindergarten is like, I will tell you in one word: CHAOS. Not only is it stressful for the brand new Kindergartener, it is stressful for the parents. One form of chaos? Lining up. This is no lie, we have to teach the new Kindergarteners how to stand in line. That’s right, some have no clue about following the person in front of you. Part of a math lesson deals with who is in front, who is behind, who is first, and who is last. For some, this is a difficult concept. Then of course there is the homework that gets graded and is wrong because some don’t know what first and last mean. That is an entirely different story, but I will give you a clue. Look at which direction the toes are pointed in the line. Better yet, who would LEAD this line? If the animal to the far right of the page can lead the line, HE IS FIRST IN LINE. The first in line does not necessarily mean the one to the far left. Many papers get marked wrong, but now I have given you a clue into Kindergarten math. J
Now let’s get to colors. I find it very sad when you ask the new kindergarten class to take out a red, blue, and yellow crayon and some have NO CLUE. Come on parents, basic colors are pretty easy. It is not like we say, “Ok, I want you to take out an alizarin crimson, cerulean, and citrine colored crayon.” It is at this point you would expect a dumbfounded look. Here is a though, think of how your child must feel not knowing colors.
Another thing. How do you not know your numbers 1-10? Or AT LEAST 1-5? The child has had five birthdays by the time they get to Kindergarten and for them not to know these numbers….sad.
To sum this up, parents please work with your child. Yes, teachers do know they have to teach your child; however, you should ALSO want to teach your child. I have no regrets about how I helped my son. Including going out of order when studying for a spelling test. He would say to me, “But Mrs. Callaway doesn’t do it that way.” I would say, “That is fine; however, you are going to learn these words from top to bottom, bottom to top, mixed up and jumbled. Or when working on a spelling homework assignment, he would misspell a word and I would not tell him which word was wrong. My mom thought that was mean. My response, “There is NO REASON why he should misspell a word, especially since all he has to do is copy it from the other page.” That may be mean or harsh, but there is no excuse for being lazy.
Help prepare your child for school. The transition, for some, is hard enough without the added stress of something as simple as knowing colors.
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